A great character
Letterman regular ‘Bud’ Melman dies – Yahoo! News — One of the great Letterman characters worth a tribute.
NEW YORK – 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.”
Though I haven’t watched Letterman for months, I remember Larry “Bud” Melman. So sorry to see this (had previously noted it on a news site)
J/P=?
PS… I see the Hillary/1984 video creator has been ID’d.
This guy was so funny! No one could possibly have been more awkward on television with greater comedic effect than Calvert DeForest as Larry “Bud” Melman. His appearances, especially the remotes, on Late Night with David Letterman were memorable. Every time you saw one of his hilarious gaffes, you knew it had to be completely unintentional, and even after the fact, he often seemed to remain completely oblivious to his own clumsiness. He also impressed me as being quite fearless in front of the camera.
He gave me many laughs.
Too bad – another 10 years of Bud would be welcome.
He was reliably funny – even if clumsily so.
Had a funny charm and often was the best part of the show.
I will dine on Toast-on-a-Stick tonight in his honor.
One of the funniest things I remember on Letterman was when they had Larry “Bud” attempt to drive a Winnebago from New York to Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America.He made it as far south as Guatamala.I remember hearing “Bud” plead with Dave,over the phone, to let him come home. He sounded genuinely distressed and the “goodwill” tour ended. Funny, funny man!!!!
“Welcome to NYC, would you like a hot towel?”
RIP, Mr. DeForest. I loved your work.
I got to watch nearly every Late Night from 83 to 87, and he and Chris Elliot (among others) made my gut hurt way too often.
Way back in 1993 or 4 I met the guy and got my picture taken with him when CBS did some college tour thing. I can tell you from first hand experience that he was in no way pretending to be clueless.
I also met larry bud briefly in passing. He was cool but what a Nebbish…
Tonight I will eat toast on a stick in honot of Larry Bud.
RIP my friend