Dean Martin: We Got The Legend All Wrong

There Was More To Dean Martin Than We Knew
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Intoxicating Facts About Dean Martin, The King Of Cool
Oct 16
PEOPLE
Miles Brucker
The King Of Cool
Dean Martin was one of a kind. The child of working-class Italian immigrants, this shy, stammering boy grew up to be a boxer, a comedian, a singer, an actor, and everything in between—but it didn't all come easy to the King of Cool. Dean Martin faced simmering feuds, rocky marriages, and life-altering tragedies on his road to the top.
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1. He Came From Humble Beginnings
Dino wasn't a nickname. Dean Martin was born Dino Paul Crocetti on June 7, 1917, in Steubenville, Ohio. His father was an immigrant, recently arrived from a small commune in the south of Italy. His mother's origins are more mysterious, but she was likely from a similar region. Pops worked as a barber, and the working-class parents instilled a sense of Italian pride in their son.
But while he had a loving home life, Martin faced torment at school.
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2. His School Years Were Miserable
Dean Martin didn't actually speak English until he was five years old. Before that, it was all Italian, all the time. He eventually enrolled in Steubenville's Grant Elementary, where he had to face the cruelty of other kids his age. He was the only one who spoke broken English, and his classmates pestered him ceaselessly about it.
School turned out to be completely miserable for young Martin. Maybe that's why he didn't stick around too long.
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3. He Didn't Finish
School just wasn't it for Dean Martin. He made it to the 10th grade before finally dropping out for good. He'd overcome his strong Italian accent and won over the bullies, but he still thought education was a complete waste of time. It didn't help that he thought he was smarter than all of his teachers. Just like that, the teenaged Martin set out in the world to try and make a name for himself.
But he didn't end up in the spotlight right away. He had to tread a dark path first.
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4. He Found An Illicit Career
Martin tried out the working-class life like his father, landing a job in a steel mill—but can you picture Dean Martin working in a steel mill? He quickly moved on to other gigs. They just happened to be on the wrong side of the law. He bootlegged liquor for a time (Prohibition was a heyday for ambitious, uneducated young men like Martin), which put him into contact with some shady characters.
It also landed him his most dangerous job yet.
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5. He Knew How To Use His Fists
All throughout school, Dean Martin had to defend himself from bullies who singled him out for the way he talked. It must have been a nightmare—but at least it taught him how to defend himself. Right around the time he dropped out of school, he started prizefighting under the name Kid Crochet. The career choice bought him a broken nose, a torn-up lip, and shattered knuckles (he couldn't afford the tape boxers usually used to wrap their hands).
But fighting in the ring was one thing—he soon found an even more brutal way to make a quick buck.
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6. He Needed Money
Dean Martin struck out on his own while young and moved into an NYC apartment with another young Italian man named Sonny King. Both of them dreamed of a life in show business (King later became a lounge singer and unofficial Rat Pack member), but for now, they were just two young punks who needed rent money.
They had limited skills, but both of them could take a punch. So they came up with an idea...
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7. He Made It The Hard Way
Roommates Martin and King ran a secret fight club out of their apartment. They'd charge New Yorkers to come and watch them bare-knuckle box—and they made sure to put on a show. Each night, they fought until one of them knocked the other out. I have to imagine there were easier ways to make a quick buck, but fighting was all Dean Martin knew at that point.
After a while, he realized getting beaten up for a measly sum every night probably wasn't the best career choice. But he wasn't ready to go on the straight and narrow just yet.
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8. He Found Where He Belonged
After boxing, Martin landed a gig working in an illicit speakeasy/casino behind a smoke shop. He worked roulette tables, dealt cards, and entertained the guests. Now that sounds a little more like the Dean Martin we know! The shady lounges of speakeasies showed this tough Italian-American teenager a new world—and he liked it.
It was time for the tough guy to take the stage.
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9. He Hit The Stage
Dean Martin was used to putting on a show, and he quickly learned that singing was a lot more fun than getting punched in the face. He started singing at whatever clubs he could, legal or not. He started off mimicking other crooners like Perry Como, and the people liked it. Soon, he sang with a popular local band, earning steady paychecks and making a name for himself.
The only problem was, he was making the wrong name...
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10. He Needed A New Name
The world didn't yet know Dean Martin. They barely even knew Dino Crocetti. The crooner started going by Dino Martini, but the same anti-Italian sentiment that ruined school for him once again reared its ugly head. Sadly, the name Dino Martini was holding him back—and bandleader Sammy Watkins knew it.
Watkins told young Dino he should go by Dean Martin, and the rest is history. He was ready to shoot to stardom. Unfortunately, that came with some serious complications in his personal life.
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11. He Got Hitched
Martin married for the first time at 24 years old. Her name was Betty McDonald, and she married Dino Crocetti, the young and upcoming lounge singer. The pair of them had four children together, but this was no fairy tale marriage. As Dino Crocetti became Dean Martin, their relationship started to tear at the seams.
It only got worse when a new face hit the scene.
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12. He Met Someone Who Changed His Life
In the mid-1940s, Dean Martin found himself in the same lineup as a boisterous young comic at New York's Glass Hat Club. The kid's name was Jerry Lewis, and right away Martin could tell there was something special about him. Neither of them knew it at the time, but this was the start of a beautiful friendship—and a terrible feud.
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13. Their First Show Went Horribly
The pair decided to work together, and they debuted Martin and Lewis in Atlantic City in 1946. It was the birth of one of the greatest duos show business had ever seen—and it was a total, unmitigated disaster.
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14. They Had To Think Facts
Whatever Martin and Lewis prepared, the crowd wasn't having it. The pair bombed so hard that the club's owner told them they had to come up with a better act before their second show of the night or he'd fire them. That's how Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis ended up huddling in a dark alley behind the club, frantically trying to think up anything that could save them.
Eventually, they both just said, "Screw it," and went for broke.…

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