Dean Martin Timeline
By Vic Gideon
1894 Gaetano "Guy" Crocetti (Dean's father) born in Abruzzi, Italy
December 18, 1898 Angela Barra (Dean's mother) born in Fernwood, Ohio
September 11, 1913 Gaetano Crocetti arrives at Ellis Island, joins brothers in Steubenville
October 25, 1914 Gaetano Crocetti and Angela Barra marry at St. Anthony's in Steubenville
June 24, 1916 Guglielmo (William) Crocetti born
June 7, 1917 Dino Crocetti (a.k.a. Dean Martin) born
Summer 1934 Dino Crocetti performs on stage for the first time ever at Craig Beach near Youngstown
1936 Dino begins fighting career as Kid Crochet
Spring, 1939 Dino Crocetti plays the Mounds Club in Lake County near Chardon, his first appearance in suburban Cleveland
November 24, 1939 In Columbus, Dino is billed as Dino Martini
Autumn 1940 In Cleveland, Dino Martini is billed for the first time as Dean Martin
November 1, 1940 Dean starts performing at the Vogue Room at the Hollenden House in Downtown Cleveland with Sammy Watkins and His Orchestra
July 5, 1942 Dean sings four songs to a coast-to-coast audience from WTAM's studio on Superior Avenue in Cleveland
October 2, 1941 Dean Martin and Elizabeth Anne "Betty" McDonald marry at St. Ann's Church in Cleveland Heights. They live in Cleveland Heights at 2820 Mayfield Road
June 29, 1942 Dean and Betty's son, Stephan (Craig) Martin, is born at Deaconess Hospital
Fall 1943 Dean, Betty, and Craig leave Cleveland for New York
September 24, 1943 Dean plays the Riobamba in Manhattan as a replacement for Frank Sinatra
January 1944 Dean appears on the cover of Billboard
March 16, 1944 Dean and Betty give birth to a daughter, Claudia
August 16, 1944 Dean gets a nose job in New York
August 21, 1944 Dean gets his own radio program called "Songs by Dean Martin," a 15-minute show from New York where Dean would croon four or five songs
September 1944 Dean Martin meets Jerry Lewis
April 11, 1945 Barbara Gail (Gail) Martin born
January 23, 1946 Dean declares bankruptcy
February 1946 Dean and Jerry appear on the same bill at the Glass Hat in New York
March 1946 Dean and Jerry clown around onstage at the Havana-Madrid
July 1946 Martin and Lewis perform at The 500 Club but are billed separately
January 1947 Martin and Lewis perform legally as a team
June 20, 1948 Martin and Lewis appear on debut of Ed Sullivan's TV show, "The Toast of the Town"
August 19, 1948 Deana (Dina) Martin born
August 20, 1948 Martin and Lewis sign with Capitol Records
December 4, 1948 "That Certain Party" with Jerry Lewis hits the charts
March 23, 1949 Betty and Dean's divorce is final
April 3, 1949 "The Martin and Lewis Show," a 30-minute radio show, debuts on the NBC radio network
September 1949 "My Friend Irma" opens, the first of 16 Martin and Lewis movies
September 1, 1949 Dean married for the second time, to Jeanne Biegger , a former Orange Bowl Queen of Florida
July 17, 1950 "The Colgate Comedy Hour" debuts, a Sunday night show with stars Martin and Lewis
November 17, 1951 Dino Paul Martin Jr. is born
February 1953 "The Stooge," Martin and Lewis' favorite of their movies, opens
March 29, 1953 "Return to Me," one of Dean's biggest selling records, is released
August 13, 1953 Dean records "That's Amore," for the movie "The Caddy"
September, 1953 "The Caddy" opens, a Martin and Lewis classic
September 20, 1953 Ricci James Martin was born
November 23, 1955 "Memories Are Made Of This" is released, Dean's first No. 1 single
December 1955 "Artists and Models," the best-made of the Lewis and Martin films, opens
July 24, 1956 Martin and Lewis break up, making their last appearance together as an act at The Copacabana in New York after numerous radio and television appearances and making 16 movies together
December 20, 1956 Gina Caroline Martin is born
April 1957 Dean's first of 35 films without Lewis, "Ten Thousand Bedrooms," opens to lackluster reviews and very poor showing at the box office
April 2, 1958 Dean's second post-Martin and Lewis movie, "The Young Lions" opens to great reviews. Based on an Irwin Shaw novel, it also stars Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift.
January 1959 "Some Came Running" opens, directed by Vincente Minnelli
March 1959 "Rio Bravo" opens, a western with John Wayne
January 20, 1960 Makes debut at Sands Hotel where he performs with fellow Rat Pack members Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop. He was a regular there until 1968, moving to the Riviera, then the MGM Grand, and finally Bally's.
June 1960 "Bells Are Ringing," a musical with Judy Holliday, opens
August 1960 "Ocean's Eleven" opens. About a bank heist in Las Vegas, the movie also stars the rest of the Rat Pack including Frank Sinatra. It was filmed during the day while the Rat Pack lined the Sands at night
February 1962 "Sergeants 3," another film with Sinatra, opens
August 1964 "Robin and the Seven Hoods" opens, a musical comedy set in Prohibition-era Chicago, which also starred Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Bing Crosby, Edward G. Robinson, Peter Falk, and Victor Buono.
August 15, 1964 "Everybody Loves Somebody" tops the charts, knocking the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" out of the top position.
September 16, 1965 "The Dean Martin Show" premiered on NBC, Thursday nights at 10 p.m. It was one of the highest-rated shows of the 1965-66 season and runs for nine seasons
March 1966 "The Silencers" opens, the first of four movies where Dean plays Matt Helm, a popular David Hamilton character from his novels
December 25, 1967 Dean's mother, Angela Crocetti, dies at age 69
August 29, 1968 Dean's father, Gaetano Crocetti, dies at age 73
October 20, 1968 Dean's brother, Bill, dies at age 51
February 1969 "The Wrecking Crew" opens, the last of the four Matt Helm pictures. It didn't do well at the box office despite co-starring Elke Sommer, and pop culture icons Sharon Tate and Tina Louise
March 1970 "Airport" opens. Based on an Arthur Haley novel, it was one of only six movies between 1950 and 1970 to take in as much as $45-million. Dean plays an adulterous pilot, Jacqueline Bisset his pregnant stewardess/mistress, and Burt Lancaster his brother-in-law/airport manager
March 29, 1973 Divorce with Jeanne Biegger is final
April 25, 1973 Dean married for the third time to Catherine Mae Hawn. The marriage only lasted 3 years
July 1973 Dean adopts Catherine's daughter, Sasha.
September 24, 1973 Dean's television show changes its name to "The Dean Martin Comedy Hour" and moves to Friday nights after eight years on Thursdays. The show features a "Roast of the Week," modeled after the popular Friars Club roasts, with Ronald Reagan as the first guest
December 5, 1973 Dean performs at the grand opening of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas
February 24, 1976 Catherine and Dean's divorce is final.
September 7, 1976 Martin and Lewis reunite for the first time in 20 years during a broadcast of Jerry Lewis' annual Muscular Dystrophy telethon, when Frank Sinatra brings a surprise guest, Dean, onstage with him
June 1981 "The Cannonball Run" opens, a hit movie starring Burt Reynolds
June 1984 "Cannonball Run II" opens, the last of Dean's 51 movies
June 11, 1985 Plays to the millionth fan while at Bally's
March 24, 1987 Dino Jr. dies in a plane crash
December 25, 1995 Dean Martin dies of acute respiratory failure at age 78 in Hollywood, Calif.
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