Richard Alva "Dick" Cavett is a former American
television talk show host known for his conversational
style and in-depth discussions.
Cavett appeared regularly on nationally broadcast
television in the United States in five consecutive
decades, the 1960s through the 2000s.
In recent years, Cavett has written a column
for the online New York Times, promoted DVDs
of his former shows as well as a book of his
Times columns, and hosted replays of his classic
TV interviews with Groucho Marx, Katharine
Hepburn, Judy Garland, Marlon Brando, John
Lennon and others on Turner Classic Movies
channel.
Early life
Cavett was born in Nebraska, but sources differ
as to the specific town, locating his birthplace
in either Gibbon, where his family lived,
or nearby Kearney, the location of the nearest
hospital.
Cavett himself, in an interview with Carol
Burnett on The Dick Cavett Show, claimed that
Gibbon was his birthplace.
His mother Erabel "Era" and his father Alva
B. Cavett both worked as educators.
When asked by Lucille Ball on his own show
about his heritage, he said he was "Scottish,
Irish, English, and possibly partly French,
and, and uh, a dose of German."
He also mentioned that one grandfather "came
over" from England, and the other from Wales.
Cavett's grandparents all lived in Grand Island,
Nebraska.
His paternal grandparents were Alva A. Cavett
and Gertrude Pinsch.
His paternal grandfather was from Diller,
Nebraska and his paternal grandmother was
an immigrant from Aachen, Germany.
His maternal grandparents were the Rev. R.R.
and Etta Mae Richards.
The Rev. Richards was from Carmarthen, Wales,
and was a Baptist minister who served parishes
across central Nebraska.
Cavett himself is an agnostic.
Cavett's parents taught in Comstock, Gibbon,
and Grand Island, where Cavett started kindergarten
at Wasmer Elementary School.
Three years later, both of his parents landed
teaching positions in Lincoln, Nebraska, where
Cavett completed his education at Capitol,
Prescott, and Irving schools and Lincoln High
School.
When Cavett was 10, his mother died of cancer
at age 36.
His father subsequently married Dorcas Deland,
also an educator, originally from Alliance,
Nebraska.
On September 24, 1995, Lincoln Public Schools
dedicated the new Dorcas C. and Alva B. Cavett
Elementary School in their honor.
In eighth grade, Cavett directed a live Saturday-morning
radio show sponsored by the Junior League
and played the title role in The Winslow Boy.
One of his high-school classmates was actress
Sandy Dennis.
Cavett was elected state president of the
student council in high school, and was a
gold medalist at the state gymnastics championship.
Before leaving for college, he worked as a
caddy at the Lincoln Country Club.
He also began performing magic shows for $35
a night under the tutelage of Gene Gloye.
In 1952, Cavett attended the convention of
the International Brotherhood of Magicians
in St. Louis, and won the Best New Performer
trophy.
Around the same time, he met fellow magician
Johnny Carson, 11 years his senior, who was
doing a magic act at a church in Lincoln.
While attending Yale University, Cavett played
in and directed dramas on the campus radio
station, WYBC, and appeared in Yale Drama
productions.
In his senior year, he changed his major from
English to drama.
He also took advantage of any opportunity
to meet stars, routinely going to shows in
New York to hang around stage doors or venture
backstage.
He would go so far as to carry a copy of Variety
or an appropriate piece of company stationery
in order to look inconspicuous while sneaking
backstage or into a TV studio.
Cavett took many odd jobs ranging from store
detective to label typist for a Wall Street
firm, and as a copyboy at Time Magazine.
Marriages
While taking a class at Yale School of Drama
as an undergraduate, Cavett met his future
wife, Caroline Nye McGeoy, a native of Greenwood,
Mississippi.
After graduation, the two acted in summer
theater in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and
Cavett worked for two weeks in a local lumberyard
in order to buy an engagement ring.
On June 4, 1964, they were married in New
York.
Their marriage was at times tumultuous, but
they remained married until Nye's death on
July 14, 2006.
In 2010, Cavett married business author Martha
Rogers, Ph.D., in a small ceremony in New
Orleans, Louisiana.
The Tonight Show
In 1960, Cavett was living in a three-room,
fifth-floor walk-up on West 89th Street in
Manhattan for $51 a month.
He was cast in a film by the Signal Corps,
but further jobs were not forthcoming.
He was an extra on The Phil Silvers Show in
1959, a TV remake of the film Body and Soul
for the DuPont Show of the Month the same
year, and Playhouse 90 in 1960.
He briefly revived his magic act while working
as a typist and as a mystery shopper in department
stores.
Meanwhile, Nye landed several Broadway roles.
Cavett was a copyboy at Time when he read
a newspaper item about Jack Paar, then host
of The Tonight Show.
The article described Paar's concerns about
his opening monologue and constant search
for material.
Cavett wrote some jokes, put them into a Time
envelope, and went to the RCA Building.
He ran into Paar in a hallway and handed him
the envelope.
He then went to sit in the studio audience.
During the show, Paar worked in some of the
lines Cavett had fed him.
Afterward, Cavett got into an elevator with
Paar, who invited him to contribute more jokes.
Within weeks, Cavett was hired, originally
as talent coordinator.
Cavett wrote for Paar the famous line "Here
they are Jayne Mansfield," as an introduction
for the buxom actress.
Cavett appeared on the show in 1961, interpreting
Miss Universe of 1961, Marlene Schmidt of
Germany.
While at Time, Cavett wrote a letter to Stan
Laurel.
The two later met at Laurel's apartment in
Hollywood.
Later the same day, Cavett wrote a tribute
that Paar read on the show, which Laurel saw
and appreciated.
Cavett visited Laurel a few more times, up
to three weeks before Laurel's death.
In his capacity as talent coordinator for
The Tonight Show, Cavett was sent to the Blue
Angel nightclub to see Woody Allen's act,
and immediately afterward struck up a friendship.
The very next day, the funeral of playwright
George S. Kaufman was held at the Frank E.
Campbell funeral home.
Allen could not attend, but Cavett did, where
he met Groucho Marx in an anteroom.
From the funeral, Cavett followed Marx three
blocks up Fifth Avenue to the Plaza Hotel,
where Marx invited him to lunch.
Years later, Cavett gave the introduction
to Marx's one-man show, An Evening with Groucho
Marx at Carnegie Hall, and began by saying,
"I can't believe that I know Groucho Marx."
Cavett continued with The Tonight Show as
a writer after Johnny Carson assumed hosting
duties.
For Carson he wrote the line "Having your
taste criticized by Dorothy Kilgallen is like
having your clothes criticized by Emmett Kelly."
He even appeared on the show once, to do a
gymnastics routine on the pommel horse.
After departing The Tonight Show, Cavett wrote
for Jerry Lewis's ill-fated talk show, for
three times the money.
He returned to The Tonight Show, however,
when Marx was interim host for Carson in July
1964.
Stand-up comic
Cavett began a brief career as a stand-up
comic in 1964 at the Bitter End in Greenwich
Village.
His manager was Jack Rollins, who later became
the producer of Woody Allen's films.
His most famous line from this period may
have been the following:
I went to a Chinese-German restaurant.
The food is great, but an hour later you're
hungry for power.
He also played Mr. Kelly's in Chicago and
the Hungry i in San Francisco.
In San Francisco, he met Lenny Bruce, about
whom he said:
I liked him and wish I had known him better...but
most of what has been written about him is
a waste of good ink, and his most zealous
adherents and hardest-core devotees are to
be avoided, even if it means working your
way around the world in the hold of a goat
transport.
In 1965 Cavett did some commercial voiceovers,
including a series of mock interviews with
Mel Brooks for Ballantine beer.
In the next couple of years he appeared on
game shows, including What's My Line.
He wrote for Merv Griffin and appeared on
Griffin's talk show several times, and then
on The Ed Sullivan Show.
In the late 1960s or early 70s, he narrated
a National Association of Broadcasters PSA
featuring A Boy Wandering Around A Forest.
In 1968, after the premiere of the international
film Candy, Cavett went to a party at the
Americana Hotel, where those who had just
seen the film were being interviewed for TV.
When the interviewer, Pat Paulsen, got to
me, he asked what I thought the critics would
say about Candy.
I said I didn't think it would be reviewed
by the regular critics, that they would have
to reconvene the Nuremberg Trials to do it
justice.
He laughed and asked what I had liked, and
I said I liked the lady who showed me the
nearest exit so that I would not be forced
to vomit indoors.
After doing The Star and the Story, a rejected
television pilot with Van Johnson, Cavett
hosted a special, Where It's At, for Bud Yorkin
and Norman Lear.
In 1968 Cavett was hired by ABC to host This
Morning.
According to a New Yorker article, the show
was too sophisticated for a morning audience,
and ABC first moved the show to prime time,
and subsequently to a late-night slot opposite
Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show.
Cavett once related an anecdote that he and
Marlon Brando were having dinner at a restaurant
when a female fan approached the two men and
made an advance.
The men almost partook in a threesome with
the fan, but Dick decided against it because
they hadn't finished their soup.
The Dick Cavett Show
Intermittently since 1968, Cavett has been
host of his own talk show, in various formats
and on various television and radio networks:
ABC
CBS
PBS
USA Network
ABC
CNBC
Olympia Broadcasting
Turner Classic Movies
Cavett has been nominated for at least 10
Emmy Awards and has won three.
In 1970, he co-hosted the Emmy Awards Show
with Bill Cosby.
His most popular talk show was his ABC program,
which ran from 1969 to 1974.
From 1962 to 1992, The Tonight Show Starring
Johnny Carson was arguably the most popular
of late night variety and talk shows.
Unlike many contemporary shows, Cavett managed
to remain on the air for five years.
Although his shows did not attract a wide
audience, remaining in third place in the
ratings behind Carson and Merv Griffin, he
earned a reputation as "the thinking man's
talk show host" and received favorable reviews
from critics.
As a talk show host, Cavett has been noted
for his ability to listen to his guests and
engage them in intellectual conversation.
Clive James described Cavett "as a true sophisticate
with a daunting intellectual range" and "the
most distinguished talk-show host in America."
He is also known for his ability to remain
calm and mediate between contentious guests,
and for his deep, resonant voice, unusual
for a man of his stature.
His show often focused on controversial people
or subjects, often pairing guests with opposing
views on social or political issues, such
as Jim Brown and Lester Maddox.
One particularly controversial show from June
1971 featured a debate between future senator
and presidential candidate John Kerry and
fellow veteran John O'Neill over the Vietnam
War.
O'Neill had been approached by the Nixon administration
to work through the Vietnam Veterans for a
Just Peace to counter Kerry's influence on
the public.
The debate went poorly for the pro-war side,
so angering President Nixon that he is heard
discussing the incident on the Watergate tapes,
saying, "Well, is there any way we can screw
him [Cavett]?
That's what I mean.
There must be ways."
To which H.R. Haldeman, White House Chief
of Staff, answered, "We've been trying to."
Cavett himself, asked during a question-and
answer-segment with his audience in the late
1960s why he wore long sideburns, replied,
"It's a form of mild protest.
Sort of like boiling my draft card."
Cavett also hosted many popular musicians,
both in interview and performance, such as
Sly Stone, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin.
Several of his Emmy Award nominations and
one Emmy Award were for Outstanding Musical
or Variety Series, and in 2005 Shout Factory
released a selection of performances and interviews
on a three-DVD set, The Dick Cavett Show:
Rock Icons, showcasing interviews of and performances
by musicians who appeared on the Dick Cavett
show from 1969 to 1974.
Clips from his TV shows have been used in
films, for example Annie Hall, Forrest Gump,
Apollo 13, and Frequency.
He also holds the distinction of being the
only famous person to actually interact with
the title character of Forrest Gump without
the aid of archive footage or computer trickery.
Cavett donned a wig, and makeup was applied
to make him appear as his 1971 self, and he
was filmed with Tom Hanks on a recreated set.
Cavett was surprised at footage from his TV
show appearing in Apollo 13.
He said at the time of the film's release,
"I'm happily enjoying a movie, and suddenly
I'm in it."
Bouts with depression
Cavett has openly discussed his bouts with
clinical depression, an illness that first
affected him during his freshman year at Yale.
According to an interview published in a 1992
issue of People magazine, Cavett contacted
Dr. Nathan Kline in 1975 seeking treatment.
Kline prescribed antidepressant medication,
which according to Cavett was successful in
treating his depression.
In 1980 Cavett suffered what he characterized
as his "biggest depressive episode."
While on board a Concorde prior to take off,
Cavett broke out into a sweat and became agitated.
After he was removed from the plane, Cavett
was taken to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital
in New York City, where he later underwent
electroconvulsive therapy.
Regarding this method of treatment, Cavett
is quoted as saying, "In my case, ECT was
miraculous.
My wife was dubious, but when she came into
my room afterward, I sat up and said, 'Look
who's back among the living.'
It was like a magic wand."
He was also the subject of a 1993 video produced
by the Depression and Related Affective Disorders
Association called A Patient's Perspective.
In 1997 Cavett was sued by producer James
Moskovitz for breach of contract after failing
to show up for a nationally syndicated radio
program.
Cavett's lawyer, Melvyn Leventhal, asserted
at the time that Cavett left because of a
manic-depressive episode.
The case was later dropped.
Other work
Cavett has co-authored two books with Christopher
Porterfield: Cavett, his autobiography, and
Eye on Cavett.
Cavett currently writes a blog, published
by the New York Times, entitled "Talk Show:
Dick Cavett Speaks Again."
He appeared as himself in various other TV
shows, including episodes of The Odd Couple,
Cheers, Kate & Allie, and The Simpsons episode
Homie the Clown; in Robert Altman's HealtH,
and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors.
In Tim Burton's Beetlejuice, he played a rare
bit part as a character other than himself.
Cavett often appeared on television quiz and
game shows; he appeared on What's My Line?,
To Tell the Truth, Password, The $25,000 Pyramid
and made a special appearance on Wheel of
Fortune in 1988 during their week of shows
at Radio City Music Hall, walking on stage
after someone solved the puzzle "DICK CAVETT."
In 1974, Cavett's company, Daphne Productions,
co-produced with Don Lipp Productions a short-lived
ABC game show, The Money Maze, although Cavett's
name did not appear on the credits.
In 1987, he appeared with Vanessa Williams,
Betty White, and Bert Convy on Super Password.
Cavett was the narrator for the HBO documentary
series Time Was.
Each episode covered a decade, ranging from
the 1920s to the 1970s, and relied on stock
file footage and photographs.
The show originally aired in November 1979
and ran for six months with a new show each
month.
Cavett also hosted a documentary series for
HBO in the early 1980s titled Remember When...
that examined changes in American culture
over time, as well as HBO's monthly review
series HBO Magazine.
In April 1981, Cavett traveled to Stockholm,
Sweden, to interview the pop group ABBA on
the occasion of their tenth anniversary as
a group.
The special, titled Dick Cavett Meets ABBA,
was taped by the Swedish TV network SVT and
was broadcast mostly in Europe.
From November 15, 2000, to January 6, 2002,
he played the narrator in a Broadway revival
of The Rocky Horror Show.
He also had a brief stint as the narrator/old
man in the Broadway production of Stephen
Sondheim's Into The Woods.
Dick Cavett is featured in the 2003 documentary
From the Ashes: The Life and Times of Tick
Hall about the fire that destroyed his Montauk,
home and his effort to rebuild it.
Cavett's signature tune has long been a trumpet
version of the vocalise "Glitter and Be Gay"
from Leonard Bernstein's Candide.
The tune was first played at the midpoint
of his ABC late-night show, and later became
the theme of his PBS show.
The tune is also played as he walks on stage
during guest appearances on other talk shows.
Cavett was present when actor Marlon Brando
broke the jaw of paparazzo photographer Ron
Galella on June 12, 1973.
Galella had followed Cavett and Brando to
a restaurant after the taping of The Dick
Cavett Show in New York City.
In 2008 Cavett entered the Iraq war dispute
with a New York Times blog entry criticizing
General David Petraeus, stating "I can’t
look at Petraeus—his uniform ornamented
like a Christmas tree with honors, medals,
and ribbons—without thinking of the great
Mort Sahl at the peak of his brilliance."
Cavett went on to recall Sahl's expressed
contempt of General Westmoreland's display
of medals, and criticized Petraeus for not
speaking in plain language.
In December 2012, for their annual birthday
celebration to "The Master," The Noel Coward
Society invited Cavett as the guest celebrity
to lay flowers in front of Coward's statue
at New York's Gershwin Theatre, thereby commemorating
the 113th birthday of Sir Noel.
Coward had made a memorable appearance on
Cavett's ABC late-night television show in
1970 after having been knighted by Queen Elizabeth
II in December, 1969.
On November 21, 2012, Cavett appeared on "Are
We There Yet?", a TBS series, season 3, episode
97 entitled "The Spelling Bee Episode".
He currently stars in Hellman v. McCarthy
in NYC's Abingdon Theatre in a play by Brian
Richard Mori directed by Jan Butram.
His co-stars are Roberta Maxwell and Marcia
Rodd with Peter Brouwer, Rowan Michael Meyer
and Jeff Woodman in supporting roles.
He re-enacts his show of January 25, 1980
when literary critic Mary McCarthy appeared
as a guest on the 'Dick Cavett Show' and declared
that every word [playwright Lillian Hellman]
writes is a lie, including 'and' and 'the'."
Hellman went ballistic, and sued McCarthy
for libel.
The suit spanned more than four years.
Bibliography
Cavett by Dick Cavett and Christopher Porterfield,
Bantam Books, August 1974.
ISBN 0-15-116130-5
Eye on Cavett by Dick Cavett and Christopher
Porterfield, Arbor House, 1983.
ISBN 0-87795-463-1
Talk Show by Dick Cavett, Times Books, 2010.
ISBN 0-8050-9195-5
Brief Encounters by Dick Cavett, Henry Holt
and Co., 2014.
ISBN 978-0-8050-9977-5
References
External links
Dick Cavett at the Internet Movie Database
Dick Cavett at the Internet Broadway Database
An interview with Dick Cavett, Feb 2011
Dick Cavett at TVGuide.com
Dick Cavett talks about his love of magic
with Dodd Vickers at MagicNewswire.com
"Talk Show: Dick Cavett Speaks Again" New
York Times Blog
"Discussion of Dick Cavett's unique talent
on MetaFilter"
