It has been suggested that The Letterman Foundation for Courtesy and Grooming be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since February 2024.

David Letterman
Letterman at the 2016 Peabody Awards
Birth name	David Michael Letterman
Born	(1947-04-12) April 12, 1947 (age 77) Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Alma mater	Ball State University (BA)
Years active	1970–present
Genres	Observational comedy black comedy surreal humor insult comedy deadpan satire
Subject(s)	American culture American politics everyday life pop culture current events human behavior
Spouse	Michelle Cook ​ ​ (m. 1968; div. 1977)​ Regina Lasko ​ (m. 2009)​
Children	1
Notable works and roles	The David Letterman Show (1980) Late Night with David Letterman (1982–1993) Late Show with David Letterman (1993–2015) My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman (2018–present)
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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,^[1] surpassing his friend and mentor Johnny Carson as the longest-serving late-night talk show host in American television history.^[2]

He 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 (each of whom succeeded Letterman on Late Night), Stephen Colbert (his successor on The Late Show), Jimmy Kimmel, and Jon Stewart. Since 2018, he has hosted the Netflix series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman.