Dean Martin biography

Synopsis

Profile

Actor, singer; born Dino Paul Crocetti, in Steubenville, Ohio on June 7, 1917, the younger of two sons born of Italian immigrants. Had one brother, Bill.

Best known for his comedic partnership with Jerry Lewis, as well as for his participation in the "Rat Pack," a group of entertainers??including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford??who performed together in Las Vegas and teamed up in several films in the early 1960s.

Martin attended Grant Elementary School in Steubenville, Ohio, and took up the drums as a hobby as a teenager. After dropping out of Steubenville High School in the tenth grade, he worked odd jobs, including part-time as an amateur welterweight boxer under the name "Kid Crochet." Martin also dabbled in illegal activities, including driving liquor across state lines during prohibition, selling lottery tickets, acting as a bookie, and working as a card dealer and croupier in local gambling joints.

Martin began his show business career at age seventeen, singing in Ohio nightclubs near his hometown. During a stint with the Ernie McKay band, he was noticed by Cleveland bandleader Sammy Watkins, who hired him as the band's featured vocalist. He began touring with Watkins in 1938, and in 1940, changed his name to Dean Martin. In September 1943, Martin signed an exclusive contract with MCA to sing at the Riobamba Room in New York, and in 1944 he was given his own fifteen-minute radio program broadcasting from New York City, Songs by Dean Martin. In 1946 he signed a contract and recorded four songs with Diamond Records.

During a club engagement in 1946, Martin met Jerry Lewis and the two began joking around with each other during their respective acts. They teamed up in 1947, with Martin playing the straight man to Lewis's clown. NBC broadcast a regular thirty-minute radio program featuring the pair in 1949, and they made their television debut in the Colgate Comedy Hour in 1950. The immensely popular Martin and Lewis team made sixteen films together between 1949 and 1956.

Martin and Lewis last performed together at the Copacabana in New York, on July 24, 1956. After ten years as a team, they split up due to creative differences. Martin struck out on his own and resumed his singing career, recording such hit records for Capitol as "That's Amore," "Memories are Made of This," "When You're Smiling," and "Oh Marie." He also resumed acting in films, and in 1958, Martin received critical acclaim after appearing with Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando