to celebrate the anniversary of the friendly folks here at CBS said Dave you know what we would like
to do we would like to produce a biography about you and your life and your activities so they were
they did they did a great job here it is now ladies and gentlemen the Dave Letterman story
Maurice David letter was born in Indianapolis Indiana on April 12 1947. David caught the
acting bug early on Landing a commercial by the age of three Tom how can you try it yeah
Dorothy Letterman remembers David as a spirited Youth and as a child
he always wanted to be the center of attention when the family was over for
the holidays he would gather Us in the living room so he could perform for us
watching him made us sad
11 or 12 years old he wanted a pony more than anything and he kept asking his mom
every day please Mom can I have a pony and his mom would say every day I'm sorry David
the ponies are too hard to take care of well he kept on her and he kept on her and sure enough
Christmas morning there was the most beautiful Pony you ever saw with a large red ribbon on
him three days later the pony was dead dehydration or something but you know if
you ask me I I don't think it's a great idea to be buying a pony in Chinatown I've left it just
way it was here are some of his model cars and his Junior High basketball trophies
his penance oh and here's his first baseball glove he loved playing Little League he was
the youngest child on his little league team and probably 300 that year at Broad Ripple High
School David received average grades excelling only in wood shop where he doesn't teachers and
classmates alike by constructing a replica of Mount Rushmore using only popsicle sticks
David spent his summary stocking shell isn't bagging groceries at the atlas supermarket
Dave was a hard-working kid he wanted to be the assistant manager and I picked a kid by the name
of venifa Valley instead well he was absolutely crushed that's a lot of crap he could bag he
could work the register but he just couldn't stack like Vinnie I could stack like a son of a [ __ ]
than that you know what do you mean by that uh I think they were having
an affair my personal feelings toward Benny did not influence my decision
David went on to Ball State University where
he created a nightly radio show called All Things yellow banana
the Sun mustard lemon
Ade Dave's College radio show piece of crap outdoor brief stint as a local weatherman going
on David headed west to break into the world of stand-up comedy many people don't know this but
Dave is in fact one of the Baldwin brothers and when we found out that he was going to go into
show business we asked him if he wouldn't mind performing under a different name why was that
look at us and look at him
to figure it out it wasn't just as comedic debut that made 1976 a special year for David Letterman
I met Mia Farrow at a party at a friend's home and two weeks later we were married and honestly
it was the happiest time of my life and for the thousandth time you know I'd like to go on record
um I was not married to David Letterman
in 1980 David was hired to host a morning talk show which despite critical Acclaim was canceled
after just two months the cancellation of the morning show left uh left a hole pretty big hole
in my life and and I think looking back on it I I I tried to fill that hole with uh pie a lot of
time he withdrew from his fans his friends there was only one man who could pull him out of the
abyss and that was his best friend Donny Osmond you know sometimes when a new uh can't help you
you need a friend to help you and Donny Osmond is my friend
back in control David was given a fresh start a poster Late Night with David Letterman the show
would run for 11 years and featured some of the most talked about moments in television
history tonight I mean there's so many things there was the uh like the velcro suit [Music]
we got a camera mounted on a monkey [Music]
and and we used to drop stuff off that five-story Tower
at Lakeland David was surrounded by a talented staff and crew David
Letterman is a no Talent loser I mean look at him he's like poultry in a suit
you are disguising my broadside anyway you can fish bar Canadian ass in 1993 David Letterman
left NBC and signed a deal with CBS estimated by some to be worth fifty thousand dollars a year
David has many cherished memories of The Late Show one time a couple of years ago
on my birthday Drew Barrymore got up on the desk and took her shirt off
oh and then another time Drew Barrymore got on my desk and took her shirt off [Music] [Applause]
and my favorite time of all was when Drew Barrymore got up on my desk
on May 1st 1994 David Letterman died
all of America mourned the loss of their gap-toothed funny man
you know it it really was too bad I had to go so young you know cut down like that
too bad [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]
[Music]