# Do you remember this drunk(?) Letterman guest? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303 "2009-02-03T20:17:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Joe_Meager)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303/1 "2009-02-03T20:17:42Z")
I saw this when it happened (many, many years ago), but can’t remember the guest’s name. David Letterman, circa 1988 – 1991. The guest was male. He was, apparently, drunk (or otherwise impaired). Dave would ask a question, he would attempt a reply, but veered off to gibberish and non-words. The one specific thing I remember is the guest was apparently getting edgy about some of Dave’s questions. So Dave asked him what \*he \*wanted to talk about. “Something… safe. Like boats. Sailboats. Let’s talk about sailboats.” Something like that. (Editors note: the guest had nothing to do with sailboats or sailing. He was an actor or something.) Does this ring a bell with anyone? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303/2 "2009-02-03T20:29:46Z")
Tony Danza and Robert Blake were often on talk shows when they were drunk or high in that time period. IIRC they used to serve alcoholic drinks in the green room(s) of major talk shows and more or less drunk guests were not a rarity. I think they stopped that a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![singular1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@singular1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/singular1)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303/3 "2009-02-03T20:33:16Z")
According to Adam Carolla, Jay Leno still offers a full bar in the green room. Got no idea who the guest would be, though… ---
**Author:** ![tds1273](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@tds1273](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tds1273)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303/4 "2009-02-03T20:42:12Z")
I remember seeing a video of Crispin Glover on Letterman. I don’t remember the specifics, except at one point he wanted to try some karate moves on Dave, but it was a very weird interview. IIRC the video details said that he was on LSD, but according to [wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crispin_Glover#Late_Night_Appearance)it was apparently just a character Glover was doing; I’d wager it was both. I’m sure it’s on youtube somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303/5 "2009-02-03T20:43:56Z")
I saw Joe Walsh on Letterman once in about that time frame (maybe a little later) who seemed to by drunk/high off his ass. Don’t recall the sailboat line, but I do recall him repeatedly commenting on how Dave looked (“You look really good tonight, Dave”). Also Crispin Glover’s legendary appearance, which I haven’t seen all off, so I can’t comment. ---
**Author:** ![Jettboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@Jettboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jettboy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303/6 "2009-02-03T20:52:44Z")
I remember Jan Michael Vincent saying that sort of drunken/stoned babbling, but that was on _Geraldo_ ;apparently he and Geraldo had gone sailing together in the past, and he went off on this whole ‘sailing and sailboats’ tangent. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Joe_Meager)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303/7 "2009-02-03T21:04:46Z")
> [@Jettboy](#): > > I remember Jan Michael Vincent saying that sort of drunken/stoned babbling, but that was on _Geraldo_ ;apparently he and Geraldo had gone sailing together in the past, and he went off on this whole ‘sailing and sailboats’ tangent. Thanks \*\*Jettboy \*\*(et al). I could’ve sworn it was on Letterman, so long ago I can hardly remember, and I don’t care for Geraldo and don’t watch him so I don’t think that was it. (Maybe, but I doubt it.) Yes, the Crispin Glover thing was amusing, but that’s not the one I was referring to. Thanks all. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303/8 "2009-02-03T21:11:48Z")
I’m curious if anyone remembers (and can find a clip of) the guy with the exotic poultry, because there a moment in that segment that had me paralyzed with laugher for a good ten minutes and cracks me up even now. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303/9 "2009-02-03T21:11:51Z")
A Foster Brooks routine, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303/10 "2009-02-03T21:18:37Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > A Foster Brooks routine, maybe? On David Letterman? For some reason that doesn’t compute. Was Foster Brooks even still ALIVE when David Letterman began doing his show? ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303/11 "2009-02-03T21:30:06Z")
Brooks died in '01, so it’s plausible. Since the OP wasn’t completely positive it was Letterman, I took a WAG. Plus, Brooks has a [safe boating routine](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XjNEOFRp28) on You Tube. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303/12 "2009-02-03T21:32:53Z")
I recall Oliver Reed being drunk and incoherent on Letterman’s show once, but I don’t remember whether he mentioned sailboats. The next guest complimented Letterman for doing a good segment with Foster Brooks. One time Sam Phillips was on (of Sun Records fame) and they had to hustle him off early because he was so drunk. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303/13 "2009-02-03T21:39:20Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > Brooks died in '01, so it’s plausible. Wow…I had no idea. I’d thought he’d died back in the early 80s or something. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303/14 "2009-02-03T23:21:38Z")
I don’t know if he’s ever been drunk or just seemed that way but the first person to come to mind was Harvey Pekar. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303/15 "2009-02-04T06:46:26Z")
There was the infamous Farrah Fawcett-Majors interview that, if she wasn’t drunk, she was on something. It was bizarre, to say the least. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303/16 "2009-02-04T06:50:16Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Joe\_Meager](#): > > I saw this when it happened (many, many years ago), but can’t remember the guest’s name. David Letterman, circa 1988 – 1991. The guest was male. He was, apparently, drunk (or otherwise impaired). Dave would ask a question, he would attempt a reply, but veered off to gibberish and non-words. > > The one specific thing I remember is the guest was apparently getting edgy about some of Dave’s questions. So Dave asked him what \*he \*wanted to talk about. > > “Something… safe. Like boats. Sailboats. Let’s talk about sailboats.” Something like that. (Editors note: the guest had nothing to do with sailboats or sailing. He was an actor or something.) This sounds very similar to an episode my mother told me she saw (would have been the right time frame, too). The guest was kind of a big guy, maybe someone playing a gangster or tough guy in a new movie (she didn’t know his name, so it probably wasn’t anyone very famous), and she said he kept jerking his head around like he was seeing elves running around the set. Dave made a comment about his behavior and he immediately got edgy and hostile. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303/17 "2009-02-04T07:14:03Z")
Could this have been [Brother Theodore](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDMPkNnfs64)? (Link to Youtube of one of his appearances) ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303/18 "2009-02-04T11:03:01Z")
My fav was Quinton Tarantino drunk on Leno. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303/19 "2009-02-04T19:07:45Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > One time Sam Phillips was on (of Sun Records fame) and they had to hustle him off early because he was so drunk. Of all the blotto guys on Letterman, this is the one I remember most. ---
**Author:** ![prodicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d9b06d/32.png) [@prodicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prodicus)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303/20 "2009-02-04T19:24:56Z")
Harvey Pekar? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-remember-this-drunk-letterman-guest/484303.md?page=2)