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Dick Cavett

Dick CavettAKA Richard Alva Cavett

Born: 19-Nov-1936
Birthplace: Gibbon, NE

Gender: Male
Religion: Atheist
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Talk Show Host

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: The Dick Cavett Show

After graduating from Yale, Dick Cavett worked as a store detective, an amateur actor, and a copy boy at Time Magazine. He liked Jack Paar's Tonight Show, and wrote an opening monologue for Paar, then loitered around NBC headquarters until he saw Paar, and handed it to him. Paar read Cavett's stuff, laughed, and Cavett's days as a copy boy were over. As a writer for The Tonight Show and later The Jerry Lewis Show, Cavett met and mingled with comedians, and decided he wanted to do stand-up. His nightclub act led to a daytime talk show on ABC in 1968, which quickly bombed. ABC gave him a nightly show instead, opposite his former Tonight Show co-workers, and Cavett drew highbrow guests, low ratings, and critical raves for five years. He was the intellectuals' darling -- the thinking man's Johnny Carson. He could be as funny as of the comedians of his era whose fame has far outlasted his, but Cavett's humor indulged more brain cells. After his second ABC show, Cavett had shows on PBS, USA, CNBC, and probably more, while occasionally acting -- usually playing himself -- in movies and TV sitcoms.

Cavett is manic-depressive, a condition he has dealt with since his first major depression in 1959. He started and lost a nationally syndicated radio show in 1996 in just two weeks, when depression kicked in and he simply stopped showing up. He was prescribed antidepressants, and underwent electroshock therapy in 1992.

Father: (school teacher)
Mother: (school teacher)
Wife: Carrie Nye (actress, m. 4-Jun-1964, d. 14-Jul-2006)

    High School: Lincoln High School, Lincoln, NE (1954)
    University: BA English and Drama, Yale University (1958)

    Time
    Emmy 3 times
    Endorsement of Apple Apple ][, Apple /// (1981-82)
    Endorsement of Teacher's Scotch Whisky 1975
    Shock Treatment 1980
    Polygraphed
    Risk Factors: Depression, Bipolar Disorder

    TELEVISION
    The Dick Cavett Show (1989-96)
    The Dick Cavett Show (1977-82)
    The Dick Cavett Show (1969-74)
    The Tonight Show Writer

    FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
    Jane Fonda in Five Acts (20-Jan-2018) · Himself
    Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind (Jan-2018) · Himself
    I Am Not Your Negro (10-Sep-2016) · Himself
    Janis: Little Girl Blue (6-Sep-2015) · Himself
    Excuse Me for Living (12-Oct-2012)
    Woody Allen: A Documentary (30-May-2012) · Himself
    Bobby Fischer Against the World (Jan-2011) · Himself
    Smash His Camera (Jan-2010) · Himself
    Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel (12-Sep-2009) · Himself
    Inside Deep Throat (11-Feb-2005) · Himself
    Duane Hopwood (20-Jan-2005)
    Frequency (28-Apr-2000) · Himself
    Elvis Meets Nixon (10-Aug-1997) · Narrator
    Forrest Gump (23-Jun-1994) · Himself
    Barbarians at the Gate (20-Mar-1993) · Himself
    Year of the Gun (10-Sep-1991)
    Imagine: John Lennon (7-Oct-1988) · Himself
    Moon Over Parador (9-Sep-1988) · Himself
    Beetlejuice (30-Mar-1988) · Bernard
    A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (27-Feb-1987) · Himself
    HealtH (12-Sep-1980) · Himself
    Simon (1980) · Himself
    Power Play (25-Aug-1978) · Himself
    Annie Hall (20-Apr-1977) · Himself
    Janis (18-Oct-1974) · Himself
    Cocksucker Blues (1972) · Himself

Author of books:
Cavett (1974, memoir; with Christopher Porterfield)
Eye on Cavett (1983, memoir; with Christopher Porterfield)
Talk Show: Confrontations, Pointed Commentary, and Off-Screen Secrets (2010, memoir)


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