What Do You Mean This Letterman Sidekick is a Hip Hop Icon?
Larry “Bud” Melman was a hip-hop icon? Yep. From LA Weekly:
As we prepare to bid farewell to Late Show with David Letterman, let’s take a moment to appreciate one of the show’s most underrated contributions to popular culture, and unlikeliest of hip-hop icons, the much-missed Letterman sidekick Calvert DeForest, better known to fans as Larry “Bud” Melman.
Wait… hip-hop icon? Yes. Allow us to explain.
Born Calvert Grant DeForest in Brooklyn in 1921, Melman was something of a New Yorker cartoon come to life, with a quick wit, thick Brooklyn accent and one of the most infectious laughs ever broadcast. The son of a one-time actress, Melman was discouraged from pursuing his dream until after her death. Working by day as the receptionist for a drug rehab facility, he managed to land a few small speaking roles, the most famous being a brief but memorable appearance as a customer in the 1981 Troma film Waitress!
