Who is david letterman

He often does an in-joke that only his studio audience will understand. This is done by speaking with the audience before taping begins and finding out where people are from, what they do, etc. During the opening monologue, he will then make a reference to one of the audience members.

Was a writer on the s comedy series Good Times , as was his current late night talk show competitor Jay Leno. Auditioned for the role of Ted Stryker in Airplane! In February , an emergency group of guest hosts had to be called to fill in on the Late Show with David Letterman , when Letterman was suddenly debilitated with a bout of shingles. He would telephone in comedic "reports", allegedly from the Indiana State Fair, using the name Moferd Pardo.

Early in his television career, Dave did some ring announcing work for an Indianapolis wrestling promotion run by Dick the Bruiser Dick Afflis.

Pencils used at his talk show desk have erasers at both ends. This is so no one is injured when he throws them. Married his second wife Regina Lasko in a courthouse ceremony near their ranch home in Montana.

Wrote jokes for Jimmie Walker 's stand-up act and his series Good Times Recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors. Announced his retirement on April 3, , with guest star Johnny Depp. His father had English, Scots-Irish, and German ancestry. His mother's family was of German descent. On the last show, David Letterman held a pencil with an eraser on each end. This was a reference to his hero, Johnny Carson, who also had used such a pencil as a prop on the Tonight Show.

Turned down numerous offers to host "Saturday Night Live" because he felt he was terrible at sketch comedy. His time on Mary Tyler Moore's variety show convinced him of that. Like fellow talk show host Johnny Carson , Letterman is also known to be a very private man. David Letterman's Mother Dorothy Mengering died at the age of 95 on April 11, just one day before David Letterman's 70th birthday.

Neil Young was originally supposed to induct the band, but Young was forced to back out due to illness. We can all sleep easy at night knowing that somewhere at any given time, the Foo Fighters are out there fighting Foo.

If it wasn't for the coffee, I'd have no identifiable personality whatsover. The weather's so cold in New York right now. And when I walked through Central Park this morning, I saw a squirrel warming up his nuts! There's not a man, woman or child on the face of the earth who doesn't enjoy a tasty beverage. Am I either one? Absolutely not. Ladies and gentlemen, I am an American. If it weren't for Johnny [ Johnny Carson ], I'd have no career. The worst tempered people I have ever met were those who knew that they were wrong.

It's very simple. There's only one requirement of any of us, and that is to be courageous. Because courage, as you might know, defines all other human behavior. And, I believe - because I've done a little of this myself - pretending to be courageous is just as good as the real thing. I'll be long gone. By the time the kid's out stealing cars, you know, Dad will be dead a few years. He's able to communicate the idea that 'Shouldn't we, as a group, think this is absurd?

And if you live to be a thousand, will that make any sense to you? Will that make any goddamn sense? If you have four funny stories, you can be a guest on this show. That's what we're looking for. It's a tip I learned from Rosie O'Donnell. You're more like a human shield. He never had any retort. He was big and doughy, and you could beat him up. He seemed to have a good time, and the audience loved it, and that was him beyond that, I remember a friend in the PR business told me that he knew for a fact that he would never run for president; he was just monkeying around for the publicity.

So I assumed that was the story and now it turns out he's the president. View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro. Getting Started Contributor Zone ». Edit page. Create a list ». Favorite Television Personalities. Funniest comedians. See all related lists ». Share this page:. Clear your history. Regina Lasko 19 March - present 1 child Michelle A.

Cook 2 July - 13 October divorced. In , he became Carson's regular guest host, and in , he was offered his own daytime show, the David Letterman Show. The show only lasted for three months, but was a critical success, and convinced NBC-TV to give the young comedian a late-night show following Carson's The Tonight Show.

The late-late show hour was well-suited to Letterman's brash and quirky humor. Late Night with David Letterman soon became popular with a young audience by mixing the usual talk-show ingredients of celebrity guests and music with his irreverent manner and zany comic stunts.

Letterman's signature features included The Top Ten List, Stupid Pet Tricks along with its companion, Stupid Human Tricks , Viewer Mail and pencils tossed at the camera and at the set behind him, "breaking" the non-existent glass with a cued crash sound. He also became known for his parody sketches that targeted the obviously weak acting abilities of his bandleader, Paul Shaffer and other members of The World's Most Dangerous Band , stagehand Biff Henderson and general oddball Larry "Bud" Melman.

He also founded his own production company, Worldwide Pants, that same year, which bought a stake in his new show. His displeasure with NBC executives was fodder for his monologues, and when they blocked him from transferring regular features of his show to CBS claiming it was NBC's "intellectual property" that, too, was mocked on air.

The years that followed this head-to-head competition spawned a book and cable movie documenting the late-night talk show "wars. On January 14, , Letterman had underwent emergency quintuple heart bypass surgery. In typical Letterman fashion, the recovering patient joked that "in addition to rerouting the arteries, they also installed an E-Z pass.

In , he was ranked as No. In , Forbes also listed Letterman as No. The magazine cited Letterman's Peabody Award-winning company, Worldwide Pants, as one of the secrets behind his wealth and power; in addition to Letterman's show, the company produced successful comedies such as Everybody Loves Raymond and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

In April , David Letterman announced his plans to retire in , and Stephen Colbert was named as his replacement. In October , Letterman was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor which "recognizes people who have had an impact on American society in ways similar to the distinguished 19th century novelist and essayist best known as Mark Twain. Two years after his retirement, the longtime host announced his return to television in a new talk show series on Netflix, titled My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman.

Thanks for watching, drive safely. With musical contributions from his old bandleader, Shaffer, and sporting a massive gray beard, Letterman debuted My Next Guest Needs No Introduction on January 12, , with former President Barack Obama as his first guest.

Following its six-episode first season, season 2 arrived in May Letterman is known for successfully keeping his romantic and private life under tight wraps from the media. He then began a relationship with production manager Regina Lasko in the mid '80s.

Letterman and Lasko celebrated the birth of their son in , and named him after the TV host's father, Harry Joseph Letterman. On March 19, , the couple wed in a private courthouse ceremony in Choteau, Montana, and Letterman announced his nuptials during the taping of his March 23rd show.

Only months later, their relationship was rocked by a cheating scandal. On October 1, , Letterman announced on his show that he was the victim of an extortion attempt related to his infidelity.