Watch Jay Thomas tell David Letterman's favorite late-night story

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Jay Thomas)

Jay Thomas, the TV and movie actor, died on Thursday after a battle with cancer. He was probably most famous for his role on Murphy Brown, for which he won two Emmys, and he was also on Cheers and other TV shows. But he is also remembered for going on The Late Show with David Letterman every Christmas season to tell his story about the Lone Ranger, back when he worked in radio in the early 1970s. Letterman had him tell it every year, he said, because "it's the best story I've ever heard." It goes like this:

And the last. By 2014, with Letterman retiring, Thomas was ready to stop telling his Lone Ranger story. Letterman clearly wasn't tired of hearing it. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.