Editing Chris Elliott (section)

===Letterman years===
Elliott was hired as a production assistant on ''[[Late Night with David Letterman]]'',<ref name="Koltnow-2005" /> and was with the show from its beginning in February 1982.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Evans |first1=Bradford |title=The Best of Chris Elliott on Letterman |url=https://www.vulture.com/2013/11/the-best-of-chris-elliott-on-letterman.html |website=Vulture.com |date=19 November 2013}}</ref> In the middle of 1983, Elliott became a writer on the show and his on-camera appearances became more frequent. Elliott became best friends and writing partners with [[Matt Wickline]], another ''Letterman'' crew member who was promoted to the writing staff in 1983.<ref name="Chicago Tribune-1985">{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1985/09/08/12-who-make-sure-letterman-gets-the-laughs/|title=12 WHO MAKE SURE LETTERMAN GETS THE LAUGHS|website=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=September 8, 1985}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |first=Eric |last=Pooley|title=Dave's Kids: The Twisted Minds Behind The Letterman Show|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r-MCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA36|magazine=New York Magazine|date=January 19, 1987|publisher=New York Media, LLC|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name="Zinoman-2024">{{cite book |   last = Zinoman | first = Jason  | title = Letterman: The Last Giant Of Late Night |publisher= [[HarperCollins|Harper]] |date=2024-12-07 |orig-year=2017 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pQawDAAAQBAJ | isbn = 9780062377241}}</ref> Wickline and Elliott pitched ''Late Night'''s first theme show, an Emmy-winning interactive episode called "The Custom-Made Show,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-11-22 |title=Stand-Up Sets Where You Can Choose Your Own Adventure - The New York Times |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/13/arts/comedy-special-danny-jolles-vishnu-akella.html |access-date=2025-01-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241122120409/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/13/arts/comedy-special-danny-jolles-vishnu-akella.html |archive-date=November 22, 2024 |last1=Zinoman |first1=Jason }}</ref><ref name="Zinoman-2024"/><ref name="Chicago Tribune-1985"/> leading the program to do a series of ambitious experimental one-off episodes. Along with the rest of the writing staff, he won four [[Emmys]] for his work on the show and was nominated for an additional six.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chris Elliott - Awards |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0254402/awards/ |access-date=2025-01-08 |website=IMDb |language=en-US}}</ref>

Elliott became known in the mid-1980s for playing an assortment of recurring quirky, oddball characters on ''Late Night'', each of which would usually last for a few weeks to a few months, before being retired amidst much mock-fanfare on the show. Elliott and Wickline co-wrote his early pieces on the show, often about characters who had "Guy" in the name, including The Conspiracy Guy, The Panicky Guy, ''[[Terminator (1984 film)|Terminator]]'' parody The Regulator Guy, ''[[The Fugitive (1963 TV series)|The Fugitive]]'' parody "The Fugitive Guy," and most famously, The Guy Under The Seats, a man who lived under the studio audience seating and would get mad at and threaten Letterman.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ideastream.org/news/podcast/the-feed-from-wksu-news/2022-02-01/the-ghoul-ish-cleveland-underpinnings-of-late-night-with-david-letterman|title=The 'Ghoul'-ish Cleveland underpinnings of 'Late Night with David Letterman'|website=Ideastream Public Media}}</ref><ref name="Senger-1987">{{cite news | last=Senger | first=Trustman | title=CHRIS ELLIOTT'S ASCENT INTO MADNESS | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=1987-02-07 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1987/02/07/chris-elliotts-ascent-into-madness/3e763b10-bfc9-4cc7-b019-ed1ff72f3fef/}}</ref>

[[File:Chris Elliott at the 41st Emmy Awards.jpg|thumb|left|Chris Elliott at the [[41st Primetime Emmy Awards|41st Emmy Awards]] in 1989]] In 1987, while still working at ''Letterman'', Elliott starred in two [[Cinemax Comedy Experiment]] TV specials called ''FDR: A One Man Show'' and ''[[Action Family]]''. He co-wrote both specials with ''Letterman'' writers Matt Wickline and Sandy Frank. ''FDR: A One Man Show'' was a fake play about the life and times of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] (influenced by [[Frank Perry]]'s 1984 TV movie ''J.F.K.: A One-Man Show''). Elliott looked and sounded nothing like Roosevelt; he portrayed events from his life that never happened, such as a Japanese bombing of the [[White House]], and his crossing the Potomac in a rowboat. By the end of the show, he had performed [[Gallagher (comedian)|Gallagher's]] shtick of smashing watermelons and other soft fruits on stage.

Following these specials, Elliott and Wickline had a falling-out and ceased working together, with Wickline frustrated with Elliott's lust for stardom.<ref name="Zinoman-2024"/> Elliott switched to collaborating on his ''Letterman'' character bits with [[Adam Resnick]], also a writer. Elliott and Resnick's character bits found him playing self-involved show business people, both real and fake.<ref name="Zinoman-2024"/> These characters include [[Rip Taylor]]-esque Las Vegas [[lounge lizard]] Skylark, talk show host Chris Elliott Jr. (a la [[Morton Downey Jr.]]), and exaggerated surreal impressions of [[Marlon Brando]], [[Jay Leno]], and [[Marv Albert]]. <ref>{{cite news |last1=Baker |first1=Kathryn |title=The Wacky World According to Chris Elliott |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-12-24-ca-30888-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=24 December 1987}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Digiacomo |first1=Frank |title=Chris Elliott, Cabin Man: Rolling Stone's 2008 Feature |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/chris-elliott-cabin-man-rolling-stones-2008-feature-242624/ |publisher=Rolling Stone |date=18 September 2008}}</ref>

As his career on ''Late Night'' blossomed, Elliott auditioned to join the cast of ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' when [[Lorne Michaels]] returned to the program in 1985. He was offered the job but turned it down to stay at ''Letterman''.<ref name="Senger-1987"/><ref name="Hill-2012">{{cite web | last=Hill | first=Dave | title=Chris Elliott: "'SNL' looks like a lot of fun but you're constantly auditioning" | website=Salon | date=2012-10-22 | url=https://www.salon.com/2012/10/22/chris_elliott_snl_looks_like_a_lot_of_fun_but_youre_constantly_auditioning/ }}</ref> He began taking small film roles, often as a supporting actor in films such as [[Michael Mann (director)|Michael Mann]]'s ''[[Manhunter (film)|Manhunter]]'' and [[James Cameron]]'s ''[[The Abyss]]''. He had a small supporting role in an episode of ''[[Miami Vice]]''.