Dean Martin would have turned 94 on Tuesday, June 7.
Born Dino Paul Crocetti to a poor Italian immigrant family in the hardscrabble industrial town of Steubenville, Ohio, Dean Martin was arguably the most successful and popular entertainer in 20th century America.
When Dean died on Christmas day in 1995, he could look back on a spectacular five-decade career in which he excelled as a singer, comedian, nightclub performer, movie actor and TV star.
Born Dino Paul Crocetti to a poor Italian immigrant family in the hardscrabble industrial town of Steubenville, Ohio, Dean Martin was arguably the most successful and popular entertainer in 20th century America.
When Dean died on Christmas day in 1995, he could look back on a spectacular five-decade career in which he excelled as a singer, comedian, nightclub performer, movie actor and TV star.
Creative CommonWhile other entertainers might have mastered one or two of those idioms, almost no one had the universal success and popularity of Dino – and certainly no one was as cool and charming as him.
Dean reportedly only spoke Italian as a small child, and never fully mastered the English language. As such, he had an Old World modesty and reticence, despite the global fame, and incredible wealth and glamour he eventually amassed.
Creative CommonAs a teenager, he dropped out of school, knocked around in various jobs, including delivering bootleg liquor, steel mill worker, casino croupier, and even boxer.
But it was singing that was his forte, and ultimately allowed him to escape the work-a-day world of Steubenville. He was heavily influenced by the vocal mannerisms of both Bing Crosby and The Mills Brothers.
Creative CommonStill, finding a successful career as a singer was difficult. Dean bounced around, first singing for the Ernie McKay Orchestra and various other bands in the early 1940s.
In 1946, Dean’s life and career arc changed forever when he met Jerry Lewis, a struggling comic in New York.
This unlikely pairing of a goofy Jewish comic and a handsome Italian crooner eventually became the hottest act in show business and lasted for ten wildly successful and remunerative years, including nightclub shows, radio performances, television appearances and hugely profitable movies.
Creative CommonIn 1956, the Martin and Lewis team broke up, and it remains a mystery to this day why they did so. Allegedly, Martin was tired of playing the straight man in the act and he as reportedly jealous of the critics’ favoring Lewis as the real talent in the partnership.
While some worried that Martin’s career would not survive without Lewis, he proved everyone wrong by moving seamlessly into films (including even dramas and westerns), while resurrecting his singing career.
Creative CommonBy the early 1960, Dean became closer to Frank Sinatra and the so-called “Rat Pack” which included Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop and (for a brief while) Peter Lawford. They took over Las Vegas and became yet another successful chapter for Dean.
There would be more movies and TV shows to follow.
Creative CommonAlthough Dean is widely associated with Sinatra, the two could not have been more different. Whereas Sinatra was intense, overly-emotional, tightly wound and prone to violent outbursts, Dean was quiet, cool and imperturbable.
Sinatra was also insecure about his looks (he was of slight build, wore a toupee and dentures even as a youngish man. In stark contrast, Dean was tall, broad-shouldered and blessed with spectacular good looks that lasted well into old age.
More importantly, while Sinatra desperately craved the approval of the critics and wanted to be hailed as an “artist,” Dino disdained such pretensions and did not care what critics thought.
Creative CommonDean reportedly did not drink nor womanize to the extent that his “image” had suggested. Rather, as he settled into middle age, he was homebody close to his family and obsessed with golf and watching westerns on TV.
By the mid-1980s, Dean largely withdrew from show business and the public spotlight.
He suffered a horrendous loss in 1987 when his son Dean Paul was killed in an airplane accident. He reportedly never overcame his sorrow over his lost son and went deeper into his private world in Beverly Hills.
Dean Martin died at his home on Christmas morning 1995 at the age of 78.
Creative Common
