Dean Paul Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor, and comedian. One of the most popular entertainers of the mid-20th century, he was nicknamed "The King of Cool." Martin gained his career breakthrough together with comedian Jerry Lewis, billed as Martin and Lewis, in 1946. They performed in nightclubs and later had numerous appearances on radio and television and in films.
Following an acrimonious ending of the partnership in 1956,
Martin pursued a solo career as a performer and actor. He established himself
as a singer, recording numerous contemporary songs as well as standards from
the Great American Songbook. He became one of the most popular acts in Las
Vegas and was known for his friendship with fellow artists Frank Sinatra and
Sammy Davis Jr., who together with several others formed the Rat Pack.
Starting in 1965, Martin was the host of the television
variety program The Dean Martin Show, which centered on Martin's singing and
comedic talents and was characterized by his relaxed, easy-going demeanor. From
1974 to 1984, he was roastmaster on the popular Dean Martin Celebrity Roast,
which drew celebrities, comedians and politicians. Throughout his career,
Martin performed in concert stages, nightclubs, audio recordings and appeared
in 85 film and television productions.
His best-known songs include "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?," "Memories Are Made of
This," "That's Amore," "Everybody Loves Somebody,"
"You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You," "Sway," and "Volare."
Early life
Martin was born Dino Paul Crocetti on June 7, 1917, in
Steubenville, Ohio, to Italian father Gaetano Alfonso Crocetti (1894–1967) and
Italian-American mother Angela Crocetti (née Barra; 1897–1966). His father, who
was a barber, was originally from Montesilvano, Pescara, and his mother was
born December 18, 1897, in Fernwood, Ohio. Angela's father, Domenico Barra,
immigrated from Monasterolo del Castello, Bergamo. His first language was
Italian and he spoke no English until he started school at the age of five. He
attended Grant Elementary School in Steubenville, where he was bullied for his
broken English. As a teenager, he played the drums as a hobby. He dropped out
of Steubenville High School in the tenth grade because, according to Martin, he
thought he was smarter than his teachers. He bootlegged liquor, worked in a
steel mill, served as a croupier at a speakeasy and a blackjack dealer, and was
a welterweight boxer.
At 15 he billed himself as "Kid Crochet". His prizefighting earned him a broken nose
(later straightened), a scarred lip, many broken knuckles (a result of not
being able to afford tape used to wrap boxers' hands), and a bruised body. Of
his 12 bouts, he said that he "won
all but 11". For a time, he shared a New York City apartment with
Sonny King, who was also starting in show business and had little money. The
two reportedly charged people to watch them bare-knuckle box each other in
their apartment, fighting until one was knocked out. Martin knocked out King in
the first round of an amateur boxing match. Martin gave up boxing to work as a
roulette stickman and croupier in an illegal casino behind a tobacco shop,
where he had started as a stock boy. At the same time, he sang with local
bands, calling himself "Dino
Martini" (after the Metropolitan Opera tenor Nino Martini). He got his
break working for the Ernie McKay Orchestra. He sang in a crooning style
influenced by Harry Mills of the Mills Brothers and Perry Como. By late 1940 he
had begun singing for Cleveland bandleader Sammy Watkins, who suggested he
change his name to Dean Martin. He stayed with Watkins until at least May 1943.
By fall 1943 he had begun performing in New York. Martin was drafted into the
U.S. Army during World War II but was discharged after 14 months due to a
hernia.
In October 1941, Martin married Elizabeth "Betty" Anne McDonald in
Cleveland, and the couple had an apartment in Cleveland Heights for a while.
They eventually had four children before the marriage ended in 1949.
Career
Teaming with Jerry
Lewis
Martin attracted the attention of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and
Columbia Pictures, but a Hollywood contract was not forthcoming. He met comic
Jerry Lewis at the Glass Hat Club in New York, where both were performing.
Martin and Lewis formed a fast friendship which led to their participation in
each other's acts and the formation of a music-comedy team. Their debut
together occurred at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 24, 1946, and they were
not well received. The owner, Skinny D'Amato, warned them that if they did not
come up with a better act for their second show that night, they would be
fired. Huddling in the alley behind the club, Lewis and Martin agreed to
"go for broke", they divided their act between songs, skits, and
ad-libbed material. Martin sang and Lewis dressed as a busboy, dropping plates
and making a shambles of Martin's performance and the club's decorum until
Lewis was chased from the room as Martin pelted him with bread rolls.
They performed slapstick, reeled off old vaudeville jokes
and did whatever else popped into their heads; the audience laughed. This
success led to a series of well-paying engagements on the Eastern seaboard,
culminating in a run at New York's Copacabana. The act consisted of Lewis
interrupting and heckling Martin while he was trying to sing, with the two
ultimately chasing each other around the stage. The secret, both said, is that
they ignored the audience and played to each other. The team made its
television debut on the first broadcast of CBS-TV network's The Ed Sullivan
Show (then called The Toast Of The Town) on June 20, 1948, with composers
Rodgers and Hammerstein also appearing. Hoping to improve their act, the two
hired young comedy writers Norman Lear and Ed Simmons to write their bits. With
the assistance of both Lear and Simmons, the two would take their act beyond
nightclubs.
A radio series began in 1949, the year Martin and Lewis
signed with Paramount producer Hal B. Wallis as comedy relief for the movie My
Friend Irma. Their agent, Abby Greshler, negotiated one of Hollywood's best
deals: although they received only $75,000 between them for their films with
Wallis, Martin and Lewis were free to do one outside film a year, which they
would co-produce through their own York Productions.
They also controlled their club, record, radio, and
television appearances, and through these they earned millions of dollars. In
Dean & Me, Lewis calls Martin one of the great comic geniuses of all time.
They were friends, as well, with Lewis acting as best man when Martin remarried
in 1949. But harsh comments from critics, as well as frustration with the
similarity of Martin and Lewis movies, which producer Hal Wallis refused to
change, led to Martin's dissatisfaction. He put less enthusiasm into the work,
leading to escalating arguments with Lewis. Martin told his partner he was "nothing to [him] but a dollar
sign". The act broke up in 1956, ten years to the day from the first
teaming.
Solo career
Rio Bravo (1959)
Martin's first solo film, Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957), was
a box-office failure. Although "Volare"
reached number fifteen in the U.S. and number 2 in the UK, the era of the pop
crooner was waning with the advent of rock and roll. Martin wanted to become a
dramatic actor, known for more than slapstick comedy films. Though offered a
fraction of his former salary to co-star in a war drama, The Young Lions
(1958), his part would be with Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift. Tony Randall
already had the part, but talent agency MCA realized that with this film,
Martin would become a triple threat: they could make money from his work in
nightclubs, films, and records. Randall was paid off to relinquish the role,
Martin replaced him and the film turned out to be the beginning of Martin's comeback.
Martin starred alongside Frank Sinatra for the first time in the Vincente
Minnelli drama, Some Came Running (1958).
By the mid-1960s, Martin was a movie, recording, television,
and nightclub star. Martin was acclaimed as Dude in Rio Bravo (1959), directed
by Howard Hawks and also starring John Wayne and singer Ricky Nelson. He teamed
again with Wayne in The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), cast as brothers. In 1960,
Martin was cast in the film version of the Judy Holliday stage musical comedy
Bells Are Ringing. He won a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in the
1960 film comedy Who Was That Lady? but continued to seek dramatic roles,
portraying a Southern politician in 1961's Ada, and starring in 1963's screen
adaptation of an intense stage drama, Toys in the Attic, opposite Geraldine
Page, as well as in 1970's drama Airport with Burt Lancaster, a huge box-office
success.
Sinatra and he teamed up for several more movies, the crime
caper Ocean's 11, the musical Robin and the 7 Hoods, and the Western comedies
Sergeants 3 and 4 for Texas, often with their Rat Pack pals such as Sammy
Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop, as well as a romantic comedy,
Marriage on the Rocks. Martin also co-starred with Shirley MacLaine in a number
of films, including Some Came Running, Artists and Models, Career, All in a
Night's Work, and What a Way to Go! He played a satiric variation of his own
womanizing persona as Las Vegas singer "Dino"
in Billy Wilder's comedy Kiss Me, Stupid (1964) with Kim Novak, and he poked
fun at his image in films such as the Matt Helm spy spoofs of the 1960s, in
which he was a co-producer. In the third Matt Helm film The Ambushers (1967),
Helm, about to be executed, receives a last cigarette and tells the provider, "I'll remember you from the great
beyond," continuing sotto voce, "somewhere
around Steubenville, I hope."
As a singer, Martin copied the styles of Harry Mills (of the
Mills Brothers), Bing Crosby, and Perry Como until he developed his own and
could hold his own in duets with Sinatra and Crosby. Like Sinatra, he could not
read music, but he recorded more than 100 albums and 600 songs. His signature
tune, "Everybody Loves
Somebody", knocked the Beatles' "A
Hard Day's Night" off number one in the United States in 1964. This
was followed by "The Door is Still
Open to My Heart", which reached number six that year. Elvis Presley
was said to have been a fan of Martin, and patterned his performance of "Love Me Tender" after
Martin's style. Martin, like Elvis, was influenced by country music. By 1965,
some of Martin's albums, such as Dean "Tex"
Martin Rides Again, Houston, Welcome to My World, and Gentle on My Mind, were
composed of country and western songs by artists such as Johnny Cash, Merle
Haggard, and Buck Owens. Martin often hosted country performers on his TV show
and was named "Man Of the Year"
by the Country Music Association in 1966. The final album of his recording
career was 1983's The Nashville Sessions.
The image of Martin as a Vegas entertainer in a tuxedo has
been an enduring one. "Ain't That a
Kick in the Head?", a song Martin performed in Ocean's 11, did not
become a hit at the time, but has enjoyed a revival in the media and pop
culture and has been his most frequently played song in media for two decades.
For three decades, Martin was among the most popular acts in Las Vegas. Martin
sang and was one of the smoothest comics in the business, benefiting from the
decade of comedy with Lewis. Martin's daughter, Gail, also sang in Vegas and on
many TV shows including his, co-hosting his summer replacement series on NBC.
Daughter Deana Martin continues to perform, as did youngest son Ricci Martin
until his death in August 2016. Eldest son Craig was a producer on Martin's
television show and daughter Claudia was an actress in films such as For Those
Who Think Young. Though often thought of as a ladies' man, Martin spent a lot
of time with his family; as second wife Jeanne put it, prior to the couple's
divorce, "He was home every night
for dinner."
Rat Pack
As Martin's solo career grew, he and Frank Sinatra became
friends. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Martin and Sinatra, along with
friends Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, and Sammy Davis Jr. formed the Rat Pack,
so-called after an earlier group of social friends, the Holmby Hills Rat Pack
centered on Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, of which Sinatra had been a
member (The Martin-Sinatra-Davis-Lawford-Bishop group referred to themselves as
"The Summit" or "The Clan" and never as "The Rat Pack", although this
has remained their identity in popular imagination). The men made films
together, formed part of the Hollywood social scene, and were politically
influential (through Lawford's marriage to Patricia Kennedy, sister of
President John F. Kennedy).
The Rat Pack was legendary for its Las Vegas Strip
performances. For example, the marquee at the Sands Hotel might read "DEAN MARTIN—MAYBE FRANK—MAYBE
SAMMY." Their appearances were valuable because the city would flood
with wealthy gamblers. Their act (always in tuxedo) consisted of each singing
individual numbers, duets and trios, along with seemingly improvised slapstick
and chatter. In the socially charged 1960s, their jokes revolved around adult
themes, such as Sinatra's womanizing and Martin's drinking, as well as Davis's
race and religion. Sinatra and Martin supported the civil rights movement and
refused to perform in clubs that would not allow African-American or Jewish
performers. Posthumously, the Rat Pack has experienced a popular revival,
inspiring the George Clooney/Brad Pitt Ocean's Trilogy.
The Dean Martin Show
The Dean Martin Show
(1968)
In 1965, Martin launched his weekly NBC comedy-variety
series, The Dean Martin Show, which ran for 264 episodes until 1974. He won a
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Television Series Musical or Comedy in 1966
and was nominated again the following three years. The show exploited his image
as a carefree boozer. Martin capitalized on his laid-back persona of the
half-drunk crooner, hitting on women with remarks that would get anyone else
slapped, and making snappy if slurred remarks about fellow celebrities during
his roasts. During an interview on the British TV documentary Wine, Women and
Song, aired in 1983, he stated, perhaps tongue-in-cheek, that he had someone
record them on cassette tape so he could listen to them. His TV show was a
success. The show's loose format featured quick-witted improvisation from
Martin and his weekly guests. This prompted a battle between Martin and NBC
censors, who insisted on more scrutiny of the content. He later had trouble
with NBC for his off-the-cuff use of obscene Italian phrases, which brought
complaints from viewers who spoke the language. The show was often in the Top
Ten. Martin, appreciative of the show's producer, his friend Greg Garrison,
made a handshake deal giving Garrison, a pioneer TV producer in the 1950s, 50%
of the show. However, the validity of that ownership is the subject of a lawsuit
brought by NBCUniversal.
Despite Martin's reputation as a drinker—perpetuated via his
vanity license plate "DRUNKY"—his
alcohol use was quite disciplined. He was often the first to call it a night
and, when not on tour or on a film location, liked to go home to see his wife
and children. He borrowed the lovable-drunk shtick from Joe E. Lewis, but his
convincing portrayals of heavy boozers in Some Came Running and Howard Hawks's
Rio Bravo led to unsubstantiated claims of alcoholism. Martin starred in and
co-produced four Matt Helm superspy comedy adventures during this time, as well
as a number of Westerns. By the early 1970s, The Dean Martin Show was still
earning solid ratings, and although he was no longer a Top 40 hitmaker, his
record albums continued to sell. He found a way to make his passion for golf
profitable by offering a signature line of golf balls, and the Dean Martin
Tucson Open was an event on golf's PGA Tour from 1972 to 1975. At his death,
Martin was reportedly the single largest minority shareholder of RCA stock.
Now comfortable financially, Martin began reducing his
schedule. The final (1973–1974) season of his variety show was retooled into
one of celebrity roasts, requiring less involvement. In the roasts, Martin and
his panel of pals made fun of a variety of popular entertainment, athletic, and
political figures. After the show's cancellation, NBC continued to air The Dean
Martin Celebrity Roast as a series of TV specials through 1984.
Later career
Ada (1961)
For nearly a decade, Martin had recorded as many as four
albums a year for Reprise Records. Martin recorded his final Reprise album,
Once in a While in 1974, which was not issued until 1978. His final recordings
were made for Warner Bros. Records. The Nashville Sessions was released in
1983, from which he had a hit with "(I
Think That I Just Wrote) My First Country Song", which was recorded
with Conway Twitty and made a respectable showing on the country charts. A
follow-up single, "L.A. Is My
Home"/"Drinking Champagne", came in 1985. The 1974 film
drama Mr. Ricco marked Martin's final starring role, in which he played a
criminal defense lawyer.
In 1972, he filed for divorce from his second wife, Jeanne.
A week later, his business partnership with the Riviera hotel in Las Vegas
dissolved amid reports of the casino's refusal to agree to Martin's request to
perform only once a night. He joined the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, where he
was the featured performer on the hotel's opening night of December 23, 1973,
and his contract required him to star in a film (Mr. Ricco) for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
studios.
Martin also made a public reconciliation with Lewis on his
partner's Labor Day telethon, benefiting the Muscular Dystrophy Association, in
September 1976. Sinatra shocked Lewis by bringing Martin out on stage and as
the two men embraced, the audience gave them a standing ovation and the phones
lit up, resulting in one of the telethon's most profitable years up to that
time. Lewis later reported the event was one of the three most memorable of his
life. Lewis quipped, "So, you working?" Martin, playing drunk,
replied that he was appearing "at
the 'Meggum'" (meaning the MGM Grand Hotel). This, with the death of
Martin's son Dean Paul Martin more than a decade later, helped bring the two
men together. They maintained a quiet friendship, but only performed again
once, in 1989, on Martin's 72nd birthday.
Martin returned to films briefly with appearances in the
star-laden, critically panned but commercially successful The Cannonball Run
and its sequel Cannonball Run II. He also had a minor hit single with "Since I Met You Baby" and
made his first music video, which appeared on MTV and was created by Martin's
youngest son, Ricci. On March 21, 1987, Martin's son, actor Dean Paul Martin
(formerly Dino of the 1960s "teeny-bopper"
rock group Dino, Desi & Billy), died when his F-4 Phantom II jet fighter
crashed while flying with the California Air National Guard. Martin's grief
over his son's death left him depressed and demoralized. Lewis stated in an
on-stage interview in 2005 that subsequent to his son's death Martin became a
reclusive alcoholic. Later, a tour with Davis and Sinatra in 1988, undertaken
in part to help Martin recover, sputtered.
Martin, who responded best to a club audience, felt lost in
the huge stadiums they were performing in at Sinatra's insistence, and he was
not interested in drinking until dawn after performances. His final Vegas shows
were at Bally's Hotel in 1991. At Bally's, he had his final reunion with Lewis
on his 72nd birthday. Martin's last two TV appearances involved tributes to his
former Rat Pack members. On December 8, 1989, he joined stars in Sammy Davis Jr's
60th anniversary celebration, which aired a few weeks before Davis died from
throat cancer. In December 1990, Martin congratulated Sinatra on his 75th
birthday special. Following his diagnosis of lung cancer at Cedars Sinai
Medical Center on September 16, 1993, Martin quit smoking.
Personal life
Martin was married three times. He wed Elizabeth Anne "Betty" McDonald, (July 14,
1922 – July 11, 1989) of Ridley Park, Pennsylvania in 1941. The couple had four
children:
Craig Martin (born
1942).
Claudia Martin (March
16, 1944 – February 16, 2001).
Gail Martin (born
1945).
Deana Martin (born
1948).
Martin and McDonald divorced in 1949 and Dean gained custody
of their children. McDonald lived out her life in relative obscurity in San
Francisco, California.
Martin next married Dorothy Jean "Jeanne" Biegger (March 27, 1927 – August 24, 2016), a
former Orange Bowl queen from Coral Gables, Florida. Their marriage lasted 24
years (1949–1973) and produced three children:
Dean Paul Martin
(November 17, 1951 – March 21, 1987).
Ricci Martin
(September 20, 1953 – August 3, 2016).
Gina Martin (born
1956).
Less than a month after his second marriage had dissolved,
Martin, at 55, married 26-year-old Catherine Hawn on April 25, 1973. Hawn had
been the receptionist at the chic Gene Shacove hair salon in Beverly Hills.
They divorced November 10, 1976. He was also briefly engaged to Gail Renshaw,
Miss World–U.S. 1969. Eventually, Martin reconciled with Jeanne, though they never
remarried.
Martin and Hawn had no biological children of their own but
Martin adopted Hawn's daughter, Sasha. After their divorce, Martin had a brief
relationship with model and longtime friend Pat Sheehan.
Martin's uncle was Leonard Barr, who appeared in several of
his shows. In the 1960s and early 1970s Martin lived at 363 Copa De Oro Road in
Bel Air, Los Angeles, before selling it to Tom Jones for $500,000 in June 1976.
Martin's son-in-law was the Beach Boys' Carl Wilson, who married
Martin's daughter Gina. Figure skater Dorothy Hamill and actress Olivia Hussey
were his daughters-in-law during their marriages to Martin's son, Dean Paul
Martin. Craig, Martin's elder son, was married to Lou Costello's daughter
Carole (1938-1987) until her death from a stroke at age 48.
Dean Martin bred Andalusian horses at his Hidden Valley
Ranch, Thousand Oaks Ventura County, California.
Martin volunteered to perform fundraisers for the Bergson Group
in the late 1940s.
Although a Republican, Martin supported Democratic candidate
Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.
Illness and death
Martin, a lifelong heavy smoker, was diagnosed with lung
cancer at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in September 1993. He was told that he
would require surgery to prolong his life, but he rejected it. He retired from
public life in early 1995 and died of acute respiratory failure resulting from
emphysema at his Beverly Hills home on Christmas Day, 1995 (29 years to the day
after his own mother died), at age 78. The lights of the Las Vegas Strip were
dimmed in his honor. Martin was interred at the Westwood Village Memorial Park
Cemetery in Los Angeles. The crypt features the epitaph "Everybody loves somebody sometime," the first line of
his signature song.
Tributes and legacy
In 1997, Ohio Route 7 through Steubenville was rededicated
as Dean Martin Boulevard. Road signs bearing an Al Hirschfeld caricature of
Martin's likeness designate the stretch with a historical marker bearing a
small picture and brief biography in the Gazebo Park at Route 7 and North
Fourth Street. An annual Dean Martin Festival celebration is held in
Steubenville. Impersonators, friends and family, and entertainers, many of
Italian ancestry, appear. In 2005, Clark County, Nevada, renamed a portion of
Industrial Road as Dean Martin Drive. A similarly named street was dedicated in
2008 in Rancho Mirage, California. Martin's family was presented a gold record
in 2004 for Dino: The Essential Dean Martin, his fastest-selling album, which
also hit the iTunes Top 10, and in 2006 it was, certified "Platinum".
For the week ending December 23, 2006, the Dean Martin and
Martina McBride duet of "Baby, It's
Cold Outside" reached No. 7 on the R&R AC chart. It also went to
No. 36 on the R&R Country chart – the last time Martin had a song this high
in the charts was in 1965, with the song "I
Will", which reached No. 10 on the Pop chart. An album of duets,
Forever Cool, was released by Capitol/EMI in 2007. It features Martin's voice
with Kevin Spacey, Shelby Lynne, Joss Stone, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Robbie
Williams, McBride and others. His footprints were immortalized at Grauman's
Chinese Theatre in 1964. Martin has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame:
one at 6519 Hollywood Boulevard for movies; the second at 1617 Vine for
recordings; and a third at 6651 Hollywood Boulevard for television. In February
2009, Martin was honored with a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Four of his surviving children, Gail, Deana, Ricci and Gina accepted it on his
behalf. In 2010, Martin received a posthumous star on the Italian Walk of Fame
in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The town of origin of Dean's father, Montesilvano, dedicated
to him a square between via Sarca and via Torrente Piomba and a congress palace
called Pala Dean Martin congress center in via Aldo Moro adjacent to the Porto
Allegro structure (former cinema Warner).
In popular culture
Rawhide (1964)
A number of Martin songs have been featured across popular
culture for decades. Hits such as "Ain't
That a Kick in the Head", "Sway", "You're Nobody Till
Somebody Loves You", "That's Amore", and Martin's signature
song "Everybody Loves Somebody"
have been in films (such as the Oscar-winning Logorama, A Bronx Tale, Casino,
Goodfellas, Payback, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Sexy Beast, Moonstruck,
Vegas Vacation, Swingers, and Return to Me), television series (such as
American Dad!, Friends, The Sopranos, House MD, Samurai Jack, and The Fresh
Prince of Bel-Air), video games (such as The Godfather: The Game, The Godfather
II, Fallout: New Vegas, and Mafia II), and fashion shows (such as the 2008
Victoria's Secret Fashion Show).
Danny Gans portrayed Martin in the 1992 CBS miniseries
Sinatra. Martin was portrayed by Joe Mantegna in the 1998 HBO movie about
Sinatra and Martin titled The Rat Pack. Mantegna was nominated for both an Emmy
Award and a Golden Globe Award for the role. British actor Jeremy Northam
portrayed the entertainer in the 2002 made-for-TV movie Martin and Lewis,
alongside Will & Grace's Sean Hayes as Jerry Lewis.
Martin is the subject of Dean Martin's Wild Party and Dean
Martin's Vegas Shindig, a pair of video slot machines found in many casinos.
The games feature songs sung by Martin during the bonus feature and the
count-up of a player's winnings. A compilation album called Amore! debuted at
Number One on Billboard magazine's Top Pop Catalog Albums chart in its February
21, 2009, issue.
In 1998, The MTV animated show Celebrity Deathmatch had a
clay-animated fight to the death between Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis.
Martin wins by whacking Jerry out of the ring. The Rat Pack: Live from Las
Vegas has been a successful tribute shows, featuring Martin impersonators, on
stage in Europe and North America since 2000. The popular Las Vegas show, "The Rat Pack is Back" has
played The Copa Room at the Tuscany Suites Casino for several years. The
walk-up song for Francisco Cervelli, a catcher for the Atlanta Braves, is the
Dean Martin tune "That's
Amore". In DePatie-Freleng's animated theatrical cartoon series The
Ant and the Aardvark, the Ant's voice was performed by John Byner as an
imitation of Martin.
Martin appears as Matt Helm in Quentin Tarantino's 2019
period piece Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. Sharon Tate (played by Margot
Robbie) goes to a cinema to see The Wrecking Crew.
Discography
The list below shows the singer's studio albums only. His
full discography, singles, compilations and other releases are described in a
separate article.
Dean Martin Sings (1953)
Swingin' Down Yonder (1955)
Pretty Baby (1957)
Sleep Warm (1959)
A Winter Romance (1959)
This Time I'm Swingin'! (1960)
Dino: Italian Love Songs (1962)
French Style (1962)
Cha Cha de Amor (1962)
Dino Latino (1962)
Dean "Tex"
Martin: Country Style (1963)
Dean "Tex"
Martin Rides Again (1963)
Reprise Musical Repertory Theatre (1963)
Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964)
Dream with Dean (1964)
The Door Is Still Open to My Heart (1964)
Dean Martin Hits Again (1965)
(Remember Me) I'm the One Who Loves You (1965)
Houston (1965)
Somewhere There's a Someone (1966)
Dean Martin Sings Songs from "The Silencers"
(1966)
The Hit Sound of Dean Martin (1966)
The Dean Martin Christmas Album (1966)
The Dean Martin TV Show (1966)
Happiness Is Dean Martin (1967)
Welcome to My World (1967)
Gentle on My Mind (1968)
I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am (1969)
My Woman My Woman My Wife (1970)
For the Good Times (1971)
Dino (1972)
Sittin' on Top of the World (1973)
You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me (1973)
Once in a While (1978)
The Nashville Sessions (1983)
Filmography
Film
1946 Film Vodvil:
Art Mooney and Orchestra Short
1949 My Friend
Irma Steve Laird Martin and Lewis
1950 My Friend
Irma Goes West Martin and Lewis
At War with the Army 1st
Sgt. Vic Puccinelli Martin and Lewis
Screen Snapshots: Meet the Winners Short
Screen Snapshots: Thirtieth Anniversary Special Short
1951 That's My
Boy Bill Baker Martin and Lewis
1952 The Stooge Bill Miller Martin and Lewis
Sailor Beware Al
Crowthers Martin and Lewis
Jumping Jacks Corp.
Chick Allen Martin and Lewis
Road to Bali Man
in Lala's dream Cameo, Uncredited
1953 Scared Stiff Larry Todd Martin and Lewis
The Caddy Joe
Anthony Martin and Lewis
Money from Home Herman
'Honey Talk' Nelson Martin and Lewis
1954 Living It Up Dr. Steve Harris Martin and Lewis
3 Ring Circus Peter
'Pete' Nelson Martin and Lewis
1955 You're Never
Too Young Bob Miles Martin and Lewis
Artists and Models Rick
Todd Martin and Lewis
1956 Screen
Snapshots: Hollywood, City of Stars Short
Pardners Slim
Mosely Jr. / Slim Mosely Sr. Martin
and Lewis
Hollywood or Bust Steve
Wiley Martin and Lewis
1957 Ten Thousand
Bedrooms Ray Hunter
1958 The Young
Lions Michael Whiteacre
Some Came Running Bama
Dillert (professional gambler)
1959 Rio Bravo Dude ('Borrachón')
Career Maurice 'Maury' Novak
1960 Who Was That
Lady? Michael Haney Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor –
Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Bells Are Ringing Jeffrey
Moss
Ocean's 11 Sam
Harmon
Pepe Dean Martin Cameo
1961 All in a
Night's Work Tony Ryder
Ada Bo Gillis
1962 Sergeants 3 Sgt. Chip Deal
The Road to Hong Kong The
'Grape' on plutonium Cameo,
Uncredited
Who's Got the Action? Steve
Flood
Something's Got to Give Nicholas
'Nick' Arden (unfinished)
1963 38-24-36 Self
Come Blow Your Horn The
Bum Uncredited
Toys in the Attic Julian
Berniers
4 for Texas Joe
Jarrett
Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? Jason Steel
1964 What a Way
to Go! Leonard 'Lennie' Crawley
Robin and the 7 Hoods Little
John
Kiss Me, Stupid Dino
1965 The Sons of
Katie Elder Tom Elder
Marriage on the Rocks Ernie
Brewer
1966 The
Silencers Matt Helm
Birds Do It Dean
Martin
Texas Across the River Sam
Hollis
Murderers' Row Matt
Helm
1967 Rough Night
in Jericho Alex Flood
The Ambushers Matt
Helm
1968 Rowan &
Martin at the Movies Short
How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life David Sloane
Bandolero! Dee
Bishop
5 Card Stud Van
Morgan
1969 The Wrecking
Crew Matt Helm
1970 Airport Capt. Vernon Demerest
1971 Something Big Joe Baker
1973 Showdown Billy Massey
1975 Mr. Ricco Joe Ricco
1981 The
Cannonball Run Jamie Blake
1984 Cannonball
Run II
Terror in the Aisles (archival
footage)
2019 Once Upon a
Time in Hollywood Himself /
Matt Helm (archival footage from The
Wrecking Crew)
Television
1950–1955 The
Colgate Comedy Hour Himself 28 episodes
1953–1954 The
Jack Benny Program Two
episodes
1956 Make Room
for Daddy Episode: "Terry Has a Date"
1957 The Frank
Sinatra Show Episode 7, aired November 29,
1957
1958 The Phil
Silvers Show Unnamed Las Vegas
Gambler Episode: "Bilko's Secret Mission"
The Danny Thomas Show Himself Episode: "Terry's
Crush"
1959 The Frank
Sinatra Timex Show Television special
1959–1960 The
Dean Martin Variety Show Two episodes
1962 The Judy
Garland Show Television special
1964 Rawhide Gurd Canliss Episode: "Canliss"
1965–1974 The
Dean Martin Show Himself 264 episodes
Won – Golden Globe Award for Best TV Star – Male
1966 The Lucy
Show Episode: "Lucy Dates Dean Martin"
1967 Movin' with
Nancy Nancy's Fairy Goduncle Television special
1970 Swing Out,
Sweet Land Eli Whitney Television special
1971 The Powder
Room Host Unsold pilot
1973 The Electric
Company Himself Episode: "223"
1974–1984 The
Dean Martin Celebrity Roast 54
episodes
1975 Lucy Gets
Lucky Television film
Dean's Place Television
special
Dean Martin's Christmas in California Television special
1976 Dean
Martin's Red Hot Scandals of 1926 2-part
television special
1977 Dean
Martin's Christmas in California Television
special
1978 Charlie's
Angels Frank Howell Episode: "Angels in Vegas"
Dean Martin’s Christmas in California Himself Television special
1979 The
Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo Episode:
"Dean Martin and the
Moonshiners"
Vega$ Episode: "The Usurper"
Dean Martin’s Christmas in California Television special
1980 The Dean
Martin Christmas Special Television
special
1981 Dean
Martin’s Christmas at Seaworld Television
special
1982 Dean Martin
at the Wild Animal Park Television
special
1985 Half Nelson Six episodes
Comments
Post a Comment