David Letterman’s beard has enjoyed a better life than most things since its debut in 2015. It’s been to India for a trim, rubbed elbows with the Obamas, been jogging in St. Barths and now, it’s taking up much of the cover of New York Magazine.
Photographed for a cover story teased by “David Letterman returns for one issue only,” the former late night funnyman wears his iconic beard, a pair of orange sunglasses and a beanie. According to the mag, the image was shot on Letterman's way out of his meandering, cutting interview.
Letterman explained to New York that “great things have happened” to him since growing the beard, including being mistaken for artist Chuck Close and telling strangers on the street he’d been fired from his television show.
His friend Paul Shaffer once called Letterman’s beard the “porcupine on his chin,” and we can’t help but obsess over its impressive lushness at any given opportunity. It seems to have a character all its own. What better time than now, then, to revisit how the beard evolved?
Check out Letterman’s incredible beard-volution below.