Martin is an American sitcom produced by HBO Independent Productions (a subsidiary of HBO) that aired for five seasons, from August 27, 1992 to May 1, 1997 on Fox. The show stars actor-comedian Martin Lawrence, Thomas Mikal Ford, Tichina Arnold, Carl Anthony Payne II, and Tisha Campbell.

Reflecting the rising popularity of the Fox network throughout the 1990s, Martin was one of the network's highest-rated shows during the sitcom's five-season run. In contrast to the popularity of NBC's "Must See TV" on Thursday nights in the 1990s, many African American and Latino viewers flocked to Fox's Thursday night line-up of Martin, Living Single, and New York Undercover. In fact, these were the three highest-rated series among black households for the 1996–1997 season. (In order of popularity, Living Single, New York Undercover, and Martin.)^[1]

Summary[link]

Set in Detroit, Michigan, the series stars Martin Lawrence in the role of Martin Payne, a disc jockey with a girlfriend named Gina played by Tisha Campbell-Martin. Martin works for the fictional radio station WZUP and later for local Public-access television station Channel 51. A common theme of the series is Martin's hot-headed and rash nature; episodes often center on Martin's inconsiderate, yet smart-mouthed attitude towards his friends, neighbors, and whoever else might find themselves in his presence. When all is said and done, though, Martin loves his family and friends—it just takes dire situations to bring it to light.

As the series progressed, plotlines saw Martin eventually move on to become the host of the talk show "Word on the Street," which aired on the small Detroit Public-access television station Channel 51. He retained this position until the series' final episode, in which he and Gina prepared to move to Los Angeles, from where his show would be syndicated nationally. The move coincided fortuitously with Gina's promotion by her boss Mr. Whitaker to head up his company's new Los Angeles headquarters, after having shut down the Detroit office. Pam, whom Whitaker let go two episodes earlier due to this consolidation and downsizing, went on to pursue a career in the music industry as an artists & repertoire (A&R) executive at Keep It Real Records. (This plotline is the subject of a backdoor pilot episode that was included in the Martin series for a planned sitcom on Fox starring Tichina Arnold to be called Goin' for Mine [Episode 129, "Goin' for Mine"]. This sitcom never materialized, though.) And at series' end, Cole proposed to his even more dimwitted, but attractive and devoted girlfriend Shanise (portrayed by Maura McDade), and they made plans to move into their own place.

In early episodes, Lawrence began with a monologue of him speaking to the camera and audience from the darkened radio studio.

Characters[link]

Main characters[link]

• Martin Payne (Martin Lawrence) is the central character of Martin.

• Gina Waters-Payne (Tisha Campbell) (Seasons 1-5; appears for a short time in Season 5), Martin's feisty, but eternally forgiving girlfriend and later his wife. Gina works for a public-relations firm. Campbell left the series in the middle of Season Five after she and Martin Lawrence began feuding. She later returns for the series finale, although she doesn't appear in any scenes with Lawrence.

• Tommy Strawn (Thomas Mikal Ford), one of Martin's two best friends since childhood, a self-confident and worldly young man whose mysterious employment status is the subject of frequent debate among them all. Regarding Tommy's last name, there is some confusion as to whether it was actually "Strong" or "Strawn" (the former being the most widely assumed). In Season Five, Episode Nine ("World famous," airdate April 3, 1997), Tommy's father, Sgt. Hamilton Strawn (portrayed by John Amos), comes to visit; he and the gang have drinks at Nipsey's, where Tommy and his father end up competing vigorously for the attentions of an attractive young woman. In this episode Sgt. Strawn is seen, throughout his first scene, wearing military fatigues. In several close-ups during this scene the name "Strawn" is clearly visible on the left breast of his uniform. Tommy's name is also spelled "Strawn" on his basketball jersey in the episode featuring the women's Olympic basketball team. When his job is brought up people say, "You ain't go no job, man!" This particularly annoys Martin because while Tommy always alludes or refers to himself being employed, he's never clear about the type of job that he has. However, Martin is sometimes cautious because Tommy's line of work is unknown and suspicious. Tommy is the only character (other than Martin) to appear in every episode of the series.

• Cole Brown (Carl Anthony Payne II), Martin's other best friend. Dimwitted but well-meaning, and known for his eclectic taste in headgear, he proudly cleans jets at the airport for a living, drives an AMC Pacer, and lives with his mother Maddie (portrayed by comedienne Laura Hayes) until Season Five. For a time, Cole appeared to be attracted strictly to plus-sized women, and until the final season dated a security guard named "Big Shirley" (who is fully seen in only one episode; another episode only showed "her" below the neck to portray her as being much taller and bigger than Cole). In that final season, he moves into his own apartment in a rough neighborhood, and dates Shanise, who appears to be even more dimwitted than he is. During the series finale, he becomes engaged to Shanise. Notably, Cole is absent in several episodes in Season 3 without any explanation.

• Pamela James (Tichina Arnold), Gina's sassy, hot-tempered best friend who is consistently portrayed as Martin's antagonist. Initially, Pam worked in a boutique on commission. In later episodes, it's revealed that she works at the PR firm where Gina is employed, as Gina's subordinate. Pam and Tommy were occasionally flirtatious with each other in the beginning, and this developed into a romantic relationship for a brief time, during the Season 3. They later broke up near the beginning of Season 4 and remained friends for the rest of the series. During the first season, Cole harbored an unrequited crush on Pam, which she usually responded to by losing her temper with him.

• Shawn McDermott (Jonathan Gries) (1992–1994), the white, scatterbrained producer of Martin's show at WZUP, Martin always finds himself having rather strange conversations with him. Shawn often does things that upset their boss Stan, and once even tried to secure a record deal from Snoop Dogg when he was at an engagement party for Martin & Gina. Shawn was later fired, along with Martin, when Stan sold the radio station. It is revealed in a later episode that Shawn was retained by the new station as an engineer. Shawn's final appearance on the show was in the Season 2 season finale episode where he says farewell to Martin. That particular episode showed a more serious side of Shawn as he gives Martin some advice on life that actually made sense. After this episode, Shawn is never seen or mentioned again.

• Stan Winters (Garrett Morris) (1992–1994; 1995 guest role) was Martin's and Shawn's boss, the owner and founder of radio station WZUP. He perpetually used too much cologne and wore woefully outdated clothing from the 1970s. Martin knew Stan to be cheap and quite untrustworthy, and just when Martin didn't think Stan could sink any lower with his schemes, Stan was always able to surprise him. Furthermore, Stan is written out of the series close to the end of Season 2 when he gets into trouble with the IRS due to a debt of $20,000 in unpaid taxes, precipitating his sale of the radio station and subsequent flight to parts unknown. He returned for one episode in Season 3 to form a partnership with Martin, and together they opened a restaurant—Marty Mart's Meatloaf and Waffles. Needless to say, their joint venture was a failure, whereupon Stan left and was never mentioned again in the series.

Recurring characters[link]

• Shanise McGullicuddy (Maura McDade) (1996-1997, recurring role) is Cole's girlfriend (and later fiancée) during the fifth and final season. Shanise is a very friendly woman. She always has a positive attitude. However, she is even more dimwitted than Cole. She and Cole briefly break up in one episode but this occurs because when she told Cole she needed more space, he assumed she meant she wanted to break up but she actually wanted a bigger apartment. She is also thoughtful and willing to help others. In the episode Over the Hoochie's Nest, she assists Martin, Tommy and Cole in rescuing Pam from an insane asylum. In the series finale, Cole wanted to ask Shanise to marry him. He had a hard time asking her due to him losing the ring. Shanise was even taken to get X-rayed in order for Cole to find the ring after he stuck it in cupcake. Finally, they become engaged when she is tricked into reading a letter that says "Will you marry me?" and Cole says yes to her. At the end of the episode, she is last seen helping the Paynes move out of their apartment as well as saying farewell to them. She is the only minor character to only be on the series in a recurring role.

• Bruh-Man (comedian Reginald Ballard): Bruh-Man is a friendly, yet extremely presumptuous man who lives on the fifth "flo" directly upstairs from Martin (yet he always puts 4 fingers up when relating this fact). Whenever Martin asks what he is doing, Bruh-Man replies, "nuttin' ....just chillin'." He often climbs down the "f-a-a-a-ah 'scape" (fire escape) to enter Martin's apartment, taking food, borrowing assorted items, and generally lounging around as if he lives there. In fact, the fire escape seems to be his only means of movement throughout the building—he is seldom seen entering or exiting the apartment through the front door. Bruh-Man always wears badly fitting clothing a size or two too small (frequently, items he's "borrowed" from Martin), and has a characteristic gait consisting of a slow and lazy, rather limping, plodding walk, with his head cocked to one side. Martin, as Bruh-Man was heading toward the window to make his exit, once referred to it as his "slow bop." Bruh-Man speaks in a deep voice and with a long drawl, not unlike that of Shaquille O'Neal. Despite being a popular character, Bruh-Man's last appearances were in the fourth season. He does not appear in the fifth and final season of the series, however he is mentioned briefly. In episode 13, "Ain't That About a Ditch", when Gina's mother locks Martin out of his apartment, he pauses to think, then whispers "Bruh-Man" to himself as he walks off to climb in through the fire escape.

• Nadine Waters (Judyann Elder): Gina's doting and somewhat over-protective mother, who comes on as sophisticated, sweet and mild-mannered on the surface, but has shown a dark side on occasion—such as once getting immediately turned on by a brief scene from a porn video, and generally becoming quite flustered whenever conversation or situations turned to sexual subjects.

• Dr. Cliff Waters (J.A. Preston): Gina's overbearing and overprotective father who works as a chiropractor. Instantly disliked Martin because he didn't feel he was good enough for his daughter. During the wedding rehearsal dinner, he threatens to start "capping" people, instantly inciting a major fight with members of the Payne family.

• Ms. Geri (Jeri Gray): A tough, trigger-happy senior who, regardless of her age and diminutive size, has no qualms about "whoopin' ass." Most of her assaults are committed on Martin in everyday situations, such as standing in line at the DMV or at the unemployment office. On one occasion, her opponent was Dragonfly Jones (Lawrence), whom she soundly defeated as well, taking his money for good measure.

• Hustle Man (comedian Tracy Morgan): The neighborhood purveyor of questionable products and services "at a discount rate! I don't do dat for erra'body! I'm just tryna help YOU out!" He always greets Martin with his trademark "What's happenin', chief?" In one episode, one of Hustle Man's more outrageous items for sale was an 'appetizing' array of roasted pigeons impaled on a tree branch (as if barbecued on it), which he attempted to sell to Martin and his friends while they were snowed in and starving. In another episode he served as Martin's cut-rate "wedding planner," armed with a shopping cart brimming with plastic flowers, chitlin loaf, and a 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor—Martin's retaliation for Gina's choice of a more elegant and ridiculously overpriced wedding planner.

• Nipsey (Sean Lampkin): The rotund, good-natured bartender who owns Nipsey's Lounge, the group's favorite hangout.

• Mr. Jim (John Wesley): Martin's barber since childhood, and proprietor of Jim's Barber Shop. Greatly respected by everyone in the neighborhood, he seems to take a paternalistic interest in Martin, and tries to advise him as best he can when called upon to do so. Mr. Jim takes pride in the fact that he can remember the nickname he has given each and every "regular" that ever sat in his barber's chair.

• Lil' Dawg (Adrian Tibbs): A tall, lanky barber at Jim's Barber Shop whose unorthodox personal style is the subject of much ribbing in the workplace—he keeps his head nearly shaved, but grows a long mane of hair in back, and wears Coke-bottle-thick glasses. He is often seen at Nipsey's trolling for women (successfully!), and despite his looks and demeanor always seems to come out on top whenever he and Martin have a disagreement.

• Buckwhite (Ray Massara): A very easygoing, tall white boy with a huge dark-coloured Afro, Buckwhite has been seen hanging out at Jim's Barber Shop, at Martin's apartment for various sporting events on TV, and at Nipsey's Lounge. He speaks Ebonics in an unaffected "normal" white manner. (Massara is actually a property master and special-effects assistant in the film and television industry; at the time of his appearances on Martin, he was that production's property master.)

• Brother For Real (Charlie Murphy): A faithful audience member of Martin's "Word on the Street" television program, and quite possibly Martin's number one fan. Brother For Real attends every of Martin's taping for his show and encouraged Martin to be himself during one of the show's taping.

• Angry Man (David Jean Thomas): A fellow audience of Martin's "Word on the Street" television program, and often can be found in other locations such as the DMV. He is prone to stand up and shout "Man.... SIT-CHO ASS DOWN!!" when a guest (or anyone else, for that matter) says something he disagrees with.

• Maddie Brown (Laura Hayes): Cole's gossiping, no-nonsense mother who still supports him. She's known for talking about other people and spreading their business around. For example, Martin being broke and having Gina support him.

• Evelyn Porter (LaWanda Page): A senior resident who lives in Martin's apartment building who is also friends with Mama Payne and Cole's mother, Maddie.

• The Reverend Leon Lonnie Love (David Alan Grier): A local fire-and-brimstone preacher whose brand of religion doesn't seem to frown upon avarice, lying, cheating, stealing, and philandering—even with his own cousin Pam.

• Marian (Roxanne Reese): A seemingly well-heeled, middle-aged neighborhood alcoholic who often appears at parties, nightclubs, and gatherings, such as the audience on Martin's show "Word on the Street" and The Ladies League of Detroit. However, in one episode, she reveals that she isn't drunk that she is instead on medication.

• Laquita (Simbi Khali): The nail stylist at Sheneneh's Sho' Nuff Hair Salon and Sheneneh's even-more loudmouthed best friend.

• Keylolo (rapper Yo-Yo): A hairstylist at Sheneneh's Sho' Nuff Hair Salon. She is also Sheneneh's sidekick.

• Bonquisha (Kim Coles): Another one of Sheneneh's friends who always has bad breath. Bonquisha routinely claims that Keylolo is the one that has bad breath stating that was "eatin chicklins".

• Sonny (Reno Wilson): Martin's shoplifting cousin who dresses and acts like Eddie Murphy.

• Luis (Luis Antonio Ramos): The superintendent of the apartment building where Martin lives. In one episode, he marries Pam to avoid deportation.

• Titus (Bentley Kyle Evans): A handsome well-dressed guy who is Gina's hairdresser, and seems to be attracted to Martin—affectionately calling him "Almond." (Evans was the executive producer of Martin; he made several cameo and voice-only appearances throughout the series, including one of the callers on WZUP, a guest at one of Gina's parties, and the only guy who appeared at an all-male fashion show that Pam and Tommy sponsored.)

• Myra (BeBe Drake-Massey) - Stan's girlfriend; they once double-dated with Martin and Gina (while Martin was on the outs with Cole, Pam and Tommy). She was a customer of Shenehneh's hair salon, and went bald after Gina treated her hair. While working for the unemployment office, she got several jobs for Martin - then nearly gave up on him since he kept quitting each job he received.

• Gloria Rodriguez (Angelina Estrada) - Station director and Martin's supervisor at television station Channel 51.

• Bernice (Kymberly Newberry) - a producer at Channel 51 who is always at odds with Martin. (Kymberly Newberry also briefly played an entirely different part of a shoe-saleswoman in episode 8 of season 2 "You've Got a Friend")

Other roles played by Lawrence[link]

One of the trademarks as well as running gags of Martin, especially early in its run, was Lawrence playing multiple characters, utilizing various costumes and prosthetic applications. Season Four was the last season to feature Lawrence as multiple characters on a regular basis. This technique was rarely used in Season 5, which was the final season of the series. The only characters that appeared in Season 5 were Sheneneh, Roscoe and Elroy. Most of the other characters were last seen in Season 4 and the episodes they last appeared in seemingly wrote them out of the series.

• Sheneneh Jenkins: A stereotypically flashy Detroit "ghetto girl," she is owner/operator of Sheneneh's Sho' Nuff Hair Salon, whom Lawrence played in drag. Mama Payne and Sheneneh were the only two characters Lawrence played as women on the show, and both characters hated Gina. Though Sheneneh is awkwardly tall and thick in build, she often describes herself as a "la-a-a-dy." She's portrayed as being very mouthy, confrontational, feisty, and sassy. She lives in the apartment across the hallway from Martin's, and factors into many of the plots by picking fights with Gina, and especially Pam, out in the hallway. Sheneneh has several girlfriends who appear occasionally. Those being shown are Keylolo (rapperYo-Yo), Bonquisha (actress Kim Coles), and Laquita.

• Edna (Mama) Payne: Martin's shrill, extremely frenetic, and easily excited mother, who is insanely over-protective of Martin, and who dislikes Gina immensely. Comically, Lawrence's mustache was never covered with stage make-up while in this role. Mama's mustache was occasionally the subject of a sharp retort by Gina when she and Martin argued. She has a brother named Junior (portrayed by John Witherspoon). Mama does not appear in the fifth and final season.

• Otis: An abrasive, potbellied old man who is always seen in uniform while on his job as a security guard. Otis is usually seen melodramatically attempting to keep order whether there's trouble or not. Because of his immense gut, advanced age, and oafish appearance, Otis is often taken for a weak old man who just acts tough. Because of this, he's often challenged in some way, usually to physical altercations, which he is more than willing to engage in. Surprisingly, his buffoonish style of wrestling and unexpected strength always catch his "antagonists" off guard, and he is invariably the victor, easily defeating all challengers. In his final episode on the show, he moves to an unnamed island. Otis does not appear in the fifth and final season.

• Jerome: A loudmouthed, aging, still well-funded, once-flashy but now-faded Detroit pimp. He runs an illicit casino, sports a family-heirloom "gold toof-es" in his mouth, was once voted Detroit's "Player of the Year," and has his sights set on Pam. He often speaks in rhyming sentences. Usually Jerome appears on the scene with his signature tune ("Oooh, oooh, oo-oo-ooh, I say Jerome's in the house, I say Jerome's in the ah-um-ah-um...watch yo' mouth!") Jerome's final appearance on the show as in the episode Uptown Friday Night (that parodies Uptown Saturday Night) which somewhat wrote him out of the series as his last line was "And that's the eeeend!". Jerome does not appear in the fifth and final season.

• Roscoe: A 10-year-old kid with a constantly runny nose and a very smart mouth. Lawrence played the role by standing on his knees, with shoes attached to his kneecaps. Roscoe only appears once during the fifth and final season.

• Dragonfly Jones: A martial arts "expert" who is beaten up in nearly every appearance. He always seems to owe money to a real martial artist, who is actually a student of Dragonfly's named Kenji, who would often beat Dragonfly up when he refused to pay him some small sum he was owed. Dragonfly does not appear in the fifth and final season.

• Bob: A white man who works in an unknown capacity at the marketing firm where Gina is employed, Bob is best described as a stereotypical surfer-dude-cum-redneck. He speaks in a Southern Californian accent mixed with a Southern twang, and often uses words like "dude" and "man," even in professional settings. Lawrence achieved his appearance as this character with stage make-up and a prosthetic nose attachment to make him appear white, as well as wearing a long, blond mullet wig to complete the look. Bob only appears in 2 episodes, once in the first season and again in the second season.

• Elroy Preston: The fictional "Godfather of Black Surf Music" who is now completely forgotten and washed up. Preston works as an auto mechanic, and is best known for randomly breaking into song while performing his mechanical duties. He often distracts himself and irritates others when reminiscing on things that involve his trademark song, which consists only of Preston singing "Don't you know no good!" over and over. He is seen mostly in the first three seasons. He makes one appearance in the fifth and final season.

• King Beef: Cole's favorite 1970s blaxploitation movie actor, which is actually Lawrence in a huge bodysuit. Whenever trouble arises, he feels the overwhelming need to dance. It doesn't matter if he is on the run from Godzilla—he always finds time for dancing, and always with his scantily clad female co-stars flanking him. He is only seen during the first two seasons.

Ratings[link]

Special guest appearances[link]

Episodes[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

Syndication and DVD releases[link]

Reruns air in syndication in most major U.S. cities, and also air daily nationwide on the TV One cable network. Reruns began airing on MTV2 on February 21, 2011.

HBO Home Video has released all five seasons of Martin on DVD in Region 1.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Martin at the Internet Movie Database
• Martin at TV.com
• Martin at epguides.com

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (October 2010)

Lori Martin (April 18, 1947 – April 4, 2010) was an American actress.

Early career[link]

Lori Martin was born Dawn Catherine Menzer, in Glendale, California at 10:02 a.m.; her fraternal twin sister, Doree, arrived four minutes later. As she weighed only 5 pounds and measured just 18 inches at birth, she spent the first few weeks of her life in an incubator, during which time her survival was somewhat doubtful. Her father was Russell C. Menzer (1916–1999), an MGM and Warner Brothers commercial artist and art director. She had a younger brother, Stephen Menzer, and an older sister, Jean.

When she was six years old, her mother took her to an agent who specialized in child actors and actresses, thinking that performing might be a healthy outlet for her. When later asked what inspired her to be an actress, Martin said that, "the best time in my life was when I was about four. Doree and I had to go live with my aunt in Ponca City, Okla. My mother got sick and Daddy had to go to work every day, so we couldn't stay here. I didn't want to come back. I cried and cried. That was when I decided, if I had to come back, I'd be an actress. I started getting parts immediately and my little brother was signed by the same agent, but he lacked my interest in acting. I just loved it." Martin auditioned so well that her parents soon allowed her to attend them by herself. Her mother recalled that "I'll never forget the first interview she went on. It was for a Chrysler commercial, and my car broke down about six blocks from the studio. I had to stay with the car, but Lori was all for going on in herself. She got out of the car, walked six blocks, found the right office, told the receptionist who she was, went in for her interview and got the job. Since then I've usually waited outside in the car and she's handled everything herself."^{[citation needed]}

As well as appearing in several commercials, including one for which her father designed the set and a Milky Way commercial, she won parts in the films Machine Gun Kelly (1958), The FBI Story (1959), and Cash McCall (1959). She also appeared in several TV shows including Medic, Wagon Train, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Leave It to Beaver, and in Whirlybirds. She also appeared on the NBC interview program Here's Hollywood.

National Velvet[link]

At the age of 12, Martin was the 975th young hopeful to be auditioned for the role of Velvet Brown in the NBC TV version of National Velvet, the role for which she is best remembered. After being included in the final three, she was interviewed a further ten times before winning the part. Ann Doran played her mother, Martha Brown. When she won the role, her name was changed from Dawn Menzer to "Lori Martin". On the change of name, Martin later said that, "I didn't like the name Lori at first. But I like it now. The reason I like it now is I've been brainwashed!" A natural blonde, one of the reasons why Martin won the National Velvet role was because when her hair was dyed black, many thought Lori had a striking resemblance to Elizabeth Taylor at the same age when Taylor starred in the 1944 film version. According to the show's producers, Martin won the role because "she looks like Elizabeth Taylor and is just as good an actress as Elizabeth Taylor was at 12. She is also, obviously, small enough for the role. And of all those kids, she was the one of them who wanted it the most." Indeed, Martin later said that she "wanted the part so bad I couldn't sleep." Whilst filming the TV show, Martin recalls that "one day someone told me that Elizabeth Taylor was going to be in the Thalberg Building. I ran right over hoping to see her and caught a glimpse just as she left. She was just so beautiful! I guess I was pretty at that age, but never anything like her!" At the time she was filming the series, Lori said that “I hope Elizabeth Taylor likes me in the series. I saw her in the movie before I ever got the part and I thought she was wonderful!'

In the National Velvet TV series, Velvet Brown (played by Martin) lives on a dairy farm with her parents, Martha and Herbert, an ex-jockey, Mi Taylor, her brother Donald, and her sister Edwina (who had a boyfriend called Teddy). Velvet owned a thoroughbred stallion named King which she hoped would one day run in the Grand National Steeplechase. The show ran for 54 episodes between 1960 and 1962 (at 8 pm on Sunday evenings) and critics and audiences were extravagant in their praise for Martin’s performances. The show was axed by NBC in 1962 due to the enormous popularity of the competing CBS show, The Ed Sullivan Show.^{[citation needed]}

Cape Fear[link]

In 1962, Martin won the role of Nancy Bowden in the film Cape Fear which also starred Gregory Peck, Polly Bergen, and Robert Mitchum. Martin later said that she delivered her best performance in her role as Nancy, but had nightmares for weeks after the filming of the scene in which her character is stalked by Mitchum's character. The Director of the film, J. Lee Thompson, originally wanted Hayley Mills for Martin's part.^[1] Because he could not get Mills, however, he later admitted to having deliberately given Martin a hard time during filming.^{[citation needed]}

Singing career[link]

Lori jumped on the singing teen idol bandwagon and released her only single on Bob Keane's legendary Del-Fi Records. Recorded at Radio Recorders in Hollywood in September 1963, the girl group-styled, "The House of the Boy I Love", backed with "Mine 'Til Monday" (Del Fi 4201), was mistakenly released with songwriting credits given to the successful team of Barry Mann and Cythia Weil when in fact it was produced by Barry Mann and written by lesser known hit-man, Sylvester Brandford. Brandford's claim to fame was his composition of "Tears On My Pillow" which was a #4 hit in 1958 for Little Anthony & The Imperials. Although Lori Martin's only record went nowhere fast, it has now become quite collectable and sought after among girl group record collectors.^{[citation needed]}

Later career[link]

After Cape Fear, Martin appeared in TV shows such as Slattery's People, Sam Benedict, Breaking Point, Please Don't Eat The Daisies, My Three Sons and Family Affair. She also won roles in the films, The Chase (1966) and The Angry Breed (1968).

Life Post Acting[link]

During the early 1970s, Martin decided to put her acting career on hold. She later recalled that her reasoning behind her decision was that "I'd been in the business long enough to know I'd been stereotyped. My mother was in poor health and I felt I had worked from such an early age I could take some time off and get a college education." A few years later, she tried to reactivate her career but unfortunately she became "discouraged by the many changes in casting and techniques".

Martin later married, Charles Breitenbucher, had a son, Brett, and moved to Westlake Village, California under her real (married) name, Dawn Breitenbucher. She later moved to Oakhurst, California. She occasionally attended autograph signings and ran a medical supplies company with her husband until his death in 1999. In February 2008, she participated as an election worker when the people of Oakhurst voted on whether the community should become incorporated or not. Indeed, during the election, she gave an interview to ABC local news.^{[citation needed]}

In an article which was written at the height of her fame, she was quoted as saying that what she wanted to be when she grew up was "normal". Martin later recalled after her acting career had finished that it "was probably an accurate quote because that's what I wanted and as it turns out, that's what I am." ^[2]

Death[link]

Lori Martin died on April 4, 2010 in Oakhurst, California, several weeks before her 63rd birthday.^[3][4][5][6] Malcolm James, a friend of Martin's son, Brett, stated that Martin had suffered from ill health since the death of her husband in 1999 and died of an illness related to bipolar disorder, but no exact cause has been released.^[7] A memorial service was held on April 30, 2010, at the Sierra Vista Presbyterian Church in Oakhurst.

Selected film and television appearances[link]

• The Chase (1966)
• Leave It To Beaver (1963)
• Cape Fear (1962)
• National Velvet (1960–1962)
• Cash McCall (1959)
• The FBI Story (1959)
• Machine-Gun Kelly (1958)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Lori Martin at the Internet Movie Database
• Lori Martin at Find a Grave

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

Martin Sheen
Martin Sheen in 2008
Born	Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (1940-08-03) August 3, 1940 (age 71) Dayton, Ohio, United States
Occupation	Actor, Activist
Years active	1961–present
Spouse	Janet Templeton (1961–present)
Children	Emilio, Ramon, Carlos, Renée
Signature

Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), better known by his stage name Martin Sheen, is an American film actor best known for his performances in the films Badlands (1973), Apocalypse Now (1979), Wall Street (1987), The Departed (2006), his role as The Illusive Man in the Mass Effect trilogy and President Josiah Bartlet in the television series The West Wing.

He is considered one of the best actors never to be nominated for an Academy Award despite his acclaimed performances.^[opinion][1] In film he has won the Best Actor award at the San Sebastián International Film Festival for his performance as Kit Carruthers in Badlands. His portrayal of Capt. Willard in Apocalypse Now earned a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor. Sheen has worked with a wide variety of film directors, such as Richard Attenborough, Francis Ford Coppola, Terrence Malick, David Cronenberg, Mike Nichols, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Oliver Stone. He has had a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame since 1989. In television he has won both a Golden Globe and two Screen Actors Guild awards for playing the lead role of President Bartlet in The West Wing, and an Emmy for guest acting in the sitcom Murphy Brown.

Born and raised in the United States from immigrant parents – a Galician father, Francisco Estévez from Salceda de Caselas in Galicia (Spain) and a first-generation Irish mother, Mary-Anne Phelan from Borrisokane in County Tipperary – he adopted the stage name Martin Sheen to help him gain acting parts.^[2] He is the father of actors Emilio Estevez, Ramon Estevez, Carlos Irwin Estevez (Charlie Sheen), and Renée Estevez. His younger brother Joe Estevez is also an actor.

Although known as an actor, Sheen has also directed one film, Cadence (1990), appearing alongside sons Charlie and Ramon. He has also narrated, produced and directed in documentary television, earning two Daytime Emmy awards in the 1980s. In addition to film and television, Sheen has also become notable for his activism in liberal politics.

Early life[link]

Sheen was born in Dayton, Ohio, the son of Mary-Ann (née Phelan; 1903–1951) and Francisco Estévez Martinez (1898–1974).^[3] During birth, Sheen's left arm was crushed by forceps, giving him limited lateral movement of his left arm, which is three inches shorter than his right.^[4] Both of Sheen's parents were immigrants, his father from Parderrubias, Galicia, Spain; and his mother from Borrisokane, County Tipperary, Ireland.^[5][6] After moving to Dayton in the 1930s, his father was a factory worker/machinery inspector at the National Cash Register Company.^[7] Sheen grew up on Brown Street in the South Park neighborhood, one of ten children (nine boys and a girl).^[6] Due to his father's work, Sheen also spent part of his childhood in Bermuda, where the family lived on St. John's Road, Pembroke.^[8] He graduated from Chaminade High School (now Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School) and was raised Catholic.^[6][9] Sheen was the first of the children born in the United States.^[10] At age 14 he organized a strike of golf caddies while working at a private golf club in Dayton, Ohio. He complained about the golfers: "They often used obscene language in front of us. . . . we were little boys and they were abusive . . . anti-Semitic . . . And they, for the most part, were upstanding members of the community."^[11]

Sheen was drawn to acting at a young age, but his father disapproved of his interest in the field. Despite his father's opposition, Sheen borrowed money from a Catholic priest and moved to New York City in his early 20s, hoping to make it as an actor.^[7] It was there that he met the legendary Catholic activist Dorothy Day. Working with her Catholic Worker Movement, he began his commitment to social justice,^[6][12] and would one day go on to play Peter Maurin, cofounder of the Catholic Worker Movement, in Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story. Sheen deliberately failed the entrance exam for the University of Dayton so that he could pursue his acting career.^[13]

He adopted his stage name, Martin Sheen, from a combination of the CBS casting director, Robert Dale Martin, who gave him his first big break, and the televangelist archbishop, Fulton J. Sheen.^[14] In a 2003 Inside the Actors Studio interview, Sheen explained, "Whenever I would call for an appointment, whether it was a job or an apartment, and I would give my name, there was always that hesitation and when I'd get there, it was always gone. So I thought, I got enough problems trying to get an acting job, so I invented Martin Sheen. It's still Estevez officially. I never changed it officially. I never will. It's on my driver's license and passport and everything. I started using Sheen, I thought I'd give it a try, and before I knew it, I started making a living with it and then it was too late. In fact, one of my great regrets is that I didn't keep my name as it was given to me. I knew it bothered my dad."^[6][7][15]

Career[link]

Sheen at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.

Sheen has said he was greatly influenced by the actor James Dean.^[6] He developed a theatre company with other actors in hopes that a production would earn him recognition. In 1963, he made an appearance in Nightmare, an episode of the television science fiction series The Outer Limits. The following year, he starred in the Broadway play The Subject Was Roses, reprising his role in the 1968 film of the same name. In 1969 Live Bait (Mission: Impossible) third season of the TV series, Sheen played Albert, assistant to the colonel interrogating an American agent that IM was tasked to free. He then played Dobbs in the film adaptation of Catch-22. Sheen was then a co-star in the controversial Emmy Award-winning 1972 television movie That Certain Summer, said to be the first television movie in America to portray homosexuality in a sympathetic light. His next important feature film role was in 1973, when he starred with Sissy Spacek in the crime drama Badlands, which he has said is his best film.^[6][16] Also in 1973, Sheen appeared opposite David Janssen in "Such Dust As Dreams Are Made On", which was the first pilot for Harry O.

In 1974 Sheen portrayed a hot rod driver in the television movie The California Kid, and that same year received an Emmy Award^[17] nomination for Best Actor in a television drama for his portrayal of Pvt. Eddie Slovik in the television film The Execution of Private Slovik.^[6] Based on an incident that occurred during World War II, the film told the story of the only U.S. soldier to be executed for desertion since the American Civil War. Sheen's performance ultimately led to Francis Ford Coppola choosing him for a starring role in 1979's Apocalypse Now, a film that gained him wide recognition. Filming in the Philippine jungle in the typhoon season of 1976, Sheen admitted he was not in the greatest shape and was drinking heavily.^[6] For the film’s legendary opening sequence in a Saigon hotel room, Sheen didn’t have to act so much since it was his 36th birthday and he was very drunk.^[18] After 12 months, Sheen reached breaking point, suffering a minor heart attack and he had to crawl out to a road for help.^[6] After his heart attack, his younger brother Joe Estevez stood in for him in a number of long shots and in some of the voice-overs.^[19] Sheen was able to resume filming a few weeks later.^[18]

Sheen in Annapolis, May 10, 2004

Sheen has played U.S. President John F. Kennedy (in the miniseries Kennedy — The Presidential Years); Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in the television special The Missiles of October; White House Chief of Staff A.J. McInnerney in The American President; sinister future president Greg Stillson in The Dead Zone; the President in the two-part TV movie, Medusa's Child; and fictional Democratic president Josiah "Jed" Bartlet in the acclaimed television drama, The West Wing.^[6]

As of November 4, 2010, it has been confirmed that he had been cast as Uncle Ben in Sony's 2012 reboot of the Spider-Man series, directed by Marc Webb.^[20]

Sheen has performed voice-over work as the narrator for the Eyewitness series and as the "real" Seymour Skinner in the controversial episode of The Simpsons titled "The Principal and the Pauper." In addition, he played the role of the Illusive Man in the highly acclaimed video game Mass Effect 2, and the sequel, Mass Effect 3.

Sheen recently travelled to Mexico City to star in Chamaco with Kirk Harris, Alex Perea, Gustavo Sanchez Parra and Michael Madsen. In November 2010 he filmed Stella Days^[21] in County Tipperary, Ireland, near the birthplace of his mother. Thaddeus O'Sullivan is directing and Irish actor Stephen Rea also stars.^[22] He appeared in Martin Scorsese's "The Departed" as Captain Oliver Queenan, a commanding officer who is watching an undercover cop(Leonardo Dicaprio) who is a mole in a Irish American mob run by a vicous mob boss(Jack Nicholson). Martin Sheen and son Ramon Estevez combined both their real and stage names to create the Warner Bros.-affiliated company, Estevez Sheen Productions. The company’s latest film is The Way, written and directed by Sheen's son Emilio Estevez who also stars in the film as Martin’s on-screen son, who dies while hiking the Camino de Santiago. His daughter, Renée, also has a part in the film. Driven by sadness, Martin’s character, an American doctor, leaves his Californian life and embarks on the 800-km pilgrimage from the French Pyrenees to Spain’s Santiago de Compostela himself, with his son’s ashes. It was set to be released in theaters on Easter 2011.^[15]

Martin appeared in the Irish Film entitled Stella Days directed by Irish Director Thaddeus O'Sullivan and stars IFTA award winning actress Amy Huberman. The film sees Martin Sheen play parish priest, Daniel Barry, whose love for the cinema leads him on a path to help set up a local cinema in the town of Borrisokane. Daniel comes up against opposition from doubtful local parishioners who question his faith and the Bishop Hegarty, played by Tom Hickey, who is more interested in raising funds for a new church.^[22][23]

Political activism[link]

Martin Sheen at an anti-war protest in October 2007.

Although he did not attend college, Sheen credited the Marianists at University of Dayton as a major influence on his public activism. Sheen is known for his outspoken support of liberal political causes, such as opposition to United States military actions and a toxic-waste incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio. Sheen has resisted calls to run for office, saying: "There's no way that I could be the president. You can't have a pacifist in the White House . . . I'm an actor. This is what I do for a living."^[24] Sheen is an honorary trustee of the Dayton International Peace Museum.

He supported the 1965 farm worker movement with Cesar Chavez in Delano, California.^[25] He is a proponent of the Consistent life ethic, which advocates against abortion, capital punishment and war.^[26] He also supports the Democrats for Life of America's Pregnant Women Support Act.^[27] In 2004 along with Rob Reiner, Sheen campaigned for Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean, and later campaigned for nominee John Kerry.

On May 16, 1995, Martin Sheen and Paul Watson from the non-profit environmental organization Sea Shepherd, were confronted by a number of Canadian sealers in a hotel on Magdalen Islands over Sea Shepherd's history of attacks on sealing and whaling ships. Sheen negotiated with the sealers while Watson was escorted to the airport by police.^[28] In early 2003 Sheen signed the "Not in My Name" declaration opposing the invasion of Iraq (along with prominent figures such as Noam Chomsky and Susan Sarandon); the declaration appeared in the magazine The Nation. On August 28, 2005, he visited anti-Iraq War activist Cindy Sheehan at Camp Casey. He prayed with her and spoke to her supporters. He began his remarks by stating, "At least you've got the acting president of the United States," referring to his role as fictional president Josiah Bartlet on The West Wing.^[29] Cindy Sheehan had been demanding a second meeting^[30] with the President, George W. Bush.

Sheen endorsed marches and walkouts called by the civil rights group By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) to force the state of California to honor the Cesar Chavez holiday. On the day of the protests (March 30), thousands of students, primarily Latino from California and elsewhere, walked out of school in support of the demand. Sheen also stated that he participated in the large-scale immigration marches in Los Angeles in 2006 and 2007.^{[31][32][dead link][citation needed]}

On April 10, 2006, the New York Times reported that members of the Democratic Party in Ohio had contacted Sheen, attempting to persuade him to run for the United States Senate in Ohio. Sheen declined the offer, stating, "I'm just not qualified. You're mistaking celebrity for credibility."^[33] On November 26, 2006, the Sunday Times in the Republic of Ireland, where Sheen was then living due to his enrolment in NUI Galway, reported on his speaking out against mushroom farmers exploiting foreign workers by paying them as little as €2.50 an hour in a country where the minimum wage was €7.65.

Sheen's latest activism includes attendances at meetings of the environmentalist group Earth First!^[34] and a speaking appearance at youth activism event We Day^[35] Sheen has also endorsed and supported Help Darfur Now, a student-run organization to help aid victims of the genocide in Darfur, the western region in Sudan. He also appears in the recent anti-fur documentary "Skin Trade."^[36]

Sheen has appeared in television and radio ads urging Washington State residents to vote 'no' on Initiative 1000, a proposed assisted suicide law before voters in the 2008 election.^[37]

Sheen initially endorsed New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, and helped raise funds for his campaign.^[38] After Richardson dropped out of the campaign, Sheen stated in a BBC Two interview that he was supporting Barack Obama.^[33]

In March 2012, Sheen was featured with George Clooney in a performance of Dustin Lance Black's play, '8' — a staged reenactment of the federal trial that overturned California's Prop 8 ban on same-sex marriage — as attorney Theodore Olson.^[39] The production was held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre and broadcast on YouTube to raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights.^[40][41]

Personal life[link]

Sheen (right) with son Emilio Estevez in February 2011

Family[link]

Sheen married art student Janet Templeton^{[citation needed]} on December 23, 1961, and they have four children, three sons and a daughter, all of whom are actors: Emilio, Ramón, Carlos, and Renée. All but one decided to keep their own names when they began acting - Carlos made the decision to use his father's stage name, and is known as Charlie Sheen.^[6]

Charlie Sheen is Martin's youngest son.

His son, Charlie Sheen, also starred in a film about Vietnam, Platoon. Charlie Sheen once stated that he wanted to star in a film similar to one his father was in because he wanted to know what it feels like. They jointly parodied their respective previous roles in the 1993 movie Hot Shots Part Deux: their river patrol boats passed each other, at which point they both shouted, "I loved you in Wall Street!", a film they both starred in as father and son in 1987.

He has played the father of sons Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen in various projects: he played Emilio's father in The War at Home, In the Custody of Strangers and The Way, and Charlie's father in Wall Street, No Code of Conduct and two episodes of Spin City. He also appeared as a guest star in one episode of Two and a Half Men playing the father of Charlie's neighbor Rose (Melanie Lynskey), and another as guest star Denise Richards' father; at the time that episode aired, Richards was still married to Charlie. Martin also played a "future" version of Charlie in a VISA TV commercial. Martin has played other characters with his sons and his daughter. He starred in the film Bobby, which was directed by Emilio. Estevez also starred in the movie alongside his father. His daughter Renée had a supporting role in The West Wing, as one of President Josiah Bartlet's (Sheen) secretaries.

Sheen became a grandfather at age 43 when his son, Emilio, had a son named Taylor Levi with his girlfriend, Carey Salley. Sheen has six other grandchildren, Paloma Rae (from Emilio), Cassandra, Sam J, Lola Rose, Bob and Max (from Charlie).^{[42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49]}