Carson, who hosted the Tonight Show from 1962 to 1992, was 79.
"Mr. Carson passed away peacefully early Sunday morning," his nephew, Jeff Sotzing, told the Associated Press.
Carson put Americans to bed for 30 years with his jokes, monologues, comedy skits and interviews with guests. Some of those guests, such as Joan Rivers, went on to stardom after being introduced to a U.S. national TV audience on Carson's show.
Johnny Carson watching clips from past shows on his last day with the "The Tonight Show," May 22, 1992. (CP File Photo)
He skewered politicians, but his private life – four marriages and three divorces – was also fodder for his wit.
He left the show when it was high in the ratings in May 1992. "I am one of the lucky people in the world. I found something that I always wanted to do and I have enjoyed every single minute of it," he said in his last show.
Many other comics had tried to displace him as America's favourite late-night host, but none succeeded.
Carson made a fortune as a TV host, being paid a reported $5 million US a year in the 1980s.
He retired quietly, sailing, travelling and writing occasional humour pieces for the New Yorker magazine. He never went back to TV, and was satisfied to let the Tonight Show stand as the peak of his career.
Carson was born in Iowa and grew up in Nebraska. After military service, he worked as a broadcaster in Nebraska, moving to Los Angeles in 1950. He had a series of Hollywood on-air jobs, including hosting a game show, and sitting in occasionally for Tonight Show host Jack Paar. When Paar left in 1962, NBC picked Carson to replace him.
Sotzing said Carson was surrounded by his family when he died.
There will not be a memorial service, and Sotzing would not release any other details.
