Daniel Hale "Dan" Rowan

 Daniel Hale "Dan" Rowan (July 22, 1922 – September 22, 1987)

He was featured in the television show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, where he played straight man to Dick Martin, and won the 1969 Emmy for Outstanding Variety or Musical Series. During World War II, Rowan served as a fighter pilot in the United States Army Air Forces.He flew Curtiss P-40N Warhawk 42-104949 currently recorded under N537BR and shot down two Japanese aircraft before he was downed and seriously wounded over New Guinea. His military decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Medal, and the Purple Heart. After his discharge, Rowan returned to California where he teamed up with Dick Martin and started a comedy night-club act. 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. Rowan retired in the early 1980s and spent the remainder of his years between his residence in Florida and his barge in the canals of France. In his 40s he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, which led to his becoming insulin dependent. He died of lymphoma in 1987 in Englewood, Florida.