Before Dean Martin was everywhere, he was Dino Paul Crocetti, born in 1917 and raised in Steubenville, Ohio, where he found his way to a singing career after logging hours as a shoeshine boy, a gas attendant, a steelworker, a bootlegger, a croupier and blackjack dealer, and — as “Kid Crochet” — a not-undistinguished ...
Martin was born Dino Paul Crocetti in Steubenville, Ohio, to Gaetano Alfonso "Guy" Crocetti, an Italian immigrant and barber, and his Ohio-born wife, Angela (Barra) Crocetti. He spoke only Italian until age five.
He was just a sweetheart of a guy,” said Gribow, who worked with Dean on and off for about 15 years in the '70s and '80s. “On stage, he was in control and acted like he was a drunk or he was going to chase the girl. He was always mischievous and he'd get off stage and he was shy,” she said.
Daughter Deana Martin continues to perform, as did youngest son Ricci Martin until his death in August 2016. Eldest son Craig was a producer on Martin's television show and daughter Claudia was an actress in films such as For Those Who Think Young.
Martin was born in Steubenville, Ohio, to Italian parents, Gaetano and Angela Crocetti (née Barra). His father was from Montesilvano, Pescara, Abruzzo, Italy , and his mother was an Italian of part Neapolitan and part Sicilian ancestry.
(born Dino Paul Crocetti Jr.; November 17, 1951 – March 21, 1987) was an American pop singer and film and television actor. A member of the California Air National Guard, Martin died in a crash during a military training flight. He was the son of the entertainer Dean Martin.
Ricci Martin, a musician and youngest son of the legendary entertainer Dean Martin, has died. He was 62. Martin was found dead Wednesday at his home in Utah, according to family members. An exact cause of death has yet to be determined.
A staunch civil-rights advocate who refused to entertain in venues that discriminated against African Americans and Jews, Martin was fiercely proud of his Italian heritage. Indeed, he abhorred “The Godfather”: “I hated that movie, what it did to the Italian people. There was no call for that.”
A sidenote: Wikipedia says "Martin did not attempt to deliver the lyrics in an authentic Italian accent, but used the accent of an American trying to mimic Italian pronunciation." In fact, Martin's Italian was not that good, judging from his pronunciation in songs like "Volare"!
Iconic actor Dean Martin, a member of the "Rat Pack," was often seen with both a cigarette and drink in hand. No doubt this COPD celeb's heavy smoking led to his development of emphysema.
In April of that year, Davis's lifelong performing friends paid tribute to him with a television special in his honor. A few weeks later, on May 16, 1990, Davis died in his home at age 64.
But problems in the relationship were developing. Deana started to feel that Jerry was taking control over their work, and began talking about going solo again. Jerry, who still idolized Dean, felt shocked and betrayed, and before long, tensions reached the boiling point and they stopped speaking altogether.
Leonard Barr was a comic and eccentric dancer who was famous for truly being Dean Martin's uncle, as he was the brother of Dino's mother, Angela Crocetti (née Barra).
Francis Albert Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915, in a tenement at 415 Monroe Street in Hoboken, New Jersey, the only child of Italian immigrants Natalina "Dolly" Garaventa and Antonino Martino "Marty" Sinatra, who boxed under the name Marty O'Brien.
