Classic American West Coast Boxing

[dagosd2000]

OK if you talked to my Uncle joe when he was tending bar at one of Bompensiero's joints downtown,he'd tell ya' he beat Dempsey and Louis on the same night. Yeah,he did some fightin' back in Chicago,but according to my father he lost more than he won and never got out of the preliminaries. Why he came out to San Diego,I don't know,but he probably was on the losing end to the bookies so he thought he'd come out here to live with us. My mother was his sister so even though my father would get tired of his boasting,he had a place to stay in the back room.Besides the track at Caliente was open all year round.

The thing was he talked big,but he kind of lived like a low life. He never had a car. Him and his gambling degenerates would catch the 32 bus and then cross the border to the track and bet everything they had. After the horses raced,if they made a score,they'd bet on the dogs. I'd hear him get in around three in the morning. Him and his pals probably would spend what they won at one of the cat houses,and then the next day do it all over again.

My Uncle Joe tought me how to read the form like I was studying to go to medical school. He knew what the action was like at all the tracks and hung around rummy trainers and jockeys. He always talked about having class,but it made no difference to me if I didn't see any. He met some dame he met at one of Bompensiero's joints and she liked to drink and he liked to drink so I guess that was good enough for them to get married. My Uncle Joe was married one other time,but after he got home from the Army in WW II,he found out his wife was cheating on him in his brother's bar and threw her down a flight of stairs. Then he threw his brother down the same flight of stairs for not keeping an eye out for him. Anyway his new wife he liked to call"Cheeseburger". I forget her real name,but she was fine with being called "Cheeseburger". For a rummy,she was kind of pretty and she thought the world of my Uncle Joe. He could always make her laugh.

One time my Uncle Joe got booted out the track in Mexico. He pulled one of those "Sting" capers like in the movie. Him and some crooked jockey snuck a telephone into the track. They had a buddy working down at Western Union. If they saw a race where the horse was like six legnths ahead in the stretch,they'd call their Western Union pal and he'd delay the result by 30 seconds. That way my uncle could place a bet on the the horse that was leading by six legnths. Well my uncle and the jockey got nabbed by the track "dicks" and they were banned from the track. But that didn't stop my Uncle Joe. He got"Cheeseburgerr" to go down to Caliente and place a bet on a 5/10 and he won the jackpot,20 grand.

My uncle spends part of the money and bought a produce market out in El Cajon where the farmers lived. Peculiar. The only produce my uncle knew about was "lettuce". The kind with the Presidents faces on it. One day I took a spin out to his produce market. He called it "Valley Farms Market". I go inside and half the produce has mold all over it. It looked so bad I don't think the rabbits would eat it. Well my uncle invites me to his office. On his desk is around 4 or 5 phones. They're all ringin' at once. It wasn't difficult to put two and two together. My uncle was making book. All these hayseed farmers would come in and bet on everything from football games to pig racing. Leave it to my greaseball uncle from the Southwest Side of Chicago to have the action on the "book" in Tobacco Road.

It went on like that. "Cheeseburger" left. I think it was just a matter of my uncle not paying too much attention to her. He'd have a woman from TJ come in once a week to clean up his apartment(he was living in El Cajon now)and take care of any other of his needs. He was happy. He was by himself. He could do what he wanted. But then he came down with stomach cancer. He got pretty sick. He came back to live with us before he had to go to the Veterans Hospital. He had lost a lot of weight. Funny,but I remember my Uncle Joe making the biggest muscle i'd ever seen. I'd always ask him to make a muscle when I was a kid.

He died after suffering a long illness. My mother would visit him at the hospital everyday. She said he was very scared. He didn't want to be alone. When he died,I remember my mother coming home. She sat down in the the living room and sobbed uncontrollably. All she kept saying was,"He was just a boy. He was just a boy."

diego,

Great story on your uncle Jose, sounds like he led life to the fullest, everybody should be so lucky.

Nice tribute to your uncle Joe, Dagos.
He sounds like a Chicago guy through and through.

I'm tellin' ya' pal ,it dripped off him.

[dagosd2000]

Jitterbuggers dance in this Capa photo from th 1930s

This is one of my favored photo of all time by
Cornell Capa, who just died.

I know when the Mexican boys did the jitterbug,they just kind of stood there looking cool and the girl would go around them. Those boys didn't want to mess up the pleets of their pants!

[kikibalt]

*I remember watching TV late one night in Seville,Spain. I was there with my wife and granddaughter. My granddaughter was attending a Flamenco Academy .There was a variety program on TV that was very popular. It was quite entertaining. Like the old Ed Sullivan Show. Singers,dancers,circus acts,comedians. A three hour show done live. I wouldn't watch all of it,but one night they had a contest for the people of Spain to vote for their greatest celebrity. One of the nominees was Pedro Carrasco. He was Spain's first world champion and became an instant sensation . He married movie stars and made films. He was Spain's biggest idol.

I remember when the Long Beach kid Mando Ramos went to Spain to try to win the vacant WBC lightweight title against Pedro Carrasco. Carrasco was like a lot of Latin fighters who seldom ventured outside their country to fight. They knew they had the odds with them when they fought in front of their people. Carrasco's record was exaggerated. I think he had lost only once in like a hundred fights. Most of his bout were against modest competition. Many of his fights were 8 rounders.

Mando had been in with some tough boys:Frankie Crawford,Ruben Navarro,Sugar Ramos,Raul Rojas,Ismael Laguna,and Teo Cruz to name a few. I was licking my chops to see the Long Beach kid show Carrasco what fighting was all about. What Spain showed Mando,though, was he was not going to beat a Spaniard in his own back yard. Mando was winning the fight. Carrasco was being roughed up. In one of the late rounds Mando lays this guy out. The ref calls a foul,and Carrasco wins the title flat on his back. The thing that really pissed me off about the fight was that the Spanish bought this crap. Carrasco could have beaten Franco for President,and Ramos goes back to Long Beach feeling like he got his pocket picked by a Gypsy. Well the WBC calls for a rematch. Ramos beats Carrasco,and then wins the rubber match.

But Mando couldn't make it to the gym like he could make time with the ladies and never missing the cocktail hour. He was finished with the sport at 24. Now his fights were with his demons. The booze,drugs,and all the women broke his bank account,but couldn't break him. Of course it took its toll. He took a beating. More than he ever got in a ring. I saw him with his father at Steven's Steak House at the Father/Son Luncheon. Both guys had been through some tough times. Mando got up to get his trophy with his dad. His dad did a little shadow boxing.Mando talked about helping kids who were messing with alcohol and drugs. They then went back to their table. They were by themselves for the most part. By themselves in a steak house in Commerce ,California. I let myself down that day. I should have walked to their table and told Mando that he is one of my idols.

diego,

I went to a party at Ruben Navarro's home way back when, and Mando Ramos and Raul Rojas were there, as soon as I walked in I could smell the wacky tobacky, men those guys could party.

[dagosd2000]

*I remember watching TV late one night in Seville,Spain. I was there with my wife and granddaughter. My granddaughter was attending a Flamenco Academy .There was a variety program on TV that was very popular. It was quite entertaining. Like the old Ed Sullivan Show. Singers,dancers,circus acts,comedians. A three hour show done live. I wouldn't watch all of it,but one night they had a contest for the people of Spain to vote for their greatest celebrity. One of the nominees was Pedro Carrasco. He was Spain's first world champion and became an instant sensation . He married movie stars and made films. He was Spain's biggest idol.

I remember when the Long Beach kid Mando Ramos went to Spain to try to win the vacant WBC lightweight title against Pedro Carrasco. Carrasco was like a lot of Latin fighters who seldom ventured outside their country to fight. They knew they had the odds with them when they fought in front of their people. Carrasco's record was exaggerated. I think he had lost only once in like a hundred fights. Most of his bout were against modest competition. Many of his fights were 8 rounders.

Mando had been in with some tough boys:Frankie Crawford,Ruben Navarro,Sugar Ramos,Raul Rojas,Ismael Laguna,and Teo Cruz to name a few. I was licking my chops to see the Long Beach kid show Carrasco what fighting was all about. What Spain showed Mando,though, was he was not going to beat a Spaniard in his own back yard. Mando was winning the fight. Carrasco was being roughed up. In one of the late rounds Mando lays this guy out. The ref calls a foul,and Carrasco wins the title flat on his back. The thing that really pissed me off about the fight was that the Spanish bought this crap. Carrasco could have beaten Franco for President,and Ramos goes back to Long Beach feeling like he got his pocket picked by a Gypsy. Well the WBC calls for a rematch. Ramos beats Carrasco,and then wins the rubber match.

But Mando couldn't make it to the gym like he could make time with the ladies and never missing the cocktail hour. He was finished with the sport at 24. Now his fights were with his demons. The booze,drugs,and all the women broke his bank account,but couldn't break him. Of course it took its toll. He took a beating. More than he ever got in a ring. I saw him with his father at Steven's Steak House at the Father/Son Luncheon. Both guys had been through some tough times. Mando got up to get his trophy with his dad. His dad did a little shadow boxing.Mando talked about helping kids who were messing with alcohol and drugs. They then went back to their table. They were by themselves for the most part. By themselves in a steak house in Commerce ,California. I let myself down that day. I should have walked to their table and told Mando that he is one of my idols.

diego,

I went to a party at Ruben Navarro's home way back when, and Mando Ramos and Raul Rojas were there, as soon as I walked in I could smell the wacky tobacky, men those guys could party.

Frank
I remember those days kinda' myself. When I'd get in the door,my wife had the look. I just told her the truth very modestly:"All I was trying to do is have a little fun."

Somehow I think she understood that.

[scartissue]

*I remember watching TV late one night in Seville,Spain. I was there with my wife and granddaughter. My granddaughter was attending a Flamenco Academy .There was a variety program on TV that was very popular. It was quite entertaining. Like the old Ed Sullivan Show. Singers,dancers,circus acts,comedians. A three hour show done live. I wouldn't watch all of it,but one night they had a contest for the people of Spain to vote for their greatest celebrity. One of the nominees was Pedro Carrasco. He was Spain's first world champion and became an instant sensation . He married movie stars and made films. He was Spain's biggest idol.

I remember when the Long Beach kid Mando Ramos went to Spain to try to win the vacant WBC lightweight title against Pedro Carrasco. Carrasco was like a lot of Latin fighters who seldom ventured outside their country to fight. They knew they had the odds with them when they fought in front of their people. Carrasco's record was exaggerated. I think he had lost only once in like a hundred fights. Most of his bout were against modest competition. Many of his fights were 8 rounders.

Mando had been in with some tough boys:Frankie Crawford,Ruben Navarro,Sugar Ramos,Raul Rojas,Ismael Laguna,and Teo Cruz to name a few. I was licking my chops to see the Long Beach kid show Carrasco what fighting was all about. What Spain showed Mando,though, was he was not going to beat a Spaniard in his own back yard. Mando was winning the fight. Carrasco was being roughed up. In one of the late rounds Mando lays this guy out. The ref calls a foul,and Carrasco wins the title flat on his back. The thing that really pissed me off about the fight was that the Spanish bought this crap. Carrasco could have beaten Franco for President,and Ramos goes back to Long Beach feeling like he got his pocket picked by a Gypsy. Well the WBC calls for a rematch. Ramos beats Carrasco,and then wins the rubber match.

But Mando couldn't make it to the gym like he could make time with the ladies and never missing the cocktail hour. He was finished with the sport at 24. Now his fights were with his demons. The booze,drugs,and all the women broke his bank account,but couldn't break him. Of course it took its toll. He took a beating. More than he ever got in a ring. I saw him with his father at Steven's Steak House at the Father/Son Luncheon. Both guys had been through some tough times. Mando got up to get his trophy with his dad. His dad did a little shadow boxing.Mando talked about helping kids who were messing with alcohol and drugs. They then went back to their table. They were by themselves for the most part. By themselves in a steak house in Commerce ,California. I let myself down that day. I should have walked to their table and told Mando that he is one of my idols.

Dago, regarding Pedro Carrasco, it's one thing to retire as #1 contender, but another to retire with your top rating as well as having a title fight already signed. Carrasco wasn't a bad fighter. He beat both Miguel Velasquez and Borge Krogh when both were undefeated. He also held some nice wins over Ollie Maeki, Angel Robinson Garcia, Rene Roque, Ould Makloufi and Joe Tettah. All good Euro fighters. He really should have had some American names in there to test his mettle, but what can you do? The 2nd and 3rd fights with Ramos were both split decisions and accounts i've read claimed he had real reason to gripe on the 2nd fight, which was held in L.A., in which many sports writers scored it for Carrasco. But here's the story regarding my first sentence. Carrasco was clamboring for a 4th fight with Ramos, but Ramos decided to defend against Mexican champ Chango Carmona. Carrasco appeals to the WBC and they stated the winner of Ramos-Carmona must defend against Carrasco within a stipulated period. Carmona eats Ramos alive and the first defence goes out to Carrasco, who balks at the $15,000 being offered to him for a title shot to be held in L.A. The edict is still out there but the offer now goes to Rodolfo Gonzalez who accepts the sum of $10,000 offered, who in turn, eats Carmona alive and is the new champ who must fight his mandatory challenger. This time Carrasco accepts a $15,000 guarantee and the fight is set for the L.A. Sports Arena for March 17, 1973. One problem, Carrasco starts listening to the Spanish press. Apparently, a number of reporters from Madrid covered Carmona-Gonzalez and hung around to cover Gonzalez' non-title fight a month later down in Mexico, in which Gonzalez scored a 1 round KO. The Press reports back that Carrasco won't last 3 rounds with Gonzalez. Carrasco, seeing this talks to his new buddy in blood Mando Ramos, now vacationing in Spain with Carrasco. Gonzalez is Ramos stablemate, so Carrasco figures he'll know. Ramos says pointedly, "Pedro, he'll flatten you!" And with the title fight a month away, Carrasco retires and Ruben Navarro substitutes. I always found this stunning. Apparently Carrasco had money, I think he had a cattle ranch and all, yet, held out for a bigger purse. Also, although people were telling him what Gonzalez was going to do to him, this was the prestige of a world title. Why wouldn't you give it a go? His reasoning died with him, in about his mid 50s, but I would have loved to heard his take on it all.

Scartissue

[kikibalt]

Jitterbuggers dance in this Capa photo from th 1930s

This is one of my favored photo of all time by
Cornell Capa, who just died.

I know when the Mexican boys did the jitterbug,they just kind of stood there looking cool and the girl would go around them. Those boys didn't want to mess up the pleets of their pants!

diego,

Here's my sister Annie and I doing some "Swing" during my wife's and I 50th anniversary party. In 2005, actually our 50th was in 2004, but our kids gave us the party in 2005.

[kikibalt]

"The Knockout"
By Diego

[dagosd2000]

*I remember watching TV late one night in Seville,Spain. I was there with my wife and granddaughter. My granddaughter was attending a Flamenco Academy .There was a variety program on TV that was very popular. It was quite entertaining. Like the old Ed Sullivan Show. Singers,dancers,circus acts,comedians. A three hour show done live. I wouldn't watch all of it,but one night they had a contest for the people of Spain to vote for their greatest celebrity. One of the nominees was Pedro Carrasco. He was Spain's first world champion and became an instant sensation . He married movie stars and made films. He was Spain's biggest idol.

I remember when the Long Beach kid Mando Ramos went to Spain to try to win the vacant WBC lightweight title against Pedro Carrasco. Carrasco was like a lot of Latin fighters who seldom ventured outside their country to fight. They knew they had the odds with them when they fought in front of their people. Carrasco's record was exaggerated. I think he had lost only once in like a hundred fights. Most of his bout were against modest competition. Many of his fights were 8 rounders.

Mando had been in with some tough boys:Frankie Crawford,Ruben Navarro,Sugar Ramos,Raul Rojas,Ismael Laguna,and Teo Cruz to name a few. I was licking my chops to see the Long Beach kid show Carrasco what fighting was all about. What Spain showed Mando,though, was he was not going to beat a Spaniard in his own back yard. Mando was winning the fight. Carrasco was being roughed up. In one of the late rounds Mando lays this guy out. The ref calls a foul,and Carrasco wins the title flat on his back. The thing that really pissed me off about the fight was that the Spanish bought this crap. Carrasco could have beaten Franco for President,and Ramos goes back to Long Beach feeling like he got his pocket picked by a Gypsy. Well the WBC calls for a rematch. Ramos beats Carrasco,and then wins the rubber match.

But Mando couldn't make it to the gym like he could make time with the ladies and never missing the cocktail hour. He was finished with the sport at 24. Now his fights were with his demons. The booze,drugs,and all the women broke his bank account,but couldn't break him. Of course it took its toll. He took a beating. More than he ever got in a ring. I saw him with his father at Steven's Steak House at the Father/Son Luncheon. Both guys had been through some tough times. Mando got up to get his trophy with his dad. His dad did a little shadow boxing.Mando talked about helping kids who were messing with alcohol and drugs. They then went back to their table. They were by themselves for the most part. By themselves in a steak house in Commerce ,California. I let myself down that day. I should have walked to their table and told Mando that he is one of my idols.

Dago, regarding Pedro Carrasco, it's one thing to retire as #1 contender, but another to retire with your top rating as well as having a title fight already signed. Carrasco wasn't a bad fighter. He beat both Miguel Velasquez and Borge Krogh when both were undefeated. He also held some nice wins over Ollie Maeki, Angel Robinson Garcia, Rene Roque, Ould Makloufi and Joe Tettah. All good Euro fighters. He really should have had some American names in there to test his mettle, but what can you do? The 2nd and 3rd fights with Ramos were both split decisions and accounts i've read claimed he had real reason to gripe on the 2nd fight, which was held in L.A., in which many sports writers scored it for Carrasco. But here's the story regarding my first sentence. Carrasco was clamboring for a 4th fight with Ramos, but Ramos decided to defend against Mexican champ Chango Carmona. Carrasco appeals to the WBC and they stated the winner of Ramos-Carmona must defend against Carrasco within a stipulated period. Carmona eats Ramos alive and the first defence goes out to Carrasco, who balks at the $15,000 being offered to him for a title shot to be held in L.A. The edict is still out there but the offer now goes to Rodolfo Gonzalez who accepts the sum of $10,000 offered, who in turn, eats Carmona alive and is the new champ who must fight his mandatory challenger. This time Carrasco accepts a $15,000 guarantee and the fight is set for the L.A. Sports Arena for March 17, 1973. One problem, Carrasco starts listening to the Spanish press. Apparently, a number of reporters from Madrid covered Carmona-Gonzalez and hung around to cover Gonzalez' non-title fight a month later down in Mexico, in which Gonzalez scored a 1 round KO. The Press reports back that Carrasco won't last 3 rounds with Gonzalez. Carrasco, seeing this talks to his new buddy in blood Mando Ramos, now vacationing in Spain with Carrasco. Gonzalez is Ramos stablemate, so Carrasco figures he'll know. Ramos says pointedly, "Pedro, he'll flatten you!" And with the title fight a month away, Carrasco retires and Ruben Navarro substitutes. I always found this stunning. Apparently Carrasco had money, I think he had a cattle ranch and all, yet, held out for a bigger purse. Also, although people were telling him what Gonzalez was going to do to him, this was the prestige of a world title. Why wouldn't you give it a go? His reasoning died with him, in about his mid 50s, but I would have loved to heard his take on it all.

Scartissue

Thanks Scar for the added info. I think Carrasco was looking at keeping his legacy more or less intact in Spain. He's like a combination of Dempssy,Louis,and Ali rolled into one. He probably figured if he lost again he'd fall off his pedastal. He became very wealthy after retiring and married one of Spain's biggest movie stars. I think the allure of making films and starring on TV swayed him away from the rituals of training.

[dagosd2000]

Jitterbuggers dance in this Capa photo from th 1930s

This is one of my favored photo of all time by
Cornell Capa, who just died.

I know when the Mexican boys did the jitterbug,they just kind of stood there looking cool and the girl would go around them. Those boys didn't want to mess up the pleets of their pants!

diego,

Here's my sister Annie and I doing some "Swing" during my wife's and I 50th anniversary party. In 2005, actually our 50th was in 2004, but our kids gave us the party in 2005.

Well Buddy I guess you know how it is at a Mexican party. If you don't dance, people think you didn't have a good time. Looks like you're having a good time.

[kikibalt]

Diego,

We Chicano's know how to have a good time at a party, even if we can't or don't know how to dance, any way, after a few beers nobody gives a shit anyway,

"Let the good times roll"

[kikibalt]

[kikibalt]

[kikibalt]

[kikibalt]

[dagosd2000]

My father knew Tony Zale when we lived in Chicago. Of course my father was always pulling for Graziano,but ny father told me that Zale was one of the most polite guys he ever met. Even Graziano couldn't get worked up against him on a personal level. I saw Zale and Graziano with Curt Gowdy on a show reminiscing about their three fights. Zale had a great smile. Had nothing but praise for Rocky. A class act.Maybe i'm wrong ,but the Poles that lived in Chicago(and there were a lot of them)didn't make much trouble for anyone,unless you were looking for a beef. Then you didn't want to mess with them. Tough hard working people.

[kikibalt]

Tony Zale was one of the best body punchers ever. fighters nowdays are not taught the art of body punching, all the good teachers are long gone.

[kikibalt]

Ezzard Charles vs Bob Satterfield

[kikibalt]

Alexis Arguello and Sugar Ray Robinson

[kikibalt]

Alexis Arguello

[kikibalt]

Roy "Cut-N-Shoot" Harris, Joe Louis and Floyd Patterson

[kikibalt]

Roger Mayweather vs Julio Cesar Chavez

[dagosd2000]

Alexis Arguello

Frank
Remember a fighter named Kid Pascualito? I know Arguello beat him and so did Olivares. He didn't fight much out of his country of Paraguay,but when he did, he'd lose. Saw him lose to Famoso Gomez in Tj.

[kikibalt]

Alexis Arguello

Frank
Remember a fighter named Kid Pascualito? I know Arguello beat him and so did Olivares. He didn't fight much out of his country of Paraguay,but when he did, he'd lose. Saw him lose to Famoso Gomez in Tj.

I remember seeing Pas. when he fought Olivares in 1970- 71? I remember he had Ruben down early in the fight, don't remember what round it was though.

[kikibalt]

Alfonso "Poncho" Velasquez, Don Chargin and Frankie Baltazar
1969

I shot this photo on one of the free public workouts that Chargin used
to put on a week or two before a big fight

[kikibalt]

TV's "Laugh-in" comic Dick Martin dies in Calif By BOB THOMAS, Associated Press Writer


This 1966 file photo shows comedians Dan Rowan, left, and Dick Martin, hosts of 'Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In'. Dick Martin, the zany half of the comedy team whose 'Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In' took television by storm in the 1960s died Saturday night May 24, 2008. He was 86.
(AP Photo, File)

LOS ANGELES - Dick Martin, the zany half of the comedy team whose "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" took television by storm in the 1960s, making stars of Goldie Hawn and Lily Tomlin and creating such national catch-phrases as "Sock it to me!" has died. He was 86.

Martin, who went on to become one of television's busiest directors after splitting with Dan Rowan in the late 1970s, died Saturday night of respiratory complications at a hospital in Santa Monica, family spokesman Barry Greenberg said.

"He had had some pretty severe respiratory problems for many years, and he had pretty much stopped breathing a week ago," Greenberg said.

Martin had lost the use of one of his lungs as a teenager, and needed supplemental oxygen for most of the day in his later years.

He was surrounded by family and friends when he died just after 6 p.m., Greenberg said.

"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 Ruth Buzzi, Arte Johnson, Henry Gibson, 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.

Like all straight men, Rowan provided the voice of reason, striving to correct his partner's absurdities. Martin, meanwhile, was full of bogus, often risque theories about life, which he appeared to hold with unwavering certainty.

Against this backdrop, audiences were taken from scene to scene by quick, sometimes psychedelic-looking visual cuts, where they might see Hawn, Worley and other women dancing in bathing suits with political slogans, or sometimes just nonsense, painted on their bodies. Other times, Gibson, clutching a flower, would recite nonsensical poetry or Johnson would impersonate a comical Nazi spy.

"Laugh-In" astounded audiences and critics alike. For two years the show topped the Nielsen ratings, and its catchphrases_ "Sock it to me," "You bet your sweet bippy" and "Look that up in your Funk and Wagnall's" — were recited across the country.

Stars such as John Wayne and Kirk Douglas were delighted to make brief appearances, and even Richard Nixon, running for president in 1968, dropped in to shout a befuddled sounding, "Sock it to me!" His opponent, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, was offered equal time but declined because his handlers thought it would appear undignified.

Rowan and Martin landed the show just as their comedy partnership was approaching its zenith and the nation's counterculture was expanding into the mainstream.

The two were both struggling actors when they met in 1952. Rowan had sold his interest in a used car dealership to take acting lessons, and Martin, who had written gags for TV shows and comedians, was tending bar in Los Angeles to pay the rent.

Rowan, hearing Martin was looking for a comedy partner, visited him at the bar, where he found him eating a banana.

"Why are you eating a banana?" he asked.

"If you've ever eaten here, you'd know what's with the banana," he replied, and a comedy team was born.

Although their early gigs in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley were often performed gratis, they donned tuxedos for them and put on an air of success.

"We were raw," Martin recalled years later, "but we looked good together and we were funny."

They gradually worked up to the top night spots in New York, Miami and Las Vegas and began to appear regularly on television.

In 1966, they provided the summer replacement for "The Dean Martin Show." Within two years, they were headlining their own show.

The novelty of "Laugh-In" diminished with each season, however, and as major players such as Hawn and Tomlin moved on to bigger careers, interest in the series faded.

After the show folded in 1973, Rowan and Martin capitalized on their fame with a series of high-paid engagements around the country. They parted amicably in 1977.

"Dan has diabetes, and his doctor advised him to cool it," Martin told The Associated Press at the time.

Rowan, a sailing enthusiast, spent his last years touring the canals of Europe on a houseboat. He died in 1987.

Martin moved onto the game-show circuit, but quickly tired of it. After he complained about the lack of challenges in his career, fellow comic Bob Newhart's agent suggested he take up directing.

He was reluctant at first, but after observing on "The Bob Newhart Show," he decided to try. He would recall later that it was "like being thrown into the deep end of the swimming pool and being told to sink or swim."

Soon he was one of the industry's busiest TV directors, working on numerous episodes of "Newhart" as well as such shows as "In the Heat of the Night," "Archie Bunker's Place" and "Family Ties."

Born into a middle-class family in Battle Creek, Mich., Martin had worked in a Ford auto assembly plant after high school.

After an early failed marriage, he was for years a confirmed bachelor. He finally settled down in middle age, marrying Dolly Read, a former bunny at the Playboy Club in London. Survivors include his wife and two sons, actor Richard Martin and Cary Martin.

At Martin's request there will be no funeral, Greenberg said.

Martin lost the use of his right lung when he was 17, something that never bothered him until his final years, when he required oxygen 18 hours a day.

Arriving for a party celebrating his 80th birthday, he fainted and was treated by doctors and paramedics. The party continued, however, and he cracked, "Boy, did I make an entrance!"

___

Associated Press writer Andrew Dalton contributed to this report.