Dean Martin's Real Name: Dino Paul Crocetti

Quick answer: Dean Martin's documented original name is Dino Paul Crocetti. Encyclopaedia Britannica records that he was born on June 7, 1917, in Steubenville, Ohio, and that he died on December 25, 1995, in Beverly Hills, California. He was an American singer and actor, first famous as Jerry Lewis's comedy partner and later as a solo recording artist, film actor, and television host (Britannica).

Real name and early life

The Library of Congress heading is "Martin, Dean, 1917-1995," with the variant "Crocetti, Dino Paul, 1917-1995." Britannica lists him as also known as Dino Paul Crocetti, a form also used in Michael Freedland's Dino (1984), cited by the Library of Congress, which places the Steubenville birth in 1917. Britannica says that in his younger days Martin worked in steel mills, delivered bootleg liquor, was a prizefighter, and had a casino job. After appearing in local nightspots as a pop singer, he was hired by bandleader Sammy Watkins and began to tour.

Career highlights

During an Atlantic City engagement in 1946, Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis began clowning during each other's acts. The partnership, with Martin as the suave straight man, led them to Hollywood. They made 16 motion pictures together, beginning with My Friend Irma (1949) and ending with Hollywood or Bust (1956). After the split, Martin's solo career prospered. Hit songs included "That's Amore" (1953), "Memories Are Made of This" (1955), "Everybody Loves Somebody" (1964), and "Volare." He starred with Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift in The Young Lions (1958) and appeared with Frank Sinatra in Some Came Running (1958). Other praised films include Rio Bravo (1959), with John Wayne, Bells Are Ringing (1960), and Airport (1970). He joined Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr., in the so-called Rat Pack films Ocean's Eleven (1960), Sergeants 3 (1962), and Robin and the Seven Hoods (1964), and he starred as Matt Helm in a series of spy spoofs beginning with The Silencers (1966). The Dean Martin Show began an eight-year run in 1965 and was followed by The Dean Martin Comedy Hour (1973–74), a series of celebrity roasts he continued to host occasionally through 1984. Friends insisted that the onstage impression of intoxication was part of the act.

Death

Britannica records that Martin died on December 25, 1995, in Beverly Hills, California. A Washington Post obituary, cited by the Library of Congress, likewise places the death on December 25, 1995, in Beverly Hills, at age 78.

Name notes for searchers

Dino Paul Crocetti is the documented original name; he was known professionally as Dean Martin. Searchers looking for the Rat Pack singer or Jerry Lewis's former partner are usually aiming at the same person.