Who2 Editorial Blog

Notes and Commentary from the Editors

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Obituary First Lines: Dick Martin

TV comedy star Dick Martin has died at age 83. Here's how some major news outlets are summing up his life.

"Dick Martin, co-host of 'Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In,' which popularized the phrase, 'Sock it to me'..." -Bloomberg News

"Dick Martin, the zany half of the comedy team whose 'Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In' took television by storm in the 1960s..." -The Associated Press

"Dick Martin, a veteran nightclub comic who with his partner, Dan Rowan, turned a midseason replacement slot at NBC in 1968 into a hit that redefined what could be done on television..." -The International Herald Tribune

"The death of Dick Martin is shattering showbiz news — his 'Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In' once not only had all America howling, it got the last laugh at the Emmys too." -The Los Angeles Times

"'I never thought of us as hosts. We were two guys walking through a mélange of madness.'" -Newsday

Labels: Dan Rowan, Dick Martin, Obituary First Lines