This was such a long run, so if I'm meant to get a gig in a piano bar in Palm Springs …. I'm not too worried at this point," he says. "I feel like I've had a lot of fun. How can you keep having all the fun? Eventually, you've got to let others have some fun."
Hidden in the attention being paid to David Letterman leading to his retirement Wednesday is the knowledge that it will also mean the end of a regular television role for America’s bandleader, Paul Shaffer.
The gravel-voiced sidekick, who’s 65, isn’t ready to leave show business even with the gig of a lifetime coming to a close after 33 years.
“Of course, I had the old mixed feelings, sadness, etcetera,” Shaffer says during an interview in his office behind the Ed Sullivan Theater. “Now I have come around to just being absolutely thankful for such a wonderful run, such a long run, working for a guy who has been nothing but encouraging to me.”
Shaffer is a walking trivia answer of show biz credits: bandleader for the original “Saturday Night Live” troupe, same role for the Blues Brothers, part composer of the 1980s hit “It’s Raining Men” and the “Late Show” theme, cringe-worthy record executive Artie Fufkin in “This is Spinal Tap” and music director for the annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions. If he hadn’t neglected to return Jerry Seinfeld’s call, you may have known him as George Costanza, too.