|
John North
Editor & Publisher |
Dick Martin: “Hey, listen, Cathy, uh ... Why don’t we go up to my place tonight? You know, I’m a marvelous cook.”
Cathy: “Really? What’s your specialty?”
Dick Martin: “Breakfast.”
•
Comedian Dick Martin, who helped America’s counterculture expand into the mainstream, died last Saturday night at age 86 in a Santa Monica, Calif., hospital.
He played the zany half of the pioneering comedy team Rowan &
Martin to Dan Rowan’s long-suffering straight man. Rowan provided the
voice of reason, while Martin “was full of bogus, often risqué theories
about life, which he appeared to hold with unwavering certainty,” Bob
Thomas of The Associated Press wrote in a story about Martin’s life and
death.
Former nightclub comics, Rowan and Martin hosted the long-running,
mega-popular television series “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” that
became a 1960s icon and that once even included the usually dour
Richard Nixon uttering a rather befuddled, “Sock it to me!”
Their show, which ran from 1968 to 1973, is considered the forerunner
that cleared the way for ever more daring shows like “Saturday Night
Live.” “Laugh-In” opened the doors for political satire on TV, which
till then was tightly controlled and avoided controversy, especially
where sex and politics were concerned.
The show was famous for its sexy, miniskirted go-go girls with political slogans painted onto their bodies.
After Martin’s run with “Laugh-In” ended, he appeared on game shows and
then turned his hand to directing, becoming one of the more prolific TV
directors of that time. He directed numerous episodes of “Newhart,” as
well as such shows as “In the Heat of the Night,” “Archie Bunker’s
Place” and “Family Ties.”
In middle age, Martin married Dolly Read, a former bunny at the Playboy
Club in London. They had two sons, who are actors Richard Martin and
Cary Martin.
He was known for his spontaneous wit to the very end. For instance,
when he arrived for his 80th birthday, he fainted and was treated by
doctors and paramedics. The party continued, however, and when he awoke
he quipped, “Boy, did I make an entrance!”
“People are basically irreverent,” Martin said in 1968, explaining the
show’s satirical appeal. He rightly caught on that people “want to see
sacred cows kicked over.”
•
John North, publisher and editor of the Daily Planet, may be contact at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
|
