Posted on 03/21/2007 4:29:16 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
Letterman Regular Larry 'Bud' Melman Dies By LARRY MCSHANE, AP
NEW YORK (March 21) - The balding, bespectacled nebbish who gained cult status as the oddball Larry "Bud" Melman on David Letterman's late night television shows has died after a long illness. The Brooklyn-born Calvert DeForest, who was 85, died Monday at a hospital on Long Island, the Letterman show announced Wednesday.
He made dozens of appearances on Letterman's shows from 1982 through 2002, handling a variety of twisted duties: dueting with Sonny Bono on "I Got You, Babe," doing a Mary Tyler Moore impression during a visit to Minneapolis, handing out hot towels to arrivals at the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
"Everyone always wondered if Calvert was an actor playing a character, but in reality he was just himself - a genuine, modest and nice man," Letterman said in a statement. "To our staff and to our viewers, he was a beloved and valued part of our show, and we will miss him."
The gnomish DeForest was the first face to greet viewers when Letterman's NBC show debuted on Feb. 1, 1982, offering a parody of the prologue to the Boris Karloff film "Frankenstein."
"It was the greatest thing that had happened in my life," he once said of his first Letterman appearance.
DeForest, given the nom de tube of Melman, became a program regular. The collaboration continued when the talk show host launched "Late Show with David Letterman" on CBS in 1994.
Cue cards were often DeForest's television kryptonite, and his character inevitably appeared in an ill-fitting black suit behind thick black-rimmed glasses.
The Melman character opened Letterman's first CBS show, too - but used his real name because of a dispute with NBC over "intellectual property." DeForest, positioned inside the network's familiar eye logo, announced, "This is CBS!"
DeForest often draw laughs by his bizarre juxtaposition as a "Late Show" correspondent at events such as the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway or the anniversary Woodstock concert that year.
His last appearance on "Late Show" came in 2002, celebrating his 81st birthday.
DeForest also appeared in an assortment of other television shows and films, including "Nothing Lasts Forever" with Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd .
As per his request, there will be no funeral service for DeForest, who left no survivors. Donations can be made in his name to the Actors' Fund of America.
Seems to be the same thing everyone says on this thread, "when his show was funny." It's a shame. When Letterman became obsessed with mean-spirited hard-left politics, he ceased to be funny. He should've retired several years ago. I stopped watching him regularly in the late '90s.
I believe that he reprised that "hot towel" act at the top of the Empire State Building too. That was a funny one.
Get a Life with Chris Elliot?...Well There is a blast from the past!
Now I understand why I'm so surly and depressed, I'm still pissed off at the world for not "Getting It" in regards to that gem of a show.......
He lived in the neigborhood.
His show became formulaic and lately he's showing his politics on a regular basis. Some of it, like Great Moments in Presidential Speeches where he shows a Bush stumble or stutter, is just down right meanspirited. He'll do that four or five days in a row.
He never has been a great interviewer, like Paar or Carson and I think he could use the skill now.
Yep, Letterman WAS funny. I remember his daytime show in 1980. (I used to schedule my college classes around it.)
Thoroughly enjoyed his show through the 80's when Chris Elliott was the head writer, for the most part. Show tailed off in the 90's and was pretty much dead when it went to CBS. (Couric should've paid attention.)
RIP Calvert DeForest.
They still use those girls every now and then when Letterman does a "Will it Float" segment on his show.
Uninstall your flash players and then re-install all of them. This should do the trick. Also, installing the latest version of Quicktime should also do the trick. The flash players do get kinda goofy whenever they upgrade themselves to the point that things end up not working right unless you end up deleting them and them re-installing them again.
David Letterman is the Phil Connors of late night TV. Every show is the same.
Did anyone watch Letterman to see if they gave a tribute to Bud? I would hope so, but I do not watch it unless there is someone on that I really want to see. His guests even suck, but that is probably because Dave sucks doing interviews. I know that most of what you see dave doing, the interview, is all scripted, with leading questions and what-not, not off-the-cuff like you would like it to be.
I hope Dave did/does pay tribute.
Thanks I'll give it a try. Let ya know if it works!
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