A Brief History of David Letterman Trying to Act in Sitcoms and Movies

Open All Night (1981)

Letterman, who had just signed a deal for his new late night show, Late Night, gives a fairly meta performance here as an unnamed character who laments making an appearance on a sitcom after signing a huge late night deal. This episode aired on Dec. 25, 1981. Late Night premiered on February 1, 1982. The series, about a 24-hour convenience store, only lasted 12 episodes. One of the credited writers, Merrill Markoe, a future Late Night writer, dated Letterman from 1978 until 1988 -- which probably explains his appearance.

The Building (1993)

Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants, released this Bonnie Hunt vehicle called The Building. To help get it attention, Letterman made a hooded guest appearance as a "The Thief," a man who holds up an adult video store. Letterman's face is never once seen during his appearance.

Cabin Boy (1994)

Cabin Boy is the definition of cult favorite (I can, for better or worse, actually claim to have seen this movie in a theater), and, obviously as a favor to star Chris Elliott, Letterman makes a cameo as a character named "Old Salt." Also of note, Letterman is credited under the name "Earl Hofert." (Letterman had a brief cameo as an animated roadie in Beavis and Butthead Do America and was also credited as Earl Hofert.)

Pages: 1 2 3



Comments

  • Scraps says:

    'Man on the Moon' stretched the truth in so many different ways that the unbelievability of the Letterman scene barely registers. Had the film been solely about Kaufman's involvement with professional wrestling, perhaps they would have created an old Late Night set, and, who knows, maybe even hired John Michael Higgins to portray Letterman...

  • Kristen says:

    I wish Letterman would've somehow worked in an appearance on Ed during its run.

  • Jimmy Tango says:

    You missed Private Parts (1997)!!!!!