Saturday, May 27, 2023

Venus Meets Volare

 " Venus meets Volare." Remembering Frankie Avalon on the Dean Martin Show. My dad said Frankie Avalon, Bobby Rydell, Fabian Forte, Bobby Darin, Vic Damone, Johnny Desmond, Johnny Rivers all came from the same Italian roots as Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. Avalon, Darin and Rydell, were the second coming. Not sure if they knew it. Back in the late 60's, decked out in our NBC Page Blazers, Bill Woodley and I, were on a lunch break at Bob's Big Boy on Riverside Drive, near NBC. The place was packed.

In walks Frankie Avalon and his family. I asked Frankie if he wanted to join us. "Sure." Next thing we're chatting, about his songs and pictures, eating Big Boy's. Brief encounters can leave a lasting impression. Fast forward, a few years ago, Frankie was sitting at Fortunes Restaurant, in Old Town Laquinta. I walked up to his table, introduced myself, reminded him about Bob's Big Boy, back in the day, plugged my NBC Palm Springs TV Show WiseGuysCooking. I asked him if he would do a cameo. Still waiting. Mr. "Hey Venus" shocked my wife when we left, "Goodbye Mike." Great Guy. I'm sure singing with Dino was a thrill, working with Dean was for us.

Thursday, May 25, 2023

Could have been A Contender!

 "I coulda been a contender!

" Greg Garrison Producer/Director of the Dean Martin Show stood out as an intimidating figure. Never get in his way!  One Sunday rehearsal Dean was in his dressing room taking care of business. Les Brown needed a sound check for "Welcome to My World," Garrison needed someone to block the shot and sing a few bars,  I knew I could do Dino's voice and sing the lyrics, Greg Garrison paused five seconds looked around the room, I caught his eye, almost raised my hand, thinking I could do this! Not so fast Mike, remember you're a Page, you're at the bottom of the food chain, and just for a "second,"  I pictured myself in Dean's chair singing his big hit. Just then producer/writer Lee Hale took the stage, my "second" came and went!!! My big chance for "stardom?" was history. 




Working on the "Dean Martin Show"  for two seasons could be summed up in five words, "YOU HAD TO BE THERE !" From my bedroom trying to "croon" like Dino back in my high school days (I wore my "Pretty Baby" album out!)  then standing next to Dean 10 years later, a dream came true for this kid from Chicago.   I know my mom  was listening with a smile on her face. Fast forward a decade later. I got her and my dad front row seats to "The Dean Martin Show."  Dean "winked" at them,  I'll never forget the look on their faces that Sunday afternoon. They were two proud Italians!

Monday, May 15, 2023

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!"

Thursday, May 11, 2023

The Dean Martin Show and George Burns

George Burns guests on The Dean Martin Show. From the hallway, alongside Studio 4, you could smell a cigar odor. Next thing you know George Burns was entering the Studio's double doors, walking arm and arm with two of Dino's beautiful chorus girls.
You thought you were at a coronation. We all stepped back. George immediately brought back memories of the old "Burns and Allen Show." He had a big smile while puffing his cigar and holding onto his beautiful escorts, You couldn't help but smile. A short guy but he stood out like a giant! He was an icon. George Burns, the consummate comedian was ready for his rehearsal sketch. He was everyone's favorite uncle. I don't remember Dean's late morning rehearsal with George, but when they taped the show, and mangled lines on the cue cards we knew you were in the presence of greatness! DeanMartinBlog.com (No Ads)

Monday, May 8, 2023

John Roland and the Dean Martin Show

John Roland and the Dean Martin Show. Is it wrong for one man to love another man? I'm not gay but I loved John (Ginger) Roland. John Ginger was an SAE from Long Beach State I was a Sigma Chi we were good friends. After graduating John told me he landed a job at KNBC Los Angeles, I pestered him for months. "John, please set me up with an interview at NBC."
After months of hounding I got a call, "Mike I've set up an interview with Stan Zieve who handles the film crews for KNBC. Do you know how to ride a motorcycle?" I lied, and said yes! The next day I drove to NBC Burbank, interviewed for a messenger job, which entailed driving the freeways to LAX, picking up Viet Nam footage from a stewardess off a United 747 that just arrived from Hong Kong, back on the freeway, cycle it back to Burbank where it was edited and packaged to air on the 6pm News. That never happened. My first test ride on a Harley in the back lot with the "King of Messengers," Duffy, turned out to be a disaster. I'm in my coat and tie, riding a motorbike for the first time, ever, and crashing it in the back lot, hitting parked cars that belonged to KNBC reporters and anchormen. Stan Zieve gave me a reprieve, and set me up with an interview in Guest Relations, I was anointed with an NBC Page Blazer, and my first assignment was working on the Dean Martin Show. John Roland passed away last weekend in Florida. John RIP, you'll always be in my memories. I love you Bro!

Saturday, May 6, 2023

The Dean Martin Show. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Eddie Fisher." I always thought Eddie Fisher was Italian. My mom bought Eddie's Album with his hit record "Oh My Papa."
Was it any wonder, he looked Italian, sounded Italian, and that was a good thing, when I was about 10 years old back in Chicago. Fast forward, to Dino's first show I worked on. Standing next to me ready to make a guest appearance was none-other than Eddie Fisher. We were in a commercial break, Dean looked over at us alongside the partition that hid his guests, Dino saw Eddie looked at me and said, (NO OFFENCE,) "What's that little Jew doing here?" Kidding of course!!!! Eddie nudges me and cracks up! Greg Garrison's voice bellows from the control room. "Ready Dean? and action!"

Wednesday, May 3, 2023

Dean Martin and Buddy Ebsen

Like Dean Martin, Buddy Ebsen was a song and dance man. Ever since Davy Crokett's sidekick days, he's been a hero to my generation. Buddy did a guest appearance on the Dean Martin Show, and both he and Dino "wowed" the audience with their singing and dancing. A few years later, after NBC, I attended a business meeting in Long Beach, and Buddy was the guest speaker. We sat at the same table and we
talked about his old day's working for Disney, then the Beverly Hillbillies. and his appearance on Dino's Show. He laughed when I told him he and Fess Parker had to be the inspiration for Don "Sonny" Crockett and Michael "Rico" Tubbs, the detectives on Miami Vice. "Beautiful Downtown Burbank," and NBC were very good to me.

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Gaetano Crochetti-Dino's Dad NBC Tour

It was the spring of 1967 and we had just finished the Sunday mid morning rehearsal for the Dean Martin Show. Greg Garrison asked me if I could walk Dino's dad, Gaetano, around the building and show him the different studio's. 
I introduced myself to Guy, he was decked out in a black tux, butterfly black bow tie, Dean's double but about 30 years older. I learned some Italian from my folks when I was younger, made him laugh when I told him I sounded like a "Gidrul." We spent an hour peeking in and out of rehearsal halls and studio's. We walked back to Dean's dressing room, two proud Italians, one from the old country and the other on top of the world. Gaetano Crochetti passed away later that year.

Mike Colonna Blogspot Open Intro

Saturday, April 15, 2023

Dino Imperonators

Dino's Girls

Dean Martin's favorite gals!

"The Boss Speaks!"

We hear Greg Garrison's voice from the control booth, after a commercial break, stage manager Bob Graner takes his cue, "action." Dean's standing at the library door, Ken Lane's sitting behind the piano, "the grand entrance,"
Dean hops on the piano, Les Brown's music fades, Kenny begins to play, Dino sings, "I didn't know what time it was, I drank my watch!" Lot's of fun back in the mid 60's working as an NBC Page in "beautiful downtown Burbank!"

The "Crooner"

Working on the "Dean Martin Show" for two seasons could be summed up in five words, "YOU HAD TO BE THERE !"
From my bedroom trying to "croon" like Dino back in my high school days (I wore my "Pretty Baby" album out!) then standing next to Dean 10 years later, a dream came true for this kid from Chicago. I know my mom was listening with a smile on her face. Fast forward a decade later. I got her and my dad front row seats to "The Dean Martin Show." Dean "winked" at them, I'll never forget the proud look on their faces that Sunday afternoon. They were two proud Italians!

"Contender"

"I coulda been a contender!" Greg Garrison Producer/Director of the Dean Martin Show stood out as an intimidating figure. Never get in his way!
One Sunday rehearsal Dean was in his dressing room taking care of business. Les Brown needed a sound check for "Welcome to My World," Garrison needed someone to block the shot and sing a few bars, I knew I could do Dino's voice and sing the lyrics, Greg Garrison paused five seconds looked around the room, I caught his eye, almost raised my hand, thinking I could do this! Not so fast Mike, remember you're a Page, you're at the bottom of the food chain, and just for a "second," I pictured myself in Dean's chair singing his big hit. Just then producer/writer Lee Hale took the stage, my "second" came and went!!! My big chance for "stardom?" was history. DeanMartinBlog.com (No Ads)

Monday, April 10, 2023

Mike Colonna Blogcast Chuck Norris Ep 11

Mike Clolonna Blogcast Greg Garrison Ep 9

Mike Colonna Blogcast John Morris Ep 6

Mike Colonna Blogcast Chuck Gabrielle Ep 4

Mike Colonna Blogcast Dino Lived Here Ep 3

Mike Colonna Blogcast "Dino Impersonators" Ep 2

Mike Colonna Blog "Dino Tribute" Ep 1

The Control Room on the Dean Martin Show

We hear Greg Garrison's voice from the control booth, after a commercial break, stage manager Bob Graner takes his cue, "action." Dean's standing at the library door, Ken Lane's sitting behind the piano, "the grand entrance," Dean hops on the piano, Les Brown's music fades, Kenny begins to play, Dino sings, "I didn't know what time it was, I drank my watch!" Lot's of fun back in the mid 60's working as an NBC Page in "beautiful downtown Burbank!"

Everything Dean Martin

Working on the "Dean Martin Show"  for two seasons could be summed up in five words, "YOU HAD TO BE THERE !" From my bedroom trying to "croon" like Dino back in my high school days (I wore my "Pretty Baby" album out!)  then standing next to Dean 10 years later, a dream came true for this kid from Chicago.   I know my mom  was listening with a smile on her face. Fast forward a decade later. I got her and my dad front row seats to "The Dean Martin Show."  Dean "winked" at them,  I'll never forget the look on their faces that Sunday afternoon. They were two proud Italians!

Friday, March 17, 2023

Dean Martin Blogcast

Dean Martin Lived Here.

I want one of these!!!!!

Dino's Lodge

Vintage Los Angeles: What Ever Happened to Dino’s Lounge? In the summer of 1958, Dean Martin and his business partner, Maury Samuels, opened a restaurant on Sunset Boulevard. Here’s what happened after that By Alison Martino -November 15, 2013 
Patrons at Dino’s Lodge Back in High School my pal Johnny Gillette ventured up to Hollwyood to visit "hot spots" we had heard and read about, Dino's Lodge was at the top of our list! Take a look at the prices on this original Dino’s Lodge Menu. The quote at the bottom sums it all up. I’ve have been lucky enough to track down these very rare collectibles through the years. Now all I have to do is dump some Dino’s Lodge soil into one of those ashtrays…
The razed site of Dino’s Lodge Remember the L.A.-based private eye series 77 Sunset Strip? The 1950s show was filmed entirely on the Warner Brothers lot, but the opening 30-second sequence was filmed in front of Dino’s Lodge, located at 8524 Sunset Boulevard. In the summer of 1958, Dean Martin and his business partner, Maury Samuels, bought a former restaurant called The Alpine Lodge. They hired Dean’s brother, Bill, to manage the place, and immediately renamed it Dino’s Lodge. Out front they placed an enormous neon sign featuring Dean Martin’s handsome face and it became one of Hollywood’s campiest novelties. The “suit and tie” jazz joint was instantly hip, serving home-style Italian cuisine, steaks, and breakfast until 4 a.m. 
The interior included dark wood paneling and comfortable leather booths meant to replicate Martin’s personal den. Continuous entertainment was provided in a separate cocktail lounge that promoted female singers—perhaps ole Dino didn’t want any male competition—but by 1960, he had flown the coop for the Sands in Las Vegas and sold the restaurant to new owners who kept the name and neon sign for 27 additional years. Visitors flocked to the restaurant in hopes of getting a glimpse of Dino, but his neon face is as close as they got. By the early ’70s, the swanky restaurant that had once hosted parties for Frank Sinatra and Elizabeth Taylor descended into a tourist trap and was abandoned by its celebrity clientele. During the Miami Vice era, the block on which the restaurant sat suffered a devastating makeover. 
What was left of Dino’s Lodge, the Tiffany Theatre, North Beach Leather, and the 1960s dance club the Sea Witch were all stuccoed over, leaving them unrecognizable, then replaced with bland looking offices. A 77 SUNSET STRIP dedication was later engraved on the sidewalk in front of the original entrance to Dino’s. This September, the entire block was demolished to make way for a massive development. I’m not sure if the plaque will survive, but the new parking attendants should carry a comb in their back pocket in honor of Ed “Kookie” Byrnes. All photographs courtesy Alison Martino Collection

Thursday, March 16, 2023

Dino Show Credits

Joey Heatherton 101 Dean Martin and Joey Heatherton Medley

Dino Knocks off The Beatles!

Dean Martin- "I'm gonna knock your pallies off the charts!" Ricci Martin, Dean's son, back in 1964 was a Beatles freak. As were we all. As a Long Beach State Sigma Chi, Beatles records kept us dancing at every Sig Party. That August, Dino, who hadn't had a hit record in years, "kicked" the Beatles out of Billboards #1 spot with "Everybody Loves Somebody." Fast forward, in 1980 my "pallies" and I traveled to the Monaco Grand Prix. The late Whitey Littlefield, (Sinatra's Budweiser go to guy), Johnny 'Smooth" Morris, (owner of Legends and now The Boathouse Restaurant in Long Beach) Bruce Hershey and I were invited to spend the afternoon with George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Dean's name never came up, but there we were, with two of the Beatles "that played second fiddle" to "The King of Cool!" We BS'd all afternoon. You would have loved being a fly on the wall. Ringo did not want pictures taken but Hershey snuck out and took one anyway. You can see his image on the yacht door. Guess you can say "Memories Were Made Of This!"

Saturday, March 11, 2023

Dean Martin Show Intro (1)

A Short Tour of NBC Burbank "This Could Be the Start of Something Big"

The Golddiggers.

It was 1968, Greg Garrison, Producer/Director of the Dean Martin Show, came up with a "wild idea." "Let's get a small chorus line of singers and dancers to showcase all of Dean's talents." A small ad in Daily Variety that read, along the lines, "Looking for talented female singers and dancers to audition for the "The Dean Martin Show." Not exactly word for word, the tryout day was posted. On my drive to the studio from Belmont Shore, Long Beach, my usual 35 minute drive on three different freeways doing 80 in my VW Bug, I arrive at NBC. Low and behold, wrapped around the entire block were females of all ages. Dancers, Singers, you name it. Ready for their "Auditions" with the producers of  The Dean Martin Show. Months later, viewers were treated to the birth of the "Golddiggers!" DeanMartinBlog.comMike Colonna

Saturday, March 4, 2023

Stan Zieve

Stan Zieve, what can I say, he hired me as an NBC Messenger, back in the day. I smashed up one of his prize motorbikes, the first day, in the back lot after I "fibbed" telling him I knew how to ride a motorcycle. He kept me on got me a job as an NBC Page. I spent 7 great years in Guest Relations and NBC News. Prayers are in order. RIP

The "Schnoz"

Afternoon's were crazy around NBC Studio's in Burbank during the late 60's. One day Perry Como's strolling down the hall. James Garner walks through the Artist Entrace looking for his dressing room on the Carson Show, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Roger Miller and all of the "Zany" Laugh In stars politely wave as they search for their dressing rooms. Never a dull moment. One afternoon I was leading a tour past the Carson and Let's Make a Deal studios, we stopped midway and opened up one of the rehearsal halls on our left, sitting alone behind a piano in the back of the room, was the one and only Jimmy Dirante. He waved to the group, they were thrilled. Legendary moments as an NBC Page in Burbank. "S
chnoz"

Swingin Country

Thinking about my old NBC Burbank Page days. One of the first shows we worked on..."Swingin Country." Molly Bee, Rusty Draper, Roy Clark. Late 60's!

Raquel

She was beautiful. Before the Carson Show, standing next to her when I was an NBC Page, I knew she was someone special. Original Airdate: 06/19/1968 Johnny Carson

"You Don't Say

Back in late 60's my NBC Page pal Bob Gould, Jim Overman and I worked on this "fab show!" We loved being a part of it.

Elke Sommer

First day on the job as an NBC Page in "Beautiful Downtown Burbank" behind the Artist Entrance Counter, this beautiful actress with no make up, a scarf wrapped around her head, asked me where her dressing room was for the Carson Show. Elke Sommer

I Gotta Be Me....Sammy

"I gotta be me..."  It was a Thursday night. Sammy Davis Jr. walked through the "Artist Entrance" looking for Dean.   The Artist Entry  lot was private parking for NBC star's and guests..  All the big stars from the "Golden Age of Television," Dino, Hope, Benny, Berle  passed through the AE's hallowed doors on their way to their dressing rooms.  It's early evening and Sammy walks in, top hat, tan suit, cane, dapper as ever.  I'm  behind the Artist Entrance desk. He checks out my name tag, "Hey Mike, how do I get to Dean's dressing room?" I figured we were on a first name basis,  I said, 'Sammy, Dean tapes on Sunday's. His show's on national TV later tonight, he's not here. " He was embarrassed,  "I knew that." He gave me a big smile, spun around, and walked out through the AE doors. I'll never forget, "The Candy Man."

NBC Page Stuff

Standing next to Dino was quite a feat. My dad always said, "act like you own the place." That I did. Instead of ushering audiences outside of NBC I tried my best to get "close and personal" w/as many "big stars" as possible during my days as an NBC Page. Sneaky, you bet! BS'ing with the 2000 year old man Mel Brooks, and Carl Reiner during a break in rehearsal for the Colgate Comedy Hour, but my biggest claim to fame was working my way next to my childhood idol, the "King of Cool," for two seasons. Lot's of stories to tell. DeanMartinBlog.com

Bob Hope Comedy Specials

In the late 60's, Bob Hope was rehearsing for a Chrysler Comedy Special, during a break I strolled past a group of at least a dozen comedians. They were laughing their "tushes" off. Don Adams, Jonathan Winters, Dom Deluise, Flip Wilson, George Gobel, Sid Caesar, Red Buttons, Jack Carter, Shelley Berman, Buddy Hackett, Nipsey Russell, Shecky Greene, Jack E. Leonard, and this little guy they had surrounded was picking off each one of them with hilarious insults. It was another legendary moment during my NBC Page days. DeanMartinBlog.com See less

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Dean Martin Specials

EXCLUSIVE: Move over, Steve McQueen, there is a new “king of cool” in town. You might recall the excellent 1998 documentary titled Steve McQueen: The King of Cool. Well, now a similar name has been awarded to none other than Dean Martin, the subject of a comprehensive and compelling new docu premiering November 19 on Turner Classic Movies, preceded by its world premiere November 14 as part of the program for DOC NYC at the SVA Theatre in New York City. “Cool” defines Martin in every sense of the word.
TCM will not only be hosting the broadcast premiere of Dean Martin: King of Cool but also a film retrospective as a companion to this long-in-the-works look at the talent and mystery of the legendary entertainer, who died at age 78 on Christmas Day 1995 but has never really gone away thanks to an iconic career that covered uncanny success in movies, TV, music, nightclubs and just about anything he touched. Although through archival and previously unseen footage and rare performance clips, King of Cool exhaustively covers every aspect of his personal and professional life since being born Dino Paul Crocetti in Steubenville, Ohio on June 7, 1917, the big takeaway is that even those closest to him including his family never really knew him. It is a fascinating premise on which to hang a nearly two-hour examination of the life of this beloved entertainer, and that makes it unique in the canon of showbiz bio-docs.
RELATED STORY Friday, November 19 8 p.m. – King of Cool (2021) – Documentary telling the story of actor and singer Dean Martin through film clips, photographs and interviews with family, friends and colleagues. 9:30 p.m. – The Caddy (1953) – A master golfer suffering from performance anxiety caddies for a man he’s taught everything. 11:15 p.m. – Rio Bravo (1959) – A sheriff enlists a drunk, a kid and an old man to help him fight off a ruthless cattle baron. Friday, November 26 8 p.m. – Ocean’s 11 (1960) – A group of friends plot to rob a Las Vegas casino. 10:15 p.m. – Robin and the Seven Hoods (1964) – A Chicago gangster stumbles into philanthropic work during a gang war. 12:30 a.m. – King of Cool (2021) – Documentary telling the story of actor and singer Dean Martin through film clips, photographs and interviews with family, friends and colleagues.

Friday, December 2, 2022

The "Incomparable" Floyd was a fixture at NBC Burbank's Artist Entrance.

A Legendary figure as you walked into NBC Burbank's artist entrance was Floyd. He made "shoe shinning" famous. His booth was a few feet from our greeting area, we loved the guy. You know he was "the man," when he appeared on the Johnny Carson Show and talked about his most famous clients. One of a kind.

Dean Martin's ABANDONED Palm Springs Home Hideaway The Rat Pack Scott Mi...

Come inside the bright $1.8 million Palm Springs home where Dean Martin ...

Thursday, July 28, 2022

Jay Regas meets Dean.

7/18/21, 7:43 PM Jay Jay Regas During the early 50s I was a street urchin selling newspapers on Reno’s casino row at two in the mornings and one of the joints I would hustle papers was owned by Sam Sarlo. Sam had grown up with and delt craps with Dean Martin in Steubenville, Ohio. Steubenville was a gaming and prostitution Mecca before the War and after the war gambling and bordellos were closed in those communities tolerating vices. Like Forth Worth, Texas; Butte, Montana; Fort Smith, Arkansas; Anchorage, Alaska; Chicago, New York, and Steubenville the gamblers headed to Nevada.
They give credit to Bugsy Siegal for bringing gambling to Las Vegas, but the credit must be given to Willis Carrier the inventor of air conditioning because after the war Las Vegas was a hot dust bowl and the gambling in Nevada was at Reno. Sam had opened a small poker room and bar in an alley behind Harolds Club and took a liking to me hustling papers in his joint. After high school I opened a sign business and Sam who was developing his poker room and bar into a small casino became a customer.
I took a different direction and became a burglar and had a lot of time to play golf. I gained a reputation put out by law enforcement as being the most sophisticated and notorious burglar and safe cracker in eleven western states, Mexico, and Canada and at the time I had never been to Mexico, and I was selling swag to Sam. One May 1969 afternoon my father had a long lunch with the county sheriff who told dad they were going to kill me because they could not catch me. Of course, they could not catch me I was not doing anything in Reno. It scared the hell out of my father, and he asked me to move to Las Vegas and go to work for an uncle who was a major builder. My uncle was developing the International Country Club (today’s Las Vegas Country Club) golf course and the dwellings around the course. I went to work for the interior decorator. We were decorating condominiums, cluster homes, homes, modules on the ground for a high rise and the club house.
I was on the putting green and the pro put me in a threesome with Dean, Don Cherry who was singing in one of the casino lounges and Joe Snow whose dad ran the baccarat game a Cesar’s. At the time I was doing some skimming for some Steubenville operators at Cesar’s taking money off a roulette table. I was in the cart with Joe, and we got separated and Dean picked me up. He seemed like a cold fish, but I told him I had an acquaintance in Reno who says you and he were close in Steubenville. He said snarly: “Who’s that?” I told him Sam Sarlo and his demeanor changed and began to question me about Sam. Asked me if I could get ahold of him. Dean must have been feeling nostalgic. When we got to the club house, we went into the pro’s office and phoned Sam. They talked for an hour or so. After the call he told me they were playing tomorrow, and he asked if I could join them. We played regularly from June to November. One day he asked me if I listened to his music. I told: “Hell no… I listen to Sinatra.” A couple of days later he gave me an embossed, autographed, and numbered album of “A Man and His Music” with a: “Here asshole.” I never saw him drink anything but Iced Tea or V8 Juice even at the floor shows I attended at the Sahara. He was off-the-wall funny.
I was living in the gated community of the International Country Club and one early November day there was a knock on the door. It was the Clark County undersheriff with an open warrant for burglary. Cost me $200 on a $2,000 bond and I was not able to find any specifics. A couple weeks later same thing and a couple weeks later when we were at the booking desk, I asked how long this was going to go on? He reached under the counter and brought up a stack of booking slips and said: “Until I run our of booking slips or you run out of bail money.” I moved back to Reno and never heard or saw Dean again.

Saturday, January 1, 2022

The Original "Rat Pack."

THE ORIGINAL RAT PACK By Max Rudin In 1960, an unlikely group of entertainers, all loosely gathered around Frank Sinatra, went to Las Vegas to shoot a movie and do two nightclub shows each evening, spending most of the hours in between at all-night parties. Billed, with intentional swagger, as “the Summit” (a reference to the coming conference of Eisenhower, de Gaulle, and Khrushchev), their stage act took off like a rocket, its momentum carrying them beyond the three-week club date into movie and record and business deals, reprises in Miami, Atlantic City, and Palm Springs — power and influence unusual even for movie stars. 
The Rat Pack announced that a new generation was laying claim to American tradition and to the right to define American Cool: one black, one Jew, two Italians, and one feckless Hollywoodized Brit, three of them second-generation immigrants, four raised during the Depression in ethnic city neighborhoods. Successful, self-assured, casual, occasionally vulgar, they were sign and symptom of what the war had done to the American WASP class system. The Rat Pack were more than entertainers, and the Summit was more than a stage act. It was a giddy version of multiethnic American democracy in which class was replaced by “class.” Sinatra and Martin and the Rat Pack exuded machismo and danger, a style lent authority by their known associations with powerful and violent men. Postwar Americans had learned to take their popular culture spiked with a touch of risk, and Sinatra had molded his adult image on the sensitive tough guys portrayed in the movies by Humphrey Bogart. Bogart in fact is central to Rat Pack history. In 1949 Sinatra had moved his family from L.A.’s Toluca Lake to Holmby Hills, just blocks from Bogart’s house, and the Hollywood rookie was inducted into a group of the film star’s drinking buddies. 
The story goes that when Bogart’s wife, Lauren Bacall, saw the drunken crew all together in the casino, she told them, “You look like a goddamn rat pack.” Sinatra liked having people around him, and after Bogart died in 1957, he assembled his own court. Joey Bishop, who grew up Joseph Gottlieb in South Philadelphia, the son of a bicycle repairman, was known as the Frown Prince of Comedy for his world-weary style. Singing with the Dorsey band in 1941, Frank had befriended the aspiring dancer, Sammy Davis, Jr., then part of the Will Mastin Trio; they reconnected after Sammy was discharged from the army, Dean Martin had come up as a singer very much in Sinatra’s mold. By the early fifties, the fellow Capitol recording artists had grown close, and they sealed their friendship in 1958 on the set of Some Came Running, which also featured the future Rat Packette Shirley MacLaine. In January 1959 Sinatra joined Martin for the first time on the stage of the Sands, setting the tone and format for the Rat Pack shows. Variety reported: “Frank Sinatra joined his Great & Good friend [Dean Martin] onstage, and the pair put on one of the best shows ever seen at the Sands.” It was a good thing, for the Sands, for Las Vegas, for the people whose money built all those modernistic hotels. Earlier that month Fidel Castro had marched into Havana and seized casinos that earned the mob millions annually. 
The pressure was now on Las Vegas, where the mob-with financing courtesy of the Teamsters Central States Pension Fund-had in the course of the 1950s invested in such new hotels as the Fremont and the Dunes. The Sands was the classiest, and it offered incentives to hold on to top talent. In 1958 Sinatra’s percentage in the hotel and casino was raised from two to nine points, and Dean Martin was sold a point. With Davis and Bishop already signed to long-term contracts, the Sands was the de facto home of the Rat Pack well before the Summit. The fifth member of the Pack, suave, London-born Peter Lawford, was an actor and entertainer who had landed a contract with MGM when he was twenty but never broke into serious leading roles. 
By the late fifties he wasn’t doing much, but he had other assets — his wife was Jack Kennedy’s sister Pat. Sinatra clearly relished the Kennedy connection; his Rat Pack nickname for Peter was Brother-in-Lawford. The Sands entertainment director agreed to a format for the Summit that fitted its improvisatory informality. For two shows each evening, at least one, perhaps two or three or four, sometimes all five entertainers, would appear on the Copa Room’s stage. Although February was traditionally a slow month, the hotel received eighteen thousand reservation requests for its two hundred rooms. Word traveled fast about the Summit’s wildness-hijinks partially scripted and anchored by the emcee, Bishop, whom Sinatra called “the hub of the big wheel.” Between star turns by Martin, Davis, and Sinatra, and dance numbers with Davis and Lawford, they wandered off to the wings, parodied each other, did impressions, and poured drinks from a bar cart they rolled onstage. They performed together, drank together, hung out together, and the press couldn’t get enough of them. At first they were called the Clan, over heavy protests. Sinatra said, “It’s just a bunch of millionaires with common interests who get together to have a little fun.” Bishop frowned: “Clan, Clan, Clan! I’m sick and tired of hearing things about the Clan. Just because a few of us guys get together once a week with sheets over our heads…” Sammy Davis, straight-faced: “Would I belong to an organization known as the Clan?”
The Rat Pack is remembered for their style, their irreverent humor, their boozy and fleshy private lives, and their leader’s occasional thuggish arrogance. But in their time they meant something else too, something that had everything to do with the expectations and aspirations of their audience. The key was ethnicity and the special role it played in postwar America. The Rat Pack show, unlike pre-war entertainment, featured — even flaunted — race and ethnicity. Bishop, dressed as a Jewish waiter, warns the two Italians to watch out “because I got my own group, the Matzia.” The night JFK showed up ringside, Dean picked Sammy up in his arms and held him out to the candidate: “Here. This award just came for you from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.” Sammy: “I’m colored, Jewish, and Puerto Rican. When I move into a neighborhood, I wipe it out.” The act worked because each of them projected a different attitude toward aspiration and its success: Frank was the embodiment of slum kid become American classic; the others were foils. Dean, with what Variety called his “somebody wrote this song so I might as well sing it” attitude, suggested to the audience that the whole American success thing was a racket. Joey warded off envy with classic Jewish self-deprecating irony. Sammy, with his heartbreakingly perfect accent, turned every number into a drama of aspiration, giving everything to win over the audience, to have it accept and love him despite his race; the message was about overcoming odds. And Peter was the ultimate foil: he stood for the elegant but desiccated Anglophilic WASP culture whose day was over. 
For ethnic Americans, the Rat Pack looked both back to the past and forward to the future, offering at once reassurance and exhilaration: a past of the guys on the block, coming up the hard way, ethnic jokes and attitudes; a future of complete assimilation, wealth, swinging fun, and acceptance — the giddy, disorienting flight to American success. There’s irony in the fact that the Rat Pack, like the cocktail and the cigar, has lately been taken up as an emblem of a new political incorrectness. The drinking, the smoking, the swinging insouciance seem like a vacation from the economic and political pressures of nineties America. But there is more to the Rat Pack than adolescent swagger, more even than the sharp-edged dash of their masculine style, though they had plenty of both. For a few short years America’s greatest entertainers kidded and sang their way through our last cultural consensus. Max Rudin is the publisher of The Library of America. This excerpt is from “The Rat Pack,” an essay in Las Vegas: An Unconventional History (2005), a companion to the film. A longer version of “The Rat Pack” appeared as “Fly Me to the Moon: Reflections on The Rat Pack,” the cover story in the December 1998 issue of American Heritage.

Monday, November 1, 2021

One liners were Dean's forte. Great show to work on!

Dean, expect the unexpected!

"What was fun working on Dean's Show was you always expected to hear the unexpected. I'd love to get you On a slow boat to China"

Saturday, October 23, 2021

Dean Martin - "S'posin'" - LIVE

All eyes on Dean, he hops on the piano, sings "You made me love you, you woke me up to do it," Audience cracks up... Dean Sprinkles his cigarette ashes on Kenny Lane's right shoulder "Now You're a General." Walks over to the "Gouch." "King of Cool takes over." DeanMartinBlog.com https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POWm8ryqGIk&t=22s

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

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, September 19, 2021

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."

Friday, September 10, 2021

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!

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

A funny Dean Martin moment. I was sitting in my chair watching the news a few days ago. As fate would have it, I lifted my right bottom and yes I "broke wind." Yes you read that right. It immediately reminded me of Dino story. It was a busy Sunday on the Dean Martin set during an afternoon taping in the late 60's. Dean did a short monologue then finished singing "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You," then we went to a commercial. I was standing within a few feet of Dean with the cue card and makeup guy, Dean scooted up on his bar stool, we heard "squeak," Dino "cut one." I looked at the cue card guy, and the makeup guy, they looked at me, then I looked at Dean, and he winked. "The King of Cool" and the three of us "burst in laughter." "Let's have a Vino for Dino!"