Getty Images/Jamie McCarthy(INDIANA) — Former Late Show host David Letterman’s mother, Dorothy Mengering, who was a recurring guest on his show, has died, his rep confirmed to Entertainment Weekly on Tuesday. She was 95.
Mengering, known as simply “Dave’s mom” on the show, often helped with her son with his top-10 lists, served as an Olympic correspondent and filmed segments from the kitchen of her Indiana home.
In a New York Times interview promoting her 1996 cookbook, Home Cookin’ with Dave’s Mom, Mengering said of her sudden fame, “I couldn’t believe how it all took off. I think it’s about the idea of mom and of a family. People are eager for families to be like they used to be. Even though there are lots of working moms and single-parent families now, you can still be a family in spite of the size and form it takes.”
Besides her famous son, the twice married Mengering is survived by daughters Jan and Gretchen. Her first husband, Harry Joseph Letterman, died of a heart attack in 1973 after 31 years of marriage. Ten years later, she married Hans P. Mengering, who died in 2013.
Stephen Colbert, who succeeded Letterman as host of The Late Show in 2015, tweeted his condolences on Tuesday, writing, “I’m so sorry to hear of Dorothy Mengering’s death, and so grateful that Dave shared her with us.”
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