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David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American comedian, known for hosting the Late Show with David Letterman on CBS since 1993. Letterman's ironic, often absurd comedy is heavily influenced by former Tonight Show hosts Steve Allen, Johnny Carson and Jack Paar. Letterman has been a fixture of United States late night television since his 1982 debut on Late Night with David Letterman; only Johnny Carson, one of Letterman's idols, has had a longer late-night hosting career.
Letterman is also a television and film producer; his company Worldwide Pants produces his late-night show and the show that follows his on CBS, The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson.
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Quotations
Nothing, believe me, nothing is more satisfying to me personally than getting a great idea and then beatin' it to death.
In My Pants! (October 30, 2002)
On National Security Agency's eavesdropping program: Now all of us can talk to the NSA - just by dialing any number.
Encyclopedia
David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American comedian, known for hosting the Late Show with David Letterman on CBS since 1993. Letterman's ironic, often absurd comedy is heavily influenced by former Tonight Show hosts Steve Allen, Johnny Carson and Jack Paar. Letterman has been a fixture of United States late night television since his 1982 debut on Late Night with David Letterman; only Johnny Carson, one of Letterman's idols, has had a longer late-night hosting career.
Letterman is also a television and film producer; his company Worldwide Pants produces his late-night show and the show that follows his on CBS, The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson. Worldwide Pants has also produced several prime-time comedies, the most successful of which was Everybody Loves Raymond, currently in syndication.
Early career
Letterman credits Paul Dixon, host of the Paul Dixon Show, a Cincinnati-based talk show also shown in Indianapolis while Letterman was growing up, for inspiring his choice of career:
- "I was just out of college [in 1969], and I really didn't know what I wanted to do. And then all the sudden I saw him doing it [on TV]. And I thought: That's really what I want to do!"
Weatherman
Letterman began his career as a radio talk show host on WXLW (AM), and on Indianapolis television station WLWI (now called WTHR) as a local anchor and weatherman. He received some recognition for his unpredictable on-air behavior, which included jokingly calling attention to state borders missing from the weather map, and predicting sizable hail stones "the size of canned hams." (Because this upset his bosses, to this day he occasionally still does also give out canned hams on his show.) One night he reportedly upset his bosses when he congratulated a tropical storm for being upgraded to a hurricane. He also hosted a talk show which aired early on Saturday mornings called, "Clover Power," in which he interviewed 4-H members about their projects. He would also occasionally report the day's very high and low temps for fictitious cities.
Move to Los Angeles
In 1975, encouraged by his then-wife Michelle and several of his fraternity brothers, Letterman moved to Los Angeles, California, with hope of becoming a comedy writer. He started off by writing material for the TV sitcom, Good Times. He also began performing stand-up comedy at The Comedy Store, a famed Los Angeles comedy club and proving ground for young comics.
Letterman appeared in the summer of 1977 on the short-lived Starland Vocal Band Show. He has since joked about how fortunate he was that nobody would ever see his performance on the program (because of its low ratings).
Letterman had a stint as a cast member on Mary Tyler Moore's variety show, Mary, a guest appearance on Mork & Mindy (as a parody of est leader Werner Erhard), and appearances on game shows such as The $20,000 Pyramid, The Gong Show, Password and The Liar's Club. He also hosted a 1977 pilot for a game show entitled The Riddlers that was never picked up. His dry, sarcastic humor caught the attention of scouts for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and Letterman was soon a regular guest on the show. Letterman became a favorite of Carson's and was a regular guest host for the show beginning in 1978. Letterman personally credits Carson as the person who influenced his career the most.
NBC
Morning show
In late June 1980, Letterman was given his own morning comedy show on NBC, The David Letterman Show. It was originally 90 minutes long, but was shortened to 60 minutes in August. The show was a critical success, winning two Emmy Awards, but was a ratings disappointment and was canceled in October 1980.
Late Night with David Letterman
NBC kept Letterman under contract to try him in a different time slot, after which Late Night with David Letterman debuted in 1982. Letterman's show, which ran weeknights at 12:30 a.m. Eastern Time, immediately following The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, quickly established a reputation as being edgy and unpredictable, and soon developed a cult following (particularly among college students). Letterman's reputation as an acerbic interviewer was borne out of moments such as his verbal sparring matches with Cher and Shirley MacLaine. The show also featured inventive comedy segments and running characters, in a style heavily influenced by the 1950s and '60s programs of Steve Allen. Although Ernie Kovacs is often cited as an influence on the show, Letterman has denied this.
The show often included quirky, genre-mocking regular features, including "Stupid Pet Tricks," dropping various objects off the roof of a five story building, demonstrations of unorthodox clothing (such as a Velcro suit and a suit of suet), a recurring Top 10 list, the Monkey-Cam (and the Audience Cam), and a facetious letter-answering segment. The Top 10 list, Stupid Human Tricks, Small Town News, and Stupid Pet Tricks (the last one originating in the morning show) eventually moved with Letterman to CBS.
Other memorable moments included Letterman once using a bullhorn to interrupt a live interview on The Today Show, announcing that he was the NBC president and not wearing any pants; interrupting Al Roker on the Live at Five local news by walking into their studio which occupied the same building as Letterman's studio; and staging elevator races with commentary by NBC Sports' Bob Costas. In one highly publicized appearance, Andy Kaufman appeared to be slapped and knocked to the ground by professional wrestler Jerry Lawler. (Lawler and Kaufman's friend Bob Zmuda later revealed that the event was staged.)
Late Show with David Letterman
Letterman remained with NBC for eleven years. Letterman had become very successful, and enjoyed high ratings in the 12:30 A.M. time slot. By the time Johnny Carson retired in 1992, Letterman expected to be considered for the host of The Tonight Show. He did not know that months earlier NBC had signed Jay Leno (then the regular "Tonight" substitute host) to a contract guaranteeing him as the next permanent host.
Feeling scorned by NBC, in 1993 Letterman departed the network to host his own show opposite Tonight on CBS at 11:30 p.m., Late Show with David Letterman. Three years later, HBO produced a made-for-television movie called The Late Shift, based on a book by New York Times reporter Bill Carter, chronicling the battle between Letterman and Jay Leno for the coveted Tonight Show hosting spot. Letterman would mock the film for months afterward, specifically on how the actor playing him, John Michael Higgins, did not resemble him in the least. ("They took a guy who looked nothing like me and with make-up and special camera angles, turned him into a guy who looked nothing like me, with red hair.") Carson later made a few cameo appearances as a guest on Dave's show. Carson's final television appearance came on a Late Show episode taped in Los Angeles, when he made a surprise appearance during a 'Top 10 list' segment. The audience went wild as Letterman stood up and proudly invited Carson to sit at his desk. The overwhelming applause was so protracted that Carson was unable to say anything, and he finally returned backstage as the applause continued (it was later explained that Carson had laryngitis).
Popularity
The Late Show competes in the same time slot as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. For its first 18 months, The Late Show consistently gained higher ratings than Tonight. But in 1995, ratings dipped and Leno's show has consistently beat Letterman's in the ratings ever since. At one point Leno's lead was as large as two million viewers, but narrowed, as of February 2005, to fewer than a million viewers (5.8 versus 4.9 million).
Letterman's shows have garnered both critical and industry praise, receiving 67 Emmy Award nominations, winning twelve times in his first 20 years in late night television. Letterman has consistently ranked higher than Leno in the annual Harris Poll of Nation's Favorite TV Personality. For example, in 2004 Letterman ranked second in that poll, behind only Oprah Winfrey, while Leno was ranked number 5. In 2008, however, the same poll ranked Leno as America's favorite TV personality for the first time, moving up from number 3 in 2007. Oprah Winfrey came in at number 4 in 2008 and Letterman was ranked fifth.
Heart surgery hiatus
On January 14, 2000, a routine check-up revealed that an artery in Letterman's heart was severely constricted. He was rushed to emergency surgery for a quintuple bypass.
During the initial weeks of his recovery, friends of Letterman introduced reruns of the Late Show, including Drew Barrymore, Ray Romano, Robin Williams, Bonnie Hunt, Megan Mullally, Bill Murray, Regis Philbin, Charles Grodin, Nathan Lane, Julia Roberts, Bruce Willis, Jerry Seinfeld, Martin Short, Steven Segal, Hillary Clinton, Danny DeVito, Steve Martin, and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Subsequently, while still recovering from surgery, Letterman revived the late night tradition that had virtually disappeared on network television during the 1990s of 'guest hosts' by allowing Bill Cosby, Kathie Lee Gifford (recommended by Regis, who was asked first but had no time in his schedule), Dana Carvey, Janeane Garofalo, and others to host new episodes of The Late Show. Cosby, the show's first guest host, refused to sit at Letterman's desk out of respect, using the couch instead; Garofalo followed suit, utilizing a set of grade-school desks instead.
Upon his return to the show on February 21, 2000, a visibly thinner and weakened Letterman brought all of the doctors and nurses on stage who had participated in his surgery and recovery (with extra teasing of a nurse who had given him bed baths—"This woman has seen me naked!"), including Dr. O. Wayne Isom and physician Louis J. Aronne, who frequently appears on the show. In an unusual show of emotion, Letterman was nearly in tears as he thanked the health care team with the words "These are the people who saved my life!" The episode earned an Emmy nomination. For a number of episodes, Letterman continued to crack jokes about his bypass, including saying, "Bypass surgery - it's when doctors surgically create new blood flow to your heart. A bypass is what happened to me when I didn't get The Tonight Show! It's a whole different thing." In a later running gag he lobbied his home state of Indiana to rename the freeway circling Indianapolis (I-465) "The David Letterman Bypass." He also featured a montage of faux news coverage of his bypass surgery, which included a clip of Dave's heart for sale on the Home Shopping Network. Letterman became friends with his doctors and nurses. In 2008, a Rolling Stone interview stated "he hosted a doctor and nurse who'd helped perform the emergency quintuple-bypass heart surgery that saved his life in 2000. 'These are people who were complete strangers when they opened my chest,' he says. 'And now, eight years later, they're among my best friends.' "
Additionally, Letterman invited the band Foo Fighters to play "Everlong," introducing them as "my favorite band, playing my favorite song." During a later Foo Fighters appearance, Letterman said that the Foo Fighters had been in the middle of a South American tour which they canceled to come play on his comeback episode.
Letterman again handed over the reins of the show to several guest hosts (including Bill Cosby, Brad Garrett, Elvis Costello, John McEnroe, Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell, Bonnie Hunt, Luke Wilson and bandleader Paul Shaffer) in February 2003, when he was diagnosed with a severe case of shingles. Later that year, Letterman made regular use of guest hosts, including Tom Arnold and Kelsey Grammer, for new shows broadcast on Fridays. In March 2007, Adam Sandler, who had been scheduled to be the lead guest, served as a guest host while Letterman was ill with a stomach virus.
Contract renewed
In March 2002, as Letterman's contract with CBS neared expiration, ABC expressed the intention to offer Letterman the time slot for long-running news program Nightline with Ted Koppel, citing more desirable viewer demographics. This caused a minor flap that ended when Letterman re-signed with CBS. Letterman addressed his decision to re-sign on the air, stating that he was content at CBS and that he had great respect for Koppel.
On December 4, 2006, CBS revealed that David Letterman signed a new contract to host The Late Show with David Letterman through the fall of 2010.
"I'm thrilled to be continuing on at CBS," said Letterman. "At my age you really don't want to have to learn a new commute." Letterman further joked about the subject by pulling up his right pants leg, revealing a tattoo, presumably temporary, of the ABC logo.
"Thirteen years ago, David Letterman put CBS late night on the map and in the process became one of the defining icons of our network," said Leslie Moonves, president and CEO of CBS Corporation. "His presence on our air is an ongoing source of pride, and the creativity and imagination that the Late Show puts forth every night is an ongoing display of the highest quality entertainment. We are truly honored that one of the most revered and talented entertainers of our time will continue to call CBS 'home.' "
According to Forbes magazine, Letterman earns $40 million a year. Only sixteen entertainers earn more. Leno, with higher ratings, is #23 with $32 million, but Letterman owns a piece of his show. Letterman's "WorldWide Pants" also produced hits such as Everybody Loves Raymond.
2007/2008 Writers' Strike
The Late Show went off air for 8 weeks during the months of November and December due to the Writers Guild of America strike. David Letterman's production company Worldwide Pants was the first company to make an individual agreement with the WGA, thus allowing his show to come back on air on January 2, 2008. On his first episode since being off air, he surprised the viewing audience with his newly grown beard. His beard was shaved off during the show on January 7, 2008.
Academy Awards hosting
In early 1995, it was announced Letterman would host that year's 67th Academy Awards ceremony on March 27. Critics blasted Letterman for what they deemed a poor hosting of the Oscars, noting that his irreverent style undermined the importance and glamor of the event. In a joke about their unusual names, he started off by introducing Uma Thurman to Oprah Winfrey, and then the both of them to Keanu Reeves: "Uma...Oprah! Oprah...Uma! Oprah, Uma...Keanu!" This and many of his other jokes fell flat. Although Letterman attracted the highest ratings to the annual telecast since 1983, many felt that the bad publicity garnered by Letterman's hosting caused a decline in the Late Shows ratings.
Letterman recycled the apparent debacle into a long-running gag. On his first show after the Oscars, he joked, "Looking back, I had no idea that thing was being televised." For years afterward, Letterman recounted his horrible hosting at the Oscars, although the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences still holds Letterman in high regard and has repeatedly asked Letterman to host the Oscars again.
Letterman and Carson
In early 2005, it was revealed that retired Tonight Show host Johnny Carson still kept up with current events and late-night TV right up to his death that year, and that he occasionally sent jokes to Letterman, who used these jokes in his monologue; according to CBS senior vice president Peter Lassally (a onetime producer for both men), Carson got "a big kick out of it." Letterman would do a characteristic Johnny Carson golf swing after delivering one of Carson's jokes. In a tribute to Carson, all of the opening monologue jokes during the first show following Carson's death were written by Carson.
Lassally also claimed that Carson had always believed Letterman, not Leno, to be his "rightful successor." Letterman also frequently employs some of Carson's trademark bits on his show, including "Carnac the Magnificent" (with Paul Shaffer as Carnac), "Stump the Band" and the "Week in Review."
Letterman and Oprah Winfrey
On September 10, 2007, Letterman made his first appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show at Madison Square Garden in New York. He shared pictures of his son and live-in girlfriend. The so-called "feud" between Letterman and Winfrey ended in 2005 when Winfrey appeared on CBS' Late Show with David Letterman on December 2. Oprah had previously appeared on Letterman's show when he was hosting NBC's Late Night on May 2, 1989.
Winfrey and Letterman also appeared together in a Late Show promo that aired during CBS' coverage of Super Bowl XLI in February 2007, with the two sitting next to each other on the couch watching the game. Since the game was played between the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears, the Indianapolis-born Letterman wears a Peyton Manning jersey, while Winfrey, who tapes her show in Chicago, is in a Brian Urlacher jersey.
Letterman and Conan O'Brien
After Letterman left Late Night on NBC, his hosting duties were passed to Conan O'Brien. During O'Brien's rocky first year as host of Late Night, Letterman was very supportive, making an amicable appearance as one of O'Brien's first guests and later filling O'Brien's audience with the stand-by audience from his own show. Letterman also invited O'Brien as a guest on the Late Show. In 1996, when O'Brien celebrated his third year on the air, Letterman showed up again in a bit involving a "stray" hairpiece that once belonged to him. Years later, when NBC announced that O'Brien would take over The Tonight Show, Letterman congratulated O'Brien.
Other projects
Worldwide Pants
Letterman started his own production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated, which produces his show and several others, including Everybody Loves Raymond, The Late Late Show, and several critically acclaimed, but short-lived television series for Bonnie Hunt. Worldwide Pants also produced the dramedy program Ed, starring Tom Cavanagh, which aired on NBC from 2000–2004. It was Letterman's first association with NBC since he left the network in 1993. During Ed's run, Cavanagh appeared as a guest on The Late Show several times.
In 2005, Worldwide Pants produced its first feature film, Strangers with Candy, which was a prequel to the Comedy Central TV series, Strangers with Candy. In 2007, Worldwide Pants produced the ABC comedy series, The Knights Of Prosperity.
Worldwide Pants made significant news in December 2007 when it was announced that Letterman's company had independently negotiated its own contract with the Writers Guild of America, East, thus allowing Letterman, Craig Ferguson, and their writers to return to work, while the union continued its strike against production companies, networks and studios who had not reached an agreement.
Rahal Letterman Racing
Rahal Letterman Racing (RLR) is an auto racing team that currently races in the Indy Racing League. It is co-owned by 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal and Letterman himself, and is based in Hilliard, Ohio. The team won the 2004 Indianapolis 500 with driver Buddy Rice.
American Foundation for Courtesy and Grooming
American Foundation for Courtesy and Grooming is Letterman's private foundation. Through it, Letterman has donated millions of dollars to charities and other non-profits in Indiana and Montana, celebrity-affiliated organizations such as Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, universities such as Ball State, and other organizations such as the American Cancer Society, Salvation Army and Doctors without Borders.
David Letterman Communication and Media Building
On September 7, 2007, Letterman visited his alma mater, Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, for the dedication of a communications facility named in his honor. The $21 million, David Letterman Communication and Media Building opened for the 2007 Fall semester. It features state-of-the-art recording equipment and facilities. Thousands of Ball State students, faculty, and local residents welcomed Letterman back to Indiana. Letterman's emotional speech touched on his struggles as a college student and his late father, and also included the "top ten good things about having your name on a building."
Letterman received the honor for his dedication to the university throughout his career as a comedian. Letterman finished with, "If reasonable people can put my name on a $21 million building, anything is possible."
Letterman also received a Sagamore of the Wabash from Governor Mitch Daniels.
Appearances in other media
Letterman appeared in issue 239 of the Marvel comic book The Avengers, in which the title characters are guests on Late Night. A parody of Letterman, called "David Endocrine", is gassed to death along with his bandleader named "Paul" and their audience in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns.
Letterman provided vocals for the Warren Zevon song "Hit Somebody" from My Ride's Here, and provided the voice for Butt-head's father in the 1996 animated film, Beavis and Butt-head Do America. He also had a cameo in the feature film Cabin Boy, with Chris Elliott, who worked as a writer on Letterman's show. In this and other appearances, Letterman is listed in the credits as "Earl Hofert", the name of Letterman's maternal grandfather. He also appeared in a few episodes of The Larry Sanders Show.
Personal life
David Letterman was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. His father, Harry Joseph Letterman, was a florist who died in 1973; his mother Dorothy Letterman (née Hofert, now Dorothy Mengering) (born August 12, 1921), a Presbyterian church secretary of German descent, is an occasional figure on the show, usually at holidays and birthdays. He has an older sister Janice and a younger sister Gretchen.
Letterman lived near the Indianapolis Speedway and enjoyed collecting model cars, including racers. In 2000 he would tell an interviewer for Esquire that while he was growing up he admired his father's ability to tell jokes and be the life of the party. David Letterman's father, Harry Joseph Letterman, had a heart attack when he was only 36 years old and Dave was just a young boy. The fear of losing his dad was constantly with Letterman as he grew up. Harry Joseph Letterman died of a second heart attack at age 57.
Letterman attended his hometown's Broad Ripple High School. According to the Ball State Daily News, he originally had wanted to attend Indiana University, but his grades weren't good enough, so he decided to attend Ball State University, in Muncie, Indiana. He was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, and he graduated from what was then called the Department of Radio and Television, in 1969. Letterman began his broadcasting career as an announcer and newscaster at the college's student-run radio station, WBST, a 10-watt campus station that is today part of Indiana public radio. He was fired for treating classical music with irreverence.
Letterman then became involved with the founding of another campus station, WAGO-AM 570 (now known as WCRD, 91.3).
In 1969, Letterman married Michelle Cook; the marriage ended by divorce in 1977. He also had a long-term relationship with former head writer and producer on Late Night, Merrill Markoe.
Beginning in May 1988, Letterman was stalked by Margaret Mary Ray, a woman suffering from schizophrenia. Letterman occasionally referenced her in his show, although not by name. She committed suicide in 1998.
Letterman has a son, Harry Joseph (born November 3, 2003), with longtime girlfriend Regina Lasko. Harry is named after Letterman's father. The family resides in North Salem, New York on a estate.
In 2005, police foiled a plot to kidnap Harry Letterman and ransom him for $5 million. Kelly Frank, a house painter who had worked for Letterman, was charged in the conspiracy.
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