Late Night with David Letterman, which premiered in 1982, was a late-night television talk show that helped define the format for a generation of television comedy.

Letterman was born on April 12, 1947, in Indianapolis, Indiana. He attended Broad Ripple High School before going on to Ball State University, where he studied. He went on to work as a weather presenter and writer before establishing himself as a comedian and television host. His background in writing and performance shaped the sensibility he brought to the talk show format, and his work as a television producer gave him a hand in shaping the programs he fronted.

Over the course of his career, Letterman worked across several roles — comedian, television host, television producer, actor, writer, and journalist — and his shows drew on all of them. He received both a Primetime Emmy Award and a Daytime Emmy Award, recognizing his work across different broadcast contexts. His reach extended beyond English-language television, with his work touching on Japanese, Italian, and Spanish as well. The state of Indiana honored him with the Sagamore of the Wabash, one of the state's highest civilian honors, and he received the Kennedy Center Honors in recognition of his contributions to American culture.

In 2016, Letterman was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the Kennedy Center, an honor given to figures in American comedy. The Library of Congress records his name in its authorized form as Letterman, David — a small but concrete marker of his place in the documented cultural record.