David Letterman has admitted that he has struggled to be properly recognized since his talk show went off the air.
Speaking to Jimmy Kimmel on his titular show Wednesday, the former Late Show with David Letterman host joked about how people have begun to mistake him for 99-year-old Dick Van Dyke.
“Here's what happens to me now: People used to know who I am, and now I have to wear a name tag to get anything going,” Letterman said.
He then recalled a recent story where he was at the farmer’s market when a man who appeared to be a fan of his had approached him.
“A guy comes up to me, and he says, ‘Excuse me, are you who I think you are?’ And now, I'm all loaded up and I respond, 'Well, that depends on who you think I are.’ That always gets a big laugh,” he said. “He said, ‘Dick Van Dyke,’ and I said, ‘No.’”
However, when the show was still airing, fans would come up to Letterman to let him know that they watched. He mentioned how some people approached him to say, “Oh, my mother watches you now every night, and she really misses you now that you're gone.”
“Here, lately it's ‘You know what, I'd like a picture of you to show to my grandfather — and his father also. We used to watch it together in the hospital…’ Just like that,” he said.
Since leaving The Late Show in 2015, he became the host of another talk show on Netflix three years later, titled My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman.
As for Van Dyke, he is currently planning for his upcoming 100th birthday. The actor’s wife, Arlene Silver, spoke about his upcoming December 13 milestone birthday during an interview Sunday with People at the premiere of Dick Van Dyke's 100th Celebration in Malibu, California.
According to Silver, Van Dyke won’t be having a big party; instead, he plans to stay at home with her.
“He doesn't want to do anything,” the 54-year-old told the publication. “He wants to be in his room watching Jeopardy! reruns with me.”
She also acknowledged that she’s “so grateful” that Van Dyke — to whom she’s been married since 2012 — is here, with both his birthday and the release of his documentary film about his career, Dick Van Dyke 100th Celebration, coming up.
“I'm so happy he's here to see what I know is going to be a global celebration of him. I'm so glad he's still with us,” she added. “I've always been celebrating him now, like since 2011 when I got him on social media. It's like a pinnacle of all that is … all these different people from different events we've done, [just] so cool.”
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