Calvert G. DeForest, the dweebish man who gained cult status onDavid Letterman’s late-night shows as the comic figure Larry (Bud) Melman precisely because he was not funny, died Monday in Babylon, Long Island. He was 85.

Marilynn K.Yee/ The New York Times

Calvert DeForest, also known as Larry (Bud) Melman.

He suffered from a long illness, according to a statement by Mr. Letterman, on whose shows Mr. DeForest appeared dozens of times.

For 20 years Mr. DeForest drew laughs simply for being the odd juxtaposition in an industry marked by smooth personalities and slender bodies. His appearances on Mr. Letterman’s shows ranged from being a “correspondent” at the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, to handing out hot towels at the Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan, to doing bad impersonations of Ronald Reagan, Barbra Streisand and Elvis Presley.

“Everyone always wondered if Calvert was an actor playing a character, but in reality he was just himself — a genuine, modest and nice man,” Mr. Letterman said in his statement.

Mr. DeForest’s late-blossoming television career began with a New York Universitystudent film project called “King of the Zs,” by future Letterman writers, Stephen Winer and Karl Tiedemann who brought him along when they joined the Late Night staff. At the time, Mr. DeForest was working as a file clerk at a drug rehabilitation center. He was picked up by a black limousine, given his stage name, and became the first image of “Late Night With David Letterman,” before the opening credits on the debut episode.

In 1993, when Mr. Letterman decided to switch to CBS and the show became the “Late Show With David Letterman,” Mr. DeForest came along, but his character’s name did not. In an intellectual property dispute, NBC claimed ownership of the Larry (Bud) Melman name, even though it had been devised by a “Letterman” writer, Merrill Markoe. From the moment his face appeared as the center of the CBS eye logo on the debut CBS show, Mr. DeForest used his own name. He parlayed his “Letterman” fame into other film roles and commercials for a wide range of companies including M.C.I., Honda, Cheerios and Pizza Hut. His last appearance on “Letterman” celebrated his birthday in 2002.

Mr. DeForest was born on July 23, 1921, in Brooklyn to Calvert Martin DeForest, a doctor, and Mabelle Taylor, who briefly worked as an actress. He graduated from Poly Preparatory Country Day School in Brooklyn and always wanted to be an actor. His mother discouraged that ambition, and instead he spent many years working at Parke-Davis Pharmaceuticals. When his mother died, he began volunteering for backstage work on local stage productions, which led to performance work in front of the curtain.

Mr. DeForest leaves no immediate survivors.

Calvert G Deforest