# Letterman sidekick Calvert DeForest (Larry "Bud" Melman) dead at 85 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 22, 2007, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-sidekick-calvert-deforest-larry-bud-melman-dead-at-85/396978 "2007-03-22T03:19:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-sidekick-calvert-deforest-larry-bud-melman-dead-at-85/396978/21 "2007-03-23T14:45:21Z")
Did Letterman have a memorial show for “Bud” this week? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-sidekick-calvert-deforest-larry-bud-melman-dead-at-85/396978/22 "2007-03-23T15:31:13Z")
[QUOTE=John DiFool] Did Letterman have a memorial show for “Bud” this week? [/QUOTE] I don’t know if he could show any old clips since they were all on NBC. ---
**Author:** ![Petey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f1d935/32.png) [@Petey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petey)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-sidekick-calvert-deforest-larry-bud-melman-dead-at-85/396978/23 "2007-03-23T15:31:36Z")
Tuesday Dave was out sick. Wednesday’s show was taped on Monday. Thursday and Friday are repeats. Expect a tribute on Monday. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-sidekick-calvert-deforest-larry-bud-melman-dead-at-85/396978/24 "2007-03-24T07:22:50Z")
I hope Larry Bud is dancing on the ceiling in Heaven as we speak. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-sidekick-calvert-deforest-larry-bud-melman-dead-at-85/396978/25 "2007-03-24T16:06:37Z")
The one clip I remember with this guy was about ten years ago, when Dave faked his death. He got all serious, told the audience that Melman had passed away, and showed some clips of him with some typically mournful pop song in the background. It was really sad. I – and I think everyone else in the audience – actually believed he was dead. Then right at the end Melman walks out on stage and screams something like “I’m not dead, you moron!” and the audience explodes. Anyone remember that? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-sidekick-calvert-deforest-larry-bud-melman-dead-at-85/396978/26 "2007-03-24T18:35:10Z")
[QUOTE=Rodgers01] The one clip I remember with this guy was about ten years ago, when Dave faked his death. He got all serious, told the audience that Melman had passed away, and showed some clips of him with some typically mournful pop song in the background. It was really sad. I – and I think everyone else in the audience – actually believed he was dead. Then right at the end Melman walks out on stage and screams something like “I’m not dead, you moron!” and the audience explodes. Anyone remember that? [/QUOTE] Yes, I remember this. When Melman walked out and said, “I’m not dead, you moron!” I nearly died. The crowd seemed to have believed it as well. They went nuts when realized the show had completely duped us. Great moment. Anyone know where this is on Youtube or somewhere else on the net? ---
**Author:** ![TommyTutone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@TommyTutone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyTutone)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2007, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-sidekick-calvert-deforest-larry-bud-melman-dead-at-85/396978/27 "2007-03-25T02:06:29Z")
I always felt horrible for him when Dave was having him drive in a Winnebago from NYC to the tip of South America at Tierra del Fuego. In the middle of Central America, you could hear the sadness and desperation in Bud’s voice before Dave let him quit and come home. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-sidekick-calvert-deforest-larry-bud-melman-dead-at-85/396978/28 "2007-03-26T18:22:14Z")
[QUOTE=wolf\_meister] Wow Larry “Bud” Melman has passed on. He goes _way_ back to the early days of the David Letterman Show (1982). I believe he was _the_ first person to even appear on that show. He spoke an introduction similar to the one in “Frankenstein” and then concluded … “well we warned you”. Hard to believe that was 25 years ago. RIP Larry (aka Calvert) [/QUOTE] [See for yourself](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nN6ERKvfJvw) Geeze, I feel old. I’m now older than Letterman was then, and do I have a late night show yet? No! ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-sidekick-calvert-deforest-larry-bud-melman-dead-at-85/396978/29 "2007-03-27T04:31:27Z")
No tribute on Monday’s show. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Shroud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@The\_Shroud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Shroud)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-sidekick-calvert-deforest-larry-bud-melman-dead-at-85/396978/30 "2007-03-27T05:21:02Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] No tribute on Monday’s show. [/QUOTE] You must have stepped out. There was a tribute shortly after the monologue. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-sidekick-calvert-deforest-larry-bud-melman-dead-at-85/396978/31 "2007-03-27T05:23:00Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] No tribute on Monday’s show. [/QUOTE] Huh? Yes, there was. It was very nice, and included a little footage from NBC (including a clip from the famous Port Authority hot towels bit), but was mostly CBS material. Maybe your local station ran a re-run for some reason. Who were the guests on the show you saw? Tonight’s guest was Will Ferrell, and they had Top Ten list with the new Miss USA. (Top Ten things I can say, now that I’m Miss USA: #9: I’m Canadian. #6: Not all of the contestants were Misses, if you know what I mean. #1: I thought I was going to be on Leno.) ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-sidekick-calvert-deforest-larry-bud-melman-dead-at-85/396978/32 "2007-03-27T16:47:34Z")
It was a modest little tribute: only two clips with audio (both NBC, I think), and then a montage of CBS material cued to Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”. Very sweet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letterman-sidekick-calvert-deforest-larry-bud-melman-dead-at-85/396978.md?page=1)