Before They Were Stars: David Letterman Conducts an Interview at the 1971 Indianapolis 500

To celebrate David Letterman’s birthday today, here’s some rare footage of one of his very first television appearances as a sideline reporter at the Indianapolis 500 in 1971. Letterman was actually in a government witness protection program at the time, so he is working here under the pseudonym of  “Chris Economaki”. Okay, I made that last part up! In truth, the main announcer accidentally introduces Dave as Chris Economaki, which was the name of another sideline reporter at the Indy 500 the day. Still, it must be pretty embarrassing to make your network television debut under the wrong name.

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