Letterman, David

Letterman, David

(born April 12, 1947, Indianapolis, Ind., U.S.) U.S. television talk-show host. He began his career as a stand-up comedian and was a guest host of Johnny Carson's Tonight Show from 1979. He hosted NBC's post-midnight Late Night with David Letterman (1982–93), winning six Emmy Awards and great popularity with his ironic, abrasive, flippant style of interviewing, which critics viewed as a parody of talk shows. Since 1993 he hosted The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS.

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Letterman, David (1947–  ) television comedian; born in Indianapolis, Ind. He studied radio and television at Ball State University (Muncie, Ind.) (B.A. 1970), then worked as a television weatherman and radio talk-show host in Indiana before coming to New York to write comedy material for several major television comedians and specials. He became well known as a brash guest host for Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show during the 1978–80 seasons. His own weekly David Letterman Show on NBC-TV in 1980 failed to take off, but in 1982 NBC-TV gave him the time slot following Johnny Carson: Late Night with David Letterman soon became popular with young people by mixing the usual talk-show ingredients of celebrity guests and music with his irreverent manner and zany comic stunts. After NBC-TV rejected him as the replacement for the retiring Johnny Carson, in 1993 he moved to CBS-TV to host the Late Show with David Letterman.