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.
You Was
Dean Martin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
(PL) If you were to ask me who the sweetest one I knew was
I'd say you was
(DM) If you were to ask me who my favorite point of view was
I'd say you was
(PL) When you're not near my heart is inclined to waste away
(DM) But when you're here the funny part is
(PL) If you were to ask me who the apple of your eye was
I'd say I was
(DM) If you were to ask me who your sweet potato pie was
I'd say I was
(PL) Supposing you paid a visit to a certain preacher
(DM) Supposing you overheard me practicing "I do"
And you were to ask me who the bride and groom to be was
(PL) I'd say we was
(DM) Me and you
(PL) I've got a heart that hollers when you're not close to me
(DM) But when you're near it sorta follows
(Both) There isn't a lovelier heaven or bubblier place to be
(DM) If I were to ask you who the girl I'd glorify was
(PL) I'd say I was
(PL) If I were to ask you who the boy I'd like to tie was
(DM) I'd say I was
(PL) Supposing you heard that I was shopping for a trousseau
(DM) Supposing I bought you something old and something new
And you were to ask us who the bride and groom to be was
(PL) I'd say (both) we was me and you
(PL) You was
(DM) You was
(PL) You was
(DM) I was
(Both) We was me and you
The song "You Was" by Dean Martin featuring Peggy Lee is a charming duet about two people who love and adore each other. The song's central theme is about the admiration they have for each other, and they express this affection by claiming that the other person is the apple of their eye and the sweetest person they know.
The first verse sung by Peggy Lee is to acknowledge how sweet and endearing the other person is. She would answer any question posed to her about the sweetest person she knows by saying, "you was." The second verse sung by Dean Martin is about how much he values the other person's opinions. He would answer any question asking for his favorite point of view by saying, "you was."
The song also explores how lonely they feel when they are apart, and how their heart feels complete when they are together. Peggy Lee sings how her heart wastes away when the other person is not close to her, while Dean Martin sings about how his heart becomes a "spherical lyrical miracle" when the other person is around.
Overall, "You Was" is a charming, feel-good song about two people who have deep admiration and affection for each other.
Line by Line Meaning
If you were to ask me who the sweetest one I knew was
If you were to inquire about my choice for the sweetest person, then my answer would be you
If you were to ask me who my favorite point of view was
If you were to ask me about my preferred outlook in life, it is none other than you
When you're not near my heart is inclined to waste away
Whenever you are absent, my heart feels empty, and my emotions are downcast
But when you're here the funny part is
My heart is a spherical lyrical miracle all the day
When you are around, my heart rejoices, and I become unexplainably happy all day long
If you were to ask me who the apple of your eye was
I'd say I was
If you were to inquire about who the person you cherish most is, then I would say it's me
If you were to ask me who your sweet potato pie was
I'd say I was
If you ask me about who your fondest desire is, then I would say its me
Supposing you paid a visit to a certain preacher
Imagine you went to a religious leader
Supposing you overheard me practicing "I do"
And you were to ask me who the bride and groom to be was
Suppose you heard me rehearsing for a wedding, and you asked me who the getting married were
I'd say we was
I would say that we are the bride and groom-to-be
Me and you
It's me and you who are getting married
I've got a heart that hollers when you're not close to me
My heart cries out when you are not near me
But when you're near it sorta follows
But when you are close, it beats normally
There isn't a lovelier heaven or bubblier place to be
Being with you is the most beautiful and happiest place to be
If I were to ask you who the girl I'd glorify was
I'd say I was
If I asked you about the girl I would praise and admire, I would say it's me
If I were to ask you who the boy I'd like to tie was
If I were to ask you about my preferred life partner
I'd say I was
I would say it's me.
Supposing you heard that I was shopping for a trousseau
Supposing I bought you something old and something new
And you were to ask us who the bride and groom to be was
Imagine I went shopping for wedding clothes, and I purchased something old and something new for you. If you inquired about who the bride and groom were
I'd say (both) we was me and you
Then both of us would say that we are the bride and groom-to-be
You was
You was
You was
I was
We was me and you
You were special, and I cherished you. I was special, and you cherished me. Together, we were getting married.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Francis Joseph Burke, Paul Francis Webster
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Dino
Dean Martin's voice...just...wow :D
Majolindaa
Aww, this is the sweetest song ever!!
blackbeard82 91
God damn, where did all the people like him go?
blackbeard82 91
There are a few left you're right
The Truth is Power
Im right here still in America. Descendant of an Italian family Crimaldi. 32 years old. And i have an old soul. I listen to alot of pld music. Sometimes some like 70s, 80s, 90, 00s. But the further we go into the future. The more immoral our culture has gotten. Its sad. And i am raising two wonderful very witty and handsome boys. They will grow up and continue my mission to bring back good men that are traditional and have a high moral standard.
Alexander Erwin
Died bruh
Rohit Pota
I wonder the same..all the time
Paul Stafford
I love this!!!!
Patriciapats
love the old days.-
Richard Musser
Love the music