Calvert DeForest | Letterman's Larry 'Bud,' 85

Calvert DeForest, 85, the roly-poly character actor with the black-framed glasses and seemingly clueless delivery who developed a cult following as Larry "Bud" Melman on

Late Night With David Letterman

in the 1980s, has died.

Mr. DeForest, who continued appearing with Letterman under his own name after the comedian moved to CBS in the early 1990s, died Monday at a hospital in Babylon, N.Y., after a long illness, said a spokesman for Worldwide Pants, which produces The Late Show With David Letterman.

"Everyone always wondered if Calvert was an actor playing a character, but in reality he was just himself - a genuine, modest and nice man," Letterman said in a statement. "To our staff and to our viewers, he was a beloved and valued part of our show, and we will miss him."

Mr. DeForest was the first face to greet viewers when Letterman's NBC show debuted Feb. 1, 1982, offering a parody of the prologue to the Boris Karloff film Frankenstein. "It was the greatest thing that had happened in my life," he said of his first Letterman appearance.

His last appearance on Late Show, celebrating his 81st birthday, came in 2002.

He appeared in an assortment of other TV shows and films, including Nothing Lasts Forever with Bill Murray.

At his request, there will be no funeral for Mr. DeForest, who left no survivors.

- Inquirer wire services