I began life as a boxer under the name Kid Crochet which admittedly isn't a name to drive fear into my opponents but it was a play on my real name, Dino Paul Crocetti, but after 12 professional fights and ending up losing 11 of them, i decided standing up while being punched in the face repeatedly wasn't my strongest suit so i had a rethink of my career path and got a job as a stockboy at an underground casino and worked my way up to blackjack dealer, then croupier at the roulette table, and finally, a singer at the casino’s lounge under the name Dino Martini and then Dean Martin.
As crooners like Bing Crosby and Perry Como were hot, i fitted in nicely and began singing in nightclubs in New York City and met people like Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lewis and Lou Costello and it was Lou who paid for my nose-job to reset it after my face wrecking boxing career.
My new nose opened doors and i was touring stadiums with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. and making Television and film apparanaces but they said i was never any great shakes as an actor but i was in films with some great actors who could make the audience beleive anything so i didn't really stand out.
My strong point was TV where i could just lark about, slur and sing a few songs and carry around a glass of whiskey because drinking was a big part of my persona, i made sure that i always appeared on stage with a drink and a cigarette in my hand.
It was the years of heavy smoking that led to my lung cancer and i died on Christmas Day but i will always be remembered as the hard partying, hard drinking guy but remember that bit where i said i wasn't a very good actor.
Well, for someone who made a career out of being half sozzled, i was a tee-totaller, my whisky was a apple juice and i would show up with the rat-pack and leave by the back door and go home so how about that for some fine acting, now ain’t that a kick in the head?
No comments:
Post a Comment