Video: 'The Very First Show of The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson (10/01/1962)'

(Monday, October 1, 1962, 11:15 p.m. EDT) — The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson, the third iteration of The Tonight Show franchise, debuted tonight on NBC.

After being introduced by Groucho Marx, Carson and his sidekick Ed McMahon shared the stage with the first guests, Joan Crawford, Rudy Vallee, Ned Brooks (of Meet the Press), Tony Bennett, the Phoenix Singers, and Tom Pedi.

Video: 'Johnny Carson Audio of First Tonight Show(opening 3 minutes)'

The show’s house band, the NBC Orchestra, was led by Skitch Henderson, until 1966 when Milton Delugg took over, who was succeeded by Doc Severinsen less than a year later.

Although no footage is known to remain of Carson’s first broadcast, photographs taken that night survive, including Carson being introduced by Groucho Marx, as does an audio recording of Marx’s introduction and Carson’s first monologue.

Video: 'Joan Crawford On "The Tonight Show" W/ Johnny Carson (1962)'

For its first decade, Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show was based at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City, with some episodes recorded at NBC Studios in Burbank, California; on May 1, 1972, the show moved to Burbank as its main venue and remained there exclusively after May 1973 until Carson’s retirement on May 22, 1992.

Video: 'The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson- 13th week'

In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide‘s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

Earlier on this day on NBC, at 2:00 p.m. EDT, another famous host made his debut on The Merv Griffin Show; Griffin’s first guest was comedian Shelley Berman.