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Dick Martin has died

Ultimajock

Ultimajock

For people of my age, "Laugh-In" was really one of the TV touchstones of their youth. My friends and I never missed an episode, and the school was always abuzz the next day with jokes and catchphrases from the show. Dick Martin was a wonderful comedian, just perfectly goofy yet lovable, and he and Dan Rowan had such a great chemistry. He really dropped from the public eye when he went behind the camera and became a very prolific director of sitcoms and such. In fact, if it weren't for his occasional guest starring roles now and then, a lot of viewers would have forgotten him. BTW, many forget that pre-"Laugh-In" he also for a brief time was Lucy's steady boyfriend on "The Lucy Show."

From what I read on Evanier's site, it sounds like he really was one of Hollywood's "nice guys." And he was married for many years to Dolly Read, a former Playboy playmate. (!!) Who says that nice guys can't get the hot chicks? ;D
 
I was a teenager when Laugh-In hit the air. Actually, the guy I was most thrilled to see was one of my radio heroes - Gary Owens, another genuinely nice guy, from what I understand. Laugh-In was definitely a cultural phenomenon.

In the early and mid 60s, my father always had to watch Ed Sullivan on Sunday night. Though I would have rather been watching a western or cop show...I loved the stand-up comedy teams: including Wayne & Shuster, Stiller and Meara, and - of course, Rowan and Martin.

In one of the obits, it was said that Dick did not like being a celebrity on game shows - but that's one of the ways he made a living for a few years until his directing career got really busy. He'd often appear with Dolly, and she always seemed like a genuinely warm person, and they obviously really loved one another. Martin was a good guy and had the good life he deserved.
 
"...you bet your sweet bippy!"

That phrase had everybody guessing what it was. A movie was released in 1969: "The Maltese Bippy" which starred Dan and Dick...with some off the wall goofiness ala Abbot and Costello.

http://www.imbd.com/title/tt0064627

Didn't know it as a teenager back then but later found out that announcer Gary Owens beforehand was the voice of cartoon character Roger Ramjet which had its high moments of sound effects being spelled out to somewhat bizarre proportions poking fun at Batman.

The R&ML-I series also spawned a daytime game show "Letters to Laugh-In" which Owens hosted.

Also saw Dick in scenes from "The Dick Van Dyke Show" on TV Land.

Dan and Dick also hosted a summer replacement series for Dean Martin in 1966 on NBC.

A portion of the Laugh-In cast had a cameo with Mellissa Joan Hart on "Sabrina The Teenage Witch."

Hope there's laughter up in Heaven as God has a sense of humour too....Dick and Dan I hope are up there.
 
I just saw Dick Martin on a PBS Lucille Ball "American Masters" Segment the other night..Martin said that he was only on the Lucy Show to help set up the situation that Lucy and Vivian Vance would get in for that episode. He would appear many times just at the beginning for the setup, and at the end to see what they got themselves into..Oce the show got beyond just that premise, Martin said they didnt need him anymore and let him go after the first half season..IMDB says he was only on 10 episodes in the 1962-63 season..

I've seen in local listings where WJAN-TV 17 in Canton, Ohio showed "Once Upon a Horse" in the early 1970's..They must have got a good deal on it because they rarely showed a movie released as late as 1958..
 
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