Photos: David Letterman: Career in pictures

David Letterman was born in Indianapolis to a father who was a florist and a mother who was a church secretary. As a young boy, Letterman admired his father’s ability to craft jokes. The youngster was able to put his own jokes to the test when he became a radio host for his college’s student-run station and eventually as an anchor and weatherman on an Indianapolis television station. Here, Letterman performs at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles circa 1979.