Dean Martin

Tweet

I've really gotten into watching Dean Martin movies and listening to his music. There's just something I like about his low voice when he sings. I recently read biographies two of his children wrote. His youngest daughter from his first marriage Deana Martin wrote about her life as his daughter and his youngest son with his second wife also wrote a book about his childhood. There were a lot of similarities and a lot of differences in their stories. Deana was raised by an alcoholic for the first several years of her life before Dean with his second wife Jeannie behind him got custody of his four children from his first marriage. Deana said her dad was often distant but when he was present he was very present. He liked his alone time but he genuinely loved his children and had a set time he would always spend with them. Deana talked about a few times her dad hurt her or her siblings but ultimately, she genuinely loved him. His second wife became her mother when her own mother eventually disappeared from her life. She called Jeannie mom and loved her as her mother. She talked about times where Jeannie hurt her by excluding her after her divorce from Dean which Deana admitted she didn't think was intentional on Jeannie's part but it still hurt her. The other time that really made me feel from her was when Dean Paul, Dean's oldest child with Jeannie died (but was first reported missing) in a plane crash. Deana found out on TV because no one called her and when she called Jeannie she felt like she wasn't family. When Deana's son heard about he stopped by Jeannie's house to offer support and Jeannie told him she hoped he understood that she couldn't invite him in because it was only family. I hurt for Deana and her son. A woman who claimed to love Dean's other children like her own ultimately didn't fully consider them her children. I think she loved them and the kids loved her but when push came to shove her children with Dean were her children. Deana seemed to have it a little rougher than Ricci his son with Jeannie who wrote a book. Both kids loved and adored Dean but they definitely had different perspectives. I think it helps that Ricci was the son Dean had with Jeannie who he loved and was with the longest and eventually went back to in his later years even though he didn't marry her. Dean seemed to be a man who was who he was and expected people to take him as he was and in turn did the same for others. He was loyal to those he cared about. He refused to go to JFK's inauguration when he won after the Rat Pack supported him, but JFK didn't invite Sammy because of his interracial marriage which was a betrayal to poor Sammy, and since Sammy wasn't invited Dean refused to go. Dean also stuck up for Marilyn Monroe when she didn't make it to set multiple times and when they went to fire her Dean said either Marilyn did it or he didn't. Ultimately the movie never did get made and Marilyn died not too long after that. Dean was dubbed as the King of Cool. Dean didn't care what people said about him. He didn't feel the need to defend himself because he didn't take himself seriously and didn't care if others didn't either. The only time he ever even really spoke up about his break with Jerry Lewis was when Jerry blamed Dean's wife Jeannie for the breakup and Dean said Jeannie had nothing to do with it. Jerry's ego is what ruined their friendship. Dean and Jerry were close at one point but Jerry wanted all of Dean's attention and he was making all kinds of demands and Dean was done with it. Everyone thought Dean wouldn't be able to make it on his own but he proved them wrong. I have never been a huge fan of Jerry Lewis I always found him annoying, yes, I laugh at Jerry but after a while he grates and without Dean there as a kind of buffer, I find I can't stand to watch him. Dean's reaction to Jerry is part of what made them so funny. As much as Jerry has always annoyed me I figure there had to be something good in him if Dean cared about him. They briefly made up on Jerry's MDA telethon thanks to Frank, but it wasn't until Dean Paul's death when Jerry slipped in without drawing attention to himself at Dean Paul's funeral and slipping out without saying a word that they truly made amends (Dean's daughters saw Jerry show up and they told him and Dean called him on the phone and they talked for hours). Their friendship was never the same as it was, but they did reconnect. I actually wanted to cry watching the telethon. I have such mixed feelings about Jerry but I've always loved Dean. One of my favorite things I read about Dean was how he called the cops on his own party. His wife loved to host parties and Dean was not a fan of them. He wanted to go to bed early so he could get up and play golf before going to work the next day. Their bedroom was above where all the noise was and it made it difficult for Dean to sleep so one night he got the idea to call the cops and claimed to be one of Dean Martin's neighbors and he made a noise complaint. They'd show up at the door and after they left most people would decide to just go home. He did this multiple times and one day on one of his calls he found out they knew who he was and said "OK, we'll be right over Mr. Martin". It wasn't until years later that Jeannie learned it was Dean making the phone calls and she didn't find it as funny as everyone else did. Another story that made me laugh is the time Dean Paul bought a military tank and he and Ricci parked it in the garage while Dean and Jeannie were away for their anniversary. They knew their parents might be annoyed so Dean and Ricci made a sign that said "Happy Anniversary mom and dad" and put it on the tank. Dean and Jeannie pulled into the garage and walked into the house and up to their bedroom where Dean said "was that a tank in our garage?" Dean became well known for his TV show he did for several years. It was a show he didn't want to do. He decided he would make some big demands thinking they wouldn't go for it and to his shock they said "OK". Dean was given a huge amount of money to do his TV show and among his demands was that he only worked one day a week after he played golf and that he didn't have to do rehearsals. He only rehearsed once with everyone before they went on the rest of the week they rehearsed without him with a stand in. Dean would watch and listen to them on his own but for the most part the best part of his show was that so much of it was spontaneous and what you see is what you got. Dean had cue cards he'd read but a good portion of his show was adlibbed, and people loved it. It's what kept it on the air for so long and made it such a success. Dean went on every day and had fun. He was being paid big money to go on TV and have fun. When Dean was done filming though he preferred being left to himself. He was very much a loner and maybe that's why he resonates with me so much. Dean is well known around Christmas time for his Christmas music. There's just something about that deep sound of his voice that makes me feel like it's Christmas, he also did some amazing Christmas shows when he had his own TV show, one of which he did with Frank and his family along with his own family. It seems only fitting that Dean died on Christmas day 1995. Dean Martin was always kind of in the background of my childhood and I learned to appreciate him more as I got older. I vaguely remember his death being mentioned. One of the last things Dean did before his death was crack a joke to Frank over the phone. I think the joke was something like "What did one casket say to the other? I'm a coffin". I think that is the ultimate king of cool move.