Martin, Dean

▪ 1996

      (DINO PAUL CROCETTI), U.S. singer-actor (b. June 17, 1917, Steubenville, Ohio—d. Dec. 25, 1995, Beverly Hills, Calif.), was a member for 10 years of one of the most popular comedy teams on stage and television and in motion pictures before moving on to a successful solo career as singer, actor, and television variety show host. In the Steubenville area Martin worked in steel mills, delivered bootleg liquor, and was a prizefighter and a casino croupier before becoming a pop crooner. After appearing in local nightspots, he was hired by bandleader Sammy Watkins and began to tour. During an engagement in Atlantic City, N.J., in 1946, he and another performer, comedian Jerry Lewis, began clowning around during each other's acts. This led to an immensely successful comedy partnership that featured Martin as a suave straight man and Lewis as an immature clown. Before long the two were making $5,000 a week at New York City's Copacabana. They made 16 motion pictures together, beginning with My Friend Irma (1949) and ending with Hollywood or Bust (1956). Despite predictions of doom, Martin's career prospered after he ended the partnership with Lewis. Martin struck gold with such hit records as "That's Amore" (1953), "Memories Are Made of This" (1955), and "Everybody Loves Somebody" (1964). He starred in such films as The Young Lions (1958), Some Came Running (1958), Bells Are Ringing (1960), Toys in the Attic (1963), and Airport (1970), as well as several with his fellow Hollywood clique members (dubbed the Rat Pack), among them Sergeants Three (1962) and Robin and the Seven Hoods (1964). "The Dean Martin Show," a television variety show, began an eight-year run in 1965 and was followed by "The Dean Martin Comedy Hour" (1973-74) and a number of celebrity roasts and touring appearances thereafter. Though Martin often seemed to be intoxicated during his television and nightclub performances, an impression aided by his easygoing manner and slurred singing style, he and his friends insisted it was part of his act.

* * *