Richard Arthur Assman (February 14, 1934 – August 15, 2016) was a Canadian
gas station
A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel.
Fuel dispensers are used to ...
employee whose name propelled him to celebrity status across North America for four months in 1995.
Career
In 1995, Assman moved from working at one
Petro-Canada
Petro-Canada (colloquially known as Petro-Can) is a retail and wholesale marketing brand subsidiary of Suncor Energy. Until 1991, it was a federal Crown corporation (a state-owned enterprise). In August 2009, Petro-Canada merged with Suncor En ...
station to another. The latter station's owner took out an advertisement in the local newspaper that was sent anonymously to
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer, and auto racing team owner. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of ''Late N ...
, who was amused by Assman's name.
Assman was introduced on July 24, 1995, on the ''
Late Show with David Letterman
''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...
'', where he was a nightly feature for about a month. During this time, he was known as "Assman the Gasman".
Live field units in Canada interviewed him for the show. Over the weeks,
Joe Namath
Joseph William Namath (; ; born May 31, 1943), nicknamed "Broadway Joe", is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 13 seaso ...
declared himself an "Ass-maniac", while Assman received a musical tribute from
Tony Orlando
Michael Anthony Orlando Cassavitis (born April 3, 1944), known professionally as Tony Orlando, is an American Pop music, pop/Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and music executive whose career spans nearly seven decades. He is best known for h ...
on Letterman:
Northgate Petro-Canada
Petro-Canada (colloquially known as Petro-Can) is a retail and wholesale marketing brand subsidiary of Suncor Energy. Until 1991, it was a federal Crown corporation (a state-owned enterprise). In August 2009, Petro-Canada merged with Suncor En ...
Oh, they're relocating
Their new office at Victoria Square
They're celebrating
Oh vaya con dios, Dick Assman
Vaya con dios, my love
As his fame grew,
Vancouver polling company
Angus Reid Public Opinion reported that 49 percent of surveyed Canadians in September 1995 had heard of his name.
Assman received a number of contracts for commercial appearances, was asked to run for public office, and received many marriage proposals. He received a request to judge a
bikini contest
A swimsuit competition, more commonly now called a bikini contest, is a beauty pageant, beauty contest which is judged and ranked while contestants wear a swimsuit, typically a bikini. One of the judging criteria is the physical attractiveness of t ...
in August 1995 for the Janetville Jamboree and Truck Pull in
Janetville, Ontario.
"Assmania" came to a close in August when Assman visited the
Ed Sullivan Theater
The Ed Sullivan Theater (originally Hammerstein's Theatre; later the Manhattan Theatre, Billy Rose's Music Hall, CBS Radio Playhouse No. 3, and CBS Studio 50) is a theater at 1697–1699 Broadway, between 53rd and 54th streets, in the Theat ...
and was presented with a bouquet of roses by Letterman.
In October 1995,
James Blanchard
James Johnston Blanchard (born August 8, 1942) is an American attorney, diplomat, and politician who served as the 45th governor of Michigan from 1983 to 1991. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Blanchard previo ...
, the
, paid a visit to Assman at his gas station, citing his status as "an international celebrity".
Assman or
Assmann is a German-language surname derived from the name Erasmus. Dick Assman himself, who took all this ribbing good-naturedly, pronounced his name "oss-man".
Personal life
Assman was born in Neudorf, Saskatchewan, to Adolf and Elizabeth Assman.
He died on August 15, 2016.
Other people with the "Assman" name
Another Saskatchewan resident surnamed Assman, Dave Assman of
Melville, Saskatchewan, earned notoriety in 2019 when he attempted to get a vanity
licence plate
A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British, Indian and Australian English), license plate (American English) or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for ...
with his surname on it; when
Saskatchewan Government Insurance
Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) is a Canadian insurance company and a Crown corporations, Crown corporation wholly owned by the Government of Saskatchewan. SGI's operations consist of the Saskatchewan Auto Fund, the compulsory public auto ...
rejected his request, he had a tailgate-sized replica of an "ASSMAN" licence plate painted on the back of his truck, mimicking
an episode of the sitcom ''
Seinfeld
''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...
''. News reports did not indicate if Dick and Dave Assman were related, but did note both pronounced their names the same way and were of German descent.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Assman, Dick
1934 births
2016 deaths
Late Show with David Letterman
People from Regina, Saskatchewan
Canadian people of German descent