David Letterman

David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC and ending with the May 20, 2015, broadcast of Late Show with David Letterman on CBS. In total, Letterman hosted 6,080 episodes of Late Night and Late Show, surpassing his friend and mentor Johnny Carson as the longest-serving late-night talk show host in American television history.

Letterman is also a television and film producer. His company, Worldwide Pants, produced his shows as well as The Late Late Show and several primetime comedies, the most successful of which was the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. Several late-night hosts have cited Letterman's influence, including Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jon Stewart. Since 2018, he has hosted the Netflix series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman.

Letterman was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, and grew up on the north side of the city in the Broad Ripple area. He attended Broad Ripple High School and Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, graduating in 1969. He began his broadcasting career as an announcer and newscaster at the college's student-run radio station, WBST. After graduating, he worked as an anchor and weatherman at Indianapolis television station WLWI, receiving attention for his novel on-air delivery. In 1975, encouraged by his then-wife Michelle and several of his fraternity brothers, Letterman moved to Los Angeles with the hope of becoming a comedy writer, and began performing comedy at The Comedy Store.