Dorothy Mengering

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Dorothy Mengering (b. 1921), better known to Late Show viewers as Dave's Mom, is the mother of late-night talk show host David Letterman and frequent guest on his show. Following several years of appearing via telephone, Dorothy made her on screen Late Show debut covering the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. She currently resides in Carmel, Indiana.

1 Biography
2 Appearances on The Late Show
- 2.1 Olympics
- 2.2 Other appearances
3 Quotes
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Biography

Dorothy Marie Hofert was born in 1921 in Linton, Indiana, the oldest child of Earl and Hazel Hofert. A younger brother, Earl Jr., and sister, Hazel, were born in 1922 and 1923 respectively. Dorothy spent a year at Indiana University before marrying Harry Joseph ("Joe") Letterman in 1942, with whom she had three children: Jan, David, and Gretchen. While raising her children, Dorothy assisted Joe with his floristry business and worked as a secretary for the Second Presbyterian Church. Joe died in 1973.

In 1983, Dorothy married Hans Mengering, a decorated World War II veteran and now-retired engineer. When she is not appearing on the late show she enjoys traveling with Hans and remains active in various capacities at Second Presbyterian.

[edit] Appearances on The Late Show

[edit] Olympics

Dorothy's first on-camera appearance on The Late Show came in 1994, providing nightly coverage of the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. In the days immediately prior to her television debut, Dorothy fell and received eight stitches on her eyebrow and a black eye, and spent much of her on-camera time under many layers of makeup. While in Lillehammer, Dorothy interviewed Hillary Clinton, Nancy Kerrigan, and several other winter Olympians, including gold medal-winner Tommy Moe.

Dorothy reprised her role as Late Show Olympic commentator in 1998 and 2002, covering the Winter Games held in Nagano, Japan and Salt Lake City, Utah.

[edit] Other appearances

Since her first appearance in 1994, Dorothy has appeared on the show several times each year. In 1995, Dorothy traveled to London to film remote spots for The Late Show, which would be airing from London later that year.

Dorothy makes annual appearances on Thanksgiving, via satellite from her Indiana home, for a feature entitled "Guess Mom's Pies". She also appears regularly on or around Mother's Day and has made occasional visits on her birthday.

[edit] Quotes

"The positive response to my appearances on David's show has nothing to do with my amateur abilities as a broadcaster. People enjoy seeing a mother and son together. It's that simple."^[1]