# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/21 "2006-02-08T17:03:13Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > And Paul Shaffer can’t be a regular Middle American guy because he’s. . . _Canadian!!!_ Shaffer is a bald Canadian Jew, just like William Shatner. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/22 "2006-02-08T17:35:34Z")
[JEWHOO](http://www.jewhoo.com/) used to be a great place to look people up, but they had some devastating problems with their server. The temp page is not even a shadow of it’s former self. ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/23 "2006-02-08T20:18:00Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > Shaffer is a bald Canadian Jew, just like William Shatner. add short, rich and given to really bad acting. That said, Shaffer doesn’t carry a Type II phaser. ---
**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, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/24 "2006-02-08T20:26:43Z")
> [@Ichbin Dubist](#): > > Not everyone whose name ends in -man, -berg, or -stein is Jewish. Especially if they’re from the Midwest, like Letterman is. > [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > 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) Anybody else very amused by the ads for “straight teeth in six months” from Invisalign Braces on that page? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/25 "2006-02-08T20:37:12Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Right. Because there’s a real “glass ceiling” for Jews in American comedy. Best snappy response of the week! ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/26 "2006-02-09T04:55:31Z")
Is there any reason to assume that he is Jewish, other than the fact that his name ends in “-man”? ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/27 "2006-02-09T05:25:32Z")
> [@Rucksinator](#): > > Is there any reason to assume that he is Jewish, other than the fact that his name ends in “-man”? He’s named after King David. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/28 "2006-02-09T05:40:12Z")
1. He’s in the _media_, for God’s sake. (Please note the comma.) 2. He was named David. 3. His father was named Harry. 4. He’s irreverent. 5. He’s rich as hell. 6. He has a history of chomping large obnoxious cigars. 7. He has been known to display signs of self-hatred and neurosis. 8. He worked as a TV gag writer. 9. His show has originated from New York for 25 years. **And the Number One Jewish Thing About Dave…** 1. Those glasses. Especially with that haircut. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/29 "2006-02-09T06:10:13Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > 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… I take it you haven’t seen many Hasidim about. ;j Now, if Letterman is really a Hasidic Jew “passing” as a “regular American guy”, he’s doing an awfully good job of it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/30 "2006-02-09T09:40:59Z")
Would a Jew hand out canned hams? Just asking. ---
**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 9, 2006, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/31 "2006-02-09T11:46:24Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > I take it you haven’t seen many Hasidim about. ;j Hasidim are not the majority of Jews, at least not the majority of them in the Midwest where I have lived all my life. With the exception of those who make a point of setting themselves apart, Jews are pretty indistinguishable from the general population in the Midwest. They tend to have the same accents, the same clothes, and in general they blend in to the point Christians sometimes forget they exist. ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/32 "2006-02-09T12:31:22Z")
> [@Seven](#): > > Would a Jew hand out canned hams? > > Just asking. Sure, the irony would be hillarious even if it would be an inside joke. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/33 "2006-02-09T16:54:20Z")
Wouldn’t he be in the Hanukka song if he was Jewish? _Dave Letterman is half Jewish and so is Candice Bergen_ (I just make that up, and I have no idea why Candice Bergen popped into my head.) ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/34 "2006-02-09T17:11:58Z")
Letterman’s long-time producer was Robert Morton (Morty). Morty’s sister has worked for my wife for a long-time and I know her as well. She and Morty are Jewish. More importantly, she knows Letterman and that is something she would know about. Unfortunately, she isn’t at work today and won’t be back until Monday. I will ask her then. ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/35 "2006-02-09T18:10:36Z")
This reminds me of teaching English in Qatar, when students asked me if Abraham Lincoln was Jewish because his name was Abraham & he had a beard. Or if another teacher was Jewish because his name was Dave and “he has face like a thief.” :eek: :smack: People were very disappointed to learn that The Three Stooges were Jews, what with them being big comedy hits and such. I think Letterman would’ve made a thousand jokes about his Jewishness by now if that were true. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/36 "2006-02-09T19:27:38Z")
> [@Ichbin Dubist](#): > > 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. Does this mean Morgan Freeman is not a Jew? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/37 "2006-02-09T20:51:11Z")
[This cite says that he was raised in a “devout Presbyterian” home but has little religion today.](http://www.adherents.com/people/pl/David_Letterman.html) ---
**Author:** ![thenightscribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d2c977/32.png) [@thenightscribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thenightscribe)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/38 "2011-08-22T15:25:59Z")
My maiden name is Letterman. My family tree has been followed back to the 1690s. We are not Jewish, nor have ever been (not that I’d have a problem with that). We are of Catholic and Lutheran faiths. I am Catholic. Just setting the record straight. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/39 "2011-08-22T15:39:20Z")
[The first wise-ass response I thought of.](http://www.thejudeosphere.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/dradle-small.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514/40 "2011-08-22T16:34:19Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Does this mean Morgan Freeman is not a Jew? Pretty sure Adolf Eichmann wasn’t Jewish either. But that’s not important. I want to know why Morty’s sister hasn’t come back to work yet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-david-letterman-jewish/343514.md?page=3)