DEAN MARTIN, debonair entertainer and one of Hollywood's biggest stars, died at his Beverly Hills home yesterday. He was 78.
The singer and actor, who was a leading member of Hollywood's Rat Pack and famous for his hard-living image, died of acute respiratory failure, his agent, Mort Viner, said.
Martin rose to fame as straight man to comedian Jerry Lewis before launching successfully on his own.
With stardom came membership of the Rat Pack, the ``club'' that included Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, and Peter Lawford, with John F Kennedy, Lawford's brother-in-law, as an honorary member.
``Dean was my brother - not through blood, but through choice,'' Sinatra said yesterday. ``Good times and bad, we were there for each other.
``Our friendship has travelled down many roads over the years, and there will always be a special place in my heart and soul for Dean.''
For an untrained actor who could not dance, read a note of music, or write his songs, Martin's fame was almost effortless.
``Everybody loves a drunk,'' he once said, explaining how his shabby on-stage demeanour and low-brow jokes won over the hearts and minds of the world.
His smooth baritone and comic talent also brought him success in the charts, with a No 1 in 1964 and on television with a number of popular shows.
Among Martin's films were Some Came Running, Rio Bravo, Who Was that Lady, Sergeants Three, Toys in the Attic, Kiss Me Stupid, The Bells Are Ringing, The Sons of Katie Elder, The Silencers, Texas Across the River, Murderer's Row, and Airport.
The son of an Italian immigrant barber, he was born Dino Crocetti in Steubenville, Ohio, on June 17, 1917. He worked as a boxer and steelworker before becoming a bar-room singer and changing his name to Dean Martin.
From steel mills to
dream factory - Page 3
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