{{Short description|American comedian (1922–2008)}} {{other people}} {{Use American English|date=March 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox comedian | name = Dick Martin | image = Dick Martin 1968.jpg | caption = Martin on ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'', 1968 | birth_name = Thomas Richard Martin | birth_date = {{birth date|1922|01|30}} | birth_place = Battle Creek, Michigan, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2008|05|24|1922|01|30|mf=y}} | death_place = Santa Monica, California, U.S. | medium = {{hlist|Television|film|radio}} | active = 1951–2002 | spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Peggy Connelly|1957|<!-- Unknown -->|end=div.}}|{{marriage|Dolly Read|1971|1974|end=div.}}|{{marriage|<!--Dolly Read-->|1978}}}} | children = 2 }}
'''Thomas Richard Martin''' (January 30, 1922<ref name="nyt_obit" /> – May 24, 2008) was an American comedian and director. He was known for his role as the co-host (and comic foil of Dan Rowan) of the sketch comedy program ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' from 1968 to 1973.
==Early life and career== thumb|right|180px|Martin as Harry, Lucy's airline pilot neighbor, on ''The Lucy Show'', 1962
Martin was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, to William, a salesman, and Ethel Martin, a homemaker. In the early 1930s, the family moved to Detroit, where his teenage years included a bout with tuberculosis, which kept him out of the military.<ref name="nyt_obit">{{cite news| last1=Genzlinger| first1=Neil| author-link1=Neil Genzlinger| title=Dick Martin, 'Laugh-In' Host, Dies at 86| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/arts/television/26martindick.html?_r=0|access-date=May 21, 2015| newspaper=The New York Times| date=May 26, 2008| url-access=subscription}}</ref>
Early in his career, Martin was a staff writer for ''Duffy's Tavern'', a radio situation comedy. He and Dan Rowan formed the comedy team Rowan and Martin in 1952 and played in nightclubs throughout the United States and overseas. Martin played a drunk heckling a Shakespearean performer, a mainstay of their act for years. They could frequently be seen as host-performers on NBC's ''Colgate Comedy Hour,'' alternating with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis and other more established names. In 1958, they starred in Hal Kanter's comedy Western ''Once Upon a Horse...'', which was a box office failure. In 1960, they asked NBC to cancel their contract four years early and the network agreed.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Rowan and Martin Out, Call Contract a Mistake|author=Torre, Marie|date=January 29, 1960|work=New York Herald Tribune|page=20|quote=Three years ago, when NBC put a television contract where its enthusiasm was and acquired the team's services on an exclusive seven-year basis, Rowan and Martin were said to be well on their way to matching the success of predecessors Martin and Lewis.[...] For the first time in three years, Rowan and Martin are able to perform on other channels and their first appearance since the break with NBC (a mutual agreement, incidentally), occurs Feb. 7 on CBS' 'Ed Sullivan Show.')|id={{ProQuest|325795169}}}}</ref>
In 1962, Martin worked solo, playing the next-door neighbor to Lucille Ball during the first season of her comeback comedy ''The Lucy Show''. He and Rowan returned to the nightclub circuit until 1966, when they were asked to host the summer replacement series for ''The Dean Martin Show''. He co-starred in the 1966 Doris Day movie ''The Glass Bottom Boat''.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Hollywood Report|author=Cassyd, Syd|date=August 16, 1965|work=Boxoffice|page=10|quote='The Glass Bottom Boat,' starring Doris Day, Rod Taylor and Arthur Godfrey, is now before the cameras on location in Northridge in San Francisco Valley. [...] The Melchor-Freeman production also has an all-star supporting cast including John McGiver, Paul Lynde, Edward Andrews, Eric Fleming, Dom DeLuise and comedian Dick Martin.|id={{ProQuest|1673774573}}}}</ref>
==''Laugh-In''== The exposure led to an opportunity for Rowan and Martin to team up with producers Ed Friendly and George Schlatter and create ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (1968–1973) on NBC. The comedy show was an immediate hit, becoming the number one American television program within two months of its debut. It was the top-rated show in its second and third seasons. ''Laugh-In'' had a uniquely fast-paced stream-of-consciousness style of blackout gags, double entendre, topical satire, and catchphrases, much of it delivered by a cast of then-unknowns such as Goldie Hawn, Lily Tomlin, Arte Johnson, and Ruth Buzzi.{{Citation needed |date=June 2023}}
[[File:Rowan martin laugh in photo.jpg|thumb|right|250px|with Dan Rowan on ''Laugh-In'' (1968)]]At the center of the maelstrom stood the veterans Rowan and Martin, who bemusedly made no effort to slow down the program. Martin later said, "We designed it so that we are two relatively normal guys wandering through a sea of madness," and described his comic persona as "a kind of inept lech" who could be laughed at as well as laughed with. At the height of the show's popularity, Rowan and Martin starred in the 1969 film ''The Maltese Bippy'', which was a notorious failure.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.allmovie.com/work/the-maltese-bippy-101057| title=The Maltese Bippy| website=All Movie Guide| accessdate=November 1, 2021}}</ref> After Rowan retired from show business, Martin was a frequent panelist on game shows such as ''Match Game'', ''Password Plus'', and ''Tattletales'', and he also hosted a parody game show called ''The Cheap Show'' in 1978, and the game show ''Mindreaders'' in 1979.
==Personal life== Martin married singer Peggy Connelly in 1957.<ref>{{cite news|date=November 14, 1957|title=Singer Helps Bridegroom Buy License|page=4|work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90171000/fort-worth-star-telegram/|access-date=December 7, 2021|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> They divorced prior to 1968 and he married Playboy Playmate and ''Beyond the Valley of the Dolls'' star Dolly Read in 1971.<ref>{{cite news| title=Bert Darr's TV and Radio Question Box| first=Burt| last=Darr| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100292160/honolulu-star-bulletin/| newspaper=Honolulu Star-Bulletin| date=June 30, 1968| page=40 TV Aloha| access-date=April 22, 2022}}</ref> Martin and Read divorced in June 1974, but remarried in 1978 and remained married until his death.<ref>{{cite news| title=Dick Martin Divorced from Dolly Read| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100290567/the-kansas-city-star/| newspaper=Kansas City Star| agency=Associated Press| date=June 14, 1974| page=21| access-date=April 22, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title=TV Notes| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80290847/dolly-martin-dick-martin-remarried-1978/| page=25| date=October 16, 1978| newspaper=Corvallis Gazette-Times| agency=Newspaper Enterprise Association| access-date=April 22, 2022}}</ref>
Richard Martin, his son from a non-marital relationship with Canadian dancer Doreen Laverick prior to his marriage to Connelly, grew up in Canada and works as a film and television director.<ref>Elizabeth Aird, "Laugh-In star still sockin' it to 'em; Co-creator of legendary '60s comedy show in Vancouver to act in new movie directed by his son". ''Edmonton Journal'', April 10, 1991.</ref>
==Death== Martin died on May 24, 2008, of breathing complications in Santa Monica, California. He had lost the use of a lung due to tuberculosis as a teenager and suffered respiratory problems late in life.<ref name="nyt_obit" /> [[File:Rowanmartin.jpg|thumb|right|Dan Rowan and Dick Martin as caricatured for NBC by Sam Berman]]
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- |1951|| ''Father's Little Dividend'' || Baby Stanley's Holder at Christening || Uncredited |- |1958|| ''Once Upon a Horse...'' || Doc Logan || |- |1962–1963|| ''The Lucy Show'' || Harry Conners || 10 episodes |- |1966|| ''The Glass Bottom Boat'' || Zack Molloy || |- |1968–1973|| ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' || Dick Martin || |- |1969|| ''The Maltese Bippy'' || Ernest Grey || |- |1975–1979|| ''Match Game'' || Dick Martin || 102 episodes |- |1978|| ''Zero to Sixty'' || Arthur Dunking || |- |1981|| ''Carbon Copy'' || Victor Bard || |- |1982–1990|| ''Newhart'' || Director || 33 episodes |- |1992|| ''North of Pittsburgh'' || Irving Kent III || |- |1992-1993|| ‘’BOB ( American TV Series w Bob Newhart)’’ ||Bob Loudermilk character and Directed episodes|| |- |1993|| ''Blossom'' || Frosty the Clown ||S4 E9 "38 Special" |- |1998|| ''The Nanny'' || Preston Collier ||S5 E16 "The Dinner Party" |- |1998|| ''Air Bud: Golden Receiver'' || Phil Phil || |- |2001|| ''Bartleby'' || The Mayor || (final film role) |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Dick Martin}} {{Portal|Biography}} *{{IMDb name|0552189|name=Dick Martin}} *{{EmmyTVLegends name|dick-martin|Dick Martin}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Dick}} Category:1922 births Category:2008 deaths Category:American male comedians Category:American male television actors Category:American male screenwriters Category:American sketch comedians Category:American television directors Category:American game show hosts Category:Deaths from respiratory failure in California Category:Male actors from Michigan Category:Entertainers from Battle Creek, Michigan Category:20th-century American male actors Category:Screenwriters from Michigan Category:20th-century American comedians Category:20th-century American male writers Category:20th-century American screenwriters Category:Comedians from Michigan Category:American television show creators