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TV's "Laugh-in" comic Dick Martin dies in Calif
npr.org ^ | May 24, 2008

Posted on 05/24/2008 9:02:59 PM PDT by lunarbicep

Dick Martin, the zany half of the comedy team whose "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" took television by storm in the 1960s, making stars of Goldie Hawn and Lily Tomlin and creating such national catch-phrases as "Sock it to me!" has died. He was 86.

Martin, who went on to become one of television's busiest directors after splitting with Rowan in the late 1970s, died Saturday night of respiratory complications at a hospital in Santa Monica, family spokesman Barry Greenberg said.

"He had had some pretty severe respiratory problems for many years, and he had pretty much stopped breathing a week ago," Greenberg said.

Martin was surrounded by family and friends when he died just after 6 p.m., Greenberg said.

"Laugh-in," which debuted in January 1968, was unlike any comedy-variety show before it. Rather than relying on a series of tightly scripted song-and-dance segments, it offered up a steady, almost stream-of-consciousness run of non-sequitur jokes, political satire and madhouse antics from a cast of talented young actors and comedians that also included Ruth Buzzi, Arte Johnson, Henry Gibson, Jo Anne Worley and announcer Gary Owens.

Presiding over it all were Rowan and Martin, the veteran nightclub comics whose standup banter put their own distinct spin on the show.

Like all straight men, Rowan provided the voice of reason, striving to correct his partner's absurdities. Martin, meanwhile, was full of bogus, often risque theories about life, which he appeared to hold with unwavering certainty.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: danrowan; dickmartin; hollywood; laughin; obituary; rowanandmartin
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To: steelyourfaith
.."goodnight, dick"
21 posted on 05/24/2008 9:17:32 PM PDT by kingattax (99 % of liberals give the rest a bad name)
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To: lunarbicep
Funny guy.

RIP

22 posted on 05/24/2008 9:17:35 PM PDT by South40 (Amnesty is a slap in the face to the USBP!)
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To: lilylangtree

sorry, I never heard that story


23 posted on 05/24/2008 9:17:47 PM PDT by lunarbicep (Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest. - Mark Twain)
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To: Travis McGee

You can bet your sweet bippy!


24 posted on 05/24/2008 9:17:51 PM PDT by upsdriver (the maverick upsdriver is writing in Duncan Hunter for president)
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To: dayglored
Dick was married to a Playboy Playmate/Bunny (Dolly Martin) twice. That's living...

And most likely losing, when he wrote the alimony checks.

25 posted on 05/24/2008 9:18:05 PM PDT by buccaneer81 (Bob Taft has soiled the family name for the next century.)
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To: lilylangtree; tomkow6; All

Yeah I think that one LOL!


26 posted on 05/24/2008 9:20:11 PM PDT by SevenofNine ("We are Freepers, all your media belong to us, resistence is futile")
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To: lunarbicep

Brings back many memories. I was just getting out of the Army when this program hit the airwaves.

RIP Dick, and Goodnight.


27 posted on 05/24/2008 9:20:24 PM PDT by rockinqsranch (Dems, Libs, Socialists...call 'em what you will...They ALL have fairies livin' in their trees.)
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To: Captainpaintball
"vheeeeeeeedy innnnnterestink"

But stupid!

RIP, bet your bippy, and thanks, Dick.


28 posted on 05/24/2008 9:23:39 PM PDT by I see my hands (_8(|)
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To: lunarbicep


Good night Dick. RIP.
29 posted on 05/24/2008 9:26:04 PM PDT by Liberty Valance (Keep a simple manner for a happy life)
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To: Travis McGee
If you're old enough to remember Laugh-In......you're as old as me.

I was just a kid - but I remember. Even my folks liked it enough to let me watch it - as strict as they were. I think they knew then that shows like his would help America survive the 60's. "'Night, Dick."

30 posted on 05/24/2008 9:28:01 PM PDT by LiberConservative ("Typical" White Guy)
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To: Travis McGee
"Laugh In" was a wonderful break from the miserable news cycles of the late 60's. Plus it was really funny. Rather tame by today's standards, it hit the sweet spot of the times. Sad to read of Dick's passing.
31 posted on 05/24/2008 9:29:39 PM PDT by hinckley buzzard
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To: Travis McGee
"Laugh In" was a wonderful break from the miserable news cycles of the late 60's. Plus it was really funny. Rather tame by today's standards, it hit the sweet spot of the times. Sad to read of Dick's passing.
32 posted on 05/24/2008 9:30:04 PM PDT by hinckley buzzard
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To: Travis McGee
"Laugh In" was a wonderful break from the miserable news cycles of the late 60's. Plus it was really funny. Rather tame by today's standards, it hit the sweet spot of the times. Sad to read of Dick's passing.
33 posted on 05/24/2008 9:30:10 PM PDT by hinckley buzzard
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To: buccaneer81
>> Dick was married to a Playboy Playmate/Bunny (Dolly Martin) twice. That's living...

> And most likely losing, when he wrote the alimony checks.

Gee, maybe that's why he remarried her after a few years of divorce. They were still married when he died.

34 posted on 05/24/2008 9:30:33 PM PDT by dayglored (Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government!)
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To: tet68
"He’ll have em rolling in the isles."

To which islands are you referring?

35 posted on 05/24/2008 9:30:36 PM PDT by MistrX
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To: lunarbicep

36 posted on 05/24/2008 9:32:46 PM PDT by Liberty Valance (Keep a simple manner for a happy life)
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To: lunarbicep

that was a funny show, my father loved it.


37 posted on 05/24/2008 9:33:30 PM PDT by Coleus (Abortion and Physician-assisted Murder (aka-Euthanasia), Don't Democrats just kill ya?)
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To: lunarbicep

I had no working TV to watch when the series began. Everybody was quoting lines and jokes from the show. I didn’t know what they were talking about. I think it was too edgy for prime time at that time. In retrospect, much of the show wasn’t really all that funny. I think Dick Martin’s directing deserved more respect than Laugh-In.


38 posted on 05/24/2008 9:44:47 PM PDT by LongTimeMILurker
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To: Coleus

I was barely ten when it came on...and there wasn’t a single comedy on the three networks that could touch it. But they were out...far, far, on the branch in terms of risks. A lot of the jokes were very liberal for the times. For the first two years...I never missed an episode. There are two interesting aspects to the show, if you browse around today. first...the list of stars on appeared on the show reads like a who’s who of comedy, with two hundred of biggest names in comedy in the late 60’s. Second...if you gaze at the writing staff...you see a group of young folks who all come up in the 1970s and for many shows and even became producers.


39 posted on 05/24/2008 9:47:28 PM PDT by pepsionice
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To: dayglored
Gee, maybe that's why he remarried her after a few years of divorce. They were still married when he died.

I didn't know that. As good a reason as any, I suppose.

40 posted on 05/24/2008 9:47:53 PM PDT by buccaneer81 (Bob Taft has soiled the family name for the next century.)
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