After doing a show with actor Laurence Olivier that Cavett was convinced did not go well, he visited actor Marlon Brando. Cavett told Brando about the show and Brando asked, "Have you ever looked at the show?" Cavett later did. "I looked absolutely fine," Cavett recalled. He thought to himself, "'You're not coming off as horribly as you think you are."'
Dick Cavett talks about depression
LINCOLN, NB The 71-year-old Cavett struggled with depression for years, even
when he was one of the most well-known figures in television.
He spoke on Thursday at NET Television Studios to a group of
mental health professionals participating in a statewide summit on
depression. He was also back in Nebraska to participate in the
first Great American Comedy Festival, which is being held this week
in Norfolk.
The cerebral comedian, who grew up in Lincoln, sprinkled jokes
into his talk about depression.
"Pharmaceuticals, electroconvulsive therapy - and old Danny
Kaye movies," Cavett said when asked how he treated his
depression.
"I hate Danny Kaye movies," Cavett added. "Why'd I say
that?"
Cavett's first pangs of depression came during his freshman year
at Yale University when, during a mild, three-week bout, he
considered coming home to Nebraska even though he was enjoying his
Ivy League experiences. The condition worsened. Life became
lifeless, the simplest daily actions excruciating. He had trouble
getting out of bed and eventually was hospitalized under an assumed
name.
"The horrendous chore it is to get out of bed - 'Leave me
alone,"' Cavett said. "Like a moaning, ill dog."
He considered ending it all as he was driving one day to New
York's Long Island. "I remember thinking that if I pull into an
oncoming car ... I'll feel better," he said. Then he told himself,
"There's something wrong in this thought."
Doing his shows became a punishing exercise. At times, he was
sure he was a disaster, saying the wrong things at the wrong time
and looking like a crazy man who had no business being on stage.
