 Dean Martin (born Dino Crocetti June 7, 1917 -
December 25, 1995) was an American singer and film actor. He was known as one of
the most famous music artists from the 1950s period.
His hit singles included songs such as; "Memories Are Made Of This", "That's
Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "Mambo Italiano", "Sway", "Volare", "Let Me
Go Lover" and others.
Early Life
Dean Martin was born in the West Virginia-Ohio border-town of Steubenville, Ohio
in the Pittsburgh Tri-State region. His parents were Italian-born barber,
Gaetano Crocetti, and his Ohio-born wife, Angela (nee) Barr. He spoke only
Italian until age five. The traces of Italian are perhaps what lent a certain
Southern drawl to Martin's speaking voice, which led many who did not know he
hailed from Ohio to assume he came from the South.
Martin dropped out of school in the tenth grade and took a string of odd jobs
ranging from steelworker to bootlegger. At the age of 15, he was a boxer who
billed himself as "Kid Crocett" (Kro-Shey). From his prizefighting years, Martin
earned a broken nose (later fixed), a permanently split lip, and many sets of
broken knuckles (as a result of not being able to afford the tape used to wrap
boxers' hands). Martin won almost all of his matches; however, the prize money
was meager.
Eventually, Martin gave up boxing to pursue more lucrative opportunities. For a
time, he worked as a roulette stickman and croupier in an illegal casino located
behind a tobacco shop where he had started out as a stock boy. At the same time,
he sang with local bands. Billing himself as "Dino Martini" (after the
then-famous Metropolitan Opera tenor, Nino Martini), he got his first break
working for the Ernie McKay Orchestra, performing in a crooning style heavily
influenced by Bing Crosby and the Mills Brothers, among others. In the early
1940s, he started singing for bandleader, Sammy Watkins, at which time he
changed his name to Dean Martin.
In 1941, Martin married Betty McDonald, and during their marriage (ended by
divorce in 1949), they had four children. With Betty and children in tow, Martin
worked for various bands throughout the early 1940s, scoring more on looks and
personality than vocal ability--at least until he developed his own smooth
singing style. Martin famously flopped at the Riobomba when he succeeded Frank
Sinatra there in 1943, but it was the fortuitous setting for the two men's
introduction.
Although Martin worked more or less steadily (when club gigs were lacking, he
drove a cab), money was often scarce, and while he sent money to Betty and their
growing family, Martin often lived beyond his means -- gambling, buying tailored
suits, having cosmetic surgery on his nose, and entertaining lady friends. To
earn extra money, Martin repeatedly sold 10% shares of his earnings for upfront
cash stakes. Martin apparently did this so often, he quickly found he had sold
over 100% of his net worth. Such was the power of Martin's charm that most of
his lenders forgave his debts and continued to be his friends.
After being drafted into the United States Army and serving a stateside year
(1944-45) in Akron, Ohio, during World War II, Martin was classified 4-F and was
discharged. By 1946, Martin was doing relatively well, but he was still little
more than an East Coast nightclub singer with an all-too-common style, similar
to that of Bing Crosby. While he could draw respectable audiences to the clubs
he played, he inspired none of fanatic popularity enjoyed by Sinatra.
Career
Never totally comfortable in films, Martin still wanted to be known as a real
actor. So, though offered a fraction of his former salary to co-star in the war
drama The Young Lions (1957), he eagerly agreed in order that he could be with
and learn from Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift. Tony Randall already had the
part, but talent agency MCA realized that with this movie, Martin would become a
triple treat: they could make fortunes from his work in night clubs, movies, and
records, so they engineered Randall's replacement, giving Martin one of the plum
dramatic roles of the decade. The film turned out to be the cornerstone of
Martin's spectacular comeback; by the mid-'60s, he was a top movie, recording,
and nightclub attraction, even as Lewis' star had begun to fade. He was also
acclaimed for his performance as Dude in Rio Bravo (1959), directed by Howard
Hawks and also starring John Wayne and fellow singer Ricky Nelson. Martin later
teamed up again with Wayne in The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), where they were
somewhat unconvincingly cast as brothers.
He was also never above poking sly fun at his image as a smooth womanizer in
such outings as the Matt Helm spy spoofs of the 1960s. As a singer, Martin was,
by his own admission, not the greatest baritone on earth, and made no bones
about having copied the styles of Bing Crosby and Perry Como. He couldn't even
read music, and yet recorded more than 100 albums and 600 songs, racking up
major hits such as "That's Amore", "Memories Are Made Of This", "Volare",
"You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You" and his signature tune "Everybody Loves
Somebody" (which knocked The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" out of the Number One
spot in 1964). Elvis Presley was said to have been influenced by Martin, and
patterned "Love Me Tender" after his style. Martin, like Elvis, was also heavily
influenced by country music. By 1965, nearly all of Martin's albums, such as
"The Hit Sound Of Dean Martin", "Welcome To My World" and "Gentle On My Mind"
were comprised of popular Country and Western songs, made famous by artists like
Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. Martin hosted a number of country
performers on his TV show, and was even named "Man Of the Year" by the Country
Music Association in 1966.
In 1960, he gave personal authority to Bernard Thorpe to create his first fan
club, The Dean Martin Association. Martin maintained his role as the honorary
club president until his death in 1995. The UK-based society still remains in
existence today.
For three decades, Martin was among the most popular nightclub acts in Las
Vegas. Dean himself was one of the smoothest comics around. On television,
Martin had a highly rated, near-decade-long series; it was there that he
perfected his famous laid-back persona of the half-drunk crooner suavely hitting
on beautiful women with hilarious remarks that would get anyone else slapped,
and making snappy, if somewhat slurred, remarks about fellow celebrities during
his famous roasts.
Though often thought of as a boozing lady's man, Dean loved his wife and
children very much. He always had time to spend with his family, and truly
enjoyed it.
The 1960s and 1970s
In 1965, Martin launched his weekly NBC comedy-variety series, The Dean Martin
Show, which exploited his public image as a lazy, carefree boozer. Even though
critics complained Dean was the epitome of sloth, few entertainers worked as
hard to make what they were doing look so easy. Dean prided himself on
memorizing whole scripts - not merely his own lines. He disliked rehearsing
because he firmly believed his best performances were his first performances.
The show's loose format often prompted comedic, quick-witted improvisation from
Dean and the rest of the cast. On occasion, he made remarks in Italian, some of
them obscenities that brought angry mail from offended, Italian-speaking
viewers, prompting a battle between Martin and NBC censors who insisted on more
careful scrutiny of the show's content. As a result, the show was often in the
Top Ten. Martin, deeply appreciative of the efforts of the show's producer, his
friend Greg Garrison, later made a handshake deal giving Garrison, a pioneer TV
producer in the 1950s, 50% ownership of the show.
Despite Martin's reputation as a heavy drinker - a reputation perpetuated via
his vanity license plates reading 'DRUNKY' - he was remarkably self-disciplined.
He was often the first to call it a night, and when not on tour or on a film
location, he was usually home each evening watching television. It has been
asserted that Martin was generally sipping apple juice (not alcohol) most of the
time onstage. He borrowed/stole the lovable-drunk shtick from Joe E. Lewis, but
his convincing portrayals of heavy boozers in Some Came Running and Howard
Hawk's Rio Bravo led to unsubstantiated claims of alcoholism. More often than
not, Martin's idea of a good time was playing 18 holes of golf -- not playing
around with rat-pack friends Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr., into the wee
hours of the morning.
By the early 1970s, Martin seemed to have the Midas touch. The Dean Martin Show
was still a solid ratings earner, and although he was no longer a Top 40
hit-maker, his record albums continued to sell well to his loyal fans. His name
on a marquee could still guarantee casinos and nightclubs standing-room-only
crowds. He even found a way to make his passion for golf profitable by offering
his own signature line of golf balls. Shrewd investments had also greatly
increased Martin's personal wealth; at the time of his death, Martin was
reportedly the single largest minority shareholder of RCA stock. Martin even
managed to cure himself of his claustrophobia by literally locking himself in
the elevator of a tall building and riding it up and down for hours until he was
no longer panic-stricken.
Despite his enormous success, Martin retreated from show business by the early
1970's. The final (1973-74) season of his variety show, would be re-tooled into
that of celebrity roast, requiring less of Martin's involvement. After the
show's cancellation, NBC continued to air the Dean Martin Celebrity Roast format
in a series of TV specials through 1984. For nearly a decade, Dean had been
cranking out as many as four albums a year for Reprise records. But that stopped
in November of 1974, when Martin recorded his final Reprise album "Once In A
While", released in 1978. His final recording sessions were for Warner Brothers
Records. An album entitled "The Nashville Sessions" was released in 1983; a
follow up single "Drinking Champagne" came in 1985. The 1975 film, Mr. Ricco,
marked Martin's final starring role, and to a great degree Martin limited his
live performances to Las Vegas and Atlantic City. While the reasons for Martin's
departure from the spotlight is subject for speculation, his growing dependence
on percodan for his bad back played at least some role. Increasingly, the sway
in Martin's walk and the slur in his voice was less his patented tipsy act and
more the side effects of painkillers.
Martin seemed to be suffering from a mid-life crisis. On Valentine's Day of
1972, he filed for divorce from his second wife, Jeanne. A week later his
business partnership with the Riviera casino was dissolved amid reports of the
casino's refusal to concede to Martin's request to perform only once a night. He
was quickly snapped up by the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, though, and was signed
to a three-picture deal with MGM Studios. Less than a month after his second
marriage had been legally dissolved, Martin married 26 year-old Catherine Hawn
on April 25, 1973 and divorced her November 10, 1976. He was also briefly
engaged to Gail Renshaw, Miss USA 1969, and later dated actress, Phyllis Davis.
Eventually, Martin reconciled with Jeanne; though, they never remarried. He also
made a public reconciliation of sorts with Jerry Lewis. The occasion was Lewis'
Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon in 1976, when Frank Sinatra
shocked Lewis and the world by bringing Martin out on stage. As Martin and Lewis
hugged and smiled, the audience erupted in cheers, and the phone banks lit up,
resulting in one of the telethon's most profitable years. Lewis reported the
event was one of the three most memorable of his life. Lewis brought down the
house when he quipped, "So, you working?" Martin's wit was absent, though, and
he mostly mumbled and let his remarks trail off. During the telethon performance
with Sinatra, Martin appeared sluggish and unfocused. It was assumed by many
that Martin was drunk, but more likely it was the side effects of percodan. This
moment, along with the death of Martin's son a few years later, helped to bring
the two men together again. But this time they had a quiet but deep friendship,
and they didn't perform together again.
Later Years
On December 1, 1983 while gambling at the Golden Nugget casino in Atlantic City,
Martin and Sinatra intimidated the dealer and several employees into breaking
New Jersey laws by making the dealer deal the cards by hand instead of by a shoe
which is required by law. Although Sinatra and Martin were implicated as the
direct cause of the violation, neither were fined by the New Jersey Gaming
Commission. The Golden Nugget, on the other hand, received a $25,000 fine and
four employees including the dealer, a supervisor and pit boss were suspended
from their jobs without pay.
He returned to films briefly with appearances in the two all-star Cannonball Run
movies, but being a movie star had long since ceased to excite him, and he found
life on the set to be more tedious than ever. He also stepped back into the
recording studio, and scored a minor hit single with his version of "Since I Met
You, Baby"...and made his very first music video which got a fair share of
airplay on MTV.
Martin never made any claims to being an intellectual or put on pretentious
airs, and perhaps was telling the truth when he told an interviewer that he had
only read one book in his life, the children's story Black Beauty. In his 2005
book about Martin, Dean and Me: A Love Story, Jerry Lewis notes that Martin was
especially fond of comic books, but would always send someone else out to buy
them for him.
Decline
Martin's even-keel world began to crumble on March 21, 1987, when his son Dean
Paul Martin was killed in a plane crash while on maneuvers with the Air National
Guard. A much-touted tour with Davis Jr. and Sinatra in 1988 sputtered out, with
Martin's heart just not into a Rat Pack reunion-or in performing at all. On one
occasion, he infuriated Sinatra when he flicked a lit cigarette butt into the
audience, and on another occasion he turned to Sinatra, ignoring the audience,
and muttered "Frank, what the hell are we doing up here?" Martin, who always
responded best to a club audience, felt lost in the huge stadiums the trio were
performing in (at Sinatra's insistence), and he was not the least bit interested
in hitting the town after their performances and drinking until dawn. One night
in exasperation at their hotel, Sinatra took the plate of spaghetti which Martin
was eating from and dumped it on his head. Back in the old days, Dino would have
laughed, cleaned himself up, and then accepted the "invitation" to go out and
knock back a few. But now, saying nothing, Martin merely stood up and went into
the bathroom, refusing to emerge until Sinatra was gone.
Once during the Rat Pack Reunion, called the Together Again Tour, Martin was
being heckled by young audience members for singing a song poorly and muttering
throughout the performance. Rather than wittily turning the tables on the
hecklers as he had done so often in the past, he merely sighed and said, "I
wanna go home"...and that is just what he did. He left in the middle of the
tour, citing various ailments, and was replaced by Liza Minnelli for a time.
In fact, Martin was a very sick man who had never completely recovered from the
grief of losing his son and, as a lifelong smoker, was suffering from emphysema.
In September 1993, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. But he courageously kept
his private life to himself, emerging briefly and rather jauntily for a public
celebration of his 77th birthday with friends and family. Whatever his true
state of health, he proved in his rare public appearances that he was still the
inveterate showman.
Ultimately, it seemed as if Martin had reconciled himself to reaching the end of
a long and glorious line; he had been told he needed major surgery on his
kidneys and liver in order to prolong his life, but had refused. It was widely
reported, though never confirmed, that Martin had been diagnosed with
Alzheimer's disease in 1991.
At his side for much of his last few years was ex-wife Jeannie (Bieggers)
Martin, whom he had divorced years earlier. The pair became close again,
although they resisted suggestions that they wed again, and both seemed content
to "date" while living individual lives.
Martin died of respiratory failure on Christmas morning 1995. The lights of the
Las Vegas Strip were dimmed in his honor. In 2005, Las Vegas renamed Industrial
Road "Dean Martin Drive".
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