May 2004 Feature

Like other mothers, celebrity moms have to deal with cuts, bruises, and broken bones. Dorothy Mengering, otherwise known as "David Letterman's Mom," is no stranger to these child-rearing events.

The mother of three--with David in the middle between two sisters, Jan and Gretchen--Mengering never had a dull moment during her children's early years.

"David was a fun little boy," Mengering says of her famous son. "He experienced, I guess, what all little boys go through. He had a broken leg when he was only four, a broken elbow, and a cut over his eye. I remember after the cast came off his leg, he was climbing the elm tree in our front yard, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying, 'David, don't do that.' Instead, I just thought, 'he has to be a boy, I can't stop him from doing what little boys do.'"

From a fun-loving child, Letterman developed into one of late-night's most talked about television personalities.

Mengering recalls that her son acquired his trademark humor naturally. Both his dad, Joe Letterman, and his grandfather--Dorothy's father--had a good sense of humor, she acknowledges, but David developed his own style.

"Even at a young age, David was quite comical," Mengering says, "so, naturally he made friends easily."

Letterman acquired quite a few friends when he became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity while in college. Mengering remembers her trips to Muncie to visit both Jan, her oldest daughter, and David, while they were attending Ball State. Gretchen, the youngest of the three, and fondly referred to by Mengering as her "tag-a-long," would often come with her mom to campus.

"We would attend the Sigma Chi Mother's Day events and, I believe back then, they also had a day when they would bring their little sisters to school, so Gretchen got to participate, too," Mengering says.

Gretchen was in high school when Joe Letterman died unexpectedly after a heart attack in 1973. Jan and David had already left home.

"Gretchen and I share a special bond because she was with me when her dad died," Mengering says. "We were really close, going through that together."

Reminiscing about her daily activities as a young mother, Mengering says she is glad to have had the experience of raising children when she did.

"I think being a mother now would be more difficult than when I raised my children," she says. "Mothers today are expected to work in the business world, keep a tidy house, and raise their children."

She also comments about her apprehension when learning that her son was planning to leave Indiana to pursue work in California.

"I can remember when David graduated from Ball State. He worked for Channel 13 [WTHR in Indianapolis] for awhile and left for California in 1975," she says. "That was tough for me, because he didn't have a job and he didn't know what he was going to be doing.

"I guess it all worked out though," Mengering continues. "He started doing stand-up comedy and a bit of writing."

Mengering describes the early opportunities her son encountered.

"Along the way, a representative from Johnny Carson's show approached David after one of his skits in California. David turned them down, because he was not ready yet. In his own words, he said, 'If I fall on my face with this, then I have lost it. I want it to be right.' They came back a second time and he must have been ready," she adds.

Letterman's first late-night experience was making numerous appearances as guest host of The Tonight Show, starring Johnny Carson. In 1982, NBC gave Letterman his own late-night spot, Late Night with David Letterman, and it quickly became one of the most talked-about and critically acclaimed programs on the air.

The CBS debut of Late Show with David Letterman was August 30, 1993. Now, ten years later, Late Show continues to deliver inventive and imaginative comedy every weeknight. For its success, it has earned six Emmy Awards as Outstanding Variety, Music, or Comedy Program.

From the start, Letterman has been critically applauded for redefining the talk-show genre. In 1992, he received the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award for taking "one of TV's most conventional and least-inventive forms, the talk show, and infusing it with freshness and imagination." Letterman also has won two American Comedy Awards as Funniest Male Performer in a Television Series, and in 1995 and 2001 he was nominated for a Career Achievement Award by the Television Critics Association.

Letterman's mom also has received recognition from the show. Mengering had the opportunity to interview such famous faces as Nancy Kerrigan and speed-skater Dan Jansen during the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. During special segments, she reported on the Olympics that year for Late Show.

She also makes her annual Thanksgiving night appearance from her Indiana kitchen in Carmel, sharing some of her personal Thanksgiving treats. They usually include a couple of homemade pies.

To capture not only some of the family's favorite recipes but also special family memories, in 1996 Mengering worked with Pocket Books, a division of Simon and Schuster, Inc., to publish a cookbook of what she would consider her best recipes. Mengering notes that David's favorites include strawberry and chocolate chiffon pies. She explains in her cookbook that David always preferred chocolate chiffon pie to cake on his birthday.

"I learned to cook in my mother's kitchen in Linton, Indiana, where my younger brother Earl and younger sister Hazel and I grew up," Mengering recalls. "After a year at Indiana University and a short time at Central Business College in Indianapolis, I married Joe Letterman in 1942 and became a wife and a mother."

During their marriage, Dorothy and Joe invested their time in their work and children.

"I helped Joe when he opened a flower shop and I later worked as a church secretary," Mengering says. "But since 1943, the year my daughter Jan was born, I have been a full-time cook." David followed in 1947, then Gretchen in 1955. "I made sure that the entire family was together for at least one meal a day, and there were many special times spent in the kitchen with my children," Mengering adds.

Home Cookin' with Dave's Mom is no longer in publication. According to Hans Mengering, Dorothy's husband, there are about 300 copies remaining. Hans often serves as Dorothy's right-hand man and has accompanied her to many book-signings, including one at Ball State in 2003. All proceeds from the cookbook go to the Kiwanis International Worldwide Service Project to prevent iodine deficiency disorder, the leading preventable cause of mental retardation in children in third-world countries.

Mengering has a great love for all children and, like all grandmothers, she is especially fond of her own grandchildren. Even though they do not get together often, the family cherishes the times they do share.

"The last time we were all together was this past Valentine's Day for Harry's, David's newborn son, baptism," Mengering says. "David made the arrangements for the whole family to meet in New York for the event, which was very special. With the distance between us and busy schedules, it is almost impossible to get everyone together, but occasionally we can make it work. We do get to see each other individually, but rarely as a whole family."

Mengering claims that without the fame of her son, she would have never been put into the spotlight.

"If I weren't his mom, I would have never been asked to host the Winter Olympics for the Late Show, or write a cookbook," Mengering interjects.

Although the fame of her son has helped her gain national recognition, Mengering continues to live her life quietly, tending to her orchids and taking daily walks around her neighborhood. While she attributes Letterman's father and grandfather with contributing influentially to his personality, Mengering demonstrates a bit of her own brand of humor.

She uses wit in her wisdom as she describes her experiences in appearing on Late Show. "People now tell me that I'm the only person on the show who can rattle David," Mengering says. "I don't think I can rattle him. I think he worries that I'm going to louse up and embarrass myself, which is a very legitimate concern. But so far, so good."