CBS News – It’s the end of an era: David Letterman announced Thursday that he’s retiring from CBS’ “Late Show” sometime next year.
He made that announcement during the taping of his program this afternoon.
The late-night talk show host, who will celebrate his 67th birthday next week, made his debut on the “Late Show” on Aug. 30, 1993.
Letterman got his television start in 1978 on the CBS variety series “Mary,” starring Mary Tyler Moore. Months later, he paid his first visit to “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” — marking the first of 22 appearances. He also guest-hosted “Tonight” numerous times.
In 1980, Letterman started hosting the Emmy Award-winning morning comedy-variety program, “The David Letterman Show,” which ran for three months on NBC. He followed that up with “Late Night with David Letterman,” which premiered in February 1982 and ran for 11 years.
In 2011, Letterman received the Johnny Carson Award for Comedic Excellence at Comedy Central’s first annual The Comedy Awards. Letterman has also won two American Comedy Awards as funniest male performer in a television series. He was honored as “Favorite Late Night Talk Show Host” at the 31st annual People’s Choice Awards in 2005.
Letterman was one of the 2012 recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors, where he was called “one of the most influential personalities in the history of television, entertaining an entire generation of late-night viewers with his unconventional wit and charm.”
Over the past few months, there’s been a number of shake-ups in the late-night world, with Jimmy Fallon taking over for Jay Leno on the “Tonight Show” and Seth Meyers slipping into the “Late Night” slot at NBC. So, it’s not surprising to see a bit of change in the landscape at CBS.
