Longtime Malibu resident Joseph C. Cavella died of prostate cancer on Nov. 23 at his home. He was 91 years old.
“Most people who knew Joe were unaware of the depth and range of his talents and interests,” a loved one said. “He was a real Renaissance man who could remodel the kitchen, fix the plumbing and then cook up a pot of fantastic spaghetti sauce.”
Cavella was a piano player who knew songs from the ’30s and ’40s. He was an inventor who sawed and hammered away at new projects in his workshop. He was a clothing designer who created a line of sportswear for the May Company and opened a boutique store in West Hollywood to sell his original designs. He was a photographer who ran a commercial photography studio in Chicago for several years. During World War II, he was a first lieutenant who flew over the Himalayas in the dark without lights to train the Chinese army behind enemy lines in the interior of China.
After coming to California in the 1960s, Cavella wrote several scripts for “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “Get Smart,” “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” and other prime time comedy shows. After a brief period as a literary agent, Cavella and his wife Carol opened the Copy Store — a secretarial service on Point Dume that they ran for over 40 years.
Joe is survived by his wife, four children and two grandchildren.