First Chapter "Before Dino Knew My Name."

BEFORE DINO KNEW MY NAME Chapter One — Pretty Baby Long before I ever stood backstage with Dean Martin, I knew his voice. I was a kid at St. Anthony High School in Long Beach when Dino was already part of the soundtrack of my life. My mother surprised me one day with his album Pretty Baby. I played those 33 RPM records until it seemed I might wear the grooves completely smooth. Back then Dean Martin belonged to another universe. Hollywood. Las Vegas. Movies. Television. I belonged to Long Beach. A decade later I would be standing only a few feet from him on The Dean Martin Show. Whenever I think about that journey, I think first about my mother. She bought the record. She couldn't possibly have known where it would lead. Neither could I.Sometimes the smallest gifts become the first page of a much larger story.

The Dean Martin Show Chapter Two "BEFORE DINO KNEW MY NAME" College, journalism, ambition and a phone call from my SAE pal John Roland eventually carried me to NBC in Burbank. NBC was a city within a city: studios, control rooms, wardrobe departments, artists’ entrances and Pages racing everywhere. Behind dressing-room doors were famous Hollywood stars. Becoming an NBC Page gave me the key to that world. The first Dean Martin Show I worked felt like a dream. While the other Pages supervised the audience outside, I finagled my way through the double doors of Studio 4. Inside dancers rehearsed, Les Brown’s musicians warmed up, stagehands moved scenery, the cue-card man arranged Dean’s lines, and producer-director Greg Garrison tried to impose order. In the middle of it all stood Dean—completely untouched by the commotion. I was about to witness what "Prime Time" really meant. His first guest, Eddie Fisher, stood beside me. Dean looked over, tossed out a mischievous ethnic wisecrack, about Fishers ethnicity, and the audience roared. It was my first taste of what the next two seasons would be like. "Let’s have a vino for Dino!"

The Dean Martin Show Chapter Three "BEFORE DINO KNEW MY NAME" The Dream La Famiglia was nearly empty that night in 1985. The last waiters moved softly between the tables, resetting silver and folding napkins with the quiet efficiency of people who had watched legends come and go. In the corner booth, the candles burned low. Dean Martin leaned back in that easy, familiar way of his, lifting a glass of real Jack Daniel’s—the amber catching the light the way the world never quite believed he did. I had always heard he ate alone here. The Late great Whitey Littlefield once told me as much, over beers. Sinatra had trusted him the Budweiser distributorship in Long Beach. “If you’d known,” Whitey said, “you could’ve sat down with him.” I never did. So sometimes I dream it instead. In the dream we stay late. The restaurant empties around us. I ask about the old show—the one that felt less like television and more like a long, loose party that somehow made it onto the air. Dean’s eyes warm. He starts talking about the guest stars, the friends, the unforgettable characters who drifted through those gold-curtained stages. The memories rise the way the liquor does in the glass: slow, golden, and still somehow bright after all these years. Two men, years apart, sharing a table at La Famiglia the way old friends do. Outside, Beverly Hills keeps its secrets. Inside, the candles keep flickering, and Dean keeps talking.

The Dean Martin Show

The Dean Martin Show. "You know...I slept like a baby last night, I woke up with a bottle in my mouth!" Let's have a Vino for Dino."

Dino

The Dean Martin Show. "I didn't know what time it was, I drank my watch." Let's have a Vino for Dino!"

Joe Scalissi

The Dean Martin Show. Deana Martin "I was sitting there while Joe was performing, I thought it was Dad…but it was Joe!" As someone who worked on The Dean Martin Show, my observation echoes that sentiment. Joe has "the moves, the looks, Dino's style," and "Dean's family loves him." Let's have a Vino for Joe and Dino!"

Fade In

The Dean Martin Show FADE IN: The famous NBC peacock appears. A full orchestra begins the unmistakable opening bars of.. "EVERYBODY LOVES SOMEBODY SOMETIME." Les Brown's orchestra swings. The audience erupts. Dean casually slides down the famous fireman's pole carrying a cigarette and a drink, He moves to his stool, smiles...Dino Looks around...Takes a sip... The audience laughs before he even says a word. Thunderous applause." Thank you...thank you very much...Sit down before somebody gets hurt. What a crowd tonight! .......And so it went, one joke after another. " You know..."one of my best friends axesked me (looks at the cue card guy) there's a S in there pal, he asked me about Jeannie and me, I told him I may be married but I'm not a finatic about it. We've got a great show tonight, I hope I'm here to watch it...." "Let's have a Vino for Dino!"

"Raindrops"

The Dean Martin Show. Taking a trip from Kenny Lane's piano, past the famous celebrity door on his way to "Da Gouch!" Dino would tackle any song, as long as the cue card guy was standing 3 to 4 feet in front of him. We all stood in awe as he crooned, Those memories live on! "Let's have a Vino for Dino."

Broken Italian

The Dean Martin Show. Most of us grew up with parents from the “Old Country.” Italian was spoken in our homes nearly 80% of the time, so as kids we learned colorful expressions and the everyday language. Between my mother’s Sicilian heritage and my father’s Barese dialect, we could understand and speak just about everything. Like Dean, as we got older we lost some of it and forgot many of the words and phrases. Still, those roots never leave you. Dino muttered old phrases during bloopers, it was fun listening to his "mangled Italian. It's good to be Italian. "Let's have a Vino for Dino!"

"Vieni Su"

The Dean Martin Show. "Vieni su, vieni su, vieni, Come along through the years with me, Can't you see how I adore you, And how long I waited for you? Vieni su, vieni su, Won't you say you love me too?" One of my favorites. "Let's have a Vino for Dino!"

Tom Dreesen RIP

Tom Dreesen has passed. Back when the DC-8s ruled the skies, I boarded a flight from Chicago to Los Angeles and found myself seated next to Tom Dreesen. What started as a chance meeting turned into one of those unforgettable conversations that only happen once in a lifetime. We talked about Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, life on the road, and a few private stories that never made it into the headlines. I told Tom about my little comedy club in Belmont Shore, "The Comic Strip," he said he'd stop by someday. Most people make promises, Tom didn't. He showed up. Over the years, I had the pleasure of seeing him many times, including those classic nights when he opened for Sinatra. Watching him command a room with effortless timing and genuine warmth was something special. Talented, loyal, approachable, and always gracious. In an industry filled with larger-than-life personalities, Tom Dreesen stood out because he never forgot how to be real. Those were remarkable days, and the memories remain priceless.

Dino's Poem

The Cannoli Song.

The Dean Martin Show. "I CANNOLI give you love that lasts forever, And the promise to be near each time you call, And the only heart I own for you and you alone, That's all, that's all" "Let's have a Vino and Cannoli for Dino!"

Two Kings of Cool !

The Dean Martin Show — The Two Kings. Dino Paul Crocetti, the “King of Cool,” and Elvis Aaron Presley, the “King of Rock and Roll.” One night in 1968, just before the KNBC 11 p.m. news with Tom Brokaw and Ross Porter, I spotted a man in a black leather outfit at the old NBC apple machine, trying to figure out where the dime went. It was Elvis Presley — in the flesh. We talked a moment, and Elvis said he’d like to meet Tom Brokaw. I walked him over and introduced them. Then Elvis headed across the hall to Studio 4 for his NBC comeback special.I smiled and said, “Funny coincidence — that’s where we tape The Dean Martin Show on Sundays.” Elvis just grinned… and walked off to make television history. "Let’s have a Vino for Dino… and Elvis."

The Dean Martin Show - Dean and Frank together!

https://fb.watch/FlMZGtg9ew/

Mom, Dino, and Karma!

The Dean Martin Show. When I was a kid at good old St. Anthony High School in Long Beach, my world fit inside a record player. My favorite singer? Dean Martin. One afternoon my mom walked through the front door with a surprise under her arm — Dean Martin’s “Pretty Baby.” That album was gold. I played that 33 RPM record until ​i​t crackled and ​s​cratched and nearly gave up on me. I emulated Dean's voice and look. Got good at it. I knew every lyric, every pause, every wink you could hear in his voice. Dino was a singer. with smooth confidence. He was cool without trying. And who could have imagined… ten years later… I’d be standing just a few feet away from “The King of Cool” himself on The Dean Martin Show at NBC Burbank. Good Karma has a funny way of closing the circle. I owe that moment — that unbelievable moment — to my mom. She didn’t just buy me a record. She made a dream come true. "Let's have a Vino for Dino." DeanMartinBlog.BlogSpot.com

The Dean Martin Show. D​i​no was a true musical legend of the 20th century.​ He truly believed that "Everybody loves somebody sometime!"

Dean Martin - Frank Frank Sinatra. "Your Fabulous Face!"

The Dean Martin Show. Was it wrong for one man to love another man? There was no secret that Dean and Frank were considered "blood brothers" from the different mothers!" The fun started on closed set's when Frank and Dean got together. There was never a dull moment when these two were in studio!!! "Let's have a Vino for Dino and Frank!"

Dean and Golf!

The Dean Martin Show. Sundays were supposed to be a day of rest. Not for Dino. Blocking for The Dean Martin Show started early—around 9 a.m.—and by then Studio 4 at NBC Burbank already looked like a three-ring circus. Cameras gliding, lights climbing, sets shifting like chess pieces. Greg Garrison was Dean for the moment, standing in, calling marks, that only truly came alive when the real thing arrived. And then—right on cue—he did. In walked the "King of Cool." No rush. No fuss. Just that unmistakable Dean Martin stroll smoking a cigarette. We all assumed he’d come straight from the fairway—a quiet round with close pals. Frank or his agent Jim Mahoney. Dean sashayed in wearing golf clothes, relaxed, smiling, loose as a goose, ready to settle in for an eight-hour taping session like it was nothing more like playing than the back nine. No rehearsal jitters. No visible grind. Just Dean being Dean. And suddenly, what had been a technical exercise became a show. Golf in the morning. TV magic by night. For Dino, Sunday wasn’t a day off—it was just another perfect round. "Let's have a Vino for Dino!"

Dino will never be forgotten!

The Dean Martin Show — A true legend is never forgotten. The variety series aired on NBC for nine seasons, from September 16, 1965, to April 5, 1974, producing 264 episodes.​ If you were a friend of Dean or Greg Garrison you were part of this famous chapter in Dino's life. All of us that worked on The Dean Martin Show will never forget this once in a lifetime experience. "Let's Have a Vino For Dino!"

Dino Open/Close