Chicago's Museum of Broadcast Communications celebrated Dick Cavett, "the television talk-show legend that brought wit and wisdom to late night television." Cavett and his wife Martha Rogers mingled with guests before the dinner, and then WGN's Dean Richards interviewed Cavett about his life and career.
"Dick Cavett is one of the most significant talk-show hosts in television history, says MBC founder, president and CEO Bruce DuMont. "He brought wit and wisdom to the discussion of important issues in the 60's and 70's that others would not touch."
The June 21 salute marked the kickoff for "Dick Cavett: A Retrospective," a video exhibition that will run through Sept. 27 in the MBC's Polk Bros. Theater. Drawing from hundreds of hours of Cavett's programs on ABC, PBS and CNBC over the course of 28 years, this collection of episodes showcases his conversational legacy of thoughtful, provocative and entertaining talk.
Recently, Cavett played himself in a new off-Broadway play, Hellman v. McCarthy, based on the real-life literary and legal fight between writers Lillian Hellman and Mary McCarthy that began with Cavett's 1979 interview of McCarthy on PBS.
The Museum of Broadcast Communications ( MBC ) collects, preserves, and presents historic and contemporary radio and television content as well as educate, inform, and entertain the public through its archives, public programs, screenings, exhibits, publications and online access to its resources. See www.museum.tv .