This is good to know, at least they reconciled
He and Frank Sinatra were best friends, a fact he held very dear to his heart. The two didn't speak much, in the years after Dean quit the "Rat Pack Reunion" tour, but they did reconcile a few months before his death, over dinner - and a breadroll fight.
Despite the legend that he and comedy partner Jerry Lewis always despised each other, the two were actually quite close friends and the tension between the two began in 1956, when "outside people" (as Lewis called them to Peter Bogdanovich) began to "poison" Martin against Lewis. Frank Sinatra eventually staged a public reunion over 20 years after they stopped speaking to each other. Over the next 10 years they became close again.
Sinai Medical Center on 16 September 1993, Martin finally quit smoking and even managed to perform briefly, and rather jauntily, at his 77th birthday celebration in June 1994. He declined to have major surgery on his liver and kidneys which doctors told him was necessary to prolong his life, and succumbed to respiratory failure on Christmas Day 1995.
He and Jerry Lewis recorded a radio spot promoting their film The Caddy (1953), and noticing the tape was still rolling, decided to improvise additional radio spots, with Jerry slipping profanities into his dialog. The unedited master recording was surreptitiously taken from the studio and made into a "bootleg" record that sold briskly among collectors.
Although Martin was a Republican, he supported Frank Sinatra's campaign to elect John F. Kennedy as President in 1960.
Had a night-club in North Bay Village, Florida in the late 1970s and early 1980s called Dino's. It was next to Jilly Rizzo's club, Jilly's.
He declined to participate in the March on Washington in August 1963.
Dean was so distraught over the murder of his _Wrecking Crew, The_ (1969) co-star and friend Sharon Tate that he abandoned the next already-announced Matt Helm motion picture series installment (to be titled 'The Ravagers'), and never played the character again.
Although he made out to be a heavy drinker on stage, he mostly used apple juice, but off stage was Jack Daniels man.
Martin did not party all night with the rest of the "Rat Pack" crew - actually calling themselves "The Clan". He usually went to bed early so he could play golf the next morning. He was obsessed with golf, and once stated in an interview that he would have preferred to be a professional golfer than an entertainer.
He was a close friend of John Wayne and Gary Cooper.
Diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1991.
In his youth, Dean Martin was an amateur boxer who compiled a record of 1-11.
Personal quotes
I drink because my body craves, needs alcohol. I don't drink, my body's a drunk." - I like this quote, Dean Martin is funny
On Joey Bishop: Most people think of Joey Bishop as just a replacement for Johnny Carson. That's NOT true. We in show business know better: we don't think of him at ALL.
On Phyllis Diller: Phyllis is the women of about whom Picasso once said, "Somebody throw a drop cloth over that."
On Frank Sinatra: In high school, Frank never participated in extra-curricular activities, like nature study, paintings or ceramics. Frank's hobby was a most interesting one: he was an amateur gynecologist.
On James Stewart: There's a statue of Jimmy Stewart in the Hollywood Wax Museum, and the statue talks better than he does.
On Orson Welles: What can you say about Orson Welles that Don Rickles hasn't already said about him?!
On Bob Hope: As a young boy, Bob didn't have much to say. He couldn't afford writers then.
On Don Rickles: Don's idea of a fun evening is to show home movies of the attack on Pearl Harbor...with a laugh track.
On Johnny Carson: Johnny Carson is a comedian who is seen every night in millions of bedrooms all over America...and that's why his last wife left him.
On Milton Berle: Milton Berle is an inspiration to every young person that wants to get into show business. Hard work, perseverance, and discipline: all the things you need...when you have no talent.
On his tee-total friend Pat Boone: "I once shook hands with Pat Boone, and my whole right side sobered up!"
"I'd hate to be a teetotaler. Imagine getting up in the morning and knowing that's as good as you're going to feel all day."
"I can't stand an actor or actress who tells me acting is hard work. It's easy work. Anyone who says it isn't never had to stand on his feet all day dealing blackjack."
"Motivation is a lotta crap."
Salary Airport (1970)$7,000,000Ada (1961)$300,000All in a Night's Work (1961)$250,000The Young Lions (1958)$35,000
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