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 a Little Spanish Town
Dean Martin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Thrilling me again
Like that night in spain
Someone is sharing my memories
Wonder does she grieve
Every lovely evening
In a little Spanish town
Stars were peek-a-booing down
'Twas on a night like this
I whispered "Be true to me"
And she sighed: "Si, Si"
Many skies have turned to gray
Because we're far apart
Many moons had passed away
And still she's in my heart
We made a promise and sealed it with a kiss
In a little Spanish town
'Twas on a night like this
Somehow I keep on remembering
Tears that said goodbye
Shining in her eye
Wonder does she keep remembering
Promises of mine
When the moon is shining
In a little Spanish town
'Twas on a night like this
Stars were peek-a-booing down
'Twas on a night like this
I whispered "Be true to me"
And she sighed: "Si, Si"
Many skies have turned to gray
Because we're far apart
Many moons had passed away
And still she's in my heart
We made a promise and sealed it with a kiss
In a little Spanish town
The lyrics to Dean Martin's song "In a Little Spanish Town" speak to the memories of a night in Spain that was filled with love and promise. The singer reflects on the feeling of being thrilled again by memories of that night that he shares with someone. He wonders whether this person, who he shared those memories with, still thinks of him and grieves for their lost love. The singer remembers the promise he made on that night to be true to each other and sealed it with a kiss. They made a commitment despite the distance between them.
As the song continues, the singer reflects on the tears that they shed when they said goodbye. He questions whether the other person remembers the promises that were made on that night. The singer laments the fact that they are far apart and that many skies have turned gray, but the person he loves is still in his heart. The memory of that romantic night in Spain remains with them both, and the promise they made that night continues to be sealed with a kiss.
The nostalgia and wistfulness of the song are palpable as the singer reflects on a love that might have been. His thoughts are centered on the memories of that special night and the unfulfilled promise of a shared future. The lyrics express a yearning for something that was once there but has since slipped away.
Line by Line Meaning
Evenings are crowded with memories
The character has a lot of memories at night
Thrilling me again
These memories are exciting to the character
Like that night in spain
One particular memory that stands out is the character's night in Spain
Someone is sharing my memories
The character is hoping that someone else is also remembering these memories with them
Wonder does she grieve
The character is wondering if the person they're remembering is also feeling sad about the distance between them
Every lovely evening
The character thinks these memories are lovely, even if they make them a bit sad
In a little Spanish town
The memory the character is focused on takes place in a small town in Spain
'Twas on a night like this
The memory is specifically tied to a certain type of night
Stars were peek-a-booing down
The stars were visible in the sky that night
I whispered "Be true to me"
The character made a promise to the person they're remembering
And she sighed: "Si, Si"
The person the character made a promise to replied in Spanish saying "Yes, yes"
Many skies have turned to gray
The passage of time has made things less vibrant and colorful
Because we're far apart
The distance between the character and the person they're remembering has made things harder
Many moons had passed away
A lot of time has gone by
And still she's in my heart
The person the character is remembering is still very important to them
We made a promise and sealed it with a kiss
The promise was very important to both characters, and they added a physical element to seal it
Somehow I keep on remembering
The memories keep coming back to the character, even if they're not always wanted
Tears that said goodbye
The character has memories of being sad about having to leave
Shining in her eye
The other character was sad too, as evidenced by their eyes
Wonder does she keep remembering
The character is curious if the person they're remembering also thinks about them
Promises of mine
The character made some specific promises to the other person
When the moon is shining
The memories tend to come back to the character when the moon is visible
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: JOE YOUNG, MABEL WAYNE, SAM M. LEWIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind