Actor, singer and one of the original investors in Reprise Records. Martin had one of the most varied careers of all the balladeers who emerged in the forties. Originally a romantic crooner and later the straight man to comedian Jerry Lewis, Martin deftly used his Italian background and much publicized liking for a drink he even portrayed a caricature of himself in Billy Wilder’s 'Kiss Me Stupid' and jokingly recorded  ‘Little Ole Wine Drinker Me’  to build a  multi-faceted  career in show business.  A  former  prize-fighter,  steel mill laborer  and   croupier,  he  joined  Sam Watkins’  Band in Cleveland.

   After a name change to Dino Martini, he went on to become a solo singer, similar in style to, Bing Crosby. His relaxed, easy-going charm won him only moderate success until 1946, as Dean Martin, he teamed up with Jerry Lewis. After great success on television, the pair were signed to Paramount and made seventeen films together between 1949 and 1956.
   Signed to Capitol, Martin had a number of hits, including ‘I’ll Always Love You’, ‘If’ and ‘That’s Amore’. His first No. 1 hit was ‘Memories Are Made Of This’. Martin’s film career briefly floundered, but in 1958, he had renewed record success with his romantic interpretation of ‘Return to Me’ and ‘Volare’. Martin successfully mixed cabaret and film work for several years but had no further record success until 1964, when he reached No. 1 with ‘Everybody Loves Somebody’, which became the theme of his long-running television series The Dean Martin Show.
   Most of Martin’s subsequent recordings were in a similar vein. These included ‘Send Me the Pillow You Dream On’, ‘Houston’, ‘Gentle on My Mind’ and 'Detroit City’. At the same time, Martin continued his television, cabaret and film careers. From the eighties onward he performed less frequently.