Actor Calvert DeForest, best known for his role as Larry “Bud” Melman on the Letterman show, has died at the age of 85.

The balding, bespectacled nebbish who gained cult status as the oddball Larry “Bud” Melman on David Letterman’s late-night television shows has died after a long illness. Brooklyn-born Calvert DeForest, who was 85, died Monday at a hospital on Long Island, the Letterman show announced Wednesday.

He made dozens of appearances on Letterman’s shows from 1982 through 2002, handling a variety of twisted duties: singing a duet with Sonny Bono on “I Got You, Babe”; doing a Mary Tyler Moore impression during a visit to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where her 1970s show was set; handing out hot towels to arrivals at New York’s Port Authority Bus Terminal. Cue cards were often DeForest’s television kryptonite, and his character invariably appeared in an ill-fitting black suit behind thick, black-rimmed glasses.

“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.”

DeForest’s gnomish face was the first 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 Letterman appearance.

DeForest, given the nom de tube of Larry “Bud” Melman, became a program regular. The collaboration continued when the talk show host moved to CBS to launch “Late Show with David Letterman” in 1994. The Melman character opened Letterman’s first CBS show, too — but used his real name because of a dispute with NBC over “intellectual property.” DeForest, positioned inside the network’s familiar eye logo, announced, “This is CBS!”

DeForest often drew laughs by his bizarre juxtaposition as a “Late Show” correspondent at events such as the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway and the Woodstock anniversary concert that year. His last appearance on “Late Show” came in 2002, celebrating his 81st birthday.

Rest in peace.

The lead singer for the legendary 1970s band “Boston” died Friday of unknown causes.

Brad Delp, the lead singer for the band Boston, was found dead Friday in his home in southern New Hampshire. He was 55.

Atkinson police responded to a call for help at 1:20 p.m. and found Delp dead. Lt. William Baldwin said in a news release that there was no indication of foul play. “There was nothing disrupted in the house. He was a fairly healthy person from what we’re able to ascertain,” Police Chief Philip Consentino told WMUR-TV. Delp apparently was alone at the time, Baldwin said. The cause of death remained under investigation. Police said an incident report would not be available until Monday.

Delp sang on Boston’s 1976 hits “More than a Feeling” and “Long Time.” He also sang on Boston’s most recent album, “Corporate America,” released in 2002. He joined the band in the early 1970s after meeting Tom Scholz, an MIT student interested in experimental methods of recording music, according to the group’s official Web site. The band enjoyed its greatest success and influence during its first decade. The band’s last appearance was in November 2006 at Boston’s Symphony Hall.

On Friday night, the Web site was taken down and replaced with the statement: “We just lost the nicest guy in rock and roll.”

A call to the Swampscott, Mass., home of Boston guitarist Barry Goudreau was not immediately returned Friday night.

Sad news. In all honesty, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard Delp’s name before; I certainly didn’t know it. But that’s often the way for members of a band–they’re known collectively rather than as individuals.

Here’s the photo from the website referenced in the story above. I don’t think they’ll mind my using it:

C&L’s Logan Murphy has his own tribute and a YouTube video of “More than a Feeling.”

Erika Ortiz, the youngest sister of Spain’s Princess Letizia, has died suddenly under mysterious circumstances.

The youngest sister of Spain’s Princess Letizia has died in Madrid at 31, the Royal Palace said Wednesday. The cause of Erika Ortiz’s death was not immediately revealed. Letizia’s family issued a statement asking for “prudence and respect” in relation to the death.

Ortiz was the sister of Letizia, who married Crown Prince Felipe, heir to the Spanish throne in 2004. They have a 1-year-old daughter, Princess Leonor, and Letizia is pregnant with her second child and due to give birth in May.

Queen Sofia interrupted a trip to Indonesia on hearing of the death, the palace said. Spanish National Radio said the queen was in tears as she explained to reporters that she would return to Spain. King Juan Carlos was in Germany and was due to return to Spain later Wednesday.

A graduate in fine arts, Ortiz was the youngest of three daughters of journalist Jesus Ortiz and Paloma Rocasolano, a nurse. Princess Letizia is the eldest. Ortiz worked at the Spanish production company Globomedia. She was married to Spanish sculptor Antonio Vigo and had a 6-year-old daughter, Carla.

[…]

A judge inspected the scene at the apartment where the body was found shortly after midday. The body was later taken to Madrid’s Forensic Institute for an autopsy.

Sad news. Via Technorati where, not surprisingly, this is drawing a lot of attention, especially from Spanish language pages.