WASHINGTON — He’s interviewed some of the biggest celebrities in history.
But these days, talk show legend Dick Cavett is amazed at the questions he gets from younger generations.
“This year, I’ve had to endure two questions: ‘Who were the Marx Brothers?’ and ‘Who was Johnny Carson?'” Cavett says in shock.
That’s why he decided to commit some of his favorite memories to paper in the new book “Brief Encounters.”
It opens with a foreword by “Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon and unfolds in episodic fashion with short, unrelated chapters. That means you can jump around the book at will.
“As you get older, it’s harder to start a 700-page novel on page one and start climbing up Mount Everest,” Cavett says.
The brief approach earned hilarious praise from Mel Brooks.
“He said it was the perfect bathroom reading because he said the pieces are just the right length,” Cavett jokes.
Brooks himself is the subject of one of the book’s most touching stories: how wife Anne Bancroft loved the sound of Brooks’ key entering the door because “the party was about to begin.”
Such anecdotes cover the gamut of pop culture, ranging from sports to movies to music, from Muhammad Ali to Elizabeth Taylor to John Lennon.
“(Lennon) said, ‘You know, you’ve got the only half way intelligent show on television,’ and I said, ‘Why would you want to be on a halfway intelligent show?'” Cavett joked.
“Fade to black and I’m sitting with George Harrison. When I inform him that Yoko (Ono) sat in that chair two weeks earlier, he immediately leaped out of it and started brushing himself off.”
Cavett says picking a favorite interview is hard, but if he were “pinned to the floor” he would have to go with Groucho Marx, a comedy idol of his who eventually became a close family friend.
He tells WTOP a comical story of Groucho trying to sneak out of a dinner party and delivering one of his signature wisecracks.
“A snotty hostess comes over and says, ‘Leaving so soon, Mr. Marx?’ Groucho says, ‘I had a wonderful evening. But this wasn’t it,” Cavett recalls, laughing.
Hear the full interview below:
