{"id":1602,"date":"2024-04-14T14:53:59","date_gmt":"2024-04-14T14:53:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/?p=1602"},"modified":"2024-04-14T14:54:04","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T14:54:04","slug":"tv-host-dick-cavetts-friendship-with-muhammad-ali-explored-in-new-hbo-doc-vu-thuy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sbiz.thongtinluat.com\/tv-host-dick-cavetts-friendship-with-muhammad-ali-explored-in-new-hbo-doc-vu-thuy\/","title":{"rendered":"TV ho\u0455t D\u0456\u0441k C\u0430vett\u2019\u0455 fr\u0456end\u0455h\u0456\u0440 w\u0456th Muh\u0430mm\u0430d Al\u0456 ex\u0440lored \u0456n new HBO do\u0441"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The \u201cget,\u201d in the TV business, is that one huge interview every news or talk show wants because of its cultural significance and built-in buzz.<\/p>\n

\"Dick<\/p>\n

Talk show host Dick Cavett got that \u201cget\u201d with Muhammad Ali \u2026 14 times over several decades.<\/p>\n

Their years-long small-screen friendship, which crossed over into their personal lives, is recounted in \u201cAli & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes,\u201d a new documentary premiering Tuesday (9 p.m.) on HBO.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember we got into sync from the beginning,\u201d Cavett, 83, tells The Post. \u201cHe had an instinct for what I was going to say before I said it. He was just remarkable in that way.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe really did have a brilliant sense of humor and brilliant show-biz instincts,\u201d he says. \u201cHe had all he needed to be a star in the entertainment world \u2014 his timing, his selection of what worked to make it just right and when to shut up.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a born showman.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s all on display, and much more, in the clip-heavy \u201cAli & Cavett,\u201d which includes new interviews with Cavett and others, including sportswriter\/HBO commentator Larry Merchant and author Ilyasah Shabazz. It traces the arc of the Ali-Cavett TV interactions dating back to the 1960s and continuing over the years on various iterations of \u201cThe Dick Cavett Show\u201d spanning the boxer\u2019s transition from Cassius Clay to heavyweight champ Muhammad Ali to his sad professional decline, including his 1973 loss to Ken Norton, who broke Ali\u2019s jaw. \u201cI only got calls from Dick Cavett,\u201d Ali, his jaw wired shut, says in a visit to the show after the Norton fight. \u201cYou are really my main man because this is the only show that invites me right after I get whipped.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Dick<\/a>
Dick Cavett and Muhammad Ali.Courtesy of HBO \/ Daphne Productions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Their televised discussions covered everything that embodied Ali\u2019s fame and public profile \u2014 including his three-year suspension from boxing for refusing to be drafted after converting to Islam, the country\u2019s ongoing racial tensions and Ali\u2019s triumphant return to the ring (and bouts with Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Ken Norton et al.) as he became the sport\u2019s only three-time heavyweight champion. There are clips of Cavett\u2019s 1974 visit to Ali\u2019s training camp in Deer Lake, Pa. showing the men clowning around. (Ali beat Joe Frazier in their second fight shortly thereafter.)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be hard to know what he\u00a0wouldn\u2019t<\/em>\u00a0talk about at any time,\u201d says Cavett. \u201cFirst of all, I had to adjust to how smart he was. He had all of that and almost more than he could handle, and he always knew what to say, what tone to take, when he was on too long and how to manipulate the other person, as he did sometimes a little mercilessly with Joe Frazier.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the documentary\u2019s memorable clips shows Cavett interviewing Ali and Frazier on \u201cThe Dick Cavett Show\u201d when Ali says to Frazier, \u201cLet\u2019s be friends for one minute just to get him\u201d before they grab the startled Cavett (one arm each) and lift him out of his chair. \u201cThey elevated me so suddenly [that] I saw the floor going away and I was up among the [studio] lights,\u201d Cavett says. \u201cI was thinking, \u2018I hope these guys have a good grip.\u2019 That was a wonderful adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cavett also shared some personal offscreen memories of Ali with The Post.<\/p>\n

\"Cavett<\/a>
Ali and CavettCourtesy of HBO \/ Daphne Productions<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe were in the Caribbean once at the same time,\u201d he says. \u201cHe was on a nearby island and I invited him over to lunch to where I was on Virgin Gorda. He stepped out of a small airplane and there was a young guy there, a native of the island, who ran up to him and threw a couple of punches in the air and Ali threw them back. It was like seeing God for some people. We drove around the island and there was a kid standing by the road and Ali said, \u2018Stop the car,\u2019 and he rolled down the window and stuck his head out at this kid, who nearly died.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another time, Ali spent the night at Cavett\u2019s house in Montauk. \u201cIn the morning he came down the stairs and I can never forget it \u2014 he was like a giant in a fairytale, this gorgeous three-time heavyweight champion. I made him breakfast \u2014 pancakes, bacon, eggs, whatever I figured boxers ate \u2014 and as I turned away to fix something on the stove he had eaten everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018Dick, was that supposed to be your breakfast?\u2019 It was wicked of him, but he was having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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