Update page

(As of November 2, 2004)

Deana Martin has written a book that has just been published entitled:

"Memories Are Made Of This" (Dean Martin Through His Daughter's Eyes)

It is a wonderful book filled with many aspects of Dean and his family that have never been revealed until now. Deana writes with love and care about Dean and also about her family, including her mother, Betty, someone we have never really known much about until now. Deana is very honest and straightforward telling of not only the good times in her life but also of the bad times...but never with a "Mommy Dearest" or "Going My Own Way" outlook, just honest and straight to the point.

(Mommy Dearest was written by Joan Crawford's adopted daughter and Going My Own Way was written by Bing Crosby's son, Gary)

Deana was so very kind to me (as always) as she mentioned my wife and me in one of the chapters and she also printed a picture that I took of her and John at the Cable Awards dinner (see below).

Read the book and see a side of Dean you may not have known about. Idol, Icon, Entertainer Extraordinaire...he was very human behind the cameras. Congratulations Deana. I know it wasn't easy for you to put everything down on paper...but I thank you so much for sharing all that you did.

Check out Deana's web site at DeanaMartin.com

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In June the annual Dean Martin festival was held in Steubenville, Ohio and was highlighted by not only Deana Martin and her husband John, but also by an appearance from Regis Philbin, a big Dino fan for many years.

Deana, John and the Festival Committee were kind enough to allow me the space to bring a lot of my collection to exhibit in the hall of the high school where much of the festival took place. Hundreds of Dino fans flocked to see Deana & John, Regis and then over to where I had displayed hundreds of Dean items for everyone to see.

Here are some of the photos taken:

A very special thanks goes to Tina and Art Baker for all of their help during that day, along with many other volunteers, including my wife, Debbie, who never tires of hearing me go on and on and on and on..............about Dean. I don't know how she does it. (Yes I do...she loves Dean, too.)

(As of January 17, 2001)

My wife and I had the pleasure of attending the 1999 Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame Awards, held at the Marriott Marquis in NYC, on November 8, where Dean was inducted into their Hall of Fame along with Gracie Allen, David Susskind, E.G. Marshall, Dick Wolf and many others. This wonderful evening was made possible for us by the kindness of John and Deana. It was a great feeling to see Dean get this kind of recognition for his contributions to the television media.

Video clips were shown of each honeree, and when Dean's was shown there was laughter and applause from the ballroom filled audience. Deana accepted the award on behalf of her father, getting some laughs herself, and giving heartfelt thanks, not only to the Broadcasting & Cable organization, but also to all the fans who "kept all those cards and letters comin' in". I felt very proud to be there.

After the awards, there was dancing (of course the orchestra played Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime) and Mr. & Mrs. Griffeth hit the dancefloor.

Then my wife and I showed John and Deana some posters of Dean's movies that were part of my collection, and also Dean's puppet from the early fifties. These will now be a part of their home decor. Speaking with Deana was a real joy. She and John were so nice and friendly, taking the time to listen to my ramblings about my collection, my admiration for Dean since I was a kid, as my wife stood by and listened for the thousandth time what a big fan I am of Dean's. I don't know how they all put up with me, except maybe they see my sincerity and love for the greatest entertainer ever.

If I look like a very happy camper in these pix.....I AM!! It was a night my wife and I will always remember.

I've had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Joey Bishop, who personally called me twice and who not only autographed some of my posters, but was kind enough to sign pictures for a couple of my close friends who are also Dean fans. Mr. Bishop is a very kind person and his conversations were extremely nice.

I was able to meet and speak with Stella Stevens, another very nice person, who also took the time to sign many items from my collection, and she, too, signed some extra pictures for my good friends (both of who I met through our mutual Dean collections...trading, buying for each other, etc.) Stella took the time to tell me a great, funny story about her "puddle" scene from The Silencers and how she and Dean laughed when they were trying to kiss in the station wagon, due to the fact that she smelled from the muddy water and hot lights (it was shot in a studio). I also received a note from her thanking me for something that I had sent her. What a great lady, whose hug (above) is something I will always cherish.

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(with) Richard Keil (Jaws of James Bond Fame) who co-starred with Dean in Cannonball Run.

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Andrew Prine co-starred with Dean in both Bandolero and Texas Across the River. When I asked him how it was to work with Dean, he smiled and told me Dean was a lot of fun to be around, and that they had "bent elbows" on a few occasions, but he also added that Dean was sometimes quiet, reclusive and that he was also a shy man. It seems that there were many sides to Dean, including one of solitude.

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God Bless Mr. Bob Hope...he is greatly missed

While I was serving overseas in 1968 I got to meet and work with Bob Hope, Ann-Margret, the Golddiggers, Rosie Grier, Les Brown, and many other talented performers who went out of their way to entertain the troops during the Christmas holidays. I was lucky enough to work backstage with them all. It was a real thrill for an 18 year old kid thousands of miles away from home to get to meet all of these stars and to be able to talk with them. Of course, I asked them all what it was like working with Dean, and they all had nice things to say.

Needless to say, the show was great (see some of the pictures on the Television page of this site) but the best was yet to come. Ann-Margret signed her picture for me (she was more beautiful in person than on TV and the big screen) and then I was able to go into Mr. Hope's dressing room with three of my friends. (We had spent days building the dressing rooms for him and a seperate one for Ann-Margret, the Golddiggers and the other female guests) and he wanted to thank us personally, not only for the hard work we went through to make them all comfortable during their stay with us, but also to thank me for the small (artificial) Christmas tree that I had placed on his dressing table. It was a gift from my family, so I figured a day out of my tent and onto Mr. Hope's table was the least I could do for him.

Well, after spending a few minutes speaking with me and my pallies, Bob was greeted by our General, the top guy on our base. They shook hands and then got ready to go out to the Officer's golf course (of which we enlisted personnel were not allowed at any time) where the 18th hole was going to be dedicated to Mr. Hope. We were all ready to leave when the General said to me and my buddies, "You can't go. You have to stay here." An order from the General. We must obey. Then came the words I will never, ever forget. Mr. Hope said, "Oh, no. They go with me." Very simple, spoken softly, but the General dared not argue. His eyes glared at us but who cared? We were, in actuality, guests of Bob Hope. We went on the long walk out to the 18th hole, talking more with this legend and feeling very special. He made those lonely holiday weeks bearable for all of us.

Over 30 years later, I mailed him the above picture, telling him of this story and thanking him once again for being so thoughtful to four GIs so far from their families at the time. Though he is over 90 years of age, and is in poor health, a few weeks later I got the picture back, autographed. What a special person. His passing not long ago was truly sad, but reaching 100 years old must have been God's way of saying..."...for all you have done for so many people I will give you some extra years now for yourself and your family..." Thanks, Bob...for everything.

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It's been 25 years since this pix was taken, but I will never forget the day I visited a friend of mine who worked on the crew of Sesame Street. Seeing Jim Henson and his gang make magic with all of the Street's characters was a great thing to watch. I made sure that I got a picture taken with me and my favorite Muppet...Grover.

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I have helped many fans enhance their own collections, as some very special people have helped me. That's the fun of collecting, and that's the fun of talking about Dean when any of us get together, or phone one another or write. Dean still inspires us and through him I have made many new friends, a lot through the internet. Keep collecting and enjoying. Due to the renewed interest in the Rat Pack, etc...the future looks bright once again.