Ernie’s 1962 Chevrolet Corvair.

On January 13, 1962, Ernie Kovacs, a comedian who hosted his own
television shows during the 1950s and is said to have influenced such
TV hosts as Johnny Carson and David Letterman, died at the age of 42
after crashing his Chevrolet Corvair into a telephone pole in Los Angeles, California, while driving in a rainstorm. Kovacs, who often appeared on
camera with his trademark cigar, was found by police with an unlit cigar,
leading to speculation that he had been reaching for the cigar and lost
control of his vehicle. The Corvair was later made infamous by Ralph
Nader’s groundbreaking 1965 book “Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-
In Dangers of the American Automobile,” about unsafe practices in the
auto industry.

Ernest Edward Kovacs (January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962)

   
Kovacs as Poet Laureate Percy Dovetonsils.

Buck Henry (Henry Zuckerman) (December 9, 1930 – January 8, 2020)

(FoxNews) – Buck Henry, the Hollywood screenwriter known for “The Graduate”
(1967), “What’s Up, Doc?” (1972) and co-creator of the NBC/CBS – TV comedy
series “Get Smart”(1965-1970) died Wednesday night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a heart attack.

Buck Henry hosting Saturday Night Live on January 17, 1976.

MIKE GRACIA

Charles Elmer "Rip" Taylor Jr. (January 13, 1935 – October 6, 2019)

(FoxNews) – Rip Taylor, the zany comedian who was a television and
nightclub mainstay for over six decades, has died.

Publicist Harlan Boll said Taylor died Sunday in Beverly Hills. The
cause of death was unclear.

Taylor first worked as a congressional page before serving in the
Army during the Korean War. His showbiz ascent started with
spots on "The Ed Sullivan Show," where he was known as the
"crying comedian."

TIM MAGUIRE

On this day in 1962, Johnny Carson began hosting the “Tonight”
show on NBC television. He was introduced by Groucho Marx
(left) who warmed up the audience with a 15-minute monologue.

Johnny Carson with second banana Ed McMahon (left).

Talk show host Johnny Carson wipes his eye after
watching a series of clips from earlier shows during
the last taping of the "Tonight Show" in 1992.