DICK CAVETT
Name: Richard Alva Cavett
Born: November 19, 1936 Gibbon, Nebraska
Richard Alva "Dick" Cavett (born November 19, 1936) is an American television
talk show host known for his conversational style and in-depth discussion of
issues. He and Johnny Carson are the only talk program hosts to be seen on a
regular basis on United States national television in five consecutive decades,
in Cavett's case the 1960s through the 2000s. (While Larry King has also had
television talk programs in those decades, the programs he had in the 1960s and
1970s were limited to broadcast on local stations in Miami, WPST and WTVJ.)
Cavett was born in Gibbon, Nebraska, where he was raised, the son of Eva (née
Richards) and Alva B. Cavett, both teachers. When grilled by Lucille Ball on
his own show about his heritage, he said he was "Scottish, Irish, English, and
possibly partly French, and, and uh, a dose of German". He also mentioned one
grandfather "came over" from England, the other from Wales. Cavett's mother
died when he was ten; his father, Alva, later remarried. In eighth grade, Cavett
directed a live Saturday-morning radio show sponsored by the Junior League, and
played the title role in The Winslow Boy. One of his classmates at Lincoln High
School was actress Sandy Dennis. Cavett was elected state president of the
student council in high school, and was a double gold-medalist at the state
gymnastics championship.
Before leaving for college, he worked as a caddy at the Lincoln Country Club. He
also began doing magic shows for $35 a night under the tutelage of Gene Gloye.
He attended the 1952 convention of the International Brotherhood of Magicians in
St. Louis and won Best New Performer trophy. Around the same time, he met fellow
magician Johnny Carson, eleven years his senior, who was doing a magic act at a
church in Lincoln.
Name: Richard Alva Cavett
Born: November 19, 1936 Gibbon, Nebraska
Richard Alva "Dick" Cavett (born November 19, 1936) is an American television
talk show host known for his conversational style and in-depth discussion of
issues. He and Johnny Carson are the only talk program hosts to be seen on a
regular basis on United States national television in five consecutive decades,
in Cavett's case the 1960s through the 2000s. (While Larry King has also had
television talk programs in those decades, the programs he had in the 1960s and
1970s were limited to broadcast on local stations in Miami, WPST and WTVJ.)
Cavett was born in Gibbon, Nebraska, where he was raised, the son of Eva (née
Richards) and Alva B. Cavett, both teachers. When grilled by Lucille Ball on
his own show about his heritage, he said he was "Scottish, Irish, English, and
possibly partly French, and, and uh, a dose of German". He also mentioned one
grandfather "came over" from England, the other from Wales. Cavett's mother
died when he was ten; his father, Alva, later remarried. In eighth grade, Cavett
directed a live Saturday-morning radio show sponsored by the Junior League, and
played the title role in The Winslow Boy. One of his classmates at Lincoln High
School was actress Sandy Dennis. Cavett was elected state president of the
student council in high school, and was a double gold-medalist at the state
gymnastics championship.
Before leaving for college, he worked as a caddy at the Lincoln Country Club. He
also began doing magic shows for $35 a night under the tutelage of Gene Gloye.
He attended the 1952 convention of the International Brotherhood of Magicians in
St. Louis and won Best New Performer trophy. Around the same time, he met fellow
magician Johnny Carson, eleven years his senior, who was doing a magic act at a
church in Lincoln.