Dick Martin of Rowan & Martin's "Laugh-In" fame passes in May.

Dan Rowan (left) and Dick Martin (right)

You've all seen the lists at the end of the year of celebrities who have passed away that year. I was sad to see that Dick Martin of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In fame had died in May of this year. I worked with Mr. Martin on the film, The Trial of Old Drum, a few years ago. We spoke briefly on set and I told him how much I was entertained by Laugh-In and applauded him and partner Dan Rowan (who preceeded Martin in death in 1987) on that groundbreaking series. Very nice man.

Incidentally, Dick was married to former 1966 May Playmate of the Month, actress Dolly Read, best known for her lead in Russ Meyer's Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. They were still married when he died. Here's Dolly in all her - well, part of her "glory".

Laugh-In was an American sketch comedy television program which ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968 to May 14, 1973. The title, Laugh-In, came out of events of the 1960s hippie culture, such as "love-ins" or "be-ins." These were terms that were, in turn, derived from "sit-ins," common in protests associated with civil rights and anti-war demonstrations of the time.

The show was characterized by a rapid-fire series of gags and sketches, many of which conveyed sexual innuendo or were politically charged. Rowan and Martin continued the exasperated straight man (Dan Rowan) and "dumb" guy (Dick Martin) act which they had established as nightclub comics.

Beside the regular "cast" on the weekly show, Laugh-In had celebrities drop by and do schtick, as well as musical groups. Check out this holiday clip.

Dan Rowan (left) and Dick Martin (right) on Laugh-In.

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Happy 50th, "Peace Symbol".

This forked symbol was designed for the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War (DAC), then adopted as its badge by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in Britain during the British nuclear disarmament movement. It later became an international icon for the 1960s anti-war movement, and was also adopted by the counterculture of the time. It was designed and completed February 21, 1958 by Gerald Holtom, a professional designer and artist in Britain for the Easter march planned by DAC from Trafalgar Square, London, to the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston in England.

The symbol itself is a combination of the semaphoric signals for the letters "N" and "D" standing for Nuclear Disarmament. In semaphore the letter "N" is formed by a person holding two flags in an upside-down "V," and the letter "D" is formed by holding one flag pointed straight up and the other pointed straight down. These two signals imposed over each other form the shape of the peace symbol. In the original design the lines widened at the edge of the circle.

The peace symbol button was imported into the United States in 1960 by Philip Altbach, a freshman at the University of Chicago, who traveled to England to meet with British peace groups as a delegate from the Student Peace Union (SPU). Altbach purchased a bag of the buttons while he was in England, and brought them back to Chicago, where he convinced SPU to reprint the button and adopt it as its symbol. Over the next four years, SPU reproduced and sold thousands of the buttons on college campuses.

Peace.

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