Martin Ingerman (March 9, 1936 – October 21, 2015), known professionally as Marty Ingels, was an American actor, comedian, comedy sketch writer, and theatrical agent, who is best known as the co-star of the 1960s television seriesI'm Dickens, He's Fenster.
Early life
Ingels was born as Martin Ingerman to a Jewish family in 1936 in Brooklyn, New York City,[1] the son of Jacob and Minnie (née Crown) Ingerman.[2] His uncle was Abraham Beame, the mayor of New York City from 1974 to 1977.[3]
Ingels joined the Army where a talent scout spotted him for the televise quiz show Name That Tune. He won several thousand dollars and became known for his humorous repartee. He used his winnings to study at the Pasadena Playhouse.[4]
Ingels guest-starred on the CBS sitcoms Pete and Gladys, The Ann Sothern Show, Hennesey, and appeared twice as Sol Pomeroy, an army buddy of the character Rob Petrie, on The Dick Van Dyke Show. He also appeared in one episode of ABC's Bewitched as "Diaper Dan", who plants a microphone bug in Tabitha's rattle so a competing advertising agency can scoop and steal Darrin's ideas. In 1978, Ingels guest starred in Season Two, episode One of The Love Boat.[citation needed]
Beginning in the 1970s, Ingels worked primarily as an agent, specializing in representing actors in celebrity endorsement ads.[5]
Personal life
Ingels was married twice: first to Jean Marie Frassinelli in 1960; they divorced in 1969 after nine years of marriage. On November 13, 1977, he married singer/actress Shirley Jones.[2] Despite some drastically different personalities, and several separations (Shirley filed, then withdrew, a divorce petition in 2002), the couple remained married until his death in 2015.[5]
Lawsuits
Ingels was also known for frequent legal actions, so much that in his The New York Times obituary Margalit Fox wrote: "[Ingels] always seemed to be suing someone, and someone always seemed to be suing him".[5]
In 1993, Ingels sued actress June Allyson for his talent agency commission. Allyson had appeared in commercials for Depend undergarments; Ingels alleged that he was not paid his proper commission as her agent. Allyson denied this and countersued. Ingels pleaded no contest to making harassing phone calls to Allyson.[5]
In 2003, he sued radio personality Tom Leykis and Westwood One, saying that comments made about him constituted age discrimination. Ingels had called into Leykis's radio program objecting to the content, and Leykis declared on the air that Ingels was "not just older than my demographic, you're the grandfather of my demographic."[6] In June 2005, Ingels's lawsuit was dismissed and Ingels was ordered to pay Leykis's $25,000 in legal fees.[7]
Death
Ingels died from a massive stroke at Tarzana Medical Center in Tarzana, California on October 21, 2015, at the age of 79.[8] After Ingels's death, Jones stated "He often drove me crazy, but there's not a day I won't miss him and love him to my core."[9]
