Michael Landon Died Weeks After His Difficult-to-Watch Appearance on Johnny Carson’s ‘Tonight Show’
In his final public appearance in front of a camera, actor Michael Landon visited The Tonight Show with his old friend Johnny Carson. Landon had been diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic and liver cancers and appeared on the program to address all of the speculation swirling around his illness and prognosis.
Within weeks, the Little House on the Prairie star died. Though Landon and Carson were good friends, the Little House on the Prairie star’s appearance was difficult to watch given the circumstances.
Michael Landon announced his diagnosis in 1991
In April 1991, Landon announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer. His on-screen daughter Melissa Gilbert described in her 2009 memoir Prairie Tale how he faced the devastating news head-on, doing his best to orchestrate how and when the world found out.
“Mike invited the press to his house and revealed his illness and determination to fight it,” she wrote. “It was so characteristic of him to deliver the news on his own terms and try to keep the tabloids from printing rumors.”
Michael Landon died within three months after his diagnosis became public. The actor died July 1, 1991 at the age of 54.
When was the last time Michael Landon was on ‘The Tonight Show’?
Michael Landon’s final appearance on The Tonight Show came on May 9, 1991. Gilbert described the difficulty of watching Landon’s Tonight Show appearance in her 2009 memoir Prairie Tale. “I thought the most poignant moment of the show came at the end when Johnny invited his other guest, George Foreman, back after his next fight in August and Mike said he would also come back then,” she wrote.
“I nearly burst into tears because I realized that Mike knew there was no chance he would be back then.”
Aside from the former Bonanza star’s dramatic loss of weight, his incredible courage, humor, and refusal to wallow in his incurable prognosis were moving and heroic.
Landon peppered his visit with Carson with humor, joking about headlines at that time claiming he wanted to have a tenth child with his wife, “so she would have something to remember me by. I mean, I got 9 kids, 9 dogs, 3 grandkids, one in the oven, and my wife Cindy needs something to remember me by?”
Landon and Johnny Carson were good friends
Landon, who would be in his 80s today had he lived, was there for Johnny Carson when the late-night host’s son was killed in an automobile accident on June 21, 1991. It wasn’t lost on Carson that his friend put aside his own crushing pain to comfort him. In 10 days, Carson lost Landon as well.
“This has been a devastating week for me and my family,” Carson said (via the LA Times) at Landon’s death. “Michael called last Monday expressing his deepest sympathy on the death of my son Ricky.
“The courage and sensitivity he showed in our conversation, in comforting me while he was in great pain, attests to the quality of this man and his character.”
Michael Landon’s approach to battling cancer further endeared him to his fans. His final appearance on The Tonight Show was only difficult to watch because of the inevitable that even Landon knew he couldn’t avoid. Yet the actor’s legacy remains intact thanks to his memorable screen appearances and the real-life kindness he displayed.
