Martin Dean
b. Dino Paul Crocetti, 7 June 1917, Steubenville, Ohio, USA, d. 25 December 1995, Beverly Hills, California, USA. An extremely popular ballad singer and light comedian with a relaxed and easy style, who developed into an accomplished dramatic actor. After leaving school in the tenth grade, he worked as a shoe-shine boy and a gas station attendant before becoming an ‘amateur’ welterweight boxer, ‘Kid Crochet’, earning 10 dollars a fight. When he retired from the boxing arena, he became a croupier at a local casino. His first singing job is said to have been with the Sammy Watkins band in 1941, when he was initially billed as Dino Martini, but the name was soon changed to Dean Martin. His earliest recordings were for the Diamond label, and included ‘Which Way Did My Heart Go’/‘All Of Me’ and ‘I Got the Sun In The Morning’/‘The Sweetheart Of Sigma Chi’. He also recorded some tracks for the Apollo label, well known for its impressive roster of black talent. The Martin recordings included ‘Walkin’ My Baby Back Home’, ‘Oh Marie’, ‘Santa Lucia’, ‘Hold Me’, ‘Memory Lane’ and ‘Louise’. In 1946, Martin first worked with comedian ... ...
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