Always a talented singer, he began signing in local bars and in the early 1940's began singing with Sammy Watkins band and that's when he changed his name to Dean Martin. He was doing relatively well during the first half of the 40's, singing in various nightclubs in NYC, but it wasn't until he met a young struggling comic, Jerry Lewis, in 1946 that his career, and Jerry's really took off.
Dean and Jerry's chance meeting marked a defining point in both of their careers. In a short amount of time they skyrocketed to superstardom as Martin and Lewis. They performed in nightclubs all over the country, radio, on television on the Colgate Comedy Hour on NBC, and in 1949 they signed with Paramount. While under contract with Paramount Dean and Jerry made 17 comedic pictures. Martin and Lewis were America's most loved comedy team during the 50's and when they broke up in 1956- 10 years to the day of teaming up- the county was not happy, and many critics doubted how well Dean would do on his own.
However, going solo proved to be a great move for both, especially Dean. He starred in some big name films in the late 50's, starring alongside the likes of Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift in The Young Lions, and really proving his dramatic acting skills with John Wayne in Rio Bravo. His solo success continued when he teamed up with pal Frank Sinatra in the Vincent Minnelli hit Some Came Running.
The film roles kept coming, he continued his nightclub appearances in Vegas, his recording career was booming, and all the while Sinatra's Rat Pack was forming. In addition to Frank and Dean there was Sammy Davis Jr, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop. They referred to themselves as The Clan or The Summit- never The Ratpack. They were IT during the early 60's in Hollywood, everyone wanted to be part of their social circle. They did films together, like the 1960 hit Oceans 11, which they shot in Las Vegas during the day and did their live show at the Sands at night. They also had political influence during the 1960 presidental campaign. Frank Sinatra's relationship with JFK (who was Peter Lawford's brother in law) is legendary.
By the mid 60's Dean was one of the most successful entertainers, having successfully reached the top of every area of entertainment, so why not have a hit prime time TV show? In 1965 NBC approached him to do a weekly variety show, he wasn't crazy about the idea so he told them he'd do it if he only had to show up once a week to tape and asked for a lot of money, thinking they would turn down his request. But no, NBC wanted Dean so his requests were granted. The show was a hit with Dean's easy going and laid back personality, and it played up his boozy, playboy persona. He hated to rehearse, and for anyone else that might be a disaster, but for Dean it was perfect. The loose format of the show was successful for Dean and his quick wit, often improvising, his guests and the audience loved it, and him.
At one point during the 1960's Dean was the highest paid entertainer in the country. He has three different stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for film, one for TV, and one for his recording career.
Dean was married three times, the first in 1941 to Betty McDonald, they had four children together, Craig, Cladia, Gail, and Deana. His second and most successful marriage was to Jeanne Biegger in 1949. They met in 1948 in Miami Beach while he and Jerry were doing a show at the Beach Comber Club. She was a former Orange Bowl Queen, and both she and Dean fell madly in love the first time they layed eyes on each other. Jeanne is one of my seven, so expect a full post on her soon. They had three children together, Dean Paul, Ricci, and Gina. Dean and Jeanne were married for 24 years before getting divorced in 1973. He then married a young woman named Cathy Hawn in 1973, she was 23 and he was 56. They were married for only three years when he filed for divorce. This is what is commonly referred to as a mid-life crisis. Dean and Jeanne eventually reconciled and got back together in the early 80's, and they remained extremely close for the rest of his life.
Dean died at his home in Beverly Hills early Christmas morning in 1995 at the age of 78. The lights on the Las Vegas strip were dimmed for five minutes in his honor.
Dean Martin was a true legend. His music, films and TV show are still popular today. Within the past year The Dean Martin Variety Show has been rereleased to huge numbers. This month another set of Dean goodies go on sale. For the first time The Dean Martin Variety Show will be released UNCUT, full episodes instead of just clips and skits from various episodes. Also on June 12, UMe will release Collected Cool, the first ever career defining box set. It will include all his greatest hits, as well as a DVD of his 1983 London concert, and a very rare audio recording of a 1962 Lake Tahoe show that he did at Sinatra's CalNeva. I believe and I might be wrong, but I am pretty sure this recording was from a late July show, which Marilyn Monroe was in attendance for. It was her last visit to CalNeva, she died less than a week later.
Obviously Dean's popularity is only growing, with each new generation realizing just how cool and talented he really is. For me Dean's music, films and wonderful humor, not to mention his timelessly handsome looks, will never go out of style, and neither will Dean Martin.
To celebrate Dean's birthday I made a quick little video, but for some reason it's not uploading, so while I figure that out, enjoy some of my favorite clips of Dean. Here from the 1967 Christmas Special with Frank Sinatra.
Here at a 1965 Rat Pack Show in St. Louis
And a little clip from the opening of The Dean Martin Show
Well, a week later and the little video I made for his birthday finally uploaded, I had to take it from youtube..but here it is..enjoy!
