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WPGB is a conservative talk radio station based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Owned by Clear Channel Communications, the station broadcasts at 104.7 MHz with an ERP of 13 kW. Its transmitter is located in Pittsburgh.

History: Beginnings as WPGH[link]

Though this station first signed on the air as 104.7 WYDD in 1967, its roots can be traced back to 1963 as 100.7 WPGH and under the ownership of Gateway Broadcasting Enterprises, which also owned New Kensington-licensed AM station WKPA (now WGBN). 100.7 was also (and still is) licensed to New Kensington.

Gateway owner Nelson L. Goldberg was interested in acquiring an improved FM signal with Pittsburgh market penetration. That opportunity presented itself in 1967, when a channel opened up for 104.7. To acquire the new signal, Goldberg had to spin off WPGH, which was purchased by Milton Hammond and moved to Millvale, where it was rechristened as big-band formatted WNUF-FM. That station is known today as WBZZ.

104.7 adopted the WPGH call letters, but they didn't stay around for long, as the station changed to a full-time jazz format and given the call letters WYDD, for "the 'WIDE' world of Pittsburgh", using an elongated globe as its logo. The station would then move to a more free-form rock format in the 1970s, and then a Top 40 format by the early 1980s, which it maintained under a variety of different monikers such as "Y-104", "Power 105" and then finally "Energy 105" (which brought the call letter change to WNRJ). One of the chief competitors between Top 40 station WBZZ (then known as B94, now as KDKA-FM) and AOR-formatted WDVE, WYDD maintained a fairly consistent lineup until its sale to Salem Communications in 1989, ending more than two decades of local ownership. During the final days of Gateway ownership, the station had adopted a new Top 40 format from WABC radio legend Rick Sklar and Program Director Tony Florentino. The change brought about the new slogan "Energy 105" and the call letters WNRQ. This format would only last about a year. Among the talent hired for the new Energy 105 was Mike Frazer, who remained in Pittsburgh and had been a part of WWSW (3WS) from 1990 until fall 2010.

WYDD had its main studio located along with WKPA in New Kensington since its beginnings, but maintained a separate sales office at Gateway Towers in Pittsburgh for many years. Following the finalized sale to Salem Communications, the call letters were switched to WEZE, shared by Salem's co-owned AM station in Boston, and an easy-listening format was adopted, with the intent to switch from that format to Christian talk once the ministry contracts could be obtained. The studios were then moved to Greentree borough, located in Pittsburgh's South Hills, to Seven Parkway Center, Suite 625, one floor below WLTJ. The tower site was then moved later that same year from Murray Hill Road in East Deer Township (which was half of WKPA's two-tower directional antenna array) to 750 Ivory Avenue, just off I-279 in Pittsburgh, the home of WPGH-TV Fox 53. The much higher tower location allowed a power reduction to 13 kW, but a coverage problem for the southern suburbs of Pittsburgh was finally alleviated.

After years of negotiations, the opportunity to purchase heritage Christian stations WPIT-AM/FM finally presented itself to Salem Communications. Salem purchased the station in 1993, and though now legally permitted to hold 104.7 (thanks to duopoly) in addition to WPIT-AM/FM, Salem chose to spin 104.7 off to Entertainment Communications (dba Entercom), licensee of WDSY-FM and the former WEEP-AM. WPIT-AM/FM's facilities were moved to Greentree, and 104.7's operations were moved to WPIT's longtime home in downtown Pittsburgh at Gateway Towers, where it was joined by WEEP and WDSY. Both stations would remain there for about five years, until all three stations were split off and sold to three different owners. Operations for 104.7 would move temporarily to One Allegheny Square in Pittsburgh, and then finally to 200 Fleet Street in Greentree.

The 104.7 frequency would see a few more formats such as active rock ("104.7 The Revolution"), country ("104.7 The Rebel"), smooth jazz ("Smooth Jazz 104.7") (with the WJJJ call letters instituted on June 28, 1996), and urban oldies ("Jammin' 104-7") before adopting its current talk format on January 2, 2004.

WPGB HD2[link]

On April 25, 2006, Clear Channel announced that WPGB's HD2 subchannel will carry a smooth jazz music format, which was a previous station format under the call letters WJJJ.

Sports[link]

On September 12, 2006, Clear Channel and the Pittsburgh Pirates announced a five-year agreement in which WPGB would become the "new radio broadcast and strategic promotional partner of the Pirates beginning with the 2007 (Major League Baseball) season." WPGB is the Pirates' flagship radio station, having replaced KDKA, which broadcast the first Major League Baseball game on radio (between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies) in 1921, and served as the Pirates' flagship station for 52 seasons (1955–2006). On July 6, 2010, the station was announced as the new home for the Duquesne Dukes men's basketball team.

The station also lost its partnership with the Pittsburgh Pirates after the 2011 season.

Programming[link]

The programming on WPGB is fairly standard for a Clear Channel station of its type, a regional morning show (itself simulcast on several stations throughout northern Appalachia and New England), followed by Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, with Michael Savage in the evening hours. Weekday newscasts are supplied by Cleveland station WTAM and Fox News Radio.

• Wall Street Journal in the Morning
• Quinn and Rose in the Morning
• The Glenn Beck Program
• Rush Limbaugh
• The Sean Hannity Show
• The Savage Nation - Michael Savage
• The Jerry Doyle Show
• Coast to Coast AM with George Noory

In addition, Glen Meakem hosts a program from 8-9:30am on Saturday mornings and 8-9:30am on Sunday mornings. The nationally syndicated radio program The Mutual Fund Show with Adam Bold airs on Saturday mornings.

External links[link]

• Official website
• Press Release related to the Pittsburgh Pirates deal
• Clear Channel Pittsburgh Announces Partnership With Duquesne University
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WPGB
• Radio-Locator information on WPGB
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WPGB

Coordinates: 40°28′20″N 79°59′40″W / 40.4723°N 79.9945°W / 40.4723; -79.9945

Jim Quinn
Jim Quinn MC'ing at a Pittsburgh Tax Day Tea Party
Born	February 26, 1943 New Jersey
Show	The War Room with Quinn and Rose
Station(s)	WPGB
Time slot	Weekdays, 6am to 9am EST
Country	USA
Website	www.Warroom.com

Jim Quinn (born February 26, 1943) is an American radio talk show host based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His program, The War Room with Quinn and Rose, is aired on 12 stations across the U.S. and is also heard on XM Satellite Radio Channel 166 from 6–9 a.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.

Disk jockey and novelty host[link]

Before beginning his political morning show, Quinn spent a number of years doing voiceover work for WPGH-TV 53 and as a disc jockey at KQV in the 1960s and 1970s, where he would befriend his eventual political mentor Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh worked at KQV and WIXZ/McKeesport, PA as a disc jockey under the name Jeff Christie.

Quinn is best remembered in the Pittsburgh area as the nighttime screamer on KQV radio in the 1960s, during the station's peak as a Top 40 power. Quinn was hired from WING/Dayton in 1967 and had an immediate impact on the market. In 1968, he jumped at an opportunity to take a job in Philadelphia, but was back at KQV in less than a year. He stayed until 1972, then spent time in New York City at WPIX-FM.^[1]

He then moved to Buffalo, New York where in the late 1970s he became known to listeners throughout the northeast on WWKB (WKBW-AM at the time), a 50,000 watt station that took requests from as far away as Norway.^[2] Quinn's final hour included a trivia game called "Stump The Audience," where the answers had been kept "in a sealed envelope on Funk and Wagnalls' doorstep since noon today." In an emotional farewell as he returned to Pittsburgh, Quinn said, "May I get lockjaw if I ever forget how much I appreciate the people who listen."

A Pittsburgh station, 13Q or WKTQ, lured him back in 1977 to capture the adults who had grown up listening to him on KQV. During his tenure at 13Q, Quinn issued a parody 45-record of the then Top 40 hit "Undercover Angel" entitled "Undercover Pothole"; the parody lamented the atrocious condition of Pittsburgh roads during that period of time. Quinn later moved to the midday slot at WTAE radio, an adult contemporary station in Pittsburgh, under the watch of General Manager, Ted Atkins ("Captain Showbiz"). In 1983, he became half of "The Quinn and Banana Show" on B-94 FM, which ran in Pittsburgh, PA, until 1993. Their format was bathroom humor. After a course of conduct, wherein they implied that News Director Liz Randolph was promiscuous, she sued the station and Quinn and Banana for defamation and sexual harassment. On Valentine's Day, 1990, Ms. Randolph won on all counts, and a jury awarded her $694,000. Three years later, his FM morning show was canceled. Quinn largely credits this lawsuit with "opening his eyes" and inducing his conversion to political conservatism.

Talk show host[link]

After Quinn's program was canceled on B-94, he adopted his current political talk format, a conservative talk radio program. John Lorinc, currently an anchor/editor at CNNRadio did news and traffic for Quinn's show from 1998 through 2000. The program was moved to WPGB radio in 2004 when that station adopted an all talk format.

Quinn claims to be a proponent of a constitutional government that adheres to the guiding principles of the nation's founders. He claims to champion a smaller federal government and free markets. He regularly equates modern Left Liberalism (not classical liberalism) with Marxism. He commonly refers to "Quinn's Laws," a collection of statements that sum up his world view, such as "Liberalism always generates the exact opposite of its stated intent" (i.e., the War on Poverty has led to even greater poverty)." ^[3] He also has many personal cliches he is fond of saying, such as "liberty is the solution to the human condition".

The show, broadcast with co-host Rose Somma Tennent (aka "Radio Rose"), is live weekdays from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. EST on certain affiliates and on XM Satellite Radio Channel 166; others replay the first hour after 9. It can be heard worldwide on the Internet via ^[4]

Quinn authored a so-called "liberal version" of The Ant and the Grasshopper in 1994.^[5]

References[link]

• WRRK morning host points to lawsuit as turning point in philosophy, career by Dmitri Vassilaros in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review

John Grabow
Free agent
Relief pitcher
Born: (1978-11-04) November 4, 1978 (age 33) Arcadia, California
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
MLB debut
September 14, 2003 for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Career statistics (through 2011 Season)
Win–loss record	24–19
Earned run average	4.31
Strikeouts	400
Teams
Pittsburgh Pirates (2003–2009) Chicago Cubs (2009–2011)

John William Grabow, nicknamed "Grabes"^[1] (born November 4, 1978, in Arcadia, California), is a Major League Baseball left-handed reliever.

Through 2009, he held opposing batters to a .218 batting average and a .293 slugging percentage when there were runners in scoring position.^[2] Also, from 2004–08, no lefty reliever in the National League made more appearances than Grabow. His 340 outings in that span ranked fourth in the majors.^[1]

Early life[link]

Grabow grew up a Giants and Dodgers fan, playing first base and emulating Will Clark.^[3] He graduated from San Gabriel High School in California in 1997, where he pitched and was a 3-year letterman in baseball and named all-CIF (California Interscholastic Federation), as well as the league's MVP as a senior. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 3rd round of the 1997 amateur draft.

Baseball career[link]

Minor leagues[link]

In 1998, Grabow suffered his most unusual injury when he went on the disabled list after being hit on the ear by a foul ball. He was sitting in the dugout and had just told somebody else, 'Heads up,' because the guy who was pitching "was throwing, like, 100 mph and it was a little, slappy leadoff hitter. Sure enough, the next pitch, he hit one into the dugout."^[1]

In 1999 Grabow led the Hickory Crawdads (A) in victories, starts, and innings pitched, and ranked third in the South Atlantic League in strikeouts with 164, in 156 innings.^[4]

Grabow matched the Altoona Curve record for career wins, with 24.^[5] Until 2003, he had pitched only 10 times in relief as a pro.^[6] That season Altoona manager Dale Sveum and pitching coach Jeff Andrews asked Grabow to make the switch, suggesting it might be a good career move.^[6] "I didn't know if it was a step backwards," Grabow said.^[6] But Grabow was then promoted to Class AAA Nashville in July, and pitched exclusively as a relief pitcher there before joining the Pirates for the final weeks of the year.^[6]

After spending several seasons in the lower levels of the minor leagues, Grabow steadily moved up through the organization's ranks and was ranked the Pirates' 9th-best prospect by Baseball America in 2001.

Through 2003, he averaged 7.6 strikeouts per 9 innings in the minor leagues, striking out 9.5 batters per 9 innings at the AAA level.

In the summer of 2003 he made six appearances with Team USA in the Olympic qualifying team trials.^[7][8]

Major leagues[link]

Pittsburgh Pirates[link]

Toward the end of the 2003 season, Grabow was called up by the Pittsburgh Pirates after 6 years in the minors. It was the most memorable moment of his life.^[3] He led the majors in strikeouts per nine innings, with a 16.20 average.^[9]

As a rookie reliever for the Pirates in 2004, Grabow appeared in 68 games. He established a Pittsburgh rookie record for appearances by a left-hander.^[10] Used both in short stints and long ones, Grabow said: "That stuff where there are guys in certain roles, yeah, there are some guys who have roles set, but I don't think I'm one of them. I just pitch when they tell me to. Whether it's one or two innings, or to one batter, it doesn't matter to me."^[6]

On the light side, for his rookie hazing he had to wear a Tweety Bird backpack during batting practice and carrying all the snacks to the bullpen, go through an airport wearing a cheerleader outfit that was two sizes too small, and serve drinks on the plane.^[3][11]

In February 2005 Grabow signed a contract pursuant to which he would make $327,000 in the majors, but $240,000 if he pitched at Class AAA Indianapolis.^[12] He was a workhorse in the Pittsburgh bullpen in 2005 as Pittsburgh's main left-handed set-up man, appearing in 63 games in his second full major league season. He held opposing batters to a .186 batting average and a .186 slugging percentage when there were runners in scoring position.^[13] He stranded a major-league best 89.7% of his inherited runners, allowing just 4 of 39 inherited runners to score.^[14]

In 2006, he appeared in 72 games. He held opposing batters to a .217 batting average when there were runners in scoring position. Grabow stranded an NL-best 82.5% of the runners he inherited.^[15]

In February 2007, Grabow and the Pirates avoided arbitration, and agreed to a 1-year contract for $832,500. Grabow was also in a position to make $10,00 to $70,000 in incentive bonuses if he finished 20–35 games, but was not able to cash in as he only finished 14 games. He was also in a position to make an additional $10,000 to $45,000 in incentive bonuses if he made 75–85 appearances, but again was not able to cash in as he made only 63 appearances.^[16]

Grabow suffered a left elbow injury in spring training in 2007, and started the season on the disabled list. He was activated in mid-April, and began a rehab stint with the Indianapolis Indians. Grabow had a 2.25 ERA in 4 appearances for Indianapolis, and was recalled in late April.

Grabow was 3–2 with the Pirates, with a 4.53 ERA. He had held batters to a .215 batting average and a .231 slugging percentage with runners in scoring position, while leading the team by only allowing 5.3% of batters he faced to get extra base hits.

Shortly after the 2007 season ended, Grabow initially planned to have minor surgery to remove bone chips in his left elbow. The procedure would not have caused him to miss any part of the 2008 season, including spring training.^[17] But in late September, in the wake of a cortisone shot, he reconsidered. "I've been symptom-free for the past few weeks," Grabow said. "I want to see what my options are. I don't think I'll really need to have surgery. Maybe I can manage it, and pitch through it."^[18] He had his left elbow examined by Los Angeles Angels orthopedist Lewis Yocum, who suggested that rest would be an effective alternative to arthroscopic surgery.^[19][20] Grabow then decided against surgery, and instead followed a program of rest and rehabilitation,^[21] extending his period of rest from three to eight weeks, and concentrating his workouts more on strengthening his legs and shoulders.^[22]

Grabow earned $1.135 million in 2008. He also had the potential to earn an additional $75,000 based on appearances.^[23]

On September 26, Pirates catcher Ryan Doumit attempted to throw out Willie Harris trying to steal 2nd base, but instead plunked Grabow; see video.^[24]

In 2008 he had the third-lowest ERA of all NL left-handed relievers (2.84), and stranded all but 8 of his 33 inherited runners (76%).^[25] Batters hit only .215 against him (and only .146 with runners in scoring position), and he struck out a team-best 19.3% of all batters he faced, while leading the team by only allowing 5.6% of batters he faced to get extra base hits. He also pitched in a career-high 74 games, 4 shy of the club record for a lefty (Scott Sauerbeck, 2002).^[1]

According to WXRL, a statistical metric developed by Baseball Prospectus to measure the effectiveness of relief pitchers, which takes into account the difficulty of the situations in which they pitch, Grabow ranked fifth in the NL behind the Philadelphia Phillies' Brad Lidge, Chicago Cubs' Carlos Marmol, Colorado Rockies' Brian Fuentes, and San Francisco Giants' Brian Wilson.^[26]

Grabow edged Minnesota’s Craig Breslow for the 2008 Barney Pelty Award for Jewish Pitcher of the Year.^[27]

Grabow agreed to a one-year deal for $2.3 million, with an additional $75,000 possible in incentives, in early January.^[28] Going into the 2009 season Grabow had the longest tenure of any player in the organization.^[26] Despite Grabow being eligible to become a free agent at the end of the season, the Pirates did not engage in contract talks beyond 2008, suggesting that Pittsburgh might shop him as the trade deadline approached if the team was out of contention.^[29]

Grabow accepted an invitation to play for Team USA in 2009 in the second World Baseball Classic.^[30] He was the first member of the Pirates to represent the US in the WBC. "It's just a thrill, a real honor," he said. "When I got the call, I couldn't believe it. Hopefully, I can help them win some games."^[30] He tied for the WBC lead in games pitched (with six), and had a 2.08 ERA, helping Team USA reach the semi-finals.^[31]

On July 20 Grabow became the all-time appearances leader at PNC Park with his 189th, and was tied for ninth all-time on the Pirates' appearance list (385) with Rip Sewell.

In July 2009 the New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins, Florida Marlins, and Los Angeles Dodgers had all expressed interest in trading for Grabow.^[32][33] Asked about the possibility of the Pirates trading him, Grabow, failing to stifle a grin, responded "I'm untouchable, dude. No way they're trading me."^[34] On July 30, Grabow was traded to the Chicago Cubs along with fellow left-handed pitcher Tom Gorzelanny for right-handed pitchers Kevin Hart and Jose Ascanio and minor league third baseman Josh Harrison.^[35]

Chicago Cubs[link]

Grabow began his Cubs career with 16 consecutive scoreless appearances (over 13.0 innings), and stranded his first 11 inherited runners.

He pitched 30 games for the Cubs, ending the season with a career-high 75 games pitched. His 72.1 innings pitched tied for third-most among left-handed relievers, and his career-high 23 holds ranked ninth among NL pitchers. He held left-handed batters to a .222 batting average and one home run over 81 at bats. Grabow stranded 176 of 236 inherited runners through 2009, and his 74.6% success rate ranked fifth-best among active left-handed pitchers (minimum 200 inherited runners). His 149 relief appearances since the start of the 2008 season were third-most among left-handed pitchers, behind only Pedro Feliciano (174) and Dennys Reyes (150).^[36]

On November 20, 2009, he signed a two-year extension with the Cubs worth $7.5 million.^[37] General Manager Jim Hendry said: "It was really imperative we re-sign Grabow, because he's not only our kind of guy and very successful, but has some experience and some savvy to him and can pitch seventh, eighth, ninth, matchups, righties, lefties. It doesn't matter."^[38] Grabow said he had no preference as to how he was used: "If it's the sixth inning or if it's the ninth inning, it doesn't matter. Your job is to go in there and get guys out."^[39]

Los Angeles Dodgers[link]

He signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers on December 19, 2011. He opted out of his contract on March 26, 2012 and became a free agent.

Pitching style[link]

Grabow has a 94 mph fastball that runs inside on left-handed hitters, a sharp, hard, late-breaking slider, "one of the best changeups in the game," "the bottom falling out of it," which confounds right-handers,^[17][40][41] and is equally adept at getting both right and left-handed batters out.

Grabow holds runners well and has a good pickoff move. He also fields his position soundly, and is quick off the mound.^{[citation needed]}

Personal[link]

Grabow is Jewish, and his mother is Jewish.^[42][43][44] His maternal grandmother was a Lebanese Jew from Beirut. Much of the family moved to Israel, while others settled in Brooklyn or California.^[45]

There were 13 Jewish players in the majors in 2008, including Kevin Youkilis, Ryan Braun, Jason Marquis, and Ian Kinsler.^[46] Grabow was one of three Jewish ballplayers on the Team USA 2009 World Baseball Classic team, joining Braun and Youkilis.^[47] He was recognized in January 2009 with the Barney Pelty Award as the Jewish pitcher of the year. His 448 career games pitched through 2010 placed him 3rd on the all-time list for Jewish major league pitchers, three games behind Ken Holtzman.^[48]

Grabow married in November 2008.^[17]

See also[link]

• List of select Jewish Major League Baseball players

References[link]

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• BR Bullpen profile
• "Pittsburgh's Newest Jewish Star Athlete: John Grabow," 9/04
• "Batting Around with John Grabow: Questions and answers with Bucs lefty middle reliever," MLB.com, 5/25/06
• "Warming up for the Jewish Boys of Summer," 3/5/08
• "Five Questions: Pitcher John Grabow," Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, March 1, 2009

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2008)

Dean Martin
Photo 1960
Background information
Birth name	Dino Paul Crocetti
Also known as	Dean Martin The King of Cool Dino Dino Martini
Born	(1917-06-07)June 7, 1917 Steubenville, Ohio, U.S.
Died	December 25, 1995(1995-12-25) (aged 78) Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Genres	Big band, easy listening, pop standard, country
Occupations	Musician, singer, actor, comedian, film producer
Years active	1939–1995
Labels	Capitol, Reprise

Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?". Nicknamed the "King of Cool",^[1][2] he was one of the members of the "Rat Pack" and a major star in four areas of show business: concert stage/night clubs, recordings, motion pictures, and television.

Early life[link]

Martin was born in Steubenville, Ohio, to Italian parents, Gaetano and Angela Crocetti (née Barra). His father was from Montesilvano, Pescara, Abruzzo, Italy, and his mother was an Italian of part Neapolitan and part Sicilian ancestry. Martin was the younger of two sons. His brother was named Bill. Martin spoke only Italian until he started school. He attended Grant Elementary School in Steubenville, and took up the drums as a hobby as a teenager. He was the target of much ridicule for his broken English and ultimately dropped out of Steubenville High School in the 10th grade because he thought that he was smarter than his teachers.^[3] He delivered bootleg liquor, served as a speakeasy croupier, was a blackjack dealer, worked in a steel mill and boxed as welterweight. He grew up a neighbor to Jimmy the Greek.

At the age of 15, he was a boxer who billed himself as "Kid Crochet". His prizefighting years earned him a broken nose (later straightened), a scarred lip, and many sets of broken knuckles (a result of not being able to afford the tape used to wrap boxers' hands). Of his twelve bouts, he would later say "I won all but eleven."^[4] For a time, he roomed with Sonny King, who, like Martin, was just starting in show business and had little money. It is said that Martin and King held bare-knuckle matches in their apartment, fighting until one of them was knocked out; people paid to watch. Martin knocked out King in the first round of an amateur boxing match.^[5]

Eventually, Martin gave up boxing. He worked as a roulette stickman and croupier in an illegal casino behind a tobacco shop where he had started as a stock boy. At the same time, he sang with local bands, calling himself "Dino Martini" (after the famous Metropolitan Opera tenor, Nino Martini). He got his first break working for the Ernie McKay Orchestra. He sang in a crooning style influenced by Harry Mills (of the Mills Brothers), among others. In the early 1940s, he started singing for bandleader Sammy Watkins, who suggested that he change his name to Dean Martin.

In October 1941, Martin married Elizabeth Anne McDonald. During their marriage (ended by divorce in 1949), they had four children. Martin worked for various bands throughout the early 1940s, mostly on looks and personality until he developed his own singing style. Martin famously flopped at the Riobamba, a high class nightclub in New York,^[6] when he followed Frank Sinatra in 1943, but it was the setting for their meeting.

Martin was drafted into the United States Army in 1944 during World War II, serving a year stationed in Akron, Ohio. He was then reclassified as 4-F and was discharged (possibly because of a double hernia; Jerry Lewis referred to the surgery that Martin needed for this in his autobiography).

By 1946, Martin was doing relatively well, but was still little more than an East Coast nightclub singer with a common style, similar to that of Bing Crosby. He drew audiences to the clubs where he played, but he inspired none of the fanatical popularity enjoyed by Sinatra.

Alleged Mafia connections[link]

A biography of Martin titled Dean Martin: King of the Road, by Michael Freedland, alleged that he had links to the Mafia early in his career. According to this book, Martin received help with his singing career from members of the Chicago Outfit, who owned saloons in the city, and later performed in shows hosted by these bosses when he was a star. The mob bosses were Tony Accardo and Sam Giancana. Freedland suggests that Martin felt little sympathy for the Mafia and did small favors for them only if it was not inconvenient for him. Another book, The Animal in Hollywood by John L. Smith, depicted Martin's longtime friendship with Mafia mobsters Johnny Roselli and Anthony Fiato. Smith suggested that Fiato did many favors for Martin, such as recovering money from two swindlers who had cheated his ex-wife Betty out of thousands of dollars of her alimony.^[7]

Career[link]

Teaming with Jerry Lewis[link]

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis

Martin attracted the attention of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures, but a Hollywood contract was not forthcoming. He met comic Jerry Lewis at the Glass Hat Club in New York, where both men were performing. Martin and Lewis formed a fast friendship which led to their participation in each other's acts and the ultimate formation of a music-comedy team.

Martin and Lewis's official debut together occurred at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 24, 1946, and they were not well received. The owner, Skinny D'Amato, warned them that if they did not come up with a better act for their second show later that night, they would be fired. Huddling together in the alley behind the club, Lewis and Martin agreed to "go for broke", to throw out the pre-scripted gags and to improvise. Martin sang and Lewis came out dressed as a busboy, dropping plates and making a shambles of both Martin's performance and the club's sense of decorum until Lewis was chased from the room as Martin pelted him with breadrolls. They did slapstick, reeled off old vaudeville jokes, and did whatever else popped into their heads at the moment. This time, the audience doubled over in laughter. This success led to a series of well-paying engagements on the Eastern seaboard, culminating in a triumphant run at New York's Copacabana. Patrons were convulsed by the act, which consisted primarily of Lewis interrupting and heckling Martin while he was trying to sing, and ultimately the two of them chasing each other around the stage and having as much fun as possible. The secret, both said, is that they essentially ignored the audience and played to one another.

The team made its TV debut on the very first broadcast of CBS-TV network's Toast of the Town (later called The Ed Sullivan Show) with Ed Sullivan and Rodgers & Hammerstein appearing on this same inaugural telecast of June 20, 1948. A radio series commenced in 1949, the same year Martin and Lewis were signed by Paramount producer Hal B. Wallis as comedy relief for the movie My Friend Irma.

Their agent, Abby Greshler, negotiated for them one of Hollywood's best deals: although they received only a modest $75,000 between them for their films with Wallis, Martin and Lewis were free to do one outside film a year, which they would co-produce through their own York Productions. They also had complete control of their club, record, radio and television appearances, and it was through these endeavors that they earned millions of dollars.

In Dean & Me, Lewis calls Martin one of the great comic geniuses of all time. But the harsh comments from the critics, as well as frustration with the formulaic similarity of Martin and Lewis movies, which producer Hal Wallis stubbornly refused to change, led to Martin's dissatisfaction.^[8] He put less enthusiasm into the work, leading to escalating arguments with Lewis. They finally could not work together, especially after Martin told his partner he was "nothing to me but a dollar sign". The act broke up in 1956, 10 years to the day from the first official teaming.

Martin's first solo film, Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957), was a box office failure. He was still popular as a singer, but with rock and roll surging to the fore, the era of the pop crooner was waning.

Solo career[link]

Dean Martin in the film Ada (1961)

Never totally comfortable in films, Martin wanted to be known as a real actor. Though offered a fraction of his former salary to co-star in a war drama, The Young Lions (1957), he was ecstatic to receive the part because it would be a dramatic showcase with the two most intriguing young actors of the period and he could learn from Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift. Tony Randall already had the part, but talent agency MCA realized that with this movie, Martin would become a triple threat: they could make money from his work in night clubs, movies, and records. Martin replaced Randall and the film turned out to be the beginning of Martin's spectacular comeback. Success would continue as Martin starred alongside Frank Sinatra for the first time in a highly acclaimed Vincente Minnelli drama, Some Came Running (1958). By the mid '60s, Martin was a top movie, recording, television, and nightclub star, while Lewis' film career declined. Martin was acclaimed for his performance as Dude in Rio Bravo (1959), directed by Howard Hawks and also starring John Wayne and singer Ricky Nelson. He teamed up again with Wayne in The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), somewhat unconvincingly cast as brothers.

In 1960, Martin was cast in the motion picture version of the Judy Holliday hit stage play Bells Are Ringing. Martin played a satiric variation of his own womanizing persona as Vegas singer "Dino" in Billy Wilder's comedy Kiss Me, Stupid (1964) with Kim Novak, and he was not above poking fun at his image in films such as the Matt Helm spy spoofs of the 1960s, in which he was a co-producer. Indeed, in the second Matt Helm film Murderers' Row (1966), Helm, about to be executed, receives a last cigarette, and tells the provider, "I'll remember you from the great beyond," continuing sotto voce, "somewhere around Steubenville, I hope."

With John Wayne in Rio Bravo

As a singer, Martin copied the styles of Harry Mills (of the Mills Brothers), Bing Crosby, and Perry Como until he developed his own and could hold his own in duets with Sinatra and Crosby. Like Sinatra, he could not read music, but he recorded more than 100 albums and 600 songs. His signature tune, "Everybody Loves Somebody", knocked The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" out of the number-one spot in the United States in 1964. This was followed by the similarly-styled "The Door is Still Open to My Heart", which reached number six later that year. Elvis Presley was said to have been influenced by Martin, and patterned "Love Me Tender" after his style. Martin, like Elvis, was influenced by country music. By 1965, some of Martin's albums, such as Dean "Tex" Martin, The Hit Sound Of Dean Martin, Welcome To My World and Gentle On My Mind were composed of country and western songs made famous by artists like Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, and Buck Owens. Martin hosted country performers on his TV show and was named "Man Of the Year" by the Country Music Association in 1966. "Ain't That a Kick in the Head", a song Martin performed in Ocean's 11 that never became a hit at the time, has enjoyed a spectacular revival in the media and pop culture.

For three decades, Martin was among the most popular acts in Las Vegas. Martin sang and was one of the smoothest comics in the business, benefiting from the decade of raucous comedy with Lewis. Martin's daughter, Gail, also sang in Vegas and on his TV show, co-hosting his summer replacement series on NBC. Though often thought of as a ladies' man, Martin spent a lot of time with his family; as second wife Jeanne put it, prior to the couple's divorce, "He was home every night for dinner."

The Rat Pack[link]

As Martin's solo career grew, he and Frank Sinatra became close friends. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Martin and Sinatra, along with friends Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, and Sammy Davis, Jr. formed the legendary Rat Pack, so called by the public after an earlier group of social friends, the Holmby Hills Rat Pack centered on Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, of which Sinatra had been a member.

Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra

The Martin-Sinatra-Davis-Lawford-Bishop group referred to themselves as "The Summit" or "The Clan" and never as "The Rat Pack", although this has remained their identity in the popular imagination. The men made films together, formed an important part of the Hollywood social scene in those years, and were politically influential (through Lawford's marriage to Patricia Kennedy, sister of President John F. Kennedy).

The Rat Pack were legendary for their Las Vegas Strip performances. For example, the marquee at the Sands Hotel might read DEAN MARTIN---MAYBE FRANK---MAYBE SAMMY. Las Vegas rooms were at a premium when the Rat Pack would appear, with many visitors sleeping in hotel lobbies or cars to get a chance to see the three men together. Their appearances were unprecedentedly valuable because the city would always become flooded with high rollers, wealthy gamblers who would routinely leave substantial fortunes in the casinos' coffers. Their act (always in tuxedo) consisted of each singing individual numbers, duets and trios, along with much seemingly improvised slapstick and chatter. In the socially-charged 1960s, their jokes revolved around adult themes, such as Sinatra's infamous womanizing and Martin's legendary drinking, as well as many at the expense of Davis's race and religion. Davis famously practiced Judaism and used Yiddish phrases onstage, eliciting much merriment from both his stage-mates and his audiences.^{[citation needed]} It was all good-natured male bonding, never vicious, rarely foul-mouthed,^{[citation needed]} and the three had great respect for each other. The Rat Pack was largely responsible for the integration of Las Vegas. Sinatra and Martin were active supporters of the Civil Rights Movement and refused to perform in clubs that would not allow African-American or Jewish performers.^[9]

Posthumously, the Rat Pack has experienced a popular revival, inspiring the George Clooney/Brad Pitt "Ocean's" trilogy.

The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast[link]

In 1965, Martin launched his weekly NBC comedy-variety series, The Dean Martin Show, which exploited his public image as a lazy, carefree boozer. There he perfected his famous laid-back persona of the half-drunk crooner suavely hitting on beautiful women with hilarious remarks that would get anyone else slapped, and making snappy if slurred remarks about fellow celebrities during his famous roasts. During an interview he stated, and this may have been tongue-in-cheek, that he had someone record them on cassette tape so he could listen to them; this is evidenced by his comments to this effect on the British TV documentary 'Wine, Women and Song' which was aired in 1983.

The TV show was a success. Martin prided himself on memorizing whole scripts – not merely his own lines.^{[citation needed]} He disliked rehearsing because he firmly believed his best performances were his first.^{[citation needed]} The show's loose format prompted quick-witted improvisation from Martin and the cast. On occasion, he made remarks in Italian, some mild obscenities that brought angry mail from offended, Italian-speaking viewers.^{[citation needed]} This prompted a battle between Martin and NBC censors, who insisted on more scrutiny of the show's content. The show was often in the Top Ten. Martin, deeply appreciative of the efforts of the show's producer, his friend Greg Garrison, later made a handshake deal giving Garrison, a pioneer TV producer in the 1950s, 50% ownership of the show. However, the validity of that ownership is currently the subject of a lawsuit brought by NBC Universal.

Despite Martin's reputation as a heavy drinker – a reputation perpetuated via his vanity license plates reading "DRUNKY" – he was remarkably self-disciplined.^[10] He was often the first to call it a night, and when not on tour or on a film location, liked to go home to see his wife and children. Phyllis Diller has said that Martin was indeed drinking alcohol onstage and not apple juice. She also commented that although he was not drunk, he was not really sober either, but had very strict rules when it came to performances. He borrowed the lovable-drunk shtick from Joe E. Lewis, but his convincing portrayals of heavy boozers in Some Came Running and Howard Hawks's Rio Bravo led to unsubstantiated claims of alcoholism. More often than not, Martin's idea of a good time was playing golf or watching TV, particularly westerns – not staying with Rat Pack friends Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. into the early hours of the morning.^{[citation needed]}

Martin starred in and co-produced a series of four Matt Helm superspy comedy adventures. A fifth, The Ravagers, was planned starring Sharon Tate and Martin in a dual role, one as a serial killer, but due to the murder of Tate and the decline of the spy genre, the film was never made.^{[citation needed]}

By the early 1970s, The Dean Martin Show was still earning solid ratings, and although he was no longer a Top 40 hitmaker, his record albums continued to sell steadily. His name on a marquee could guarantee casinos and nightclubs a standing-room-only crowd. He found a way to make his passion for golf profitable by offering his own signature line of golf balls. Shrewd investments had greatly increased Martin's personal wealth; at the time of his death, Martin was reportedly the single largest minority shareholder of RCA stock. Martin even managed to cure himself of his claustrophobia by reportedly locking himself in the elevator of a tall building and riding up and down for hours until he was no longer panic-stricken.^{[citation needed]}

Now comfortable financially, Martin did not need to work as much and he began reducing his schedule. The final (1973–74) season of his variety show would be retooled into one of celebrity roasts, requiring less of Martin's involvement. After the show's cancellation, NBC continued to air The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast format in a series of TV specials through 1984. In those 11 years, Martin and his panel of pals successfully ridiculed and made fun of these legendary stars in this order: Ronald Reagan, Hugh Hefner, Ed McMahon, William Conrad, Kirk Douglas, Bette Davis, Barry Goldwater, Johnny Carson, Wilt Chamberlain, Hubert Humphrey, Carroll O'Connor, Monty Hall, Jack Klugman & Tony Randall, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Leo Durocher, Truman Capote, Don Rickles, Ralph Nader, Jack Benny, Redd Foxx, Bobby Riggs, George Washington, Dan Rowan & Dick Martin, Hank Aaron, Joe Namath, Bob Hope, Telly Savalas, Lucille Ball, Jackie Gleason, Sammy Davis Jr, Michael Landon, Evel Knievel, Valerie Harper, Muhammad Ali, Dean Martin, Dennis Weaver, Joe Garagiola, Danny Thomas, Angie Dickinson, Gabe Kaplan, Ted Knight, Peter Marshall, Dan Haggerty, Frank Sinatra, Jack Klugman, Jimmy Stewart, George Burns, Betty White, Suzanne Somers, Joan Collins, and Mr T. For nearly a decade, Martin had recorded as many as four albums a year for Reprise Records. That stopped in November 1974, when Martin recorded his final Reprise album - Once In A While, released in 1978. His last recording sessions were for Warner Brothers Records. An album titled The Nashville Sessions was released in 1983, from which he had a hit with "(I Think That I Just Wrote) My First Country Song", which was recorded with Conway Twitty and made a respectable showing on the country charts. A followup single "L.A. Is My Home" / "Drinking Champagne" came in 1985. The 1975 film Mr. Ricco marked Martin's final starring role, and Martin limited his live performances to Las Vegas and Atlantic City.^{[citation needed]}

Martin seemed to suffer a mid-life crisis. In 1972, he filed for divorce from his second wife, Jeanne. A week later, his business partnership with the Riviera was dissolved amid reports of the casino's refusal to agree to Martin's request to perform only once a night. He was quickly snapped up by the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, and signed a three-picture deal with MGM Studios. Less than a month after his second marriage had been legally dissolved, Martin married 26-year-old Catherine Hawn on April 25, 1973. Hawn had been the receptionist at the chic Gene Shacrove hair salon in Beverly Hills. They divorced November 10, 1976. He was also briefly engaged to Gail Renshaw, Miss World-U.S.A. 1969.

Eventually, Martin reconciled with Jeanne, though they never remarried. He also made a public reconciliation with Jerry Lewis on Lewis' Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon in 1976. Frank Sinatra shocked Lewis and the world by bringing Martin out on stage. As Martin and Lewis embraced, the audience erupted in cheers and the phone banks lit up, resulting in one of the telethon's most profitable years. Lewis reported the event was one of the three most memorable of his life. Lewis brought down the house when he quipped, "So, you working?" Martin, playing drunk, replied that he was "at the Meggum" – this reference to the MGM Grand Hotel convulsed Lewis.^{[citation needed]} This, along with the death of Martin's son Dean Paul Martin a few years later, helped to bring the two men together. They maintained a quiet friendship, but only performed together again once, in 1989, on Martin's 72nd birthday.^[11]

Personal life[link]

Martin was married three times. Martin's first wife, Elizabeth Anne McDonald, tried by all accounts to be a good wife and mother to their four children, but her efforts were ultimately undone by her alcoholism^{[citation needed]}. It remains a matter of speculation whether her alcoholism led to the failure of the marriage, or whether Martin's infidelities led to Betty's alcoholism. Subsequent to their divorce, Martin gained custody of their children; Betty lived out her life in quiet obscurity in San Francisco. Their children were Stephen Craig (born June 29, 1942), Claudia Dean (March 16, 1944 - 2001 from breast cancer), Barbara Gail (born April 11, 1945) and Deana (Dina) (born August 19, 1948).

Martin's second wife was Jeanne Biegger. A stunning blonde, Jeanne could sometimes be spotted in Martin's audience while he was still married to Betty. Their marriage lasted 24 years (1949–1973) and produced three children. Their children were Dean Paul (November 17, 1951 - March 21, 1987; plane crash), Ricci James (born September 20, 1953) and Gina Caroline (born December 20, 1956), whose marriage made Dean the father-in-law of The Beach Boys' Carl Wilson.

Martin's third marriage, to Catherine Hawn, lasted three years. One of Martin's managers had spotted her at the reception desk of a hair salon on Rodeo Drive, then arranged a meeting. Martin adopted Hawn's daughter, Sasha, but their marriage also failed. Martin initiated divorce proceedings.

Martin's uncle was Leonard Barr, who appeared in several of his shows.

Later years and death[link]

Dean Martin's grave

On December 1, 1983 while gambling at the Golden Nugget casino in Atlantic City, Martin and Sinatra intimidated the dealer and several employees into breaking New Jersey law by making the dealer deal the cards by hand instead of from a shoe. Although Sinatra and Martin were implicated as the cause of the violation, neither was fined by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. The Golden Nugget received a $25,000 fine (which Sinatra paid, stating that it was his responsibility as he and Martin were the cause of the fine) and four employees including the dealer, a supervisor and pit boss were suspended from their jobs without pay.

Martin returned to films briefly with appearances in the two star-laden, yet critically panned Cannonball Run movies. He also had a minor hit single with "Since I Met You Baby" and made his first music video, which appeared on MTV. The video was created by Martin's youngest son, Ricci.

On March 21, 1987, Martin's son, Dean Paul (formerly Dino of the '60s "teeny-bopper" rock group Dino, Desi & Billy), was killed when his F-4 Phantom II jet fighter crashed while flying with the California Air National Guard. A much-touted tour with Davis and Sinatra in 1988 sputtered. On one occasion, he infuriated Sinatra when he turned to him and muttered, "Frank, what the hell are we doing up here?" Martin, who always responded best to a club audience, felt lost in the huge stadiums they were performing in (at Sinatra's insistence), and he was not interested in drinking until dawn after performances. His final Vegas shows were at Bally's Hotel in 1990. There he had his final reunion with Jerry Lewis on his 72nd birthday. Martin's last two TV appearances involved tributes to his former Rat Pack members. On December 8, 1989, he joined many stars of the entertainment industry in Sammy Davis, Jr's 60th anniversary celebration, which aired only a few weeks before Davis died from throat cancer. In December 1990, he congratulated Frank Sinatra on his 75th birthday special.

Martin was diagnosed with lung cancer at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in September 1993, and in early 1995 retired from public life. He died of acute respiratory failure resulting from emphysema at his Beverly Hills home on Christmas morning 1995, at age 78.^[12] The lights of the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed in his honor.

Martin is buried at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Tributes and legacy[link]

In 1996, Ohio Rte. 7, through Steubenville, was rededicated as "Dean Martin Boulevard." Road signs bearing an Al Hirschfeld caricature of Martin's likeness officially designate the stretch, along with a state historical marker, in the Gazebo Park at Route 7 and North Fourth Street.

An annual "Dean Martin Festival" celebration is held in Steubenville. Impersonators, friends and family of Martin, and various entertainers, many of Italian ancestry, appear.

In 2005, Clark County, Nevada renamed Industrial Road as Dean Martin Drive. A similarly named street was dedicated in 2008 in Rancho Mirage, California.

Martin's family was presented a gold record in 2004 for Dino: The Essential Dean Martin, his fastest-selling album ever, which also hit the iTunes Top 10. For the week ending December 23, 2006, the Dean Martin and Martina McBride duet of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" reached #7 on the R&R AC chart. It also went to #36 on the R&R Country chart - the last time Martin had a song this high in the charts was in 1965, with the song "I Will", which reached #10 on the Pop chart.

An album of duets, Forever Cool, was released by Capitol/EMI in 2007. It features Martin's voice with Kevin Spacey, Shelby Lynne, Joss Stone, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Robbie Williams, McBride and others.

His footprints were immortalized at Grauman's Chinese Theater in 1964. Martin has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one at 6519 Hollywood Boulevard, for movies; one at 1617 Vine, for recordings; and one at 6651 Hollywood Boulevard, for television.

In February 2009, Martin was honored with a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Four of his surviving children, Gail, Deana, Ricci and Gina, were on hand to accept on his behalf. In 2009, Martin was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

Popular culture[link]

A number of Dean Martin songs have constantly been featured across popular culture for decades. Hit songs such as "Ain't That a Kick in the Head", "Sway","You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You", "That's Amore", and Martin's signature song "Everybody Loves Somebody" (and many more) have been used in films (such as the Oscar-winning Logorama, A Bronx Tale, Casino, Goodfellas, Payback, and Return to Me), television series (such as American Dad!, Friends, and House MD), video games (such as The Godfather: The Game, The Godfather II, Fallout: New Vegas, and Mafia II), and even fashion shows (such as the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2008).

In film and television[link]

• In a 1996 episode of the NBC-TV series Boston Common, actor Anthony Clark pantomimes and dances a routine to Martin's 1960 song, "Ain't That A Kick In The Head?"
• In That '70s show episode, S-6/E-2 "Join Together." When the Forman's were throwing away all of their bad foods and drinks, because of Red's Heart Attack. Red's beloved beer and his meats were taken away and Red's Fresh mouth son, Eric said,"Whoa look at this, it looks like Dean Martin exploded!"
• In the movie A Bronx Tale, Martin's song, "Ain't That A Kick In The Head?", was featured during the scene when C was playing dice.
• A Budweiser TV commercial that premiered during Super Bowl XLI featured Martin's "Ain't That A Kick In The Head?".
• British actor Jeremy Northam portrayed the entertainer in a made-for-TV movie called, Martin and Lewis, alongside Will & Grace's Sean Hayes as Jerry Lewis.
• Martin was portrayed by Joe Mantegna in an HBO movie about Sinatra and Martin titled The Rat Pack. Mantegna was nominated for both an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the role.
• In the movie Return to Me, three of his recordings are featured: "Good Morning, Life," "Buona Sera" and "Return to Me".
• Danny Gans portrayed Martin in the miniseries Sinatra.
• In the pilot episode of White Collar, Peter refers to Neal as "Dino", referencing the newly-found Sy Devore suits that Neal now wears – made famous by the "Rat Pack".
• In the movie Pulp Fiction, Mia Wallace and Vincent Vega go out to dinner at "Jack Rabbit Slim's" – she chooses "Martin and Lewis", and a $5 milkshake shows up.
• In the movie Moonstruck, Martin's recording of "That's Amore" plays over both the opening and closing credits.
• In the HBO television series, The Sopranos, in season 6 episode "Johnny Cakes", "That's Amore" is heard when Vito Spatafore is cooking.
• In the Wong Kar-Wai movie 2046, Martin's recording of "Sway" is played extensively.
• In a Royal Automobile Club commercial, "Memories are Made of This" is sung.
• In the 2009, 60's-era French parody film, "OSS 117: Rio Ne Répond Plus... (Lost in Rio)" starring Jean Dujardin, Martin's "Gentle On My Mind" plays during the opening credits scene
• In the 2011 film, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol Martin's song "Ain't That A Kick In The Head?" is used by Cruise to arouse his fellow prisoner's into a riot.

In games and gambling[link]

• Martin is the subject of "Dean Martin's Wild Party", a video slot machine found in some casinos. The game features songs sung by Martin during the bonus game and the count-up of a player's winnings.
• The 2010 video game, Fallout: New Vegas, features Martin's "Ain't that a Kick in the Head?" throughout the game. It can be listened to on the "New Vegas" radio channel and heard on the loud speakers when entering the Vegas Strip. The first quest of the game is named after the same song, as the player character is afflicted with a headshot wound.
• Dean Martin's music is featured on the radios in the video games Mafia II and Godfather II.

In music[link]

• A compilation album called, Amore!, debuted at Number One on Billboard magazine's Top Pop Catalog Albums chart in its February 21, 2009 issue.

Other[link]

• In the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2008, "Ain't That A Kick In The Head?" was the opening song from the show.

Discography[link]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Arthur Marx. Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime (Especially Himself): The story of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, New York, NY: Hawthorn Books, 1974, ISBN 978-0-8015-2430-1
• Lewis, Jerry and James Kaplan. Dean & Me (A Love Story). Doubleday, New York, 2005. ISBN 0-7679-2086-4
• Tosches, Nick. Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams. Delta Trade Paperbacks, New York, 1992 (1st edition). ISBN 0-385-33429-X
• Smith, John L. The Animal in Hollywood: Anthony Fiato's Life in the Mafia. Barricade Books, New York, 1998. ISBN 1-56980-126-6

External links[link]

Biography portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dean Martin

• Dean Martin at the Internet Movie Database
• Dean Martin at The Biography Channel
• Cleveland.com: Homegrown Heroes: Dean Martin Timeline
• Dean Works the room at the Sands
• Dean Martin biography/discography on The Interlude Era site
• Radio interview with Deana Martin WSLR

Salvatore Giancana (born Salvatore Giangana; June 15, 1908 – June 19, 1975),^[1] better known as Sam Giancana, was a Sicilian American mobster and boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1957–1966. Among his other nicknames were, "Momo", "Mooney," "Sam the Cigar," and "Sammy."

Early life[link]

Born as Salvatore Giangana to Sicilian immigrants in Little Italy, Chicago. His father, Antonino (later simplified to Antonio) Giangana, owned a pushcart and later briefly owned an Italian ice shop, which was later firebombed by gangland rivals of his son.

Criminal career[link]

Sam Giancana joined the Forty-Two Gang, a juvenile street crew answering to political boss Joseph Esposito.^[2] Giancana soon developed a reputation for being an excellent getaway driver, a high earner, and a vicious killer. After Esposito's murder, in which Giancana was allegedly involved, the 42 Gang transformed into a de facto extension of the Chicago Outfit. The Outfit was initially wary of the 42ers at first, thinking them too wild. However, Giancana's leadership qualities, the fact that he was an excellent "wheel man" with a get-away car and his knack for making money on the street gained him the notice of Cosa Nostra higher-ups like Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti, Paul "The Waiter" Ricca and Tony "Joe Batters" Accardo. In the late 1930s, Giancana became the first 42er to join the Outfit. In 1942, Giancana also allegedly forced jazz musician Tommy Dorsey into letting singer Frank Sinatra out of his contract early, so that Sinatra could expand his career. This story was famously referenced in The Godfather. Giancana is also credited with the murder of Chicago "Policy King" Theodore Roe in 1952.

Family[link]

Sam married Angelina DeTolve, the daughter of immigrants from the Italian region of Basilicata, on September 23, 1933. They had three daughters, Antoinette, Bonnie and Francine. Angelina died in 1954 and left Sam to raise his daughters. Sam never remarried after becoming a widower and was known as a good family man, despite frequent infidelities, and held his late wife in high regard and respect during their marriage and after her death. All of the Giancana daughters have married at least once. As of 1984^[update], at least one daughter, Antoinette, had taken the "Giancana" name again.^[3]

Rise to power[link]

In 1945, after serving a sentence at the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute, Indiana (during which time he told his children he was away "at college"), Giancana made a name for himself by convincing Accardo, then the Outfit's enforcement chief, to stage a take-over of Chicago's African-American "policy" (lottery) pay-out system for The Outfit. Giancana's crew is believed to have been responsible for convincing Eddie Jones to leave his racket and leave the country. Giancana's crew was also responsible for the 1952 murder of Theodore Roe. Both men were leading South Side African-American "Policy Kings". However, Roe had refused to give up his share of the Chicago policy racket which the Italians had demanded and Roe had fatally shot a member of Giancana's crew, Lennard "Fat Lennie" Caifano. Though the South Side "policy"-game takeover by the Outfit was not complete until another Outfit member, Jackie "the Lackey" Cerone, scared "Big Jim" Martin to Mexico with two bullets to the head that didn't kill him, when the lottery money started rolling in for The Outfit after this gambling war, the amount that this game had produced for The Outfit was in the millions of dollars a year and brought Giancana further notice. It is believed to have been a major factor in his being "anointed" as the Outfit's new boss when Accardo stepped aside from being the front boss to becoming "consigliere," in 1957.^[4] However, it was generally understood that Accardo and Ricca still held the real power. No major business transactions, and certainly no hits, took place without Accardo and Ricca's knowledge and approval.

Giancana was present at the Mafia's 1957 Apalachin Meeting at the Upstate New York estate of Joseph Barbara.^[5] Later, Buffalo crime boss Stefano Magaddino and Giancana were overheard on a wire saying the meeting should have taken place in the Chicago area. Giancana claimed that the Chicago area was "the safest place in the world" for a major underworld meeting because he had several police chiefs on his payroll. If the syndicate ever wanted to hold a meeting in Chicago, Giancana said, they had nothing to fear because they had the area "locked up tight."^[6]

Alleged CIA connections[link]

It is widely reputed, and partially corroborated by the Church Committee Hearings, that during the Kennedy administration, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recruited Giancana and other mobsters to assassinate Cuban president Fidel Castro. Giancana reportedly said that the CIA and the Cosa Nostra were "different sides of the same coin."^[7]

The association between Giancana and JFK is indicated in the "Exner File" written by Judith Campbell Exner. Exner was reputed to be mistress to both Giancana and JFK, and some^[who?] allege she may have delivered communications between the two regarding Fidel Castro.^[8]

However, Giancana's daughter, Antoinette, has stated her belief that her father was running a scam in order to pocket millions of dollars in CIA funding.^[9]

According to the recently-declassified CIA "Family Jewels" documents, Giancana and Tampa/Miami Syndicate leader Santo Trafficante, Jr. were contacted in September 1960, about the possibility of an assassination attempt by a go-between from the CIA, Robert Maheu, after Maheu had contacted Johnny Roselli, a Mafia member in Las Vegas and Giancana's number-two man. Maheu had presented himself as a representative of numerous international business firms in Cuba that were being expropriated by Castro. He offered $150,000 for the "removal" of Castro through this operation (the documents suggest that neither Roselli, Giancana, nor Trafficante accepted any sort of payments for the job). According to the files, it was Giancana who suggested using a series of poison pills that could be used to doctor Castro's food and drink. These pills were given by the CIA to Giancana's nominee, Juan Orta, whom Giancana presented as being a corrupt official in the new Cuban government and who had access to Castro. After a series of six attempts to introduce the poison into Castro's food, Orta abruptly demanded to be let out of the mission, handing over the job to another, unnamed participant. Later, a second attempt was mounted through Giancana and Trafficante using Dr. Anthony Verona, the leader of the Cuban Exile Junta, who had, according to Trafficante, become "disaffected with the apparent ineffectual progress of the Junta". Verona requested $10,000 in expenses and $1,000 worth of communications equipment. However, it is unclear how far the second attempt went, as the entire program was canceled shortly thereafter due to the launching of the Bay of Pigs Invasion in April 1961.^[10][11][12]

At the same time, Giancana, according to the "Family Jewels", approached Maheu to bug the room of his then-mistress Phyllis McGuire, whom he suspected of having an affair with comedian Dan Rowan. Although documents suggest Maheu acquiesced, the bug was not planted due to the arrest of the agent tasked with planting the device. According to the documents, Robert Kennedy moved to block the prosecution of the agent and of Maheu, who was soon linked to the bugging attempt, at the CIA's request.^[12] Giancana and McGuire, who had a long lasting affair, were originally introduced by Frank Sinatra.^[13] During part of the affair, according to Sam's daughter Antoinette, McGuire had a concurrent affair with President Kennedy.^[14]

Downfall[link]

Giancana's behavior was too high profile for Outfit tastes and attracted far too much federal scrutiny. He also refused to cut his underlings in on his lavish profits from offshore casinos in Iran and Central America. Both of these factors resulted in much bitterness among the Outfit's rank-and-file.

As a result, Giancana was deposed in the mid 1960s by Ricca and Accardo as day-to-day boss, and replaced by Joseph "Joey Doves" Aiuppa.^[15] After about seven years of exile inside a lavish villa in Cuernavaca, Mexico, Giancana was arrested by Mexican authorities in 1974 and deported to the United States. ^[16][17] He arrived back in Chicago on July 21, 1974.^[18]

Death[link]

After his return to the U.S., Giancana joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a witness in the prosecution of organized crime in Chicago. The police detailed officers to guard his house in Oak Park, Illinois. However, on the night of June 19, 1975, someone recalled the police detail.^[19] A gunman later entered Giancana's kitchen and shot him in the back of the head as he was frying sausage and peppers.^[20] After Giancana fell to the ground, the gunman turned him over and shot him six more times in the face and neck. Investigators suspected that the murderer was a close friend whom Giancana had let into the house. One reason for this suspicion was that Giancana, due to his heart problems, could not eat spicy foods. Therefore, he might have been cooking for a friend. Giancana was killed shortly before he was scheduled to appear before a U. S. Senate committee investigating supposed CIA and Cosa Nostra collusion in plots to assassinate President John F. Kennedy.

Some commentators have alleged that the CIA killed Giancana because of his troubled history with the agency. However, former CIA Director William Colby has been quoted as saying, "We had nothing to do with it."^[21]

Another theory is that Trafficante crime family boss Santo Trafficante, Jr. ordered Giancana's murder due to mob fears that Giancana would testify about Cosa Nostra and CIA plots to kill Cuban president Fidel Castro. Trafficante would have needed permission from Outfit bosses Tony Accardo and Joseph Aiuppa to kill Giancana. Johnny Roselli, whose body was found stuffed in an oil drum floating off Miami, was definitely killed on Trafficante's orders.

Most investigators believe that Aiuppa ordered the Giancana murder. Giancana was still refusing to share any of his offshore gambling profits with the Outfit. In addition, Giancana was reportedly scheming to become Outfit boss again. According to former Mafia associate Michael J. Corbitt, Aiuppa seized control of Giancana's casinos in the aftermath of the murder, strategically sharing them with his caporegimes.

Longtime friend and associate Dominic "Butch" Blasi was with Giancana the night he was murdered, and was questioned by police as a suspect. Leading FBI experts and Giancana's daughter, Antoinette, do not consider him Giancana's killer.^[22] Other Mafia suspects are Harry Aleman, Charles "Chuckie" English, Charles Nicoletti and Anthony Spilotro. In the 1995 movie Sugartime, Dominic "Butch" Blasi, as portrayed by Elias Koteas, is shown murdering Giancana.

Giancana was interred next to his wife, Angelina, in a family mausoleum at Mount Carmel Cemetery, in Hillside, Illinois.^[23]

In popular culture[link]

• Giancana is the subject of the biography Mafia Princess, written by his daughter Antoinette.^[24] This book was later adapted into the 1986 TV film Mafia Princess, starring Tony Curtis as Giancana.
• The 1995 TV film Sugartime depicts Giancana's relationship with singer Phyllis McGuire of The McGuire Sisters, with Giancana being played by John Turturro.
• Rod Steiger portrayed Giancana in the 1992 TV miniseries Sinatra.
• Robert Miranda played Giancana in the 1998 TV film, The Rat Pack.
• As of May 2007, a six-hour miniseries on Giancana is under development in Hollywood.
• Influential mafioso-rapper Kool G Rap once stated that the "G" in his name stands for Giancana. Kool G Rap released an album in 2002 called The Giancana Story.
• Giancana plays a major role in James Ellroy's fiction, most notably "American Tabloid" and its sequels "The Cold Six Thousand" and "Blood's a Rover".
• Giancana is a central figure in the Max Allan Collins novels Chicago Confidential and Road to Paradise.
• Giancana is a character in the Robert Randisi Rat Pack novels.
• News footage of Giancana is featured in the film JFK.
• Giancana is portrayed under the name "Joseph Palmi" in the 2006 film, The Good Shepherd, starring Matt Damon. Palmi may be a mix of the several other mobsters (Santo Trafficante, Jr., Carlos Marcello, etc.) involved with the operation. Matt Damon's character, Edward Wilson, is depicted in proposing Palmi (Joe Pesci) to assist in the assassination of Fidel Castro.
• Giancana is mentioned in the song "Dope money" by The Lox. "Bring Drama 'cause Giancana got Kennedy Killed". "Dope money" is song number six, on The LOX second Album, Ryde or Die Vol. 1.
• Giancana played a major role in the 1965 J. X. Williams film Peep Show and has a personal performance credit for this on the IMDb movie data-base.
• Giancana may be mentioned in the Shyne song "Edge" on his second album "Godfather Buried Alive." "Fuck comma rap's, Sam Giancana", although this is sometimes rendered as "... same G and canna".
• The fictional character Louie Russo from The Godfather Returns by Mark Winegardner, could be based on Sam Giancana.
• The character Mob Man (uncredited) from The X Files episode Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man is likely based on Giancana who is present at a planning meeting on the assassination of JFK.
• Giancana is a notable character in Norman Mailer's historical fiction "Harlot's Ghost".
• Serge Houde portrays Giancana as a major nemesis of the Kennedy clan in the controversial 2011 television miniseries The Kennedys.

Notes[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

• Sam Giancana at Encyclopædia Britannica
• Federal Bureau of Investigation - Freedom of Information Privacy Act: Sam Giancana
• Seize the Night: Sam "Momo" Giancana
• Sam Giancana at Find a Grave