Larry 'Bud' Melman (person)

Actor Calvert DeForest's short, pudgy, large-glasses-wearing character on Late Night with David Letterman. Melman first appeared on the first episode of Late Night in February 1982, and it was this in this appearance that he was given the name "Larry 'Bud' Melman" by David Letterman himself after Letterman saw a student film starring DeForest. He was a fixture of the show in its early days and began appearing more sporadically as the years went by.

Memorable appearances by Melman include...

• Ask Mr. Melman, in which audience members would ask Larry a question. He would then answer the question and give away t-shirts.
• Serving as Late Night's unofficial ambassador of good-will, Melman handed out hot towels at the Port Authority bus station ("Welcome to New York, sometimes called fun city!").
• The good-will tour continued as Larry attempted to drive from New York to Tierra del Fuego in South America (he made it as far as Guatemala).
• When Dave went on vacation in July 1982 Larry filled in as guest host for the night.
• Performing celebrity imitations, such as Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley

Every appearance of Larry 'Bud' Melman came off as genuine and real, with not a trace of overacting. Melman often stumbled over reading cuecards and emphasized the wrong words of sentences out of nervousness. All in all, though, the character was charming and loads of fun.

When Dave left NBC in 1993 the network decreed that the Melman character was their intellectual property and therefore the new Late Show with David Letterman could not use the character. Calvert DeForest continued to appear, this time using his real name. In fact, he was the first image on the new Late Show as he appeared in the center of the CBS eye logo and proclaimed "This is... CBS!"

References:
http://www.fadetoblack.com/interviews/larrybudmelman/
http://www.philipmichaels.com/trials/19940303.html