David Letterman has no plans to retire anytime soon.
Speaking with GQ for Video Cover Story magazine in an interview published on Wednesday, December 11, the 77-year-old former talk show host denied that he would slow down his career.
The most memorable moments of ‘The Late Show with David Letterman’
“I’m surprised I’m still doing this at my age,” he told the outlet, while also sharing an update on his latest venture — the Letterman TV FAST Channel on Samsung TV Plus.
David Letterman, 1984.
RM Lewis jr./NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
Letterman Late Night with David Letterman aired on NBC in 1982, before moving to The The Late Show with David Letterman on CBS in 1993.
In May 2015, he resigned from the job of manager Late showending his late night hosting career after 33 years.
However, during the interview with GQasked if he considers himself “semi-retired, not retired at all [or] retired,” Letterman did not hesitate to clarify.
“Retirement is a myth. Pension is nonsense. You won’t retire. The human mechanism will not allow you to retire,” he told the newspaper.
David Letterman announces his retirement
After agreeing that people generally retire at some point, Letterman further elaborated on his point.
“But you know what I’m saying. As long as you are healthy, you still want to produce. And you’ll find a way that when I stopped doing the series, it took me a few years to realize that this is a completely different rhythm, he said.
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David Letterman, Seth Meyers — February 2022
Lloyd Bishop/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty
“And without the rhythm you’re used to, mostly unsatisfying. So you have to find something that is important to you.”
While the prankster may no longer have his own late-night television show, that hasn’t stopped him from making appearances in the past.
In February 2022, Letterman stopped by Late Night with Seth Meyers to help celebrate the show’s 40th anniversary.
While speaking with Meyers, 50, Fr The David Letterman Showhe recalled how things did not necessarily go smoothly.
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The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and guest David Letterman.
Scott Kowalchyk/CBS
“It was 90 minutes live, from nine to 10:30 [a.m.] on NBC. He changed two or three games. It turned out that America did not want them to be replaced, and especially did not want me to replace them. But when you’re young, one of the nice complementary characteristics of youth is being stupid.”
“In show business, if you screw something up — like, screw up a network’s daily schedule — you know, it might be a while before they call your number again,” he continued. “But in the end we came back.”
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The following year, Letterman returned to Late show eight years after he left as host.
During a sit-down with Stephen Colbert in November 2023, Letterman was asked what he “missed” about hosting “after all those 4,000 shows.”
“I miss everything,” Letterman said.
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Source: HIS Education