David Letterman is an American television personality, comedian, writer and producer who rose to fame after hosting Late Night with David Letterman on NBC. He became the longest-serving talk show host, serving a total of 33 years from 1982 to 2015, after hosting a total of 6,028 episodes of Late Night and Late Show. He has a huge following with over 350,000 followers on Twitter.

Born name

David Michael Letterman

nickname

Earl Hofert, Dave the tall man

Sun sign

Aries

Place of birth

Indianapolis, Indiana, United States

Residence

New York City, New York, United States

nationality

training

Letterman attended Broad Ripple High School in his neighborhood. He ended up attending Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, but his grades were not good enough to get him into Indiana University. He is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and received a scholarship during his studies. In 1969 he graduated from what was then the Department of Radio and Television .

occupation

TV presenter, comedian, author, producer

family

• Father – Harry Joseph Letterman (florist) (died of heart attack in 1973)
• Mother – Dorothy Marie Letterman Mengering (née Hofert) (Church Secretary in the Second Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis) (died 2017)
• Siblings – Janice Letterman (older sister), Gretchen Letterman (younger sister) (journalist and editor of the St. Petersburg Times Lifestyles Section)
• Others – Earl Jacob Hofert Jr. (maternal uncle) (died 2009), Hazel Hofert (maternal aunt) (died 2017), Hans Mengering (stepfather) (died 2013), Earl Jacob Hofert (maternal grandfather), Lena M. (b . Strietelmeier) (Maternal Grandmother), Liam Letterman Shelton (Nephew) (Gretchen’s Son)

Manager

David is represented by California-based Creative Artists Agency.

Genre

Soundtrack

instruments

Life

labels

unknown

Build

Slim

Height

188 cm (6 ft 2 in)

weight

78 kg or 172 lbs

girlfriend/spouse

David Letterman has dated –

1. Michelle Cook (1968-1977) – Michelle and Letterman were high school friends and married on July 2, 1968 in Muncie, Indiana. They were a very young couple who had married in their early 20s. Unfortunately, they decided to divorce in October 1977 after spending almost 10 years together.
2. Merrill Markoe (1978-1988) – After his divorce, David found camaraderie with Merrill Markoe, who was a former head writer and producer on Late Night . They were in a live-in relationship from 1978 to 1988. Merrill was his writing partner and is credited with propelling David into the limelight and cementing his surreal brand of comedy.
3. Regina Lasko (1986-Present) – Towards the end of his relationship with Markoe, he formed a new alliance with Regina Lasko. They began dating in February 1986 and had a son together, David’s only child, Harry Joseph Letterman, on November 3, 2003. Harry is named after his late grandfather. After living together for more than two decades, the couple closed a court ceremony in Montana on March 19, 2009.
4. Holly Hester – In 2009, former CBS contributor Holly Hester came forward to claim that she had a year-long secret affair with Letterman while she was an intern in the early 1990s.
5. Stephanie Birkitt – Stephanie Birkitt was a longtime assistant to David, who later became a lawyer. In light of the scandal surrounding his extramarital affairs in 2009, their secret relationship took a backseat. Birkitt was dating CBS television producer Joe Halderman in 2009 when he found out about her secret affair with Letterman. Joe came across copies of her diary and emails while living together and used this evidence to send a blackmail package in Letterman’s car. He tried to extort $2 million by threatening to expose his past affairs. Joe was sentenced to 6 months in prison for his attempt at extortion.
6. Terri Garr – Terri Garr is an American actress, known for appearing on Late Night several times. Her sparkling chemistry with David Letterman and on-screen flirtation soon caught audiences’ attention. They were rumored to be dating in 1990.
7. Bonnie Hunt (2008) – Bonnie Hunt is another actress rumored to be dating David Letterman. After the end of Hunt’s two-decade marriage to investment banker husband John Murphy in 2008, many believed her affair with Letterman was the reason for the split. However, no concrete evidence of this could be found.

race/ethnicity

White

He is of German descent on his mother’s side and has English, Scottish and German ancestry on his father’s side.

hair colour

dark brown

With age, his hair has turned gray.

eye color

Blau

sexual orientation

Just

distinguishing features

The gap between his front teeth

brand promotion

David Letterman has endorsed –

• Google
• CBS TV spot for the Red Cross
• AT & T
• Super Bowl

Religion

presbyterianisch

David has followed religion since childhood as it was a part of his upbringing.

Known for

• He was a talk show host for 33 years from 1982 to 2015
• His late night talk show Late Night with David Letterman on NBC
• The popularity of his nominated shows, which received countless Emmy awards throughout his career

As a singer

David performed the song on his show on the Late Show with David Letterman in 2010, however his performance was uncredited.His first appearance was in 2011 when he performed the song Just Like We Were on The Late Show with David Letterman .

first movie

He made his cinema debut with the adventure film Cabin Boy in 1994, playing the role of Old Salt in the Fishing Village .

First TV show

Letterman made his television debut on the comedy game show The Gong Show in 1976.

Personal trainer

Information about his exercise routine and diet plan is not known.

David Letterman Dinge

• Movie – Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
• Song – I’ll Be There (Anytime You Want Me) by The Spinners, Everlong by Foo Fighters
• Band – Foo Fighters
• Musician – Warren Zevon

David Letterman Facts

1. He was considered a fan favorite to succeed the host of The Tonight Show . After Johnny Carson retired in 1992, NBC hired Jay Leno to host the show, prompting Letterman to leave NBC and start his own show, the Late Show with David Letterman on CBS at the same time. Both the shows and the hosts became competitors, vying for the highest rating throughout their tenure as hosts of the respective shows.
2. He is partner of the Rahal Letterman LaniganRacing is a car racing team along with Bobby Rahal (former car racer) and businessman Michael Lanigan. The team was crowned champion at the 2004 Indianapolis 500 with driver Buddy Rice.
3. David owns a production company called Pants Worldwide that was founded in 1991. He also previously owned 2 other production companies called Space Age Meat and Cardboard Shoe Productions .
4. Working on the Late Night Show, he hadn’t missed a single day of work in his 18-year career. However, the successful streak was cut short when he underwent quintuple bypass surgery in January 2000.
5. Letterman was included in People Magazine’s list of “25 Most Fascinating People of 2001”.
6. In 2012 he received the Kennedy Center Honors along with the likes of Dustin Hoffman, Buddy Guy, Natalia Makarova and the rock band Led Zeppelin.
7. His mother, Dorothy Mengering, died of natural causes on April 11, 2017. This was the day just before Letterman’s 70th birthday.
8. Letterman has a total of 6,028 episodes of The Late Night and The Late Show , making him the longest-serving talk show host in American television history. His feat also managed to surpass the records set by his good friend and mentor, Johnny Carson.
9. David is known for his harsh tone, which was also responsible for his 16-year feud with Oprah Winfrey. The discord began when Winfrey appeared on his 1989 Late Night Show on NBC. She later confessed that she was uncomfortable with his tone and didn’t want to experience it again. However, the two buried the hatchet when she appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman on December 2, 2005. He referred to the specific episode as “The Superbowl of Love.”
10. When he made a joke about the death of al-Qaeda leader Ilyas Kashmiri, he immediately became the subject of death threats. In August 2011, the Islamist militant reportedly urged American Muslims to kill Letterman for the joke.
11. In 2005, his painter Kelly Frank became involved in a conspiracy to kidnap Letterman’s son Harry and extort a $5 million ransom. The police found out in time and conspiracy charges were brought against Frank.
12. His show The Late Show with David Letterman ranked seventh on TV Guide’s 50 Greatest Shows of All Time in 2002.
13. He suffers from tinnitus, which is characterized by ringing in the ears and is considered a symptom of hearing loss. In 1996 on The Late Show he mentioned hearing noises and ringtones throughout the day.
14. David, in collaboration with Canadian author Bruce McCall, published a satirical fiction book called This Country Was Made for You and Me (But Mainly Me) in November 2013.
15. He inducted the rock band into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame before Pearl Jam in April 2017.
16. Letterman had revealed that he was a “terrible” person who started drinking when he was 13 and managed to kick the habit in 1981 at the age of 34.
17. Margaret Mary Ray gained national attention as Letterman’s Stalker of May 1988. Suffering from schizophrenia, she had managed to steal his Porsche, break into his home multiple times and also camp out on his tennis court. She committed suicide in October 1998 and Letterman expressed his sorrow at her sad death.
18. David is a car enthusiast and has an impressive car collection. In 2012 his collection included 10 Ferraris, 8 Porsches, 4 Austin Healeys, 2 Honda motorcycles, 1 Chevy pickup, 1 Mercedes-Benz, 1 MG, 1 Volvo, 1 Pontiac and 1 Jaguar.
19. In 2009, Letterman admitted to having extramarital affairs with his female employees. After being blackmailed and threatened to reveal his affairs in a screenplay or book if he didn’t meet the $2 million ransom, he decided to settle his previous affairs. Letterman sought police help and caught Joe Halderman performing a stab operation, who was eventually charged with grand larceny in October 2009.
20. Around the same time, he issued an audience apology to his wife and collaborators on his show. On October 15, CBS announced an in-depth investigation into Letterman, but many prominent media figures began to question the unfairness of the work environment created for women in entertainment.
21. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.