COX, WROTE FOR `LAUGH-IN' AND OTHER BIG SHOWS.

Byline: Holly Andres Daily News Staff Writer

David Marshall Cox, a television comedy writer and former Woodland Hills resident, died Monday in Reno, Nev., of complications from a stroke. He was 79.

Cox got his start in the entertainment business as a radio producer in Boston at WNAC. He wrote for the New York-based ``Tonight Show,'' with Jack Paar in 1960 and with Johnny Carson in 1962. His other writing credits include ``The Joey Bishop Show,'' the second season of ``Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In,'' ``Hee Haw'' and television specials for Robert Goulet and Jackie Gleason. He also wrote comedy monologues for Bob Newhart and Charlie Callas.

He was born Feb. 28, 1919, in Pittsburgh, Pa. He served as a first lieutenant in the Air Force during World War II and received a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Vermont.

A 22-year resident of Woodland Hills, Cox was a choir member at Woodland Hills Community Congregational Church. He was also a member of the Valley Master Chorale.

Cox and his wife of 50 years, Mary Jean, retired to live in Vermont in 1989.

He is survived by his wife, Mary Jean, of St. Albans, Vt.; sons, Glenn and Lee; and daughter, Alison Benson.

Funeral services are pending in Reno. Donations in his memory can be sent to Woodland Hills Community Congregational Church or to a scholarship fund in his name at the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vt.