"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."
The gnomish Mr. DeForest was working as a file clerk at a drug rehabilitation center when show producers, who had seen him in a New York University student's film, came calling. His was the first face to greet viewers when Letterman's NBC show debuted on 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 once said of his first appearance.
Mr. DeForest, given the nom de tube of Melman, became a program regular. The collaboration continued when the talk show host launched "Late Show with David Letterman" on CBS in 1994.
Cue cards were often Mr. DeForest's television kryptonite, and his character inevitably appeared in an ill-fitting black suit behind thick black-rimmed glasses.
The Melman character opened Letterman's first CBS show, too -- but used his real name because of a dispute with NBC over "intellectual property." Mr. DeForest, positioned inside the network's iconic eye logo, announced, "This is CBS!"
Mr. DeForest drew laughs by his bizarre juxtaposition as a "Late Show" correspondent at events such as the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway or the anniversary Woodstock concert that year.
His last appearance on "Late Show" came in 2002, celebrating his 81st birthday.
Mr. DeForest also appeared in other shows and films, including "Nothing Lasts Forever" with Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd.
As per his request, there will be no funeral service for Mr. DeForest, who left no survivors.
