Date: Thu, 10 Mar 94 10:51:21 -0800
From: pmichael@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Philip Michaels)
Subject: Calvert and Friends

Here is the story that I wrote based on my interview with Calvert
DeForrest. It probably doesn't contain anything y'all didn't know,
but keep in mind, I had to write it for a general audience that
doesn't may not have the in-depth knowledge about all things
Letterman that you and I do...

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the article... Some stuff I didn't include
because of space limitations is included at the end...

"Calvert DeForrest Faces Life After Larry 'Bud' Melman"
By Philip Michaels
News Editor
[From the UCSD GUARDIAN, March 3, 1994, Reprinted with permission,
because, hey, it's my damn article...]

John Mosseau, who handles promotions for CBS, has a few words of
vice for anyone interviewing Calvert DeForrest, the diminutive
character actor who has developed a cult following as David
Letterman's comic foil.

"Don't ask him his age," said Mosseau, explaining that every
reporter who has interviewed DeForrest during this latest CBS
College Tour Promotion has asked the question, much to the actor's
chagrin.

So when DeForrest made an appearance at UCSD on Tuesday afternoon,
the dreaded question went unasked. Who, after all, would be foolish
enough to tempt the wrath of a man noted for his appearances on "The
Late Show With David Letterman" and assorted commercials?

It would be hard to imagine DeForrest as anything but the jovial
actor who signed autographs and posed for photographs with UCSD
students at Revelle Plaza on Tuesday. DeForrest has reason to be
happy -- his appearances on Letterman's top-rated "Late Show" are
considered by many fans to be some of the show's funniest moments.

"It's the best move that could ever have happened," DeForrest said
of Letterman's much publicized move from NBC to CBS last summer.

DeForrest may be better known by his stage name -- Larry "Bud"
Melman -- which he used back in the days when Letterman's show was
on NBC. However, when Letterman switched networks, NBC claimed the
name as its intellectual property, and DeForrest no longer could
call himself Larry "Bud."

Nevertheless, people still call DeForrest by his stage name. "I
don't think you can sue everybody for it," he said.

"I like my real name," DeForrest added. "It's nice to get it back
again. But I enjoyed being Larry."

DeForrest has been with Letterman since the latter's late-night
debut in 1982. When two of Letterman's writers showed him a film
they had made as students at NYU which featured DeForrest, Letterman
hired the character actor instantly.

Since then, Melman has been a mainstay on the late-night program,
doing memorable comedy bits like his rendition of Elvis Presley's
"Hunk-a-Hunk-a-Burning Love" and his infamous goodwill tour, in
which DeForrest attempted to drive from New York City to Tierra Del
Fuego in South America.

"I went as far as Guatemala," DeForrest said. "It was supposed to be
agoodwill tour, but after you leave the Winnebago and have to change
to a car and you're traveling through all these small Mexican towns,
and then from there, you get to Guatemala, they tell you [that] you
can't use the car, you have to use the bus... It seemed like it took
forever to get to Guatemala City."

The tour ended after one of television's stranger moments, when a
feverish DeForrest pleaded with Letterman over the phone to be
allowed to come home. "He said, 'Don't be a baby, Larry,'" DeForrest
said.

But DeForrest added he has no regrets about any of his appearances
on Letterman's two shows and that he has never refused to do a
sketch which the writers have up with. "I never veto anything. David
says do it, that's it," DeForrest said.

His success in late night has propelled DeForrest into other
ventures. He will play a nasty acting coach in the movie _Mr.
Write_, which debuts in May and co-stars Paul Reiser and Martin
Mull.

DeForrest also wrote a book, _Calvert DeForrest's Cheap Advice_,
which will hit bookstores this fall. DeForrest declined to talk
about the book's content. "It's cheap, but not free. I don't give
away secrets," he said, punctuating the sentence with his trademark
laugh.

DeForrest has no explanation for his popularity with viewers. "Maybe
it's because they feel I'm a friend, an uncle, or I don't know,
however you want to put it. Someone they can trust and confide in,"
DeForrest said.
--Senior Staff Writer Ben Boychuk contributed to this report

------End of article

And now the stuff I didn't include:

We did the interview in his limo: me, Ben, Calvert, and Calvert's
weasly manager.

Calvert is an extremely nice man, and I became loopy halfway through
the interview. I mean, I've interviewed "famous" people before
(mostly politicians), but I was more excited about this interview
than any one I've ever done. As a result, I ended up sounding like
Chris Farley on SNL. "Remember when you sang the Beatles songs a few
weeks ago, Calvert? That was cool..."

According to Calvert's manager, they were going to the San Diego Zoo
after their gig at UCSD. "We're hoping to get a shot of Calvert in
the monkey house."

Re: the rumor that he and Dave don't get along
"Bullshit," said Mosseau.
DeForrest said he exaggerated when he said in an earlier interview
that he and Dave had never spoken for more than five minutes. But
David is, in Calvert's words, "a private man."

Calvert's favorite actress is Betty White, so the Tropicana Twister
commercial was one of them dream come true things.

His next MCI commercial will feature Calvert in drag.

Calvert doesn't write any of his schtick. It's all the writers.

Best quote I didn't use. On his trip to Lillehammer: "The
foreingers there are so warm."

Hope you enjoyed all this.