David Letterman was a late-night talk show host for more than three decades and is one of the most famous people in television. He gets recognized everywhere he goes. David Letterman’s late-night show debuted in 1982 on NBC, and after a few years, he transferred over to CBS. He then hosted The Late Show for another 33 years until his final episode aired on May 20th, 2015.
Letterman was often ranked as one of the most famous people in entertainment. In 1996, TV Guide named him the 45th greatest TV star of all time. In 2002, less than 10 years after his show first aired, TV Guide ranked it as the 7th greatest show of all time. Letterman is a pioneer in the field of late-night hosting, and his work has inspired many other hosts such as Conan O’Brien, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, and Seth Meyers.
Not many people are aware of the private details of David Letterman’s life, but something very unusual happened to his son recently that we want to share with you.
Letterman married his college sweetheart, Michelle Cook in 1968. They had their ceremony in Muncie, Indiana but divorced a mere decade later in 1977.
After his breakup, Letterman began dating Merrill Markoe, who was his producer and head writer from 1978 to 1998. She was the mastermind behind some of Letterman’s greatest segments, including “Stupid Pet/Human Tricks.”
While dating Markoe, Letterman began to see another woman by the name of Regina Lasko. The two married and are still together today. Together, they had a son and named him Harry Letterman in 2003. The two married on March 19, 2009, after allegedly numerous times of cheating by Letterman. Even though this occurred, the pair appear to be doing well together.
This is where the story takes a turn. When Harry Letterman was just over a year old, he was nearly kidnapped away from his family. The kidnapping plot was only discovered after the man demanded $5 million in ransom money.
The law enforcement officers were able to apprehend Kelly Frank, the 43-year-old man who plotted to kidnap Harry. Fortunately, they stopped him before he was able to harm Harry.
Frank, who worked as a painter on Letterman’s Montana ranch, allegedly planned the abduction with Harry’s nanny.
Even though prosecutors dropped the kidnapping charge, Frank still had to spend ten years in jail because he overcharged Letterman for his painting work. He also confessed that he lied to investigators and guilted of an unrelated poaching charge.
