- Born
- DiedDecember 25, 1995 · Beverly Hills, California, USA (lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
- Birth nameDino Paul Crocetti
- Nicknames
- Dino
- King Leer
- The King of Cool
- The Boy with the Tall, Dark and Handsome Voice
- Height5′ 10″ (1.78 m)
- Martin was born Dino Paul Crocetti in Steubenville, Ohio, to Gaetano Alfonso "Guy" Crocetti, an Italian immigrant and barber, and his Ohio-born wife, Angela (Barra) Crocetti. He spoke only Italian until age five. Martin came up the hard way, with such jobs as a boxer ("Kid Crochet"), a steel mill worker, a gas station worker and a casino croupier/dealer. In 1946, Martin got his first ticket to stardom, as he teamed up with another hard worker who was also trying to succeed in Hollywood: Jerry Lewis. Films such as At War with the Army (1950) sent the team toward super-stardom. The duo were to become one of Hollywood's truly great teams. They lasted 11 years together, and starred in 16 movies. They were unstoppable, but personality conflicts broke up the team. Even without Lewis, Martin was a true superstar.
Few thought that Martin would go on to achieve solo success, but he did, winning critical acclaim for his role in The Young Lions (1958) with Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift, and Some Came Running (1958), with Shirley MacLaine and Frank Sinatra. Movies such as Rio Bravo (1959) brought him international fame. One of his best remembered films is in Ocean's Eleven (1960), in which he played Sam Harmon alongside the other members of the legendary Rat Pack: Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford. Martin proved potent at the box office through the 1960s, with films such as Bells Are Ringing (1960) and Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964), again with Rat Pack pals Sammy Davis Jr. and Sinatra. During much of the 1960s and 1970s, his film persona of a boozing playboy prompted a series of films as secret agent Matt Helm and his own television variety show. Airport (1970) followed, featuring Martin as a pilot. He played a phony priest in The Cannonball Run (1981).
In 1965, Martin explored a new method for entertaining his fans: Television. That year he hosted one of the most successful TV series in history: The Dean Martin Show (1965), which lasted until 1973. In 1965, it won a Golden Globe Award. In 1973, he renamed it "The Dean Martin Comedy Hour", and from 1974 to 1984 it was renamed again, this time "The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts". It became one of the most successful TV series in history, skewering such greats as Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, James Stewart, George Burns, Milton Berle, Don Rickles, Phyllis Diller, and Joe Namath.
His last public role was a return to the stage, for a cross-country concert tour with Davis and Sinatra. He spoke affectionately of his fellow Rat Packers. "The satisfaction that I get out of working with these two bums is that we have more laughs than the audience has", Martin said. After the 1980s, Martin took it easy until his son, Dean Paul Martin, was killed in a plane crash in March 1987.
Devastated by the loss, from which he never recovered, he walked out on a reunion tour with Sinatra and Davis. Martin spent his final years in solitude, out of the public light. A heavy smoker most of his life, Martin died on Christmas Day 1995 at age 78 from complications to lung cancer.- IMDb Mini Biography By: deanmartin101
- SpousesCatherine Hawn(April 25, 1973 - February 24, 1976) (divorced, 1 child)Jeanne Martin(September 1, 1949 - March 29, 1973) (divorced, 3 children)Elizabeth Anne McDonald(October 2, 1941 - March 23, 1949) (divorced, 4 children)
- Children
- Parents
- RelativesMontana Martin(Grandchild)Rio Martin(Grandchild)Leonard Barr(Aunt or Uncle)Mickey Guerin(Grandchild)Alexander Martin(Grandchild)Pepper Martin(Grandchild)
- Rich smooth voice with Ohio accent
- Cigarette and a glass of alcohol whenever he was doing his nightclub acts
- Frequently worked with Jerry Lewis (until 1956) and members of the Rat Pack (Frank Sinatra, Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford and Sammy Davis Jr.)
- Usually wore lifts in his films and on his television show
- Rumors circulated for years that much of the "booze" he drank on stage during his famous "Rat Pack" performances was really apple juice. Son Dean Paul Martin confirmed these rumors after the variety show ended production, stating that his father could not have performed if he had really drank that much liquor.
- Was so distraught over the murder of his The Wrecking Crew (1968) co-star Sharon Tate on August 9, 1969, that he abandoned the next already-announced "Matt Helm" motion picture series installment (to be titled "The Ravagers"), and never played the character again.
- He and the other members of the Rat Pack were banned from Marilyn Monroe's funeral by Joe DiMaggio.
- He and Frank Sinatra were best friends, a fact he held very dear to his heart. The two did not speak much in the years after Dean quit the "Rat Pack Reunion" tour, although they did reconcile a few months before his death over dinner and a bread roll fight.
- He and former wife Jeanne Martin maintained a friendship after their divorce, and consulted each other on family matters. When his health declined, Jeanne encouraged him not to worry about facing death, and to look at it as the chance he longed for, to be reunited with their son Dean Paul Martin, and with his parents.
- If people want to think I get drunk and stay out all night, let 'em. That's how I got here, you know.
- I've got seven kids. The three words you hear most around my house are "Hello", "Goodbye" and "I'm pregnant".
- [to critics who complained that he joked his way through songs during concert and nightclub appearances] You wanna hear it straight, buy the album.
- [upon filing for divorce from his second wife] I know it's the gentlemanly thing to let the wife file. But, then, everybody knows I'm no gentleman.
- I drink because my body craves, needs alcohol. I don't drink, my body's a drunk.
- Airport (1970) - $7,000,000
- Ada (1961) - $300,000
- All in a Night's Work (1961) - $250,000
- The Young Lions (1958) - $35,000
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