Last week Letterman was on vacation, airing reruns. Monday night, David Letterman had a nice tribute to his friend , the late Robin Williams. The two had known each other 38 years, since the 1970s when they were struggling comedians in Los Angeles. Dave recalled how he and other comedians were floored by Robin's talent, and it was evident back in the 1970s that he was a cut above the rest. At the legendary Comedy Store in those days, Letterman's contemporaries were comics like Jimmie Walker, Jay Leno, Tom Dreesen, Elaine Boosler and more. Letterman had a nice sequence of clips from Robin's many appearances on the show over the years. Watch a clip from last night's show here.
From working as a TV weatherman in his hometown of Indianapolis to his current CBS late night show, David Letterman has had a varied career, spanning almost 45 years. In the 1970s he moved to Los Angeles and worked as a stand up comic. He landed bit parts "The Gong Show", "Password", "Hollywood Squares", and a variety show starring Mary Tyler Moore. Dave also had a small part on Robin's show "Mork and Mindy". He acknowledged that he was not much of an actor and it he needed a job so Robin helped him out. The second photo above shows Dave on Robin's show (nice leisure suit and medallion)! He became a regular guest host for Johnny Carson starting in 1979. He moved to New York and had many years of success on NBC with his late night show (1982-1993) and his current CBS show which he has hosted since 1993. See 15 of his career highlights in this article from the Hollywood Reporter.
