Richard Alva Cavett (born November 19, 1936) is an American television personality and former talk show host. He appeared regularly on nationally broadcast television in the United States for five decades, from the 1960s through the 2000s. In later years, Cavett has written an online column for The New York Times, promoted DVDs of his former shows as well as a book of his Times columns, and hosted replays of his TV interviews with Bette Davis, Lucille Ball, Salvador Dalí, Lee Marvin, Groucho Marx, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Garland, Marlon Brando, Orson Welles, Woody Allen, Ingmar Bergman, Jean-Luc Godard, Robert Mitchum, John Lennon, George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix, Richard Burton, Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Kirk Douglas and others on Turner Classic Movies.

Filmography

• 2025John Candy: I Like Me — Self - Host, The Dick Cavett Show (archive footage)
• 2024Group Therapy — Self - Host, The Dick Cavett Show (archive footage)
• 2021My Guest is Orson Welles
• 2019Mike Wallace Is Here — (archive footage)
• 2018Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes — Self, Writer
• 2018Nureyev — Self, Archive Footage
• 2017On the Sly: In Search of the Family Stone
• 2015Dick Cavett's Vietnam
• 2014River of Fundament — Wake Guest
• 2012Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay — Narrator
• 2012Driving Me Crazy — Mr. Johnson
• 2012Excuse Me for Living — Reverend Pilatus
• Childrens Hospital — Dick Cavett
• 2007Where Danger Lives: White Rose for Julie
• 2005Duane Hopwood
• 2005Frontier University Dreams — Narrator
• 2000Behind the Seams — Detective
• 2000Once Upon a Sleigh Ride: The Music & Life of Leon Anderson — Narrator
• 1999Sell & Spin: A History of Advertising — Narrator
• 1997Elvis Meets Nixon — Narrator
• 1994Forrest Gump — Dick Cavett
• 1991Year of the Gun — Ben Gershon
• The Simpsons — Dick Cavett (voice)
• 1988Beetlejuice — Bernard
• 1987A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors — Dick Cavett
• 1987Penn & Teller's Invisible Thread — Dick Cavett
• Amazing Stories — Dick Cavett
• Hotel
• 1981Dick Cavett Meets ABBA — Host
• 1980HealtH — Dick Cavett
• 1979Remember Me — Narrator
• 1978Power Play — Dick Cavett
• 1977Annie Hall — Dick Cavett
• 1974Janis
• 1973Nightside — Dick Cavett
• 1972Hollywood: The Dream Factory — Narrator (voice)
• Alias Smith and Jones
• The Odd Couple — Dick Cavett
• 1960Playhouse 90: The Hiding Place

Appearances as themselves (120)

• Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! — Self - Talk Show Host
• 2025From Darkness to Light — Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
• 2025NASA, Nazis and the Space Race — Self (archive footage)
• 2025One to One: John & Yoko — Self (archive footage)
• 2025SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) — Self
• 2025The New Yorker at 100 — Self (archive footage)
• 2024An American Family at 50 — Self
• 2024From Roger Moore with Love — Self
• 2024Jim Henson Idea Man — Self (archive footage)
• 2024Remembering Gene Wilder — Self (archive footage)
• 2023Godard Cinema — Self (archive footage)
• 2023Godard by Godard — Self (archive footage)
• 2023Paul Newman: The Restless — Self (archive footage)
• 2023The Lost Weekend: A Love Story — Self (archive footage)
• 20222022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony — Self (archive footage)
• 2022Groucho & Cavett — Self
• 2022Joni Mitchell, Lady Blue — Self (archive footage)
• 2022Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues — Self (archive footage)
• 2022Lucy and Desi — Self (archive footage)
• 2022Moonage Daydream — Self (archive footage)
• 2022The Ghost of Richard Harris — Self
• 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything — Self (archive footage)
• 2021Boulevard! A Hollywood Story — Self (archive footage)
• 2021Live at Mister Kelly's — Self
• 2021The Capote Tapes — Self
• The Story of Late Night — Self
• 2021Truman & Tennessee: An Intimate Conversation — Self - TV Host (archive footage)
• 2019Alan Pakula: Going for Truth — Self
• 2019Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice — Self (archive footage)
• 2019Nice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast — Self - TV Host (archive footage)
• 2019Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am — Self (archive footage)
• 2019What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael — Self
• What's My Name | Muhammad Ali — Self (archive footage)
• 2018Bergman: A Year in a Life — Self
• 2017Kyoko — Self (archive footage)
• 2017Stewart & Mitchum: The Two Faces of America — Self
• 2017This Is Bob Hope... — Self
• 2016All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I.F. Stone — Self
• 2015Best of Enemies — Self
• 2015Janis: Little Girl Blue — Himself
• 2015Listen to Me Marlon — Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — Self - Guest
• 2014A Venue For The End Of The World — Himself
• 2014Dick Cavett's Watergate — Himself
• 2014James Brown - The Man, The Music & The Message — Self
• 2014Katharine Hepburn: The Great Kate — Self - Chat-Show Host
• Late Night with Seth Meyers — Self
• 2013David Bowie: Five Years — Self (archive footage)
• 2013Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia — Self (archive footage)
• 2013Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train a Comin' — Self - TV Host (archive footage)
• 2012Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel — Self (archive footage)
• 2012Norman Mailer: The American — Self
• George Harrison: Living in the Material World — Self (archive footage)
• 2011Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again — Self
• 2011Woody Allen: A Documentary — Self
• 2010Simon & Garfunkel: Across the Airwaves — Self
• 2010Smash His Camera — Self
• 2010Unforgettable — Self
• Celebrity Ghost Stories — Self
• Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen — Self - Guest
• 2008Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired — Self (archive footage)
• 2007Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe — Self (archive footage)
• 2007Decoy: A Map to Nowhere — Self
• Gossip Girl — Self
• 2007Tension: Who's Guilty Now? — Self
• 2007To My Great Chagrin: The Unbelievable Story of Brother Theodore — Self
• 2006Stardust: The Bette Davis Story — Self (archive footage)
• 2006The Dick Cavett Show with Mel Brooks — Self
• 2005Inside Deep Throat — Self
• 2004Celsius 41.11 — Self (archive footage)
• 2003Jack Paar: Smart Television — Self
• Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Self - Guest
• 2003The Education of Gore Vidal — Self (archive footage)
• 2001Bravo Profiles: Penn and Teller — Self
• 2000Frequency — Himself
• 2000Lucille Ball: Finding Lucy — Self (archive footage)
• 1994Tennessee Williams: Orpheus of the American Stage — Self (archive footage)
• 1993Barbarians at the Gate — Self
• 1991The Fred Astaire Songbook — Self (archive footage)
• 1991The One, the Only... Groucho — Self
• 1990Night of 100 Stars III — Self
• 1990Robert Redford & Sydney Pollack: The Men and Their Movies — Self
• 1990Spy Magazine Presents How to Be Famous — Self
• 1988After School — Himself
• 1988Funny — Self
• 1988Moon Over Parador — Self
• 1986Bye Bye Kipling — Self
• 1986Doctor Duck's Super Secret All-Purpose Sauce — Self
• It's Garry Shandling's Show — Self (archive footage) (audio) (uncredited)
• 1983Koyaanisqatsi — Self (archive footage)
• Cheers — Himself
• Late Night with David Letterman — Self - Guest
• 1982The Marx Brothers in a Nutshell — Self
• 1982The Video Wine Guide with Dick Cavett — Self
• Yesteryear — Self - Host
• Remember When — Self - Host
• 1980Simon — Himself
• Time Was — Self - Host
• 1978Hocus Pocus, It's Magic — Self - Host
• 1975Funny Girl to Funny Lady — Self
• Saturday Night Live — Self (uncredited), Self - Host
• Dinah! — Self
• 1973Jimi Hendrix — Self (archive footage)
• 1972Cocksucker Blues — Self
• 1972Imagine — Self
• 1972Yoko Ono: This Is Not Here — Self
• 1971Festival at Ford's — Self
• 1971Fight of the Century — Self-(Audience Member)
• 1970Friars Club Roast of Don Rickles — Self
• 1969Jimi Hendrix: The Dick Cavett Show — Self
• This Is Tom Jones — Self
• Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In — Self
• The Dick Cavett Show — Self - Host
• The Phil Donahue Show — Self
• ABC Stage 67 — Self - Host
• The Merv Griffin Show — Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson — Self
• Kraft Music Hall — Self
• From the Ashes: The Life and Times of Tick Hall — Self
• I Refuse to Kill: He Went to War with War — Self