Mike Colonna Dean Martin Blog Carson on Dean "Drinking"

The Dean Martin Show. As Dean would say "I don't drink any more and I don't drink any less." During a Sunday taping Dean was sitting on stage holding a clear plastic cup. The cover story was the plastic cup was filled with apple juice. Right. Well, during a commercial break, Deans makeup guy, who usually held his drink, was not around. Before Stage Manager Bob Grenier showed Dean where his next mark was, I was close, so he hands me Deans drink. I've gotten lots of 'blowback" from folks over the years, "Dean only drank Apple Juice!" Well folks, I was afraid of getting caught sipping out of Deans cup, so I held it up to my nose, just to get a an idea of what this drinking mystery was all about. I took a "wiff, " Yikes! I could have swore it smelled like Jack Daniels and water. "I kid you not!" Dean returns to the stage, sits on his bar stool, I hand him back his drink. He smiles, winks while taking a sip. That was a memorable day. "Let's have a Vino for Dino!"