He and Jerry Lewis formed the immensely popular comedy duo Martin and Lewis, with Martin serving as the straight man to Lewis' slapstick hijinks. Martin went on to become a star of concert stages, nightclubs, audio recordings, motion pictures, and television, and was also a member of the "Rat Pack". Martin was the host of the television variety programs The Dean Martin Show and The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts. His relaxed, warbling, crooning voice earned him dozens of hit singles, including his signature songs "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare", and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"
Martin was born on June 7, 1917, in Steubenville, Ohio, to an Italian father, Gaetano Alfonso Crocetti (1894–1967), and an Italian-American mother, Angela Crocetti (née Barra; 1899–1966). They were married in 1914. His father, who was a barber, was originally from Montesilvano, in Abruzzo, and his maternal grandparents' origins are believed to be also from Abruzzo, although they are not clearly known. Martin had an older brother named William Alfonso Crocetti (1916–1968). Martin's first language was Abruzzese, a dialect of Neapolitan, and he did not speak English until he started school at the age of five. He attended Grant Elementary School in Steubenville, where he was bullied for his broken English. He later took up the drums as a hobby as a teenager. Martin then dropped out of Steubenville High School in the 10th grade because he thought he was smarter than his teachers. He bootlegged liquor, served as a speakeasy croupier, was a blackjack dealer, worked in a steel mill, and boxed as a welterweight.
As Martin's solo career grew, he and Frank Sinatra became friends. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Martin and Sinatra, along with friends Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, and Sammy Davis, Jr. formed the Rat Pack, so-called after an earlier group of social friends, the Holmby Hills Rat Pack centered on Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, of which Sinatra had been a member (The Martin-Sinatra-Davis-Lawford-Bishop group referred to themselves as "The Summit" or "The Clan" and never as "The Rat Pack", although this has remained their identity in popular imagination). The men made films together, formed part of the Hollywood social scene, and were politically influential (through Lawford's marriage to Patricia Kennedy, sister of President John F. Kennedy).
The Rat Pack was legendary for its Las Vegas Strip performances. For example, the marquee at the Sands Hotel might read DEAN MARTIN—MAYBE FRANK—MAYBE SAMMY. Their appearances were valuable because the city would flood with wealthy gamblers. Their act (always in tuxedo) consisted of each singing individual numbers, duets and trios, along with seemingly improvised slapstick and chatter. In the socially charged 1960s, their jokes revolved around adult themes, such as Sinatra's womanizing and Martin's drinking, as well as Davis's race and religion. Sinatra and Martin supported the civil rights movement and refused to perform in clubs that would not allow African-American or Jewish performers. Posthumously, the Rat Pack has experienced a popular revival, inspiring the George Clooney/Brad Pitt "Ocean's Trilogy."
Martin returned to films briefly with appearances in the star-laden, critically panned but commercially successful The Cannonball Run and its sequel Cannonball Run II. He also had a minor hit single with "Since I Met You Baby" and made his first music video, which appeared on MTV. The video was created by Martin's youngest son, Ricci. On March 21, 1987, Martin's son, actor Dean Paul Martin (formerly Dino of the 1960s "teeny-bopper" rock group Dino, Desi & Billy), died when his F-4 Phantom II jet fighter crashed while flying with the California Air National Guard. Martin's grief over his son's death left him depressed and demoralized. Later, a tour with Davis and Sinatra in 1988, undertaken in part to help Martin recover, sputtered.
Martin, who responded best to a club audience, felt lost in the huge stadiums they were performing in at Sinatra's insistence, and he was not interested in drinking until dawn after performances. His final Vegas shows were at Bally's Hotel in 1990. There he had his final reunion with Lewis on his 72nd birthday. Martin's last two TV appearances involved tributes to his former Rat Pack members. On December 8, 1989, he joined stars in Sammy Davis Jr's 60th anniversary celebration, which aired a few weeks before Davis died from throat cancer. In December 1990, he congratulated Sinatra on his 75th birthday special.
Martin, a heavy smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in September 1993, and was told that he would require surgery to prolong his life, but he rejected it. He retired from public life in early 1995 and died of acute respiratory failure resulting from emphysema at his Beverly Hills home on Christmas Day, 1995 at the age of 78. The lights of the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed in his honor. Martin's body was interred at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. The crypt features the epitaph "Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime", the title of his signature song.
In 1996, Ohio Route 7 through Steubenville was rededicated as Dean Martin Boulevard. Road signs bearing an Al Hirschfeld caricature of Martin's likeness designate the stretch with a historical marker bearing a small picture and brief biography in the Gazebo Park at Route 7 and North Fourth Street. An annual Dean Martin Festival celebration is held in Steubenville. Impersonators, friends and family, and entertainers, many of Italian ancestry, appear. In 2005, Clark County, Nevada, renamed a portion of Industrial Road as Dean Martin Drive. A similarly named street was dedicated in 2008 in Rancho Mirage, California. Martin's family was presented a gold record in 2004 for Dino: The Essential Dean Martin, his fastest-selling album, which also hit the iTunes Top 10, and in 2006 it was certified "Platinum".
For the week ending December 23, 2006, the Dean Martin and Martina McBride duet of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" reached No. 7 on the R&R AC chart. It also went to No. 36 on the R&R Country chart – the last time Martin had a song this high in the charts was in 1965, with the song "I Will," which reached No. 10 on the Pop chart. An album of duets, Forever Cool, was released by Capitol/EMI in 2007. It features Martin's voice with Kevin Spacey, Shelby Lynne, Joss Stone, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Robbie Williams, McBride and others. His footprints were immortalized at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in 1964. Martin has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one at 6519 Hollywood Boulevard for movies; the second at 1617 Vine for recordings; and a third at 6651 Hollywood Boulevard for television. In February 2009, Martin was honored with a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Four of his surviving children, Gail, Deana, Ricci and Gina accepted it on his behalf. In 2010, Martin received a posthumous star on the Italian Walk of Fame in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Martin was married three times. His first wife was Elizabeth Anne "Betty" McDonald, (July 14, 1922 – July 11, 1989) of Ridley Park, Pennsylvania. Martin and McDonald married in 1941 and had four children: Craig Martin (born 1942), Claudia Martin (March 16, 1944 – February 16, 2001), Gail Martin (born 1945); and Deana Martin (born 1948). Martin and McDonald divorced in 1949 and Dean gained custody of their children. Betty lived out her life in relative obscurity in San Francisco, California.
Martin's second wife was Dorothy Jean "Jeanne" Biegger (March 27, 1927 – August 24, 2016), a former Orange Bowl queen from Coral Gables, Florida. Their marriage lasted 24 years (1949–1973) and produced three children: Dean Paul Martin (November 17, 1951 – March 21, 1987), Ricci Martin (September 20, 1953 – August 3, 2016)[15] and Gina Martin (born 1956).
Martin's third marriage, to Catherine Hawn, lasted three years before Martin initiated divorce proceedings. They had no biological children of their own but Martin adopted Hawn's daughter, Sasha.
Martin's uncle was Leonard Barr, who appeared in several of his shows. In the 1960s and early 1970s, he lived at 363 Copa De Oro Road in Bel Air, Los Angeles, before selling it to Tom Jones for $500,000 in June 1976.
Martin's son-in-law was the Beach Boys' Carl Wilson, who married Martin's daughter Gina. Figure skater Dorothy Hamill and actress Olivia Hussey were his daughters-in-law during their marriages to Martin's son, Dean Paul Martin.
In The Misty Moonlight
Dean Martin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
By the flickering firelight
Any place is all right
Long as I'm with you (as long as I am with you)
In a far away land
On a tropic sea sand
If your hand's in my hand
Way up on a mountain
Way down in a valley
I know I'll be happy
Any place anywhere
I don't care
In the misty moonlight
By the flickering firelight
Any place is all right
Long as you are there
In the misty moonlight
By the flickering firelight
Any place is all right
Long as I'm with you
In a far away land
On a tropic sea sand
If your hand's in my hand
I won't be blue
Way up on a mountain
Way down in a valley
I know I'll be happy
Any place anywhere
I don't care
In the misty moonlight
By the flickering firelight
Any place is all right
Long as you are there
In the misty moonlight
By the flickering firelight
Any place is all right
Long as you are there
In the misty moonlight
By the flickering firelight
" In the Misty Moonlight" is a love song that describes the blissful feeling of being in the presence of one's beloved. The first verse of the song emphasizes the importance of companionship, saying that any place is alright as long as the singer is with his lover. The imagery of the flickering firelight creates a cozy and romantic atmosphere, emphasizing the warmth and comfort that comes from being with a loved one. The second verse imagines a far-off tropical paradise, yet the singer's happiness only comes from his lover's presence. The song emphasizes that love and companionship outshine any material or exotic locations. The pre-chorus talks about how the singer doesn't care where he is, whether it's in the highest mountains or the deepest valleys, as long as he is with his beloved. The repetition of the lines in the chorus emphasizes the importance of being in the presence of the loved one. Overall, the song serves as a tribute to the significance of companionship and love in one's life.
Line by Line Meaning
In the misty moonlight
The singer is emphasizing that he is in a dreamlike state, where the bright light of the moon is diffused by the mist, creating a romantic atmosphere that he wants to cherish.
By the flickering firelight
The singer is adding to the romantic atmosphere that he is trying to create, by imagining himself next to a fire, with the flames casting beautiful shadows on his loved one.
Any place is all right
The singer is suggesting that he does not care where they are, as long as he is with his loved one, as his focus is on the person, not the location.
Long as I'm with you (as long as I am with you)
The artist is reiterating that as long as he is with his loved one, he can be happy, no matter the place or time, highlighting that what really matters is the bond they share.
In a far away land
The artist is imagining himself in an exotic place, which could be thousands of miles away, highlighting that distance does not impact how he feels for his loved one.
On a tropic sea sand
The singer is picturing himself on a beach with his loved one, with white sand, palm trees, and a blue sea, creating a romantic image of being in paradise.
If your hand's in my hand
The singer is emphasizing the importance of physical touch with his loved one, suggesting that as long as they are holding hands, he feels a sense of comfort and reassurance.
I won't be blue
The artist is saying that his loved one's presence makes him feel happy and prevents him from feeling sad or lonely.
Way up on a mountain
The artist is imagining himself high up on a mountain, perhaps in a secluded location, with his loved one, highlighting that even in a remote place, he can still feel happy as long as he is with her.
Way down in a valley
The artist is imagining himself in a valley, surrounded by lush greenery, emphasizing that he can be happy in any type of landscape, as long as he is with his loved one.
I know I'll be happy
The singer is confident that as long as he is with his loved one, he will be happy, no matter the circumstance, highlighting the importance of their relationship in his life.
Any place anywhere
The artist is saying that he is open to visiting any place, regardless of distance, as long as he is with his loved one, highlighting his commitment to their bond.
I don't care
The singer is emphasizing his lack of concern for the place they are, as he is focused on enjoying the company of his loved one, showing the depth of his feelings.
Long as you are there
The singer is emphasizing their relationship as the primary source of his happiness, suggesting that his loved one's presence means everything to him, in any circumstance.
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Cindy Walker
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@eamonnbrady5050
Simply put, this man could SING! You have to be smiling from ear to ear as you listen to Dean's version of this song. Never be another all round entertainer like him. Legend.
@gsgoblue1
This song is one of the most beautifully sung songs I have ever heard. Especially by this man. I have both sang and listened to many GREAT songs. God Dino, you were the best when it came to singing from the heart like this. It makes me really think of of my Mom and Dad too, who are now passed on. Really hits home too. Thanks for the Sweet Memories Dino!!
@iconaclastor
Dean was very down to earth and his fame never went to his head. He was a natural and didn't have to try to be cool. One of the greatest voices of the crooners and an all round entertainer.
@maryannemelenka9250
He was a kind generous man too. Great sense of humour. I think reason he didn’t hang out with Jerry through the years , not because of split up, because Jerry could be so mean. He didn’t hate Jerry, but kept his distance. Jeannie didn’t like Jerry either from what I respect. No disrespect to Jerry as a comic talent. But something inside of him there was a very sad place. Don’t know what. Hollywood never liked very much, But Dean was well loved.
@maryannemelenka9250
Sorry from what I read
@2734135
Great memories of this song in my dad's 51 Ford on the way to our vacation spot in upstate NY in the fiftes. My mom played this record until the grooves wore OUT! Till this day I love hearing this old tune, it was my childhood, it was my family and it was a great time to grow up! Thanks Dean....RIP
@fabiennedepauw424
2734135 at least you have these wonderfull memories... cherish them. Kind regards from Belgium Fabienne
@mauricewascom658
I don't doubt that you remember hearing this in your Dad's '51 Ford, but the song was recorded and released in 1964.
Dino has left us with special memories that span five decades of producing records
(1946-1983), making movies, performing on his own TV program, as well as doing shows
in Vegas.
Smooth is used to describe him . . . but the Magic of Dean Martin was ( and Still is ) that you can hear his Soul in his voice❗
Nobody like DEAN❗🎶🎤
@uscgccampbell
I don't know if Dean Martin invented "cool", but I tell you he is one of the first I can remember when I was a kid. What a giant of an entertainer and from what I've heard from his friends, one of the kindest and original gentlemen ever to sing into a microphone. Both my dad and my uncle constantly played his music at home and in the car. Along with Frank Sinatra, my two favorite crooners. God Bless you Dean and thank you Johnnyrockva for the great video my friend.
@karenstrock4470
Dean always sang,, like it was easy as Breathing,,,, no effort at all ,,just opened his mouth and out it came !,,,,,,BEAUTIFUL,,,,,,