David Letterman pays tribute to Alan Kalter: "Whatever else, we always had the best announcer in television"

Variety

Kalter, who died Monday at age 78, was the Late Show with David Letterman's announcer for 20 years, from 1995 until the show ended in 2015. He replaced longtime Letterman announcer Bill Wendell. “When our announcer of 15 years Bill Wendell retired, producer Robert Morton came to my office with an audio tape containing auditions for several announcers,” Letterman said in a statement in appreciation of Kalter. “Alan’s was the first and only voice we listened to. We knew he would be our choice. Whatever else, we always had the best announcer in television. Wonderful voice and eagerness to play a goofy character of himself. Did I mention he could sing? Yes he could. He enthusiastically did it all. A very sad day, but many great memories.”

ALSO:

• How I Met Your Mother co-creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas recall writing "batsh*t-bonkers bits" for Alan Kalter on the Late Show:  "Oh man, @CarterBays and I loved writing for Alan -- some of my fondest memories of Late Show are the absolutely batsh*t-bonkers bits we wrote for Alan, who was always game to let us make him look insane...rest in peace, Alan, and thanks for the laughs," tweeted Thomas. "Alan had what Leslie Nielsen and Lloyd Bridges had: Absolute deadpan commitment to the bit, a religious devotion to the notion that nothing was out of the ordinary when insane shit was happening...that's a gift...Every week for what seemed like months, we had Alan get insulted by a CBS Mailbag letter, leave the studio, & travel a long distance to punch out the viewer who wrote it...it always took a long time, and there was almost never a twist, just like all great comedy." Bays adds: "Between him and Tony Mendez it's a heartbreaking time. To us Late Show writers Alan was so much more than just the 'From New York...' guy. He was our muse. We loved writing for him. Such a cheerful presence on the show. And around the office. Rest easy Big Red."
• Kalter may have influenced HIMYM's Barney Stinson: "I feel like there's even a little hint of Barney Stinson when I think back on all the crazy sh*t @CarterBays and I wrote for Big Red..."