Johnny Carson's third wife Joanna dies

Joanna Carson, the third wife of Johnny Carson, has died.

According to Extra, the former model's death was announced privately, and her funeral was last week.

The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation acknowledged Joanna's death online: "Remembering ETAF's dear friends and supporters, Joanna Carson and Wallis Annenberg, who embodied our Founder, Elizabeth Taylor's spirit of love and support," the post said.

Johnny met Joanna in 1971 at the 21 Club in New York, where he later recalled to People magazine that he was "flirting like a sophomore".

At the time, Joanna was one of Manhattan's highest-paid fashion models, and the two spent their first date celebrating Johnny's 46th birthday. Afterwards, he called her every day at 4:30pm for a year.

The two would go on to marry a year later in 1972, the same year that Johnny divorced his second wife, Joanne Copeland.

According to a 1978 New Yorker story, Johnny surprised everyone by announcing his marriage to Joanna while celebrating his 10th anniversary at the Tonight Show on 30 September 1972.

The couple divorced in 1985 and Carson later married Alexis Maas. They remained together until his death in 2005.

Joanna was previously married to Tim Holland from 1960 to 1966.