Stars have paid tribute to retiring TV host David Letterman.
Celebrities including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ricky Gervais and Jimmy Kimmel took to Twitter last night (03.04.14) following the veteran chat show host's announcement that he will be quitting his flagship show next year, praising the 66-year-old star for his contribution to journalism.
'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' actress Sarah posted a montage of pictures from her visits to 'The Late Show with David Letterman', captioning the images, "You are a class act that will be truly missed #legend."
'Father of the Bride' funnyman Steve Martin appeared shocked by the news and thanked the beloved host for inviting him on his show to promote his films.
He enthused: "Wow, @Letterman retiring. He's been a significant force in my "later" career. Thanks, Dave!"
Ricky Gervais also praised David, describing him as, "a king, a king-maker, and probably the man most to blame for inflicting me on America. See you soon."
Meanwhile, David's chat show contemporaries also paid tribute to their friend with moving messages.
Ellen DeGeneres wrote: "David @Letterman announced he's retiring in 2015. It's been 31 incredible years. Television won't be the same without you, Dave."
Fellow up-start presenter Jimmy Kimmel shared a simple and direct tribute, writing on the social media site: "David Letterman is the best there is and ever was."
However, 'Girls' star Lena Dunham was more critical in her response, revealing she was excited to see what the announcement meant for the future of television.
She said: "I love Letterman but I am really excited about what this could mean for the diversification of late night."
David announced he was quitting by telling CBS Chairman and CEO Leslie Moonves, "It's been great, you've been great, and the network has been great, but I'm retiring."
Last year, he overtook his friend and mentor Johnny Carson as the longest-serving late-night talk show host in TV history with a career spanning 31 years.

Holly Hunter and Callan Mulvey are joining Zack Snyder's Batman vs Superman movie.
'Paradise' star Hunter impressed director Snyder who is working on the sequel to 2013 blockbuster 'Man of Steel' and although the role is yet to be named he claims it was written "specifically" for her.
Snyder said: "Holly has always been one of my favourite actresses. She has immense talent and is always captivating on screen. I had an opportunity to meet her a while back and knew instantly that I had to work with her, so as we began writing the script I made sure to create a role specifically for her."
Mulvey will appear alongside Henry Cavill who will reprise his role as Superman and Ben Affleck as Batman, and Snyder was thrilled to announce they'll be teaming up once again after filming '300: Rise of an Empire' together.
He explained: "I just had the good fortune to work with Callan on '300: Rise of an Empire' and was very impressed with his incredible talent.
"He's a fantastic actor and I'm looking forward to having the chance to work with him again."
Warner Bros has also cast Tao Okamoto who starred in 'The Wolverine' in the forthcoming film.
Snyder gushed: "And, quite simply, Tao is a striking presence whose beauty is aptly rivaled by her amazing abilities as an actress. I'm really excited to have her joining us on this adventure."
The film is currently being written by Chris Terrio, from a screenplay by David S. Goyer.
Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder are producing, with Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Wesley Coller, Goyer and Geoff Johns serving as executive producers.
The film is tipped for a May 6, 2016, release.

Will Ferrell is set to star in tennis drama 'Match Maker'. The 'Anchorman 2: the Legend Continues' actor will play Bobby Riggs, who first found fame as a professional sportsman in the 1940s but hit headlines in 1973 following the 'The Battle of the Se...

Ryan Reynolds is in talks to join the 'Woman In Gold'. The 37-year-old actor and Daniel Bruhl are negotiating roles to star opposite Helen Mirren in the Simon Curtis-directed film, according to deadline.com. The 'RED 2' actress will play a Jewish Wor...

Kasabian will headline this year's Glastonbury festival with Arcade Fire.
The 'Fire' hitmakers will close the event at Worthy Farm on Sunday, June 29, joining headliners Arcade Fire on Friday, June 27, while the Saturday headliner is yet to be announced.
Kasabian - made up of Serge Pizzorno, Chris Edwards, Tim Carter and Ian Matthews - will make their debut at the festival ahead of the release of their new album and Serge insists he can now "die a happy man".
He told NME.com: "We knew we were in the running which was amazing. Being in the running is fine but you don't want to be in the race, you want to win it. You want to be on the podium. We got the phone call - I felt relieved because we've always wanted to do it from the first rehearsal, day one of the first rehearsal. We kicked into a tune and sort of went, 'Glastonbury!', a full on shout out."
Festival founder Michael Eavis had promised this year's festival would feature fresh headliners and rumours are Prince could still be announced for the Saturday night.
Michael's daughter Emily Eavis said: "We always take great pride in putting a great British band on to headline the Pyramid [stage] and this time it's Kasabian, who are one of the most requested bands from Glastonbury-goers and an amazing live act. It's going to be one hell of a show!"
Kasabian join 87 names added to this year's line-up, which now includes Elbow, Pixies, MIA and Skrillex.
'Where Is My Mind?' hitmakers Pixies have not performed at the festival since 1989 and are set to release their fifth album, 'Indie Cindy', their first record in 23 years.
Dolly Parton, Jack White, The Black Keys, Robert Plant, Lily Allen, Blondie, Lana Del Rey, Disclosure, Paolo Nutini, Manic Street Preachers and Ed Sheeran are also on the bill for the event.
The festival has already sold out but a re-sale of tickets that have been cancelled or refunded will go back on sale to the public at the end of April visit Glastonbury.seetickets.com for more.

Klaxons have teamed up with some of the biggest names in the dance world for their new album 'Love Frequency'.
The band - made up of Jamie Reynolds, James Righton and Simon Taylor - have been working with The Chemical Brothers' Tom Reynolds, James Murphy from LCD Soundsystem and electro DJ Erol Alkan for their new record, which is out on June 2.
Guitarist Simon, 31, told the Daily Star newspaper: "We've hand-picked our heroes to produce us, and they were all up for it. I don't know how we've blagged this."
The new album comes four years after their last release 'Surfing The Void' but Simon insists they've been busy.
He explained: "We've not stopped, but it's been an ongoing process of tweaking songs.
"We don't go into the studio and come out at the end of the day with a song. We make multiple versions with our producers.
"We want to define ourselves as an oddball pop band."
The new album is the first time The Chemical Brothers have produced a band and Simon is incredibly grateful to have had Tom on board.
He added: "It's an absolute honour. But us being Tom's first production work feels like there's a lot at stake for Tom as well.
"His studio is like a spaceship, and he gave us a psychedelic Czech vocal sample to work with. That was a new way to write."
The band's latest single 'There Is No Other' is out now.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth met Pope Francis for the first time on Thursday (03.04.14).
The monarch - who was joined by the Duke of Edinburgh - embarked on her first visit to Rome in 14 years where she was more than 20 minutes late to meet the leader of the Catholic Church following a meal with President Giorgio Napolitano at his official residence, the Quirinale palace.
She has been reported saying: "Sorry to keep you waiting. We were having a very pleasant lunch with the president."
The queen gifted the pope with a range of treats including Balmoral whisky, a rib of Windsor beef, and honey produced in the gardens of Buckingham Palace.
She said: "I've also brought something from all our estates which is for you personally and two extra bits which wouldn't fit into the basket."
The pope gave her a blue orb which had a silver cross on top for her eight-month-old grandchild Prince George - son of Duchess Catherine and Prince William.
He said: "It's for the little boy."
Elizabeth replied: "That's very nice, he will be thrilled."
Before adding: "When he's a little older."
Italy will have another royal visit soon as Prince Harry is due to attend the 70th anniversary commemoration of the bloody Battle of Monte Cassino next month.

Simon Cowell has lowered the 'X Factor' audition age to 14.
The music mogul has found young stars have been incredibly successful following their debut on the ITV singing contest, including the likes of One Direction and Cher Lloyd, and consequently he wants to broaden the boundary to help find the next talented musician.
The last time the age limit was 14 was in 2008 after which it was put up to 16, where it has stood until the forthcoming series.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "Simon knows that young people make the best pop stars. He desperately wants another One Direction or Cher Lloyd, and they were very young when they appeared on the show."
Simon will be on the judges panel alongside Cheryl Cole who was enticed to join the show because she's keen to find talent to match those who appeared on the last series she appeared on in 2010.
Simon previously said: "You know why she came back ... we were having a conversation at my house and we were talking about the talent we had that final year in 2010 - One Direction, Rebecca Ferguson, Cher Lloyd, Matt Cardle - we just had great people, and we just suddenly thought we want to do it all over again. And that was the incentive to do it because there are still great people in this country left."
This year's first open audition will takes place at Dublin's Convention Centre on April 5.

Victoria Beckham is planning a horse-themed party for her 40th birthday.
The fashion designer, who will celebrate the milestone on April 17, has joined a riding club in Los Angeles and is reportedly planning to gallop around the Hollywood Hills with friends to mark her big day.
A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "Victoria actually went riding properly for the first time a couple of years ago and loved it. But over the past few months she has stepped things up a notch and got really good.
"Obviously she can't keep a horse in her back garden in west London, but when she is in LA, which is around once every five or six weeks, she goes riding daily in the hills.
"Not only is it great exercise, but in her helmet Victoria can go about largely unnoticed."
The 39-year-old star, who has children Brooklyn, 14, Romeo 11, Cruz, eight, and Harper, two, with husband David, is reportedly having two birthday bashes in Los Angeles and London, with the US celebration being an afternoon out in the hills horse-riding with her pals, including actress Eva Longoria and hairdresser Ken Paves.
The source added: "The evening do is dinner out at Eva's restaurant Beso, with most of Victoria and David's Hollywood chums, including the Ramsays - Gordon and Tana. She is also having a civilised family dinner party at home in London, which her mum is helping to organise.
"Gordon will probably be roped in to do the cooking. And obviously David, the boys and Harper are planning their own surprise."

Hilary Duff has congratulated her sister on her engagement.
The 'Cheaper By The Dozen 2' star took to Twitter today (04.04.14) to praise Haylie Duff's "amazing" boyfriend Matt Rosenberg following news the pair are set to tie the knot.
Hilary appeared to suggest she had been keeping the happy news a secret, as she wrote: "So happy to not have to keep this news in!! My beautiful sister @HaylieDuff and her amazing boyfriend @Matt_STS are engaged!!!! (sic)."
Hilary - who split from husband Mike Comrie after three years of marriage earlier this year - posted a picture of the happy couple snuggling up to each other, with the accompanying caption: "Love you guys so much!!!! (sic)"
Haylie, who has just landed her own show 'Real Girl's Kitchen' on the Cooking Channel, shared the news on her blog on Thursday (03.04.14) after Matt popped the question on April Fools Day (01.04.14).
Speaking on the proposal, Haylie wrote: "The moment was genuine and sweet (like him!) and I couldn't wait to say yes! We are so excited and happy to share our wonderful news with everyone! We both feel so blessed to have the love and support of our family and friends and can't wait to start this new adventure! (sic)."

Lorde hates being told to smile.
The 'Royals' singer doesn't want to be pigeonholed as a stereotypical pop princess and says she most admires women like Patti Smith who have strong opinions and a feisty personality.
She told the new issue of Fashion magazine: "I'm drawn to women who aren't painted in history as sweet figures. Patti Smith was prickly. She was frustrated. She didn't take people's s**t.
"There's no better music idol for young women, because there is a lot of pressure for us to be really positive all the time. Every photo shoot I do, I get asked for big smiles, and I shouldn't have to be that way."
The 17-year-old singer tries to be honest with her fans about who she is because she feels teenagers these days are too savvy to take any "bulls**t" from musicians.
Lorde said: "Young people have changed the way we view pop culture ... we now have this discerning power. We all have Tumblers, we curate imagery every day. We can sniff out bulls**t faster."
And the New Zealand-born star hopes to inspire people to follow their dreams, no mater where they come from.
She added: "There are very few limits on what can be achieved by anyone of any age, living anywhere and of any race, because of the web ... I'm proof of that."

Rita Ora is reportedly suing a merchandising company over image rights.
The 'How We Do' hitmaker claims she was exploited by Scottish firm GL Dameck Ltd, which specialises in clothing lines, and she's planning to sue them for more than £100,000, according to The Sun newspaper.
Court documents reportedly show Rita is looking to win £108,000 from the firm, who she says owe her from an agreement in November 2012.
The sum is said to be based on an initial demand of £90,000 which when VAT, costs and interests have been added on, totals over £100,000 and she also wants an injunction to stop the company from selling goods linked to her.
The 23-year-old star was signed as the face of GL Dameck label Superga last year and the range was sold through the subsidiary Milanclothing.com but the goods she fronted no longer feature on either of the firm's websites.
Rita - who has been dating surperstar DJ Calvin Harris on and off for over a year - recently revealed she had turned down the opportunity to be a judge on the UK version of 'The X Factor' because she wanted to focus on her own career.
She said: "I have so much to accomplish first and it's kind of a full-time job being on X Factor. It's not like a nine to five. It's constant, for months."