Dick Martin Brings Sweet Bippy Home at 86
The executive producer, co-creator, and star of the definitive late 60s pop culture comedy smash hit "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" died Saturday, May 24th, of respiratory complications in Santa Monica, California. He was 86.
He found stardom relatively late in life, at 46, after a series of jobs and ventures of varying success. He and partner Dan Rowan teamed up with producers Ed Friendly and George Schlatter to create "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" as a summer replacement series for NBC in 1968. The five year run of the show captured the pulse of the nation, with a brilliant ensemble cast and quirky guest appearances from the top and bottom tiers of musicians, comedians, athletes, actors, writers, dancers, preachers and politicians. [Source]
They coined many a phrase of the day and were famous for the cameo appearance. Some of those who graced the screen included Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Johnny Carson, Sonny and Cher, Carol Channing, Truman Capote, Gore Vidal, William F. Buckley, Charo, John Wayne, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Phyllis Diller, Ann Miller, Liza Minnelli, Totie Fields, David Frost, Dick Cavett, Don Ho, Tiny Tim, Liberace, Paul Lynde, Marcel Marceau, Joe Namath, Edward G. Robinson, Diana Ross, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Colonel Sanders, Rod Serling, Ringo Starr, Rip Taylor, Don Rickles, Raquel Welch, Slappy White and President Richard Nixon.
"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 Lily Tomlin, Goldie Hawn, Ruth Buzzi, Arte Johnson, Henry Gibson, Alan Sues, 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.
Dick Martin's Representative
Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In
