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Letterman was born in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Letterman's father, Harry Joe Letterman, was a
florist who passed away in 1974; his mother
Dorothy, a Presbyterianism|Presbyterian church
secretary, is a regular personality on his talk
show.  He has an older sister, Janice, and a
younger sister, Gretchen.  One of his early
comedic influences was the talk show host Paul
Dixon, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, but whose shows
also aired in Indianapolis.  He graduated from
Broad Ripple High School in Indianapolis and
attended Ball State University, receiving a B.A.
in telecommunications in 1969. At Ball State he
was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.  He also
began his broadcasting career at Ball State's
student run radio station, WAGO - AM 570 (Now
known as WCRD "Cardinal Radio Dave", 91.3).  A
rare aircheck of Letterman on WAGO can be heard
http://www.reelradio.com/tc/index.html#dlwago69
here.

== Career ==
Letterman began work as a radio talk show host and
on television as an anchor and weatherman for what
became WTHR in Indianapolis. He received
recognition for his unpredictable on-air behavior,
which included erasing state borders from the
weather map and predicting hail stones "the size
of canned hams." One night he reportedly upset his
bosses when he congratulated a tropical storm on
being upgraded to a hurricane.

In 1975, Letterman moved to California with hopes
of becoming a comedy writer and started writing
material for sitcoms, such as Good Times. He also
began performing stand-up comedy at The Comedy
Store, a famed Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles
comedy club and proving ground for young comics.

Letterman had a stint as a cast member on Mary
Tyler Moore's variety show Mary (TV series)|Mary,
a guest appearance on Mork & Mindy, and
appearances on game shows such as The $20,000
Pyramid. His dry, sarcastic humor caught the
attention of talent scouts for Johnny Carson's The
Tonight Show, and starting in 1978 in
television|1978, Letterman became a regular guest
host for the show.

Letterman was given his own morning comedy show on
NBC, The David Letterman Show.  The show was a
critical success, winning two Emmy Awards and
receiving five nominations, but ended up being a
ratings disappointment, and was cancelled after a
brief run during the summer of 1980.  However, NBC
kept Letterman under contract, and in 1982 in
television|1982, his Late Night with David
Letterman debuted on the network.

Letterman's show, which ran late on weeknights
immediately following The Tonight Show, quickly
established a reputation as being edgy and
unpredictable, and soon developed a cult
following.  The show was markedly different than
the soft-sell talk-show competition, and Letterman
the interviewer could be sarcastic and
antagonistic, to the point that a number of
celebrities have even stated that they were afraid
of appearing on the show.  Letterman's reputation
as a testy interviewer was born out of moments
like his verbal sparring matches with Cher
(entertainer)|Cher, Madonna on Letterman|Madonna,
and Shirley MacLaine.

The show often included quirky, genre-mocking
regular features, such as "Stupid Pet Tricks", the
Top 10 List, and a facetious letter-answering
segment on Fridays. Other memorable moments
included Letterman using a bullhorn to interrupt
The Today Show TV program, which was on the air
conducting a live interview at the time,
announcing that he was not wearing any pants;
interrupting Al Roker on the Live_at_Five|live
local news by walking into the studio; and the
outrageous appearances by comedian Andy Kaufman
and comic book writer, Harvey Pekar. In one highly
publicized appearance, 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
work (professional wrestling)|staged.) Letterman
also made use of the Manhattan location of his NBC
studio, often staging comedy bits on the streets
and businesses surrounding the theater.

Letterman remained with NBC for eleven years. When
Johnny Carson announced that he would retire in
May 1992, a protracted, multi-lateral battle
erupted over who would replace the long-time
Tonight host.  Eventually, executives at NBC
announced Carson's frequent guest-host Jay Leno as
Carson's replacement.  Letterman, a protégé of
Carson's and who had frequently credited Carson
with boosting his career, was reportedly bitterly
disappointed and angry at not having been given
the Tonight Show  job. In 1993, after receiving
advice from Carson, Letterman moved to CBS to host
a new show, The Late Show with David Letterman. 
In 1996, HBO produced a made-for-television movie
called The Late Shift, based on a book by Bill
Carter, chronicling the battle between Letterman
and Leno for the coveted Tonight Show hosting
spot.

The Late Show competes in the same time slot as
Leno's The Tonight Show. Letterman has garnered
both critical and industry praise; his show has
received 67 Emmy Award nominations, winning twelve
times in his first twenty years in late night
television. Leno consistently beats Letterman in
the ratings, a lead that's grown over the years to
two million viewers (5.8 vs. 3.8 million) as of
2003. Yet Letterman has consistently ranked higher
than Leno in the annual Harris Poll of Nation's
Favorite TV Personality; as of 2003 Letterman
ranked third in that poll, behind Oprah Winfrey
and Ray Romano, while Leno ranked ninth.

Letterman started his own production company,
Worldwide Pants Incorporated, which produces his
show and several others, including Everybody Loves
Raymond, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,
and several critically acclaimed, but short-lived
television series for Bonnie Hunt.

In January of 2000, Letterman underwent quintuple
heart bypass surgery. During his recovery, friends
of Letterman hosted reruns of the Late Show,
including Drew Barrymore, Ray Romano, Robin
Williams, Bill Murray, Kathie Lee Gifford, Regis
Philbin, Charles Grodin, Julia Roberts, Bill
Cosby, Bruce Willis, Jerry Seinfeld, Martin Short,
Danny DeVito, Steve Martin and Sarah Jessica
Parker.  Upon his return to the show on February
21, 2000, Letterman brought onstage all of the
doctors that had performed the operation,
including Dr. O. Wayne Isom and physician Louis J.
Aronne, who makes frequent appearances on the
show. In an unusual show of emotion, Letterman was
nearly in tears as he thanked the doctors. The
episode earned an Emmy nomination.

On September 17, 2001, David Letterman was the
first major United States|American comedy
performer to return to the television airwaves
after the September 11, 2001 attacks|September 11,
2001 terrorist attacks. In his opening monologue,
an uncharacteristically serious and very emotional
Letterman struggled with the reality of the
attacks and the role of comedy in a post-9/11
world, saying, "We're told that they were zealots
fueled by religious fervor...religious
fervor...and if you live to be a thousand years
old will that make any sense to you? Will that
make any goddamn sense?"

In March 2002, as Letterman's contract with CBS
was expiring, American Broadcasting
Corporation|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
and offered public apologies to Koppel.

In late February 2003, Letterman was diagnosed
with a severe case of shingles. As a result, and
for the first time since his bypass surgery,
Letterman handed the reins of the show to several
guest hosts including actor Bruce Willis, former
professional tennis player John McEnroe, actor
Luke Wilson, bandleader Paul Shaffer, comedian
Bonnie Hunt, morning talk host Regis Philbin, rock
musician Elvis Costello, Brad Garrett from
Everybody Loves Raymond, comedians Tom Arnold
(actor)|Tom Arnold, Bill Cosby, and Tom Green, as
well as other prominent Hollywood performers.

In early 2005, it was revealed that retired King
of Late Night 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. Letterman then used these
jokes in the monologue of his show, which,
according to CBS senior vice president Peter
Lassally (a onetime producer for both men),
"Johnny gets a big kick out of." Lassally also
claimed that Carson had always believed Letterman,
not Leno, to be his "rightful successor."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6841123/ 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."  On
Letterman's first show following Carson's passing,
all of the jokes in the opening monologue were
reportedly written by the late Carson.

== His guests ==
According to the Late Show Newsletter, the
following comedians have appeared most frequently
on Letterman's two late-night talk shows 2004 in
television|as of April 2004:
*George Miller (comedian)|George Miller (55
appearances, plus four "From My Room" taped
segments)
*Richard Lewis (52 appearances)
*Jay Leno (40)
*Robert Klein (37)
*Jeff Altman (36)
*Billy Crystal (35)
*Jerry Seinfeld (34)

== Outside of television ==
In 1969, Letterman married his college sweetheart,
Michelle Cook. The couple divorced in 1977.

For a time, Letterman was engaged to Late Night
head writer, Merrill Markoe, but the relationship
eventually fell apart. Markoe moved to California
soon after to pursue a writing career.

In 1985, Letterman established the Letterman
Telecommunications Scholarship at his alma mater,
to provide financial assistance to Department of
Telecommunications students, based solely on his
or her creativity, and not high academic grades
—Many reports have stated that in order to
qualify for the scholarship a student must have a
C average or below.  This is not true, nor has it
ever been true.  The scholarships are based on
creativity regardless of grade point average.
Letterman continues to regularly donate to Ball
State and other organizations through his American
Foundation for Courtesy and Grooming.

In 1988, Margaret Mary Ray was arrested while
driving Letterman's Porsche near the Lincoln
Tunnel in New York City. Ray claimed to be
Letterman's wife. Ray went on to be arrested
repeatedly in subsequent years on trespassing and
other counts. In one instance, police found her
sleeping on Letterman's private tennis court at
his home in New Canaan, Connecticut. Ray spent
nearly ten months in prison and 14 months in a
state mental institution for her numerous
trespassing convictions. On October 7, 1998, Ray
was struck and killed by a train in an apparent
suicide in Colorado.

In 1994, Letterman appeared in the Chris Elliott
film Cabin Boy, as the "Old Salt in the Fishing
Village." He is credited as Earl Hofert, a
pseudonym Letterman employs occasionally, the name
borrowed from an uncle on his mother's side of the
family.

In 1996, Letterman became co-owner of the
open-wheel racing team known as Team Rahal, with
former Indianapolis 500 champion Bobby Rahal.  The
team changed its name to Rahal Letterman Racing in
May 2004, and later that same month, team driver
Buddy Rice won the Indianapolis 500.  This was an
exciting win indeed for Indianapolis native
Letterman, who has attended the race regularly
since he was a young child.  Normally a private
person away from the studio, like his mentor,
Johnny Carson, Letterman uncharacteristically gave
many interviews following the race.

Also in 1996, Letterman provided the voice of the
Mötley Crüe|Mötley Crüe Roadie #1 in the
animated motion picture Beavis and Butt-head Do
America. He again used Earl Hofert as his name in
the end credits.

Letterman, along with bandleader Paul Shaffer and
Late Show stage manager, Biff Henderson,
celebrated Christmas 2002 in Afghanistan with
United States and international military forces
stationed there.  The three visited Iraq around
Christmas in 2003 and  2004.

On September 12, 2003, Letterman announced that
his long-time girlfriend and ex-colleague Regina
Lasko was six-months pregnant with his child. His
son Harry Joseph Letterman, named after David's
late father, was born on November 3, 2003.

In March, 2005, local police in Choteau, Montana
foiled an alleged scheme to kidnap Letterman's
son.  Letterman owns a home outside of Choteau.

== See Also ==
Madonna on Letterman - info on one of Letterman's
most talked about shows; the 1994 interview in
which the singer said the word "fuck" fourteen
times.

== External links ==

* http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/ The
Official Late Show with David Letterman website on
CBS
* http://www.ddy.com/dl3.html/ DDY's Late Show
with David Letterman Fan Page
* http://www.geocities.com/davidletterman82/ A
fan's page about Letterman.
*
http://www.indystar.com/library/factfiles/people/l
/letterman_david/letterman.html Letterman
biography from his hometown newspaper
*
http://www.salon.com/people/bc/1999/07/20/letterma
n/ 1999 article on Letterman from salon.com
*
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8
&group=alt.fan.letterman David Letterman/Late Show
Usenet discussion group, via Google
*
http://cgi.cbs.com/video/video.pl?url=cbs/cbs/g2de
mand/entertainment/mini/lateshow/highlights/2001/2
0010917.rm Video of Late Show with David Letterman
September 17, 2001 Monologue in RealVideo format
* http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6841123/ Johnny
Carson writes jokes for Letterman
*
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=10704
86 Chess game: Garry Kasparov vs. David Letterman,
1990