Dick Cavett - Other Work

Other Work

Cavett has co-authored two books with Christopher Porterfield: Cavett (1974), his autobiography, and Eye on Cavett (1983). 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 (1980), and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987). 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 1989 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 (on camera and off) 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 '80s titled Remember When... that examined changes in American culture over time.

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.