Alone he was not, however, as he had a growing brood of kids at home – 7 in total turning his house into a big hotel, in his eyes. Dean was extremely proud of his children, always telling stories about his kids to anyone who would listen, and even joked that he couldn’t count them all because he never learnt to count that high.

Depicted as a hard playing, hard boozing Rat Packer with a dark side, he was much more a complex character. He was a singer, actor and comedian, but he was also a substantive man hidden behind a mirthful mask and didn’t fit in with the simple caricature of the boozy lounge singer. Dean was a dedicated family man and father, unlike his pals Sinatra and co, who were absentia fathers, Dean was home by 6pm every night for dinner and didn’t leave until 7am the next morning, which puts a dampner on his casanova stereotype. Dino wasn’t the drinking, womanizing man Hollywood made him out to be. Ricci Martin, is quotes as saying that he never saw his father drunk, and that a drunk was only his camera character. Dean wasn’t a heavy drinker at all, and used to use apple juice as a prop for his shows. Sinatra is quoted as saying that he [Sintara] spills more than he [Dean] drinks. He wasn’t heavy drinking but was a heavy smoking card hustler more than content with his dissolute way of life.

He felt shy about not being educated and ashamed of his limited vocabulary and lack of political and social knowledge. Dean was terrified of the intimacy required in a conversation, and didn’t socialize much because of this reason. When his second wife, Jeanne, would hold parties at their home, Martin would slip upstairs after a few hours, put on his pyjamas and call the police claiming to be a disturbed neighbour, in order to break up the party so he could sleep.

Dean had many flaws behind his charming persona. His arthritic spine cause him long periods of intense discomfort especially during the filming of the Rat Pack movie, “Sergeants 3” but the things that Dean was widely known for was his overly large hands and crooked pinkie finger on his right hand, that he had dislocated as a child and his father had unsuccessfully popped back into place. Dean suffered from claustofobia, which was an ever present problem throughout his life. Dean was seen by many as a man who couldn’t lose, because he had put so little at stake, as some thought he never really gave 100% with projects or business ventures, never risking anything for anyone or anything else.

Dean was a bigger than life, handsome, charming talent that everyone from Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley to Jerry Lewis admired. Dean mastered all media in his lengthy career – TV, radio, film, and music. Bing Crosby was a hero of Dean’s, as Dean saw all his films and listened to as many of Bing’s recordings as he could as a child. Dean, like everyone else, borrowed Bing’s style and crafted his own style of singing. Along with Bing, Dean also idolized Harvey Mills of the Mills Brothers and developed many of his mannerisms in his style of singing.

MGM and other studios weren’t interested in Dean in the early 40’s as they saw his as just another Italian singer. A chance meeting with Jerry Lewis in 1944 changed his and Jerry’s lives instantaneously. On July 25th 1946 Paul “Skinny” D’mato’s 500 Club lead singer cancelled due to larengitis and Lewis suggested Dean to replace him making quite an impression. They developed an act for the next night and were the talk of show business developing a partnership that would span a decade. Dean was a brilliant comedian and had perfect timing and delivery and was also a trouble maker, stirring people up for comic effect.

Martin 29 and Lewis 19, were an overnight success. They had a truly unique style of working to each other rather than the audience and concentrated more about making each other laugh than the audience. They made their TV debut on the 1st “Ed Sullivan Show” and continued to play packed houses for many years and develop their partnership into scripts as they ventured into films. Eventually, frustrated playing the straight man to Lewis, Dean quit the duo. People were saying that, apart, Dean could be another Perry Como, and Jerry could be another Charlie Chaplin. On July 25th 1956 they played their last performance at the Copacabana in New York, playing to a star studded audience.

Dean admired and completely adored his mother in law, Peggy, who slept in the next room to theirs at their Mountain Dr home, again testing the idea that Dean was a roving womanizing casanova.

Dean knew a lot of underworld figures through his love of gambling but wasn’t impressed with them like Sinatra was. Dean know not to get involved and was smart to get out of his involvement with the Cal-Neva Lodge when RFK was looking into organized crime, as he knew he would get into a jam. Dean was a realist as mentioned, and was not one to play the sycophant. Dino was smart enough to see the risk involved in the Cal-Neva Lodge but was also smart enough to see that their was no place for them in Camelot, unlike Frank. Dino whose company Sinatra constantly pursued was the only person who could say no to Frank and get away with it. Dean was largely indifferent to the whole “summit” image and eventually distanced himself from the other pack boys - conveniently becoming unavailable for engagements. It wasn’t that he wanted to end the friendships with the other members, but Dean saw that they were past their use by dates and besides, he never really liked going out at night.

One of Dean’s proudest moments would have been when he carried out his promise to his children and knocked the Beatles out of number one with his signature tune, “Everybody Love Somebody”.

In 1976 at the Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon, Dino turned up unexpectedly to surprise Jerry Lewis – the two hadn’t spoken in 20years. The two of them went without words again, until March 1987 when Dean’s son, Dean Paul, an air national guard pilot, was killed when his plane crashed into a mountain and Lewis attended the military funeral. Dean was truly devastated by his sons death and never recovered. At Bally’s Casino Hotel in 1989, Dean celebrated his 72nd birthday and this marked the last time Lewis and Dino would perform on stage. After that night, Dean disappeared from the limelight and in the early 90’s gave up singing all together, after a disasterous attempt to relive the Rat Pack days and reunite Sammy, Frank and Dean for the ‘Together Again' tour.

Dean became almost completely reclusive towards the end of his life, and told long time friend Paul Anka just before his death that, “I’m just waiting to die”. Dean died of respiratory failure, finally ending his life that had become so miserable after his sons death.