- Was an actor in army training films.
- Bilko's Godson (1959) was his first appearance on TV. During an recent interview he recalled how during a break in the shooting, he approached Phil Silvers and said, "I know there's no way you'd remember, but I saw you in ['the Broadway show] 'Top Banana' and went backstage and you gave me an autographed picture." And without a moment's hesitation Silvers replied "What's the deal, kid, you here to give it back?".
- Suffered from manic-depressive disorder, since his freshman year at Yale University.
- Was a gymnast when he was younger.
- Was a talent coordinator, and later writer, for Jack Paar's TV show. Appeared many times on talk shows as a stand-up comic.
- The Dick Cavett Show (1968) aired on five networks for over 35 years: (1) ABC daytime (March 4, 1968-January 24, 1969) (originally titled "This Morning"); (2) ABC prime time (May 26-September 19, 1969); (3) ABC late night (December 29, 1969-January 1, 1975); (4) CBS prime time (August 16-September 6, 1975); (5) PBS (October 10, 1977-October 8, 1982); (6) USA prime time (September 30, 1985-September 23, 1986); (7) ABC late night (September 23-December 30, 1986)' (8) CNBC (April 17, 1989-January 26, 1996).
- Jimmy Fallon wrote the foreword to Cavett's book "Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic Moments, and Assorted Hijinks" which was published in 2014.
- Insisted that the proper/technical way to pronounce his surname is "CAY-vit"/"cave-it", not "Cav-vet" as it commonly is.
- Inducted into the Nebraska Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 1991.
- Though they graduated one year apart from one another, he and Sandy Dennis attended the same high school in Lincoln, NE, and were in plays together.
- Appeared in the 1964 US Army "Big Picture" film, "Thayer of West Point" as a cadet enumerating the new rules that Superintendent Thayer was implementing, such as no valets or other servants to be employed by cadets.
- He appeared in two Best Picture Academy Award winners: Annie Hall (1977) and Forrest Gump (1994).
- Early in his career he applied to be a page at NBC's Rockefeller Center studio in New York City but was turned down.
- Announced November 9, 2010, on the "Imus in the Morning" radio show with Don Imus, that he had married Martha Rogers "about a week ago in New Orleans".
- Grew up in Lincoln, NE.
- Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. Pg. 99. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387
- Is of German, Welsh, English, Scottish, and distant Irish, descent.
- Born at 1:24am-CST
- Met his first wife, Carrie, when they were both students at Yale.
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