Jack Hanna

The twin gorillas born at the Columbus Zoo in 1983 were the first in the Western Hemisphere, and the Good Morning America segment that followed put Hanna on the national map. A Letterman producer saw that segment and booked him. His first appearance on Late Night with David Letterman in February 1985 established the formula: folksy Midwestern zookeeper, chaotic animals, increasingly exasperated host. He made 102 Letterman appearances total. "Good Morning America and David Letterman made us a national zoo," Hanna later said.

Now he's the subject of a different kind of story. Diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2019, Hanna retired from the Columbus Zoo on December 31, 2020. His family went public with the diagnosis in 2021, and updates since have been grim. By 2024, his condition had advanced to where he no longer recognized most of his family. He and his wife live on their Montana farm. The zoo he helped build spans 588 acres and draws 2.3 million visitors a year. The legacy is intact. He's not.

The reason Hanna took the Columbus Zoo job in 1978 wasn't the career opportunity. His daughter Julie had leukemia, and Columbus Children's Hospital had the best treatment available. The zoo he inherited was unkempt and underfunded; he reportedly picked up trash personally after closing hours. The TV appearances he built from there were worth an estimated $25 million in annual advertising value for the zoo by 2016 alone. A beaver defecated on Letterman's desk in 1988. The host was disgusted. Hanna got bitten by the same beaver. Nobody stopped booking him.