Biogs
David Letterman
Letterman was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on the 12th April 1947, and currently lives in Montana when he’s not in New York for the Late Show.
He attended Ball State University who have since named a wing of the university after him.
David co-owns a racing team with Bobby Rahal – the team is known as Rahal-Letterman.
David likes to keep his relationship with Regina Lasko very private but often talks about his son Harry on-air.
Harry was born in 2003. Letterman married his long-term girlfriend Regina Lasko in his hometown of Montana on the 19th March 2009 after having been dating her since 1986. He announced the marriage on the 23rd March 2009 episode of the Late Show. David had always said no to re-marrying (as he had been married previously which ended in divorce) which is why the marriage in March 2009 was so unexpected.
Not that long after the announcement was made an affair scandal & extortion attempt against him came to light.
He started his working life as a radio talk show host on a local Indianapolis radio station, and as a news anchor & weatherman on a local Indianapolis TV channel. Letterman’s weather forecasts were somewhat unique to say the least, including one forecest where he congratulated a tropical storm for being upgraded to a hurricane. David moved to Los Angeles in 1975 to become a standup comedian and a comedy writer. He performed at the world-famous Comedy Store in Los Angeles. He also had TV appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Johnny was Letterman’s idol. In addition to The Tonight Show, he was on other shows such as The Gong Show and comedy series Mork & Mindy.
Dave has been on late-night TV for almost 30 years (NBC and CBS combined).
Dave started off his late night talk show career with Paul Shaffer on NBC – on Late Night With David Letterman in 1982.
Before Late Night With David Letterman, he hosted a short-lived morning show on NBC in 1980. His morning show on NBC lasted for three months in 1980. It was a mixture of chat and other things you’d expect from a breakfast show.
They both defected to CBS after Late Night, when Dave lost out on the job to host The Tonight Show on NBC when Johnny Carson retired from the job. Jay Leno was chosen instead, and Dave defected to CBS as they would not offer him an 11.35pm slot on NBC – only his original 12.35am slot. Conan O’Brien took over from Letterman on Late Night on NBC when Dave moved to CBS.
When Dave moved to CBS he renamed his show to the Late Show With David Letterman. The show on CBS has been going since 30th August 1993. It is one of America’s favourite chat shows. NBC were angry when Letterman swapped to CBS so they claimed “intellectual property” of many of the assets from Late Night With David Letterman. Therefore he had to rename several things – including renaming Viewer Mail to the CBS Mailbag and renaming the band as the CBS Orchestra.
Dave has won 13 Emmys and had 74 Emmy nominations in total with both Late Night With David Letterman and the Late Show With David Letterman. The David Letterman Show on NBC won 2 Emmys and had five nominations in total. Dave hosted the Academy Awards in 1995, which he still describes as being terrible. One of the most memorable parts from Letterman hosting the Academy Awards was the infamous “Uma…Oprah! Oprah…Uma!” moment when he saw Oprah Winfrey and Uma Thurman in the audience.
Dave was one of the regular guests on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson with 22 appearances in total. Johnny was the person Dave looked up to the most for his comedy act – the segment Stump The Band on the Late Show With David Letterman is from The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson.
Dave has become a national institution in America and beyond, with the Late Show going from success to success. Dave is widely speculated to have been Johnny Carson’s choice for hosting The Tonight Show when Johnny retired (even though Dave didn’t get a chance to host the show), and Johnny Carson appeared on the Late Show – seen by some as a display of support for Dave. Johnny never once appeared on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno – which led to speculation that Johnny wasn’t a fan of Jay.
Dave is a well-estabilished humorist and standup comedian, and is well respected by other chat show hosts Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno – even though it is said Dave and Jay haven’t spoken to each other in years.
The often-mentioned past “feud” between Dave and Oprah Winfrey has been subject to many moments in Late Show (and Late Night) history. The “feud” was resolved when Oprah appeared on the Late Show on the 1st December 2005, and they did an TV advert together during the Superbowl in 2007. Dave also appeared as a guest on Oprah’s show on the 10th September 2007.
In 2007, the writers strike took place in America which brought many shows to a standstill as teams of writers walked out over pay terms. This included the Late Show, and taping was suspended throughout November and December that year, which meant they missed the big Christmas show with Darlene Love for the first time ever. After agreeing a separate deal with the WGA, the show returned to the air on the 7th January 2008 with David having grown a “strike beard”, which was removed on-air not too soon after they came back.
In addition to the Late Show and the racing team, Letterman also owns his own production company known as Worldwide Pants Incorporated who produce several shows including the Late Show, Everybody Loves Raymond, the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson and The Knights Of Prosperity.
Paul Shaffer
Paul has been working with Dave for 21 years as his musical director. He has been on such shows as Saturday Night Live and has been on Broadway, as well as TV work for CBS. Paul is the frontman for the Late Show With David Letterman band – the CBS Orchestra – and has been a good friend of Dave’s for a long time. He’s also been the band leader for the morning show and Late Night with him on NBC. Paul usually provides the live music for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony every year.
Paul Shaffer has hosted the Late Show a few times himself, including when Dave went in to have his quintuple heart bypass surgery a few years ago. Paul has proved himself to be an accomplished musician and compliments Dave perfectly. They make a top team.
In addition to his work with Letterman, Paul is a very successful musician in his own right – having worked on hugely popular songs (including It’s Raining Men). He also appeared in rock mockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap.
CBS Orchestra
The orchestra for the Late Show is currently made up of Paul Shaffer on keyboards, Anton Fig on drums and percussion, Felicia Collins on guitar and vocals, Sid McGinnis on guitar, Will Lee on bass guitar and vocals, Tom Malone on trombone, Al Cheznovitz on trumpet/flugelhorn and Bruce Kapler on saxophone. Paul Shaffer, Will Lee, Sid McGinnis and Anton Fig were also in the old Late Night band on the NBC Late Night show where they used to be known as The World’s Most Dangerous Band. Will Lee also has his own band – a Beatles tribute group called The Fab Faux. Will’s band can be seen below rehearsing for a performance on the Late Show With David Letterman as musical guests.
Alan Kalter
“Hi, I’m Alan Kalter – TV’s Uncle Jerry”
Alan has been on the Late Show as the announcer since 1995, when he replaced Bill Wendell who was the show’s announcer 1993-1995. He introduces who’s on the show every night over the opening titles. Alan also has his own segments on the show including “Alan Kalter’s Celebrity Interview” and plays a part in announcing the fake prizes for “Will It Float” as well as a lot of other things in the show.
“Alan Kalter’s Celebrity Interview” consists of Dave cutting to Alan who’s sitting with a celebrity that he’s booked to be on his “Celebrity Interview” segment, when it turns out the person has just been interviewed by Dave – it ends with Alan becoming so furious with Dave “stealing” his guest that he has an outburst and usually storms off the stage.
Alan is constantly getting himself into fake fights in his segments with an hilarious slapstick element to his comedy style.
“The Late Show is a production of Worldwide Pants Incorporated. This is Alan Kalter saying ‘Goodnight and drive safely’”
Biff Henderson
Stage manager for the Late Show. Often appears in segments, including one-off segment, “Where In The World Is Biff Henderson”, where Biff would go somewhere and tell us where he is. He also did a segment at a laser eye clinic, and said “They said I could possibly be a candidate for laser surgery… when I saw what they do, I changed my mind… I realised I can see just fine”. Biff has also had an appearance on CSI: Miami, in 2002, for which he was uncredited for.
Stephanie Birkett
Dave’s assistant – she used to hand out prizes in segments such as “Stump The Band”, “Audience Show And Tell” and “Know Your Current Events”.
She used to be called Vicki, amongst other things, by Dave. An ongoing thing she used to do was calling Dave “Mr Carney”.
Stephanie no longer appears on the Late Show following the alleged sex scandal involving her and David Letterman.
Rupert Jee
Rupert runs the Hello Deli sandwich shop around the corner from the Late Show building. He doesn’t appear on the show much anymore.
He used to appear every now and again in various Late Show segments. Rupert would sometimes go outside to find people to play games in the Deli. Rupert first appeared on the Late Show in the “Meet The Neighbours” segment way back when the show first started. One of the best segments with Rupert was “What’s on the iPod?” where he puts on his iPod and screams out the song for someone to guess.
Rupert isn’t an official cast member of the Late Show, but is a long-term friend of the show. Rupert jokes that Dave’s the “clever one” coming up with new ideas for the Hello Deli.
Hula Hoop Girl and Grinder Girl
Essentially one has a hula hoop and the other is wearing metal and uses a grinder on herself to give off sparks. They had appearances in several segments including on Will It Float and Is This Anything. They are very rarely seen on the Late Show nowadays.
The Late Show Girls
They used to appear in such segments as Will It Float and the Hello Deli segments (they present the deli platter to the contestant). The models changed every now and again. They are very rarely seen on the Late Show nowadays.
Craig Ferguson
Craig Ferguson has been the host of The Late Late Show since 3rd January 2005. Prior to Ferguson hosting the programme, Craig Kilborn was the host, preceeded by original host Tom Snyder.
Craig started off his career as a standup comedian and a Scottish TV host.
He’s also been in a rock band called Exposure – his musical talents have come across to The Late Late Show where he sings the opening theme tune.
The stage name for his standup performances in the UK was Bing Hitler. Ferguson also did some work in musical theatre, including a role in the London stage show version of The Rocky Horror Show.
He appeared at the Edinburgh Festival which led him to getting roles in various TV projects, including cult sci-fi show Red Dwarf, the Hogmanay Show on STV and in a special episode of the BBC sitcom One Foot In The Grave.
When Craig first came to Los Angeles in 1994, he appeared in ABC comedy show Maybe This Time with Marie Osmond. His main breakthrough came when he got a job to play a high profile character on the hughly successful Drew Carey Show from 1996 to 2003.
He’s directed such films as Saving Grace and I’ll Be There, and has been in such films as Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events, The Ugly Truth, Chain of Fools and Born Romantic.
Craig started hosting the Late Late Show in January 2005 and has been there ever since. The Late Late Show has been a huge hit in the US and has a cult following, as it airs very late at night on CBS. He’s coined the opening line “it’s a great day for America” which he usually says at the start of every programme.
Ferguson has also made an appearance on animated series Family Guy (as a live action clip of him discussing something on the Late Late Show – filmed especially for Family Guy).
He still does standup comedy to this day. He’s also written several books including Between The Bridge And The River and his memoirs American On Purpose.
There have been some touching moments with Craig at the helm of the Late Late Show including the touching eulogy of his father on the 30th January 2006 who died the day before the show was taped, the show on the 19th February 2007 where he said he wouldn’t be doing any more jokes about Britney Spears’ problems because he went through addiction & suicide problems himself, and the eulogy of his mother on the 8th December 2008 who died on the 1st December 2008.
Craig became a US citizen on the 1st February 2008.
Jay Leno
Jay was born in New York after his mother moved to America from Scotland when she was 11 years old. He started out in showbusiness as a warmup act for Tom Jones, amongst other people. Leno carried on with his standup comedy – including several appearances as a guest on Late Night With David Letterman. He started as host of The Tonight Show in 1992. David Letterman was the original favourite to take over from Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show in 1992, but Jay got the job. Letterman was favourite for the job, becuse Johnny Carson and Dave were good friends. Jay and Dave haven’t been seen together in public since Leno got The Tonight Show. Jay will retire from The Tonight Show in 2009, and Conan O’Brien (from Late Night) will take over from him as host.
Leno’s TV work includes an appearance (as himself) on The Simpsons, voice work on Family Guy and animated film Ice Age 2 (and Cars), and he’s also played himself in The West Wing and TV show Just Shoot Me. Jay can also been seen in the film Space Cowboys and in an episode of Scrubs.
Jay made headlines during the Michael Jackson trial where they placed a “gagging order” to prevent him from telling jokes about the trial (mainly because he was a witness). To get around this, he got guests on to do Jackson jokes for him – thus avoiding the gagging order.
Jay writes for British newspaper The Sunday Times (mainly about one of his main passions – cars – but also more recently including showbiz incites, etc). It is well known that Jay his hugely passionate about cars and owns a vast collection. He also was the subject of an episode of American Chopper, where they built him his own custom motorbike.
Leno left The Tonight Show on the 29th May 2009 to make way for Conan O’Brien to take over the show.
Jay launched a new primetime NBC show in September 2009 called The Jay Leno Show which was very similar to The Tonight Show, just at an earlier timeslot.
Conan O’Brien was controversially axed from The Tonight Show in early 2010 and Leno returned for his second tenure on the programme on the 1st March 2010.
Jimmy Fallon
Jimmy started off with a brief appearance on sitcom Spin City and moved onto legendary live comedy/satire show Saturday Night Live soon afterwards.
He played a key role on Saturday Night Live – appearing in many of the sketches. His impersonations of Jerry Seinfeld and Adam Sandler on SNL remain funny today.
Once Fallon became a featured player for the 1998-1999 season and went on to be a full cast member in summer 1999. Fallon’s also well-known for his song parodies throughout his time on SNL. One of his most famous moments is his “Barry Gibb Talk Show” skit with Justin Timberlake (he also performed this with Justin on the first edition of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon).
He then became co-host of the Weekend Update segment of the show in 2000.
He left Saturday Night Live in 2004.
Jimmy appeared in several films including Taxi (in 2004), Almost Famous (in 2000), Fever Pitch (in 2005), Factory Girl (in 2006) and had a part in the highly-rated Band Of Brothers television series (in 2001). Some of Jimmy’s film work had mixed reviews. He also tried his hand at music in 2002 when he released a comedy album entitled The Bathroom Wall.
Fallon has hosted several MTV award shows in recent years.
Jimmy’s talk Show Late Night With Jimmy Fallon started in March 2009 – he took over from Conan O’Brien who left to host The Tonight Show.
The Roots
The house band on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon are The Roots. The Roots are a critically-acclaimed hip-hop band from the US. As well as providing the musical interludes on the programme, they take part in segments in the programme.
Steve Higgins
Steve Higgins is the Late Night announcer.
Before joining Late Night With Jimmy Fallon he had behind-the-scenes, writing and producer roles for Saturday Night Live.
Steve starts every edition of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon with the line “From Studio 6B in Rockefeller Center, The National Broadcasting Company presents Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” followed by the names of the guests on that night’s show.
Lorne Michaels
One of the executive producers of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon is Lorne Michaels.
Lorne co-created legendary NBC comedy show Saturday Night Live and was originally a producer and a writer on SNL, and moved on to become the executive producer.
Lorne Michaels has been a strong supporter of Jimmy Fallon and since Jimmy left SNL in 2004 he’s always said he’s be great for a late night talk show, saying “Jimmy’s built for this kind of show. He’s funny, he’s charming, he’s got a really good way of connecting with people”.
Conan O’Brien
Having been a writer for various TV shows in the 80’s, Conan joined Saturday Night Live in 1988, where he was a writer for three years.
Between 1991 and 1994 Conan was a writer on The Simpsons. Having been a writer for various TV shows in the 80’s, Conan joined Saturday Night Live in 1988, where he was a writer for three years.
Between 1991 and 1994 Conan was a writer on The Simpsons.
In 1993 David Letterman, expecting to be promoted to the Tonight Show, defected to CBS.
NBC quickly needed to find a replacement for Letterman, and essentially build the show from scratch. Lorne Michaels, the executive producer of Saturday Night Live who hired O’Brien as a writer in the 80’s chose him to front the show, with Andy Richter as a sidekick.
Whilst the first years were noted for being less than perfect, the show quickly grew a gathering and has had constant viewing figures for many years.
Conan O’Brien is perhaps best known for his “wacky” on-air style.
He frequently knocks over his microphone (“Bessie Lou”), claps to the tune of “I’m gonna go to hell when I die” after a joke in poor taste and often tells the audience to “stay cool, my babies”.
Conan can often be seen doing impressions of celebrities Donald Trump (to the theme from The Apprentice) and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who always eats a sausage at the end.
In 2006 Conan mentioned fictional website hornymanatee.com at the end of a segment. NBC had to purchase the domain name, and since then much has been made of hornymanatee.com. Conan visited Finland where the show is very popular, apparently in some part due to his likeness with Tarja Halonen , the female president.
Conan can also be seen in Pale Force, a cartoon by Jim Gaffigan who regularly appears on the show. Letterman has been a guest on Late Night and supported him when it was announced Conan would host The Tonight Show, which Letterman had hoped to host years earlier, in 2009.
Conan took over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno in June 2009 – maintaining a similar opening theme tune to Late Night, and similar features, sketches and humour – and the usual monologue at the start of each show.
Conan was controversially axed from The Tonight Show in early 2010, and Leno returned to host the programme.
O’Brien embarked on a huge theatre tour of the US with a show combining a mixture of comedy and music.
Conan now hosts a late night talk show on basic cable channel TBS which follows a similar running order to The Tonight Show and Late Night on NBC.
Andy Richter
Andy was involved in Late Night With Conan O’Brien up until 2000 as Conan’s sidekick.
When Conan took over The Tonight Show, Andy returned to provide voiceovers and get involved with some other portions of the show.
He’s had several TV shows including Andy Richter Controls The Universe and Quintuplets.
When Conan was ditched from The Tonight Show, Andy followed him to TBS.
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Jon Stewart
Since January 1999 Jon Stewart has hosted The Daily Show on Comedy Central.
Jon started out on the comedy citcuit in New York, but dropped his surname (Leibowitz) and changed his middle name (Stuart) for a stage name.
Following stints as host and writer of shows on Comedy Central and MTV, Jon was in the running for taking over from David Letterman on Late Night in 1993.
David Letterman would be the last guest on The Jon Stewart Show which was developed by Jon Stewart for MTV in 1993.
Following the show, he was a guest host on the Late Late Show for Tom Snyder.
In 1999 Daily Show host Craig Kilborn left to host the Late Late Show and Jon Stewart joined as host, co-exec producer and writer.
Jon Stewart hosted the Oscars in 2006 and 2008.
John Oliver
British born John Oliver is a correspondent on The Daily Show.
He has to be one of the funniest correspondents I’ve seen on the show – some of the stuff he comes out with is hilarious.
I like the way they portray him as a stereotypical Brit.
Most of his humour is very sarcastic.
Prior to being on The Daily Show, John Oliver has been a guest panelist on BBC Two’s Mock The Week topical comedy programme.
Stephen Colbert
Stephen used to be a correspondent on The Daily Show until 2005 before moving onto his own spin-off show, The Colbert Report, which airs directly after The Daily Show on Comedy Central.
Stephen started off on Saturday Night Live and The Dana Carvey Show.
He’s also appeared in The Simpsons.
Stephen is a talented comedy writer.
He’s also had quite a few acting roles in films and on TV, including Bewitched in 2005, and an appearance in Law & Order.
