He appeared again as Matt Heller, a father estranged for 20 years from his ex-wife, Jenny Heller, played by Marion Ross, and his daughter, Beth Heller, played by Eve Plumb, in the Octosegment "Command Performance." Rowan also appeared twice as an actor on The Love Boat, first in a two-part 1977 episode playing the part of Alan Danver, husband of Barbara Danver, played by Juliet Mills.
Rowan later appeared with Dick Martin on the series of The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast specials. He took the position solely to prevent Rowan from getting it. However, Peter Marshall-who had written material for Rowan and Martin-had become estranged from Rowan and viewed him as a rival. Prior to breaking through on Laugh-In, Rowan was a serious contender to host The Hollywood Squares. The team had appeared on television before, but it was not until the critical success of a summer special in 1967 that they found fame on Laugh-In. Comedy team ĭan Rowan and Dick Martin as caricatured for NBC by Sam BermanĪfter his discharge, Rowan returned to California, where he teamed up with Dick Martin and started a comedy nightclub act. His military decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Medal, and the Purple Heart.
42-104949, currently recorded under civilian registration N537BR, from which he shot down two Japanese aircraft before being downed and seriously wounded in another P-40 over New Guinea. He flew a Curtiss P-40N Warhawk, AAF Ser. A year later he became Paramount's youngest staff writer.ĭuring World War II, Rowan served as a fighter pilot in the 8th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group United States Army Air Forces.
After graduating from high school in 1940, he hitchhiked to Los Angeles and found a job in the mailroom at Paramount Pictures, quickly ingratiating himself with studio head Buddy DeSylva. He was orphaned at the age of 11, spent four years at the McClelland Home in Pueblo, Colorado, and then was taken in by a foster family at the age of 16 and enrolled in Central High School. He toured with his parents, Oscar and Nellie David, who performed a singing and dancing act with the carnival.
Rowan was born on July 22, 1922, on a carnival train near the small town of Beggs, Oklahoma, as Daniel Hale David.