In the “Homie the Clown” episode of The Simpsons, Dick Cavett appears as himself, portraying a consummate name dropper who does nothing but talk about the celebrities he knows. It was a bit of self-parody, but it stemmed from the fact that Cavett did, and does, have a lot anecdotes about famous people, which can come in handy sometimes. For example, after the death of his friend Muhammad Ali, Cavett shared some stories with Rolling Stone about their time together.
Take, for example, this tale of Cavett making breakfast for himself and Ali. At least, that was his intent:
“I made breakfast for The Champ when he stayed at my house one night. I cooked up a big platter of ham, eggs and toast. I was going to divide that big mass for all of us, giving him the lion’s share, of course. I left the room for a minute and came right back. It was all gone. When he realized what he’d done he put on a hilarious, pitiful sad look and murmured, ‘Oh, Dick. You never gonna invite me back.’ It was so sweet, I almost cried.”
Cavett also talks about a comedy bit he wrote for Ali to do on Jerry Lewis’ show, the iconic time that Ali and Joe Frazier appeared together on his show, and this one time when Ali slept in Cavett’s bed and fielded a call from Cavett’s wife. Cavett clearly had some amusing experiences with Ali, and fortunately he was able to share them with us.
(Via Rolling Stone)
