David Letterman a Raging Hypochondriac!? New Book Claims
Former late night host David Letterman was almost a goner because he had contracted heart tumors. Fortunately for him, “heart tumors” do not exist, so there was no way Letterman could have caught them. That’s just one of the amazingly weird stories in a new book about the late night comedian that paints him as an extreme hypochondriac. The book by New York Times comedy critic, Jason Zinoman, “Letterman: The Last Giant of Late Night,” says that David Letterman went to all sorts of lengths because he constantly thought he was sick or had contracted some serious illness. This led to him keeping a copy of the Merck Manual, the diagnosis guide, handy in his office.
In a report by the New York Daily News, some of those imagined diseases discussed in Zinoman’s new book are revealed. Besides thinking that he had developed heart tumors, the tell-all book claims that Letterman would bring in doctors to his offices to consult on the mercury fillings in his teeth which he was convinced were making him sick. The book also says that David Letterman traveled as far as to Munich, Germany to find a cure for dizziness which doctors there finally had to convince him was all in his head.
The biography documents more than his disease phobia, it covers his entire career from his home state of Indiana up until he retired two years ago, plus his love life. According to the author, even Letterman’s girlfriends were forced into his hypochondria. He writes that one-time Letterman girlfriend and show co-creator Merrill Markoe would have long phone conversations with Dave about death and whatever sickness he thought he had at any given moment.
Letterman: The Last Giant of Late Night by Jason Zinoman is due out on April 11, 2017
Here’s a bonus feature that is not part of the book. It’s some research that we added. From the home office in Scottsdale, Arizona…here are the Top 10 Late Show Hypochondria Segments Rejected By David Letterman
Number 10… Stupid Human Viruses
Number 9… The Guy With The Bad Cough Under The Seats
Number 8… Hazmat Suit of Rice Krispies
Number 7… Hello Deli Salmonella Poisoning
Number 6… Great Moments in CDC Speeches
Number 5… Top Ten Things I Found On My Back
Number 4… Will It Float In a Petri Dish?
Number 3… Quarterback CTE Challenge
Number 2… Late Night Ebola Monkey Cam
And the Number One Hypochondria Segment Rejected By David Letterman….
Sitting too close to Madonna!
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