television. Rowan was a serious contender to host The Hollywood Squares. However, former mentor Peter Marshall had since become estranged from Rowan and took the job solely to prevent Rowan from getting it, a grudge stemming from when Noonan fell ill and Marshall felt that Rowan had not shown support for Noonan's fight (Noonan would eventually die in 1968). Rowan and Martin hosted a free-wheeling television comedy revue that aired during the summer of 1967. NBC accepted the Rowan and Martin show, now called Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, as a midseason replacement series, and it quickly became a national phenomenon, running through 1973. 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. 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 October 30, 1982 segment "Command Performance." Personal life In 1946, Rowan married the 1945 Miss America first-runner-up Phyllis J. Mathis. They had three children: Thomas Patrick, Mary Ann, and Christie Esther. He and Mathis were later divorced. In 1963, Rowan married Australian model Adriana Van Ballegooyen. They divorced eight years later. In 1974, he married model and TV spokeswoman Joanna Young, to whom he remained married until his death. Later years and death 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, although he did reunite with Martin for some brief appearances on the NBC 60th Anniversary Show in 1986. In his forties, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, which led to his becoming insulin dependent. He died of lymphoma in 1987 in Englewood, Florida. His body was cremated. In 1986, a book of letters written between himself and author John D. MacDonald was published titled A Friendship: The Letters of Dan Rowan and John D. MacDonald, 1967-1974. Rowan was portrayed by Jonathan Whittaker in the 1995 HBO movie Sugartime. References External links 1922 births 1987 deaths People from Beggs, Oklahoma Military personnel from Oklahoma Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) American male comedians American male television actors American sketch comedians Deaths from lymphoma Deaths from cancer in Florida People with type 1 diabetes