Famous guests share memories of Letterman
From making the host laugh to getting that coveted kiss, stars recall time on the show
Just as Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show was “the late-night place to be,” most performers could not wait to sit next to David Letterman. Feared by some, especially in his early, sarcastic days, he was also the one person every comic most wanted to make laugh. For many actresses, a kiss on the hand from Dave was more meaningful than a hundred magazine covers. Here’s what his peers and frequent guests have to say on his departure. JimmyKimmel: It makes me very sad, I have to say, because he’s been on TV for almost my whole life and means so much to me; it’s depressing. He’s the talk show host of our lifetime.
Billy Crystal: David, for me personally, has been a safe haven to come out and play with him onstage. We’ve had phenomenally funny experiences onstage together at the show and it’s a time of passage, you know, that always makes you reflect upon yourself.
Danny DeVito: For a while, I was uncomfortable doing those shows, but he was so good to me. It kind of paved the way for a lot of good stuff for me in terms of how to be comfortable doing these kinds of shows.
Denis Leary: I was on the original NBC shows, one of my first times after I became famous, and I really hit it off with him. A couple of old friends of mine worked for him and I always had a blast with Dave. We never ended up talking about the stuff we had on the cards. He always had a real conversation with me and he’s got such impeccable timing.
Keri Russell: I would say, of all the talk shows to do, it’s the coldest — temperature-wise — and the easiest. You do those shows and it’s panic. You’re just like a deer in headlights. You’re just going, “Oh no! What is the story I have to tell?” But you walk on and all those things they planned you’re supposed to say, it’s gone, because he just looks at you and says, “What’s going on?” Then he talks about your teeth or what I like. It’s like cake with him, ’cause he just handles it.
Harry Connick, Jr.: Being a guy who’s been in that chair, and a lot of chairs, he’s one of the best at doing that. That’s a very, very specific skill to be able to converse with, you know, so many thousands of people and make it interesting and give them their time, and not stick directly to questions. David Spade: All my comedian friends, we always wanted to make him laugh the most. He’s very tough. We want him to like us. He’s so funny, innovative . . . even when I’m on the show, if he laughs, I can’t believe it.
Joel McHale: I always said Johnny Carson was like my TV grandpa and David Letterman was like my cool TV dad. So with David Letterman, he would come out in the wrestling shows and throw things off buildings, and it was like, “Gosh, this is what my brain wants, it’s like he’s doing the show for me.”
Jeff Garlin: The first time I just did standup, I was a wreck. I was nervous, because he’s a hero of mine. To be on his show, for me, was gigantic. Whereas all other talk shows, I’m so calm, which helps me be funnier; but Letterman, I was a wreck. The first time I did it, I said to him, “I don’t know if you know what this means to me,” and he just nodded his head. He didn’t want to talk about it.
Will Forte: He’s one of the main people who shaped my sensibility and to get to write for his show was one of the most special things of all time. I love Letterman with everything I got. He’s a hero.
Elisha Cuthbert: When you get that kiss on the hand, it’s like . . . it was wonderful. David Letterman kissed my hand and I told my mom I’ve made it.
Donal Logue: I used to go on Letterman and do these bits where I would come on and sing a song, or say I got engaged — I was the unknown guest. It was a bit that me and (executive producer) Rob Burnett and Dave came up with. So I had a deep history with him. So when I first came on as a “guest-guest,” for The Tao of Steve, that was a big moment.