Advertisement

Dave Goes to the Movies: A Look at Letterman's Film Career

image

Chris Elliot and David Letterman in ‘Cabin Boy’ (Touchstone)

David Letterman has taped nearly 3,000 episodes of The Late Show, which he wraps up this week with some special guests, including Bill Murray. In the midst of Letterman’s remarkable 33-year run on late-night television, the host also found the time to make a few memorable appearances on the big screen. (He also hosted the Oscars in 1995, but the less said about Oprah-Uma Night, the better.)

Here’s a look at some of Letterman’s cameos over the years, which we would have preferred to make a Top 10 list but there just aren’t enough:

Cabin Boy (1994)

Letterman was a mentor to star Chris Elliot and director Adam Resnick, who both won Emmys as writers on Late Night With David Letterman. That explains what the heck he was doing (under the stage name “Earl Hofert”) in this box-office dud-turned-quasi-cult classic playing “Old Salt in Fishing Village” and muttering the now-infamous line, “Would you like to buy a monkey?” Letterman has routinely mocked himself for the role in the 20-plus years since. (Letterman used the Hofert name in some old Late Night skits; he borrowed the moniker from a relative on his mom’s side.)

Beavis and Butt-head Do America (1996)

Letterman was such a fan of MTV’s cackling knuckleheads that he made an equally as surprising appearance (again as Earl Hofert) in their movie version. He even cackled like the duo, playing “Mötley Crüe Roadie No. 1,” aka Butt-head’s obvious biological father.

Private Parts (1997)

Beavis and Butt-head concluded the stage of Letterman’s career where he played actual characters, and thus also marked the end of Earl Hofert’s filmography. From there on in, it’s been David as David, beginning with an uncredited cameo in the 1996 Whoopi Goldberg comedy Eddie and continuing to Private Parts. Letterman agreed to reenact an early interview he did with Howard Stern for the shock-jock’s life tale. Stern repaid Letterman recently by forcefully attempting to kiss him.

Related: ‘Late Show With David Letterman’: A Look Back (Yahoo TV)

Man on the Moon (1999)

Letterman reenacted one of the most notorious moments from his show in this Andy Kaufman biopic starring Jim Carrey. It shows how Kaufman, who intended (or said he intended) to apologize to wrestler Jerry Lawler for earlier remarks, get the snot smacked out of him before unleashing a series of F-bombs along with a hot cup of coffee. You can watch the movie clip below, or the actual Kaufman clip here.

I’m Still Here (2010)

The actual 2009 clip (below) of Letterman interviewing a spaced-out, incognito Joaquin Phoenix about his purported retirement from movies and his blossoming “hip-hop career” became a viral sensation long before it turned up in this documentary, which revealed the worst kept secret in Hollywood: that Phoenix’s newfound persona was all an act. At least we got this line, which goes down as one of Letterman’s greatest zings ever: “Joaquin, I’m sorry you couldn’t be here tonight.”