Dan Rowan, born July 22, 1922 in Beggs, Oklahoma, is best known for his comedy show with partner Dick Martin, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. He graduated from Pueblo, Colorado after being orphaned and then taken in by a foster family.
In 1940, he hitchhiked to Los Angeles and got a job in the mailroom at Paramount Pictures. During WWII, Rowan served as a fighter pilot in the 8th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group of the US Army Air Forces. He shot down two Japanese aircraft before being shot down himself and being seriously wounded. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Medal, and the Purple Heart.
After the war, he returned to California and teamed up with Dick Martin and created a successful nightclub act. They took their act to television and Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In debuted in 1967. The show lasted until 1973. He won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Variety or Musical Series in 1969 with Martin, Paul Keyes, and Carolyn Raskin.
He passed away in 1987 from lymphoma.
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