David Letterman | Born: 1947

It’s incredibly easy to credit David Letterman as one of the most successful American television hosts of all time. Letterman has hosted multiple late-night television talk shows for over 33 years, beginning with Late Night with David Letterman on NBC back in 1982. He then ended with a 2015 broadcast of the Late Show with David Letterman on CBS. In total, he has been able to host over 6,080 episodes of Late Show and Late Night, surpassing his great friend Johnny Carson as the longest-serving talk show host in American television history.

Besides hosting, Letterman is also an established television and film producer. His production company, Worldwide Pants, produced all of his shows, including The Late Late Show and a handful of other primetime comedies. You could say that Letterman is incredibly passionate about hosting, as he currently hosts the hit Netflix series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, even at the age of 74.