Maybe the recent Veterans Day holiday started the confluent of thoughts. The television in the other room blared the audio from the Travel Channel program Ghost Adventures as the Danger Boys investigated the reputedly haunted La Palazza mansion in Las Vegas, NV. Amongst the swirl ideas emerged what seemed an unlikely theme... the life and death of singer and actor Dean Paul Martin.
The son of the Rat Pack's undisputed "King of Cool," Dean Paul "Dino" Martin Jr. was born on November 17, 1951 in Santa Monica, CA. With Desi Arnaz Jr. on drums and Billy Hinsche on Rickenbacker guitar and 13 year-old Dino playing the Hofner bass, the teen-idol group was cannily dubbed "Dino Desi and Billy." Recording for the Reprise record label -- owned by family friend Frank Sinatra -- the trio twice landed on the Billboard pop lists in 1965 with "I'm A Fool" (#17) and "Not The Lovin' Kind" (#25). Dino Desi and Billy made a bevy of television appearances, including the Ed Sullivan Show, Shindig!, Hullabaloo, Mike Douglas Show, Joey Bishop Show, Hollywood Palace, American Bandstand and Dean Martin Show. Although panned by the critics, the trio served as opening acts for the Beach Boys, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Lovin' Spoonful and Mamas and the Papas.
Is anybody surprised that Dino starred in the "Thru Spray Coloured Glasses" video? Dig the Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses, the Sony transistor radio hanging from the rear-view mirror of the Karmann Ghia. Twisting near the beach with rock music blasting in the background... is that Great Society-era, teenage-era California Dreamin'?
The group broke up in 1970. While Desi Arnaz Jr. kissed Marcia Brady's cheek on The Brady Bunch, Dino polished his tennis game and competed in a juniors' competition in Wimbledon. Dino married actress Olivia Hussey (Romeo and Juliet) in 1971; the marriage lasted seven years. Dino pursued an acting career, and portrayed a professional player and the object of a cougar's affections in the 1979 movie Players with Ali McGraw. The role earned Dino a Golden Globe nomination as "Best New Star of the Year - Male."
Dino and Olympic figure skating gold medalist Dorothy Hamill married in 1982. They were divorced two years later, and remained friends until Dino's untimely death. It's hard to imagine anybody -- even an ex-wife -- staying long at Dino for long.
Note that Dino donned military dress blues during the wedding ceremony. Having earned his pilot's license at age 16, Dino was commissioned as an officer in the California Air National Guard in 1981, and earned his aviator wings. Dino's life was unexpectedly cut short on March 25, 1987 during a Guard exercise. The Phantom II F-4 fighter jet that Dino was flying during a snowstorm in California's San Bernardino Mountains. Only 35 years old when he passed, Dino is interned in the United States National Cemetery in Los Angeles.
The death of the popular actor and aviator son devastated Dean Martin. The elder Martin scaled back his performance schedule -- large-venue concerts with Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. -- and retired four years later. Retreating into a life of solitude, the elder Martin passed away on Christmas Day 1995.
What made Dean Paul Martin Jr. über cool? Dino possessed the suave, self assurance of his famous father with the Southern California, golden-boy looks that catapulted him above the other teen idols of his era. Unlike some self-absorbed, self-destructive young stars who perished from drug overdoses, Dino died serving his country. Mind you, this post isn't a red-state rant against blue-state celebrities. This blog is undeniably and unabashedly Blue State. Don't like it... go away and read your Drudge Report. Rather, this post distinguishes between those who took and those who gave back.
Here's to Dino on what would have been his 59th birthday.
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