Trivia of Dean Martin

Trivia of Dean Martin (7 June 1917 - 25 December 1995)

*He was once an amateur boxer. He boxed under the name “Kid Crotchet.” His record was apparently 24 wins and 6 losses in 30 bouts.

*In 1944, Dean Martin met a young Jerry Lewis at the Glass Hat Club in New York City, where both men were performing. Martin and Lewis debuted at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 25, 1946, when Lewis suggested to the club owner that Martin would be a good replacement for the scheduled singer who was unavailable.Before they teamed up, Martin was a nightclub singer, while Lewis performed a comedy act lip-synching to records.They performed in nightclubs, and, starting in 1949, on radio. Later they branched out into television and films. In their early radio days they performed as Martin and Lewis but later became hugely popular as Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

*Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were in 17 feature films together: My Friend Irma (1949), My Friend Irma Goes West (1950), At War with the Army (1950), That's My Boy (1951), The Stooge (1951), Sailor Beware (1952), Jumping Jacks (1952), Road to Bali (1952), Scared Stiff (1953), The Caddy (1953), Money from Home (1953), Living It Up (1954), 3 Ring Circus (1954), You're Never Too Young (1955), Artists and Models (1955), Pardners (1956), and Hollywood or Bust (1956).

*Though he admitted to not being an avid reader, Martin did have a massive love of comic books but was often embarrassed to admit it. His friend and long-time business partner Jerry Lewis made it easy for him, buying them for Martin and then sneaking them to the Martin and Lewis actor privately.

*According to some reports, Dean Martin had his nose fixed in 1956, following an incident where his nose was broken in a fight. The results of the surgery were reportedly not to his satisfaction, and it is said that his nose was never the same after the operation.

*In 1968, Martin signed a three-year contract for $34 million to do three more seasons of The Dean Martin Show. The contract had a little bit of a twist, though. Since he hated rehearsing, he did not have to show up to rehearse all week. Someone would stand in for Martin instead. He got paid $34 million to not show up and have someone take his place for rehearsals. What did he do in his free time? Golf.

*He retired from show business in early 1995 and died of acute respiratory failure resulting from emphysema at his Beverly Hills home on Christmas Day."Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime"--his biggest hit song--is etched on his tombstone.