In college David Letterman was kicked off the classical radio station for his loopy wisecracks: "That was Claire de Lune," he once announced. "You know the de Lune sisters. There was Claire and there was Mabel."

After graduating, Dave briefly worked at a local TV station, hosting late night movies and doing the weather. Why did he leave? He was fired -- for describing a storm as having "hailstones the size of canned hams!"

["You can only announce the weather, the highs and lows, so many times before you go insane," he later explained. "In my case, it took two weeks. I started clowning... People said, 'Who is this punk and why is he making fun of the relative humidity?'"]

[In high school, David Letterman and a friend threw eggs at the homes of the class's prettiest girls. By college Letterman was wearing a beard...]