R.I.P., Larry "Bud" Melman

Calvert DeForest, better known as Larry "Bud" Melman, has died:

NEW YORK (AP) -- The balding, bespectacled nebbish who gained cult status as the oddball Larry "Bud'' Melman on David Letterman's late night television shows has died after a long illness.

I first saw Larry "Bud" Melman in a Knoxville, Tennessee hotel room while en route to the World's Fair.

There were four of us staying in the room, but my wife and her brother had fallen asleep after a full day of travel. My longtime buddy Frank and I watched the introduction of the Larry "Bud" Melman character and laughed 'til tears came. It was the most original television I had ever seen, and we weren't sure at the time whether the premise, that Larry "Bud" was simply a random audience member asked to step in for host David Letterman was true or not.

Larry "Bud" provided more entertainment than that ill-starred World's Fair. Much more.

Godspeed, Calvert DeForest. Thanks for making me laugh out loud.