Meet the "Rat Pack."

They call me "Lucky." I stood next to Dean for two seasons working as an NBC Page. It was a thrill of a lifetime. I never shied away from meeting the great ones. Another "Rat Pack" moment was the Thursday night BS'ing with Sammy, the "Candy Man, at NBC's artist entrance. Sammy was looking for Dean, he was embarrassed when I told him he taped on Sunday's. No Dean. Then it was fate bumping into Frank and his entourage one night at NBC. A fleeting moment. He was visiting Mia Farrow during her NBC Special. And lastly, spending time with Joey Bishop, reminiscing about "The Rat Pack," during a Charity Golf Tournament in Huntington Beach in the early 90's. Yep, I'll always cherish the moments I shared with the legends I grew up to love as a kid. It paid to be an NBC Page in "Beautiful Downtown Burbank" during the golden years of Television. DeanMartinBlog.com (please no ads)

Short Dino Bio

Dean Martin was born Dino Paul Crocetti to Italian-American parents in the town of Steubenville, Ohio in 1917. His first language was Italian and didn’t learn how to speak English until the age of five. He dropped out of school at age 15 to become a boxer under the name “Kid Crochet.” At the same time he began to work with local bands, calling himself “Dino Martini” after the Metropolitan Opera tenor Nino Martini. In the early 1940s he began to sing for bandleader Sammy Watkins, who later asked Dino to change his name to “Dean Martin”. He worked for various bands in the early 1940s, while also performing in various nightclubs. Martin formed a friendship with Jerry Lewis and the act of Martin and Lewis eventually became an iconic comedy duo, and both eventually signed a deal with Paramount Pictures in 1949, for a radio show. The duo performed in many Hollywood films, but Martin and Lewis’s act eventually broke up in 1956, 10 years to the day of the first teaming. Martin found some success as a Hollywood actor, while keeping up his singing career at the same time. Martin, along with other famous singers, such as Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr., formed the The Rat Pack, they performed together while also appearing in movies, most famously Ocean’s 11. He later hosted many television shows, such as The Dean Martin Show, and The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast. Martin continued his career for some years and was married 3 times to 3 separate women. He was a heavy smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in September 1993, and died at the age of 78 in 1995 from acute respiratory failure resulting from emphysema.

Sunday's on the Dean Martin Show.

Watching Dean work back in 1966....working on his show was a breeze. He said..."I don't even breathe hard." "I go to the studio at 1 on Sunday afternoon and I'm out of there by nine. That's all there is to it."

Dean Martin, Peter Sellers, Dom DeLuise & Nipsey Russell - Barbershop Sk...

Dino

"So please meet me in the plaza near your casa I am only one, and one is much too few On an evening in Roma Don't know what the country's coming to But in Rome do as the Romans do Will you, on an evening in Roma."

Dom Deluise

"You're nobody till somebody loves you." Next to the women that idolized and loved Dean Martin, one man stands out that fell in the same category. Dom Deluise. He was Italian, proud of his heritage and loved being with Dean. Dom was as "Zany" on and off stage. He would kibitz with us during commercial breaks, and couldn't wait to do sketches with Dino. Since Dean wasn't a big fan of memorizing his lines, Dom would "ad lib" and the longer the skit, the more "off the wall" it became. They truly enjoyed each other's company. I was standing next to Dom before he did his entry, there was so much excitement on his face, I could feel the energy he was about to unleash on "old Dino." If the truth be told, Dom Deluise was one of Deans favorites. In my view, Dom would not have been as big a star without Dean's help. Two very funny men!

Dean Martin: Wine, Women and Song - documentary part 3 of 3

Dean Martin Interview at Wimbledon 1983