If you’re like me you probably didn’t know his real name was Calvert DeForest. But, in fact, the white-haired, black-rimmed bespectacled oddball who played Larry “Bud” Melman on David Letterman’s late night television shows, did have a real name and a real life off screen. The latter came to an end Monday after a long illness. According to news reports, the Brooklyn-born DeForest was 85 when he died at a hospital on Long Island.
DeForest appeared on Letterman’s shows from 1982 through 2002. Some of his most memorable duties included dueting with Sonny Bono on “I Got You, Babe” and handing out hot towels at New York’s Port Authority Bus Terminal.
In a statement following his death David Letterman wrote this statement:
“Everyone always wondered if Calvert was an actor playing a character, but in reality he was just himself – a genuine, modest and nice man. To our staff and to our viewers, he was a beloved and valued part of our show, and we will miss him.”
Letterman went on to say that many people didn’t know that DeForest was working as a file clerk at a drug rehabilitation center when show producers offered him the late night gig. That was in 1982. During DeForest’s first appearance on Letterman’s show he provided a parody of the prologue to the Boris Karloff film “Frankenstein.”
Of that performance DeForest told reporters: “It was the greatest thing that had happened in my life.”
Interestingly, DeForest’s nickname of Larry “Bud” Melman, was dropped when Letterman jumped ship from NBC to CBS. In 1993 when the talk show host launched the “Late Show with David Letterman” at the new network, DeForest was forced to use his real name because of a dispute with NBC over “intellectual property.”
Do you have a favorite DeForest moment? I remember laughing at his spots as a “Late Show” correspondent at events like the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway.
DeForest’s last appearance on “Late Show” came in 2002 during a celebration of his 81st birthday. He later battled a long illness and was left with no survivors.
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