(10 of 10)
Once married and now divorced, Martin is only slightly less the gay debauchee that he portrays on screen. Much of his social life is standard Hollywood—"a dinner party at Jean Simmons' and Dick Brooks', or over to Lucy's or Dean's house to watch a movie." Otherwise, he divides his time between golf and "lady people." His handicap in the former is twelve; he scores high, too, with the latter. He prefers to entertain girl friends at his place, spurns all invitations to meet a lady person on her home grounds. "I mean, who needs it—the apartment with the bullfighter posters, and the door made into a coffee table, and the old Kelvinator with the ice trays."
Rowan, who was divorced in 1959, lives sedately with his second wife, Adriana, 26, a former model, in a spacious three-bedroom apartment overlooking the harbor of Manna Del Rey. The garage below houses four cars (a Mercedes-Benz roadster and sedan, an Austin-Healey and a Corvette). Berthed at the dock out back is a 35-ft. ketch, Aisling (Gaelic for dream spirit), on which the Rowans spend most weekends. "These signs of success," Rowan says, "are nice things, appreciated and prized. But you know, more important and more rewarding than any of these things is doing your own thing and having other people say, 'Yeah, baby! Go! Get it on! Hey, that's funny! That's good! I forget what was bugging me while I'm watching you cats!' "
What bugs Rowan and Martin is how long they will be able to sustain the breakneck pace of Laugh-In. At times, the novelty of the show threatens to wear thin. Some of the jokes are too inside; some of this season's new bits, such as the recitation of old, out-of-context punch lines and the "Fun Couple" sketches, fail to work. Says Rowan: "When you take on a show that doesn't fill time, that doesn't come on with singers and dancers as a copout, that is nothing but comedy material—the well cannot remain constantly full. Eventually, we're going to run through this group of writers, and perhaps another group of writers. But how long can you keep it up?"
Pondering that for a moment, Rowan concludes: "I don't see a long future for the show—but then, I didn't see it as a series, either." He smiles wryly. "It is obvious that a show such as this cannot be done."
* A phrase first used by a Negro vaudeville veteran, Dewey ("Pigmeat") Markham, to introduce a series of blackouts (Judge: "Have you ever been up before me?" Defendant: "I don't know—what time do you get up?"). Pig-meat himself is now on Laugh-In.