May 25 (Bloomberg) -- Dick Martin, co-host of ``Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In,'' which popularized the phrase, ``Sock it to me,'' died yesterday of respiratory complications in Santa Monica, California. He was 86.

Martin, who lost one lung to tuberculosis as a teenager and part of the surviving organ in 1980, was placed on a ventilator a week ago at Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center and never recovered, said Barry Greenberg, president of talent agency Celebrity Connections and Martin's friend of 20 years.

``I think it's important that we all will remember him,'' Greenberg said in a telephone interview. ``He was on an extraordinary top-rated television show and directed some of the most fascinating television we have seen, including the last episode of `Newhart.' He was at least equal as a director as he was an actor-comedian in the first part of his career.''

Martin played off straight man Dan Rowan in ``Laugh-In,'' which revolutionized the television industry. Its stars garnered laughs with one-liners and double entendres from the psychedelic joke wall, and introduced phrases into the popular lexicon such as ``Here comes da judge'' and ``You bet your sweet bippy.'' The show also featured Goldie Hawn, Lily Tomlin, Ruth Buzzi and announcer Gary Owens.

`Mélange of Madness'

``It was a well-structured, non-structured show,'' Martin said in an interview in January for the 40th anniversary of ``Laugh-In.'' ``I never thought of us as hosts. We were two guys walking through a mélange of madness.''

After actor John Wayne appeared on the show, actors began requesting cameo appearances, particularly if they had something to promote, Martin said in the interview on the Archive of American Television Web site.Jack Lemmon was pushing ``The Odd Couple,'' Roger Moore was starring in ``The Saint'' and Kirk Douglas didn't want to get yelled at by his children.

``To hear John Wayne doing a joke, you're going to laugh,'' Martin said. ``John Wayne coming on the show opened a floodgate.''

While Cary Grant refused to do the show, ``Laugh-In'' writer Paul Keyes convinced President Richard Nixon to appear, Martin said.

Nixon Socks It to 'Em

``He was scared to death,'' Martin said. ``He was told to just look into the camera and say `Sock it to me?' That was a big coup.''

Born Jan. 30, 1922, in Battle Creek, Michigan, Martin met Rowan in 1952, and the two staged their first nightclub act at Charlie Foy's Supper Club, north of Los Angeles, Greenberg said in a statement. They opened for singer Nat King Cole at the Calvada Lodge in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and eventually played the Chez Paree in Chicago and Copacabana in New York before getting a booking at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas in 1955.

Martin and Rowan then began appearing regularly as opening acts in Las Vegas and New York, as well as performing on ``The Ed Sullivan Show,'' ``The Perry Como Show'' and ``The Hollywood Palace.''

While they were hosting ``The Dean Martin Summer Show,'' NBC executives approached Martin and Rowan about hosting their own show. The two ``had something a little different'' in mind than a standard variety show, according to the statement. Although the network wasn't excited about ``Laugh-In,'' critics applauded it. By the eighth episode, ``Laugh-In,'' programmed opposite ``The Lucy Show'' and ``Gunsmoke,'' was No. 1.

Martin, who was a regular on ``The Lucy Show'' from 1962 to 1964, also appeared in films such as ``The Glass Bottom Boat,'' ``Zero to Sixty'' and ``Carbon Copy,'' and in television shows such as ``Coach,'' ``3rd Rock from the Sun,'' ``Blossom,'' ``Baywatch'' and ``Diagnosis Murder.''

Walk of Fame

The comic duo received the 2,194th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2002, 15 years after Rowan died of lymphatic cancer.

Martin began a second career as a television director in 1976, starting with ``The Bob Newhart Show.'' He was chief director for ``Newhart'' in the 1980s, and directed the final segment, called one of the five most memorable moments in TV history by TV Guide.

In the final scene, Newhart awakens in bed with a woman, who turns out to be Suzanne Pleshette, his TV wife from the first series. She tells him he was dreaming when he talks about being an innkeeper in a little Vermont town where his maid was an heiress, her husband talked in alliteration and the three woodsmen were named Larry, Darryl and Darryl.

In 1971, he married Britain's first ``Playboy'' Playmate, Dolly Read, who starred in ``Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.''

Besides his wife, he is survived by two sons, Richard and Cary. At his request, there will be no funeral, Greenberg said in the statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nancy Kercheval in Washington at nkercheval@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 25, 2008 12:59 EDT