Alan Kalter, longtime announcer for David Letterman, dies at 78

• Published date: 07 October 2021
• Author: RON KAMPEAS/JTA
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Kelter died Monday at 78 at at Stamford Hospital in Connecticut, surrounded by his wife and daughters. His colleagues took to social media, remembering him as a "lovely" man who was generous with his praise and encouragement.

That might not be the Alan Kalter you remember: For 20 years on "The Late Show With David Letterman," Kalter was not only Letterman's announcer but played a foul-mouthed narcissist and buffoon.

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Letterman, who delighted in getting his staff and guests to play against type, took it to extremes with the affable and self-effacing Kalter, who joined the talk-show host in 1995 and stayed through Letterman's retirement from broadcast TV in 2015.

A favorite routine was "Alan Kalter's Celebrity Interview." Letterman would introduce Kalter and the camera would cut to Kalter, seated across from an A-list celebrity. George Clooney, Will Smith, Harrison Ford and Jodie Foster were among those who gamely played along.

Instead of interviewing the celebrity, Kalter would spend two minutes abusing Letterman, accusing his boss of sycophantic behavior toward the celebrity ("suckhole" was one of the printable pejoratives Kalter favored), then turning on the guest — who reacted only with facial expressions, and hardly ever said a word. Kalter would rip off his mic and storm off the stage, as backstage staffers grinned and applauded.

"That's the last time we hire a guy without an interview," Letterman said after a session with Nicolas Cage.

Kalter, born in Brooklyn, taught high school English in Long Island before breaking into radio and becoming a game show announcer. When Letterman was seeking a replacement for Bill Wendell, his first announcer, a producer brought in an audiotape of auditions. Kalter's was "the first and only voice" we listened to, Letterman said.

Kalter would break into show tunes, to Letterman's mortification, or would present as a leering predator, offering to "comfort" Britney Spears after her divorce.

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