Remembering Dean Martin's Iconic Career & Cause Of Death

The son of an Italian immigrant barber, Mr. Martin was born Dino Paul Crocetti on June 7, 1917, in Steubenville, Ohio. He began his singing career in a local spaghetti parlor. As a teenager, he was an amateur welterweight fighter and later alternated between singing and working as a croupier in nightclubs. He adopted the name Dino Martini when he first sang with the Sammy Watkins Band in Cleveland and shortened it to Dean Martin after meeting Jerry Lewis.

For nearly forty years, Mr. Martin had two successful careers, one as a singer and the other as an actor. In the mid-1960s, he also became a popular TV star with his own variety show. As a pop singer, Mr. Martin added a slurred, sensual touch to the crooning style made famous by Bing Crosby and Perry Como. He had many hit songs, including "That's Amore," "Memories Are Made of This," "Return to Me," and "Everybody Loves Somebody."

He became a TV star in 1965 when 'The Dean Martin Show,' a one-hour variety show, started its eight-year run. After that, he hosted 'The Dean Martin Comedy World' and a series of celebrity roasts. The show, with its edgy jokes and spontaneous vibe, made Mr. Martin known to the public as a friendly, slightly drunk host with a relaxed attitude.

As an actor, Mr. Martin appeared in 55 films, starting with 'My Friend Irma' in 1949 and ending with 'Cannonball Run II' in 1984. His career had two main phases. From 1949, he starred in 16 hit comedies with Jerry Lewis, playing the smooth straight man to Lewis's silly clown. They were similar to the popular 1940s duo Abbott and Costello.

Martin often appeared onstage with a drink and a cigarette in his hand. While he appeared to be downing whiskey and regularly spoke with a slur, his daughter, Deana Martin, once told the 'Los Angeles Times' that “drunk” Dino was just a gimmick dreamed up by a group of writers when he started his music and comedy act at the Sands Hotel on the Las Vegas strip years earlier. “Dad was so handsome, so debonair,” she told the Times. “They just thought, ‘We’ll put a drink in his hand and a cigarette.’ Every man wanted to be him, and every woman wanted to be with him," she added.

Martin’s daughter added that it was actually apple juice in her father’s whiskey glass, although he did enjoy drinking at home with his wife. “He would be home for dinner every night,” she said. “He would come home, and he and Mom would have their one cocktail at the bar. He was kind. He was so different from what everybody thought he was. There was no one who could do Dean Martin better than Dean Martin," she said.

The actor died on December 25, 1995, at his home in Beverly Hills, California. He was 78. The cause of his death was acute respiratory failure, as reported by his longtime agent and friend, Mort Viner.

Martin had also suffered from ongoing kidney problems in the years before his passing, according to the 'Los Angeles Times'. He stopped touring a few years before his death due to his health issues but continued headlining his Vegas act until retiring from public life completely in 1995.

Martin’s death led to an outpouring of reactions from fans and celebrity friends. His Rat Pack buddy, Frank Sinatra, shared a heartfelt statement after hearing about his friend's death. “Dean was my brother — not through blood, but through choice,” Sinatra said in 1995, according to the 'Washington Post'. “Good times and bad, we were there for each other. Our friendship has traveled down many roads over the years, and there will always be a special place in my heart and soul for Dean," he added.