Peter Lassally facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Peter Lassally
Lassally at the 69th Annual Peabody Awards in May 2010
Born	(1932-10-14) October 14, 1932 (age 92) Hamburg, Germany
Education	Newtown High School
Occupation	Television executive producer
Years active	1951–2015
Employer	NBC (1970-1980), Carson Productions (1980-1992), Worldwide Pants (1992-2015)
Known for	The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Late Show with David Letterman, Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Peter Lassally, born on October 14, 1932, is an American television producer. He was born in Germany. He is famous for being the executive producer of many popular late-night talk shows. These include The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Late Night with David Letterman, Late Show with David Letterman, and Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Early Life and Moving to America

Peter Lassally was born in Hamburg, Germany. His family was Jewish. In 1938, before World War II started, his family moved to the Netherlands. There, Peter went to elementary school. He was even in the same grade as Anne Frank's sister.

During the war, in 1943, Peter, his mother, and his sister were held in special camps. These were the Westerbork camp and then Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia. After the war, in 1947, his family moved to New York City in the United States. Peter finished high school at Newtown High School. In 1951, he started working at the NBC network studio as a page. This was his first step into the world of television.

A Career in Television Production

Peter Lassally began his career working on radio shows. Some of these shows were Monitor, Nightline, and The Nation's Future. In the 1950s, he became a producer for Arthur Godfrey's television show.

Around 1970, Peter Lassally became the executive producer of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. This was a very popular late-night talk show. After Johnny Carson retired in 1992, Peter Lassally continued his work with another famous host. He became the executive producer for Late Night with David Letterman and then The Late Show with David Letterman.

Peter also worked on The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder from 1995 to 1999. He helped Jon Stewart when Jon was a guest host filling in for Snyder.

Finding a New Host

Peter Lassally went into semi-retirement for a while. But in 2004, the CBS network and Worldwide Pants (David Letterman's company) asked for his help. They needed him to find a new host for The Late Late Show. The previous host, Craig Kilborn, had left suddenly.

Auditions for the new host were held live on TV for several months. Peter Lassally suggested Craig Ferguson for the job. He convinced CBS and David Letterman that Craig Ferguson had great potential. Peter then came out of retirement to be the executive producer of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. He stayed in this role even after Craig Ferguson left. He oversaw the show with different guest hosts until Late Late Show with James Corden started in March 2015.

Peter Lassally is sometimes called "the host whisperer." This is because he was a trusted producer and friend to many successful talk show hosts for a long time. He officially retired on February 20, 2015. His last show was with Will Arnett, who was a guest host on The Late Late Show. Peter even made a small appearance on that show. He told Will Arnett that all someone needed to be a late-night host was a suit!