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Dean Martin

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AboutBorn Dino Crocetti
Dean Martin was born on June 7, 1917 in Steubenville, Ohio at 11:55 PM
to Gaetano (Guy) and Angela Crocetti. Along with older brother Bill, they
attended Grant Elementary School in Steubenville. Dean took to playing
drums in his local Boy Scout troupe. Dino (his real name) had his first Holy
Communion on May 15, 1927 and took the name "Paul" as his confirmation
(middle) name on April 30, 1928.

.Some 'official' biographies tell of Dean's graduation from Steubenville High,
but in reality, after moving around a lot, Dean quit in the tenth grade. "It
was because I thought I was smarter than the teacher!," said Dean. In
Dino's High School years, he had tried working at so many jobs... a service
station attendant, a shoe-shine boy, a store clerk, a steel-mill worker, and
even a pretty good amateur welterweight boxer and prizefighter. Under the
name of "Kid Crochet", Dino earned ten dollars a match and sometimes up
to twenty-five. The "Great Depression" was in bloom, and young Dino found
himself delivering illegal liquor between state lines, sometimes selling
lottery tickets and booked small betting for people to earn money. This led
to the gambling establishments around Steubenville, where Dino became
an expert dealer and croupier. Hanging around these "gambling joints",
young Dino was exposed to the entertainers that came and went.

The Story goes that one night in August of 1934, Dino's friends pushed him
up on stage to sing (since they heard him carry a pretty good tune during
his daytime job)... and at age seventeen, the rest is history... A few years
later, Dino wound up at the "State Restaurant" in Columbus, Ohio, singing
with the Ernie McKay Band (a local well known group)

The word eventually led to Sammy Watkins in nearby Cleveland, that this
now 21 year old singer was good. Dean became Sammy's featured vocalist,
and in 1940 began to take the city by storm. It was around this time
(November 1, 1940) that Dino Paul Crocetti became Dean Martin. Dean
married Elizabeth (Betty) Anne McDonald on October 2, 1941, and over the
next few years had four children... Stephen (Craig) born June 29, 1942 -
Claudia born March 16, 1944 Barbara (Gail) born April 11, 1945 - Deana
(Dina) born August 19, 1948

September of 1943, Dean signed an exclusive contract with MCA to be able
to sing at the Riobamba Room in New York, following the heels of another
new sensation at the time... Frank Sinatra. In 1944, Dean would have his
own radio program called "Songs by Dean Martin" It was a 15 minute show
from N.Y., where Dean would croon 4 or 5 songs

Actually a very complicated story to tell... what wound up with Dean's pal,
(singer) Sonny King formally introducing Dean to a young comic at the
time... Jerry Lewis. They didn't work together until over a year later, when
Dean was booked into the Havana-Madrid Club in March of 1946. It seems
that Angel Lopez (Havana's owner) struck a deal with Jerry's agent, Abby
Greshler, to have these two perform on the same bill. Even though they
were booked as separate performers, they seemed to get along well. After
the club dates, both men went their separate ways. In July of '46, Jerry was
booked into the "500 Cafe" better known as the 500 Club. There is
conflicting stories of how Dean landed at the 500 Club at the same time,
but both stories concur that a singer was needed to "fill the bill ", and Jerry
recommended Dean. Right before Dean left for the "500 Club", he landed
a recording contract with a small label called "Diamond Records". On
Thursday July 11, 1946, Dean recorded his first four songs before heading
for what was to become a history making event...

MARTIN & LEWIS YEARS-----
-----THE TEAMS' BREAK UP----- -----DEAN GOES SOLO-----

Jerry Lewis had worked with Dean before, and recommended him to the
owner of the club, Skinny D'Amato. Dean didn't know what promises Jerry
has made to Mr. Amato, and in fact, Dean had told writer Pete Martin in a
interview, that he just happened to be on the same bill, and rejected the
fact that Jerry had anything to do with his being there. Nevertheless, Dean
would go on first and sing, then Jerry would follow with his act. This went
on for a couple of nights. After the third night, Skinny told his right hand
man to ask Jerry where all of his "funny stuff with Dean" was. Well, to
make a long story short... Jerry, afraid of being fired, (or worse... having
his legs broken) sat down and wrote some material for the both of them to
do together. When they went out the next night, things started coming
together naturally. They didn't even use the material Jerry had written.
They just started doing whatever came to their minds. Dean sang, Jerry
interrupted. Dean started telling a story, Jerry threw things around the
stage like a crazy man. The audience loved it! Word spread quickly, and
within a couple of nights, it was standing room only! These two were hot!

Even though they were now partners performing, Dean and Jerry were still
billed separately. They would do their own routines, and join each other as
a twosome in the last part of their shows. It wasn't until January of 1947
that Dean and Jerry would perform legally as one team. As the clubs got
bigger... so did the money and things to come... During their ten years
together as a team, Martin and Lewis not only performed in nightclubs
around the country, but also ventured into radio with their own program,
"The Martin and Lewis Show". the program was 30 minutes in length and
was first broadcast over the NBC radio network on April 3, 1949. Also
during their partnership, Dean and Jerry made 16 motion pictures together.
They are perhaps best remembered for their work on television as stars of
"The Colgate Comedy Hour". The show made its debut on Sunday, July 17,
1950. Don't forget that the Dean Martin Fan Center also makes available
many videos and CD's that have preserved the talents and presence that
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis had as a team. Dean married for the second
time on September 1, 1949 to Jeanne Biegger (former Orange Bowl Queen
of Florida). Over this time, Dean and Jeanne would have three more
children... Dino Paul (Jr.) was born on November 17, 1951 Ricci James was
born on September 20, 1953 Gina Caroline was born on December 20,
1956 Dean's recording career was now in full swing with Capitol Records.
Hits like , "I'll Always Love You", "If", "When You're Smiling", "Oh Marie",
"I'd Cry Like a Baby", "Sway", " Memories Are Made of This", and the ever
loving, "That's Amore" are just a sampling of the monumental body of work
that Dean was producing in the studio. Outside the recording studio was a
different story. After ten years of being half the team of "Martin and Lewis",
Dean wanted out. The two were growing in different directions, and often
didn't see eye-to-eye anymore. Dean was feeling more and more like the
"second banana" to his partner. He was becoming tired of all the projects,
wanted to spend more time at home, and less time filling demands made
upon them as a team. Finally, ten years (almost to the date), the most
successful comedy team of all time called it quits. Their last appearance
together as an act... together as a team... was at The Copacabana in New
York on July 24, 1956. Dean was now flying solo. Without any time off, he
went right into a movie called "Ten Thousand Bedrooms". The picture
opened to lackluster reviews, and very little box office attendance. Little
did he know that just around the corner, the next exciting chapter was
going to unfold...

DEAN CONQUERS: -HOLLYWOOD-LAS VEGAS-TV- THE BEATLE BUSTER

Another motion picture was in the works at Fox. A screenplay from Irwin
Shaw's novel called "The Young Lions". This was the role Dean wanted. He
wanted to prove himself as an actor (especially after the break-up and the
previous disappointing film). He even asked for less money just to acquire
the part... and got it. On April 2, 1958, the "Young Lions" opened to an
overwhelming response. The film starred Marlon Brando and Montgomery
Clift, along with Dean. His work was referred to as "Magnificent!",
"Outstanding!", "Superb!". Dean did it! He was an actor to the highest
degree, and was now in large demand in movies. Over the rest of his
career, Dean starred in 35 additional motion pictures and made cameo
appearances in many more. Some of the titles include, "Some Came
Running", "Rio Bravo" with John Wayne, "Bells Are Ringing" with Judy
Holiday, "Ocean's Eleven" with Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, a series of
"Matt Helm" movies, and Arthur Haley's "Airport". These together with the
movies made as the team of Martin and Lewis, make Dean's motion picture
count at fifty-one movies! For more info on Dean's Motion Pictures.

During the late 1950's, Dean had invested in a chain of "Dino's" Italian
Restaurants, and was investing in casinos, such as the Sands in Vegas. All
profitable at the time. When the 60's rolled around, the investments started
turning sour.

The records were not doing as well as they had been, and the movies were
just doing "okay". It was February 13, 1962 that Dean did not renew his
contract with Capitol Records, and decided to go with another new record
company. The new company was owned by Dean's friend, Frank Sinatra,
and was called "Reprise Records". Dean also started his own production
company, Claude Productions. This would give Dean exclusive ownership
and rights to all of his work from this point on. For the next couple of years,
Dean went about his business as usual. He was now performing with Frank
Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. quite a bit. Las Vegas was now becoming
Dean's new conquered territory, with the help of "The Rat Pack" (Sinatra &
Davis). The Rat Pack made a few movies together, including one titled
"Oceans 11", about a bank heist in... where else?... Las Vegas. Over the
next couple of decades, Dean was the King of the Las Vegas strip. His
shows, not only with the Rat Pack, but later doing it solo, were the largest
in demand. The hotels that stand out include, "The Sands"(Rat Pack years),
"The Riviera"(The Golfing Years), the "MGM Grand" (Which Dean was the
headliner on opening day), and "Balley's" (Best remembered for the
"Roasts"). In 1963-1964, the music scene had changed tremendously. The
Beach Boys and "Motown" had been the rage... but now a group was
challenging everyone. They were called "The Beatles". Everywhere you
turned it was the same... The Beatles... The Beatles... The Beatles!!! They
were taking the country by storm. At times three or four of their songs
were in the top thirty all at once. The story goes that in August of 1964,
Dean's son, Dino, was infatuated with the Beatles. Dean recalled, "All I
heard from him was 'The Beatles...the Beatles'. I told him that while they
were a good group, I could put out a record that could make a number one
hit." Dean proved to his son that he was right. On August 15, 1964... the
Beatles lost control of the charts. The number one song in the nation...
"Everybody Loves Somebody". Dean was hot again... besides selling
millions of records again, a new chapter was on the horizon... Television.
On Thursday, September 16, 1965 at ten o'clock, "The Dean Martin Show"
premiered on NBC. Thursday nights at ten would never be the same again!
The "Dean Martin Show" was one of the highest rated shows of the 1965-66
season. Unfortunately for NBC, Dean's contract was only for one year. NBC
was so desperate to keep Dean, that they made him an unbelievable offer.
Dean's original salary was about $40,000 an episode. They upped the ante
for a three year contract to $283,000.00 an EPISODE, and threw in shares
of stock in NBC's parent company RCA, to boot. An unheard of price in
television history! Even by today's standards, Dean holds the record of
highest paid television star, when you calculate how many hours it took to
earn that much money, only working about eight hours a week! Dean
married for the third time to Catherine Mae Hawn, and adopted a daughter
Sasha. The marriage only lasted 3 years and dissolved in 1976. One
memorable event that happened in Las Vegas on September 7, 1976,
during the broadcast of Jerry Lewis' annual telethon for the fight against
Muscular Dystrophy, was when Frank Sinatra brought his friend (Dean) with
him, and the country witnessed a reunion of the two after twenty years.
Dean lost his son, Dino Jr., in a plane crash in 1987. It was the loss of his
son that many claim was the change in Dean's outlook. He was losing the
desire to perform, and later retired from show business. Dean spent most
of his time during retirement watching TV, golfing, and just loafing around.
He could be seen quite often dining out, where anyone could approach him
for an autograph or just shake his hand. He was always very happy to
meet his fans, and was often amazed that people still remembered him.
Dean Martin passed away on Christmas morning, 1995 due to acute
respiratory failure. The years of smoking, and singing in smoke filled
nightclubs took it's toll on him...

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