12 Facts About Dick Cavett
There are some similarities between him and Johnny Carson.
Johnny Carson is still the king of late-night TV despite not hosting his show for decades. You might remember some of his competitors. They included Arsenio Hall, Joey Bishop, Joan Rivers and the guy I’m going to talk about now, Dick Cavett. In many ways, Dick was similar to Johnny Carson.
Dick was born in Nebraska and worked at being a magician. He was also a writer for Johnny Carson. While Cavett didn’t approach Johnny’s popularity as a talk show host, he was perhaps Johnny’s most respected competitor. He was a high-brow type of guy, but not in an annoying way. Beyond that, here are some things you didn’t know about Dick Cavett.
1: In high school he was a state gold medal gymnast.
I’ve seen him listed at being 5'3" and 5'6" 1/2. Either way that stature no doubt helped him as a gymnast. As an actor, not so much.
2: When he got out of high school, he did magic shows for $35 a night.
Most writers would be thrilled with that type of money now.
