- He entered UC-Berkeley at age 16, and earned a BA in music. He worked his way through college playing in a jazz band. He attended the Juilliard School in Manhattan for a short time, but decided he was too old to train as a composer. He then took classes in psychology and philosophy at UCLA.
- His family's original Polish name was Kavelieruskii, which he anglicized to Cavell.
- He was a professor of philosophy at Harvard for more than 30 years. He often illustrated his ideas with examples from Shakespeare and movies. The first film that impressed him in a philosophical sense was Ingmar Bergman's "Smiles of a Summer Night".
- His mother played piano for vaudeville shows and silent movies; his father was a watchmaker and pawnbroker.
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