Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

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
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-115 next last
To: Travis McGee
If you're old enough to remember Laugh-In......you're as old as me.

i remember it... but let me say, i was not supposed to be watching it... i was far too young... i was not even 3-y.o. when it debuted! wasn't Charles Nelson Reilly also on it?

61 posted on 05/24/2008 10:46:15 PM PDT by latina4dubya
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Travis McGee
Travis,

You won't believe this!

I just looked up Dan Rowan in Wikipedia to see if he was still alive.

He died in 1987, but check out this quote:

“Rowan retired to Florida. He was a type II diabetic and heavy smoker, who died of lymphatic cancer at the age of 65 in Manasota Key, Florida.

“In 1986, a book of letters written between himself and author John D. MacDonald was published entitled A Friendship: The Letters of Dan Rowan and John D. MacDonald, 1967-1974.”

62 posted on 05/24/2008 10:51:42 PM PDT by zeestephen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: lunarbicep
RIP Dick Martin. Thanks for the laughs.

One of my favorite Laugh In moments had to the running gag where Dick would bring out a “guest” almost every show. It was usually a real star ( Raquel Welch for one ) playing a messed up character. So one show Dan brought out the guest, everyone expected a straight forward act being Dan was the credible one. Enter Tiny Tim singing “Tiptoe Through The Tulips.” The look of Dick's reaction to that performance is priceless.

Here it is;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skU-jBFzXl0

63 posted on 05/24/2008 10:53:07 PM PDT by Hillarys Gate Cult (The man who said "there's no such thing as a stupid question" has never talked to Helen Thomas.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Never2baCrat

I watched the show as a young adult. Ruth Buzze and tne guy who played the old man—they were terrific. The guy in the yellow raincoat and hat riding the tricycle was funny. JoAnne Worley, Flip Wilson (”Here come de judge!”) Judy Carne, the woman who played the phone operator (”Is this Mr. Jedger Hoover?”} Goldie Hawn, one finger in her dimple, saying “Ummmmmm...”

And Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, the hosts. “What’s a Green Urn?” “Oh, about a buck and a quarter an hour.”

I loved it. It was hilarious.


64 posted on 05/24/2008 10:54:11 PM PDT by Judith Anne
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: Travis McGee
If you're old enough to remember Laugh-In......you're as old as me.

Oh well, I was 18 in 1968 when it first came went on the air. I remember seeing Rowan and Martin playing at a motel lounge in Modesto a couple of years before that.

65 posted on 05/24/2008 10:56:14 PM PDT by Inyo-Mono (If you don't want people to get your goat, don't tell them where it's tied.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Travis McGee
If you're old enough to remember Laugh-In......you're as old as me.

I not only remember him, I interviewed him and costar Lucille Ball long before Laugh-In premiered. He was still playing neighbor Harry Connors on The Lucy Show. He was a great guy and I had a lot of fun on the set with the two of them. I guess that would make me older than you.

66 posted on 05/24/2008 10:57:24 PM PDT by Bernard Marx
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Bernard Marx

I bow to you.

How fun that would have been!


67 posted on 05/24/2008 10:58:43 PM PDT by bannie (clintons CHEAT! It's their only weapon.; & Barry/Barack has two faces.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 66 | View Replies]

To: tubebender
"The fickle Finger of Fate has caught up with Dick Martin."

The FLYING Fickle Finger of Fate, you mean.

68 posted on 05/24/2008 10:59:14 PM PDT by jackibutterfly
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 50 | View Replies]


69 posted on 05/24/2008 11:01:58 PM PDT by lainie ("You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." - C.S. Lewis)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Judith Anne

The phone operator character, Ernestine was played by Lily Tomlin.

The joke was “What’s a Grecian Urn?”


70 posted on 05/24/2008 11:04:36 PM PDT by Hillarys Gate Cult (The man who said "there's no such thing as a stupid question" has never talked to Helen Thomas.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle

I think he would’ve appreciated that.


71 posted on 05/24/2008 11:05:08 PM PDT by ItsForTheChildren
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Judith Anne
". . .JoAnne Worley, Flip Wilson (”Here come de judge!”) Judy Carne, the woman who played the phone operator. . ."

That was Sammy Davis, Jr., not Flip Wilson, playing the judge, and Lily Tomlin played the operator.

72 posted on 05/24/2008 11:10:37 PM PDT by jackibutterfly
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: Hillarys Gate Cult

Okay, thanks.


73 posted on 05/24/2008 11:10:54 PM PDT by Judith Anne
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 70 | View Replies]

To: jackibutterfly

Okay.
Thanks.


74 posted on 05/24/2008 11:12:04 PM PDT by Judith Anne
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 72 | View Replies]

To: Travis McGee

Damn I’’m old! Good night Dick.


75 posted on 05/24/2008 11:14:46 PM PDT by derllak
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Travis McGee

I never missed Laugh-In.
Pure ‘60s.


76 posted on 05/24/2008 11:17:52 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: jackibutterfly
Okay, I looked it up on Wikipedia.

"Here come de' judge!" (reprising comedian Pigmeat Markham and further popularized by guest star Sammy Davis Jr. and Flip Wilson.

So it appears they both played the part.

77 posted on 05/24/2008 11:21:05 PM PDT by Judith Anne
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 72 | View Replies]

To: jackibutterfly
". . .JoAnne Worley, Flip Wilson (”Here come de judge!”) Judy Carne, the woman who played the phone operator. . ."

That was Sammy Davis, Jr., not Flip Wilson, playing the judge, and Lily Tomlin played the operator.

________________________________________________________

Yep, Flip was usually in drag and Judy Carne was the British girl who Burt Reynolds used to beat-up every so often.

The Black bikini dancer (Theresa Graves?) went on to her own series, Get Christie Love then quit Hollywood to become a minister.

78 posted on 05/24/2008 11:23:39 PM PDT by wtc911 ("How you gonna get back down that hill?")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 72 | View Replies]

To: Travis McGee
Did you ever see THIS SEGMENT from a 1969 show??
Pay careful attention to the last 20 seconds. Absolutely un-friggin-believable.

I remember seeing this on a "Best of Laugh-In" retrospective in the mid-'90s, and it blew me away then.

79 posted on 05/24/2008 11:25:14 PM PDT by Lancey Howard
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: zeestephen
“In 1986, a book of letters written between himself and author John D. MacDonald was published entitled A Friendship: The Letters of Dan Rowan and John D. MacDonald, 1967-1974.”

_____________________________________

Both Rowan and MacDonald served in the Far East in WW2, different jobs and different theaters but it was a connection.

80 posted on 05/24/2008 11:27:22 PM PDT by wtc911 ("How you gonna get back down that hill?")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 62 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-115 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson