Ray Romano gives touching interview in final ‘Late Show with David Letterman’ appearance

We imagine that we are going to write quite a few articles like this over the next several weeks, mostly because of the sole fact that David Letterman changed the lives of some many people. He may not want to admit it, but it is very much true. Jimmy Kimmel may not have a talk show if it wasn’t for growing up watching “Late Night,” and the connection between Dave and Ray Romano is even more direct.

If you have not heard the story before, Ray tells it again in the video below. At the time he made his first appearance on Letterman’s show, he was a struggling comedian with a family to feed, and was having a fairly tough time finding that next gear in his career. Dave liked him so much that shortly after his stand-up appearance on the show, he had his production company reach out to Ray about potentially doing a sitcom. That sitcom became “Everybody Loves Raymond,” and it was one of the biggest hits in the history of CBS comedy.

There are not too many times these days that you see people get legitimately emotional on TV; in between publicists and fake drama, it rarely ever happens. This was something beautiful and nostalgic, since it brought Ray back to a very different time in his life, and reminded him how far he is come and how grateful he is.

Ultimately, think of this as another reminder that Ray, even with all of his success, is still a humble guy. Of course, you would know that just by him continuing to work for art’s sake in projects like “Parenthood” and “Men of a Certain Age.”