TV Buzz Celebrity Birthday of the Day

As a young, TV-loving turk, I would settle into an evening by the tube with "Entertainment Tonight," awaiting its nightly roll call of that date's celebrity birthdays. Because what else could lullaby a pre-adolescent to sleep better than discovering Carol Channing just turned 65 or that Mccaulay Culkin was actually one year younger than myself? The answer? Doughnuts. Definitely doughnuts.

Anyhow, I figured I would begin honoring that tradition of blowing out the figurative candles for various famous folk with the launch of TV Buzz' Celebrity Birthday Of The Day. The rules for eligibility are simple: You must be instantly familiar to more than several thousand people (not including your Facebook friends), have experienced a pronounced period of your stardom via the small-screen and be either genuinely awesome or a really easy target for needless mockery.

So without further indigestion from cake-topping candy roses, I would like to wish a happy 73rd (and may he contradict all known principles of science and physics to engender another 73 more) to:


DICK CAVETT

While the Merv Griffins (for whom Cavett was a writer), Ed Sullivans, Johnny Carsons (whom he also ghost-scribed material for) and David Lettermans of the world tend to monopolize all the storied glory of being an iconic talk/variety-format host, let us not forget the intelligence, wit and subversiveness of Mr. Dick. His eponymous chat show was a pulpit for unforgettable interviews with everyone from Groucho Marx to, most famously, John Lennon and Yoko Ono (viewable above). And he also opened his stage doors to performances by the likes of David Bowie and Janis Joplin. And unlike other late-night contemporaries and followers, treated his musical guests as being equally, if not more, worthy of insightful Q & A as glamorous actors delivering canned press-junket banter. So kudos, Cavett, for being a too-often-unheralded pop-culture pioneer, and one of our all-time most memorable redheads. (Apologies to the Wendy's girl and Lindsay Lohan.)

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Fellow septugenerian Larry King and former "NBA Inside Stuff" host/Phylicia Rashad (aka Mrs. Huxtable) ex-hubbie, Ahmad Rashad