# is David Letterman Jewish? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 8, 2006, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514 "2006-02-08T05:41:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mitchco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@mitchco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mitchco)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/1 "2006-02-08T05:41:18Z")
some people believe Dave letterman is Jewish , and he pretends to be a regular middle American guy , because he is ashamed of his heritage. Is it true ? Letterman could be a Jewish name , but maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/2 "2006-02-08T05:50:15Z")
His mother Dorothy is or was a Presbyterian church secretary, so I doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/3 "2006-02-08T05:53:25Z")
Oh and he had his heart surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/4 "2006-02-08T05:55:11Z")
On the other hand, it appears that Paul Shaffer is Jewish. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/5 "2006-02-08T06:01:05Z")
> [@mitchco](#): > > and he pretends to be a regular middle American guy , because he is ashamed of his heritage Hmm. So you’re saying that a Jew cannot be a “regular middle American” (whatever that is). ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/6 "2006-02-08T08:21:38Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > On the other hand, it appears that Paul Shaffer is Jewish. Well he’s got a shiny helmet. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/7 "2006-02-08T08:23:05Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Hmm. So you’re saying that a Jew cannot be a “regular middle American” (whatever that is). If you’re saying that you doubt such exists, aren’t you saying that too? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/8 "2006-02-08T11:04:44Z")
> [@mitchco](#): > > some people believe Dave letterman is Jewish , and he pretends to be a regular middle American guy , because he is ashamed of his heritage. I am hoping you didn’t quite mean that as it sounds… I was unaware that being Jewish makes it impossible to be a “regular American guy”. Jews seem pretty integrated into the larger society to me… > [@don't ask](#): > > His mother Dorothy is or was a Presbyterian church secretary, so I doubt it. Nor does it entirely eliminate the possibility. Granted, if his father was Jewish and his mother not, the _Jews_ wouldn’t consider him Jewish, but the gentiles would and I’m sure this is how the confusion arises in at least some cases. There’s also conversion later in life and a few other possibilities… but yeah, _usually_ having a Presbyterian mother sort of eliminates the “Jew” label. I think there are some folks convinced that every succesful entertainer is Jewish, whether there’s evidence for or against that or not. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/9 "2006-02-08T13:23:54Z")
[Ancestry of David Letterman](http://www.wargs.com/other/letterman.html). ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/10 "2006-02-08T13:30:46Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > [Ancestry of David Letterman](http://www.wargs.com/other/letterman.html). Nope - I get nothing. ---
**Author:** ![mitchco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@mitchco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mitchco)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/11 "2006-02-08T14:35:46Z")
no , I’m just saying that Dave never mentions his religion or ancestery, he may be "passing " for Jewish , which used to mean a person that was hiding his true heritage , as to try and fit in to American society , because of fear of anti semitism. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/12 "2006-02-08T14:37:25Z")
Right. Because there’s a real “glass ceiling” for Jews in American comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/13 "2006-02-08T14:37:46Z")
Wouldn’t that make him passing for _gentile_? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/14 "2006-02-08T14:42:16Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > Oh and he had his heart surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Does this really have anything to do with the question? If the best doctor is at a Catholic or a Presbyterian hospital, I have no problem going there over a Jewish hospital. ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/15 "2006-02-08T14:59:12Z")
Not everyone whose name ends in -man, -berg, or -stein is Jewish. For example, baseball players David Eckstein, Morgan Ensberg, Lance Berkman, David Cone, and Walt Weiss are often thought to be Jewish but they aren’t. But Shawn Green, Brad Ausmus, and Jason Marquis are Jewish. Also, in my experience, Jewish people from the Midwest tend to look and sound like everyone else from the Midwest, and not like 80-year-old men named Ira raised in Brooklyn but born in Galicia speaking Yiddish. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/16 "2006-02-08T15:06:25Z")
The Keller, Shore, and Schwartz I knew in Milwaukee were all Catholics. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/17 "2006-02-08T16:22:57Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I was unaware that being Jewish makes it impossible to be a “regular American guy”. Well, being Jewish is certainly not **typical** or the **norm** for American guys, given that Jews constitute only about 2% of the US population. But of course Jews can be “regular American guys” if by “regular” you mean “culturally integrated with other Americans” or “similar in many respects to the American mainstream” or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/18 "2006-02-08T16:30:46Z")
Funny, he doesn’t _look_ Jewish. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/19 "2006-02-08T16:39:45Z")
And Paul Shaffer can’t be a regular Middle American guy because he’s. . . _Canadian!!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/20 "2006-02-08T16:50:10Z")
I found the following webpage by Googling on “David Letterman” and “Jewish”: [http://experts.about.com/q/David-Letterman-1189/David-Letterman-1.htm](http://experts.about.com/q/David-Letterman-1189/David-Letterman-1.htm) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514.md?page=2)