Dean’s father was Gaetano Crocetti, an Italian barber who came to America from the city of Montesilvano, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, in the southern Italian region of Abruzzo.
Dino’s mother was Angelina Barra. A few false articles say that Angelina was half Sicilian and half Neapolitan, yet she was actually half Northern Italian and half Neapolitan. Angelina was born in 1897 in Fernwood, Ohio. Her father, Domenico Barra, was born in 1857 in Monasterolo del Castello, in the province of Bergamo. Her mother, Maria Miraglia, was pure Neapolitan. In the nineteenth century, relationships between southern and northern Italians were rare because northerners considered southern Italians less superior. That’s why Domenico and Maria didn’t get married in Italy but decided to get married a year after they moved to America in 1893.
Martin was born Dino Paul Crocetti in Steubenville, Ohio 1917. Like his pal Frank Sinatra, Dino was born into poverty, which is why he started working as a card dealer for Cosmo Quattrone to make money to help out his family at the age of 17. Cosmo was a caporegime in the Pittsburgh branch of the Honored Society and operated out of Steubenville. He hired Dino to be a card dealer in the back room of his cigar shop, which was a front.
The caporegime soon noticed how great of a card dealer the young Dino was and decided to make the future star a croupier. Dino also helped Cosmo collect money that was owed to Cosmo several times.
At age 21, Dino became a croupier at the Jungle Inn Casino in Youngstown, Ohio. At the casino, some pals of his talked him into singing publicly. Soon, he started singing a few songs with whatever band was playing at the casino’s bar. He got his first actual singing gig at Walker’s Cafe, a roadside place in Steubenville, in 1940. At that time, he started going by the name Dino Martini, as his favorite singer at the time was Nino Martini, an Italian tenor.
Not long after that, Cosmo proposed Dino for membership into the Pittsburgh Family. However, the induction was soon canceled when Dino was offered a chance to move to the Big Apple to regularly perform at a popular establishment called the Rio Bamba in 1943. Dino asked for Cosmo’s blessing to move, and Cosmo called off his induction into Cosa Nostra and wished the future star the best of luck.
Three years later, Dino started going by Dean Martin and hooked up with Jewish comedian Jerry Lewis. They both began performing at the 500 Club in Atlantic City, which was owned by Philadelphia Family associate Paul “Skinny” D’Amato. After being booed off stage by audience members, Skinny told the duo he would fire them if they didn’t come up with better acts. They quickly came up with some funny acts and soon gained a ton of notoriety. They were even given their own radio show in 1948.
While entertaining Jerry, he also signed a recording contract and began recording songs. Eight years later, the two ended their partnership and went their separate ways. But Dino ended up hooking up with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. later that year.
Martin eventually became a big movie star and a famous singer.
His biggest hit songs are That’s Amore, You Belong to Me, Everybody Loves Somebody, You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You, and In the Misty Moonlight, among others, are still constantly being played by his fans today. He also has a boasts a huge selection of well-known and beloved Christmas songs, including A Marshmallow World, Let it Snow, and Silver Bells.
Dino also has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for all his work as a radio, television, and film star.
We hope you enjoyed this little known history about Dean Martin.
Until next time…”The Other Guy”
