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.
O sole mio
Dean Martin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That blooms so tender
Each kiss a dew drop
Of sweet surrender
Love is a moment
Of life enchanting
Let's take that moment
There's no tomorrow
When love is new
Now is forever
When love is true
So kiss me and hold me tight
There's no tomorrow
There's just tonight
There's no tomorrow
When love is new
Now is forever
When love is true
So kiss me and hold me tight
There's no tomorrow
There's just tonight
The lyrics of Dean Martin's song O sole mio talk about the power of love and the need to take advantage of the present and the opportunities it holds. According to the lyrics, love is compared to a flower that blooms with tenderness and each kiss is like a dew drop of sweet surrender that makes life enchanting. The song urges us to appreciate the present moment and grasp the opportunity that the present is offering.
The lyrics emphasize the idea that there is no tomorrow when love is new, and that now is forever when love is true. Therefore, it's important to seize the moment and make the most of it. The song is an encouragement to embrace the present in a world that is often fast-paced and tends to focus on future aspirations rather than enjoying the current moment.
Overall, the song O sole mio is a beautiful ballad that encourages people to appreciate and enjoy the present moment, embrace the beauty of love, and seize the opportunities life brings your way.
Line by Line Meaning
Love is a flower
Love is like a flower that needs to be tended to with care in order for it to continue to bloom.
That blooms so tender
This flower of love must be treated delicately in order to grow properly.
Each kiss a dew drop
Every kiss is like a drop of dew, sweet and refreshing, that helps sustain the flower of love.
Of sweet surrender
These kisses represent moments of giving into the love one has for another, allowing oneself to be completely vulnerable.
Love is a moment
Love can be fleeting, and it's important to cherish every moment of it.
Of life enchanting
Love has the ability to make life feel more beautiful and magical.
Let's take that moment
We should take advantage of the time we have to love and be loved.
That tonight is granting
Perhaps we are lucky enough to find ourselves in a moment where we are able to fully experience love and all its wonder.
There's no tomorrow
In this moment of pure, new love, there is no time or desire to think about anything other than the present.
When love is new
This passionate love is still fresh and hasn't had a chance to fade, and it's important to appreciate it while it's still strong.
Now is forever
When we love with all our hearts, we are in a place where time doesn't matter, and we can hold onto this feeling forever.
When love is true
The purest, most sincere kind of love is one that withstands the test of time and is true to its essence.
So kiss me and hold me tight
In this moment of new, true love, let us hold onto each other tightly and express our feelings through the sweetness of a kiss.
There's no tomorrow
Again, emphasizing that in this moment there is no other reality, only the present.
There's just tonight
The night is ours and our love is all that matters in this moment.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: AL HOFFMAN, LEO CORDAY, LEON CARR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@joaotakanorijamjao1312
Love is a flower
That blooms so tender
Each kiss a dew drop
Of sweet surrender
Love is a moment
Of life enchanting
Let's take that moment
That tonight is granting
There's no tomorrow
When love is new
Now is forever
When love is true
So kiss me and hold me tight
There's no tomorrow
There's just tonight !!!!
(There's no tomorrow
When love is new
Now is forever
When love is true)
So kiss me and hold me tight
There's no tomorrow
There's just------ tonight !!!!!!!!!!!!
............................................
@joanazorio3564
Qué gozada oír esta voz con tanta melodía se lava la mano con Elvis cada uno en su estilo pero maravillosos los dos forever forever i love you❤❤❤
@nataliemukamimbewe6
Love is a flower That blooms so tender Each kiss a dew drop Of sweet surrender Love is a moment Of life enchanting Let's take that moment That tonight is granting There's no tomorrow When love is new Now is forever When love is true So kiss me and hold me tight There's no tomorrow There's just tonight There's no tomorrow When love is new Now is forever When love is true So kiss me and hold me tight There's no tomorrow There's just tonight
@mattmazzara1
Dean Martin was by far the greatest ever! Of course I don't have to tell you, just listen to him sing.
@joaotakanorijamjao1312
Love is a flower
That blooms so tender
Each kiss a dew drop
Of sweet surrender
Love is a moment
Of life enchanting
Let's take that moment
That tonight is granting
There's no tomorrow
When love is new
Now is forever
When love is true
So kiss me and hold me tight
There's no tomorrow
There's just tonight !!!!
(There's no tomorrow
When love is new
Now is forever
When love is true)
So kiss me and hold me tight
There's no tomorrow
There's just------ tonight !!!!!!!!!!!!
............................................
@24782505
Thanks
@crspen5369
Now THAT'S what I call crooning. This version is so full of romance.
@raros5475
I love it!
@Barbara-qz2ev
I LOVE DEAN MARTIN!
@joaotakanorijamjao1312
That's a wonderful version of Naples classic O SOLE MIO by DEAN MARTIN:...and the lyrics a great poem!!!!
@oditapinkypie9447
Beautiful ❤