TCM Offers A Look Back At Dean Martin, 'The King Of Cool'

I'm a huge fan of Dean Martin, known by all affectionately as "Dino."

He was a great singer, comedian and actor, but he was always so casual about it all, he was called “The King of Cool.”

TCM will air a documentary On Dino on Friday, November 19^th. 

Michael Starr at the New York Post offers a piece on Dino and the upcoming documentary.   

The life and times of Dean Martin were tinged with fame, fortune, worldwide celebrity and a late-in-life tragedy — and they’re concisely and lovingly documented in “Dean Martin: King of Cool,” premiering Friday (Nov. 19) at 8 p.m. on TCM.

The new documentary, directed by Tom Donahue, features a treasure trove of personal photos, home movies, archival television appearances and interviews with Martin’s friends and family, including his daughter, Deana Martin, talking about this performer who kept his inner feelings hidden behind a carefree public persona of a guy from working-class Ohio (Steubenville) who just wanted to play golf and watch television.

Martin’s image is the impetus that drives “King of Cool” as it digs deep into the arc of his childhood and teenage years as the son of Italian immigrants to discover his “Rosebud” (what made him tick) in tracking his rise to the heights of stardom with the comedy team of Martin & Lewis (Jerry Lewis is heard on audio recordings), the Sinatra Rat Pack years, “The Dean Martin Show,” etc. The answer? No one really knows. Martin died at the age of 77 in 1995 on Christmas Day — a broken man, ravaged by health problems who never recovered from the death of his son, Dean Paul Martin, a captain in the Air National Guard who was killed in 1987 piloting a plane during a routine mission.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

Why Dean Martin was the 'King of Cool' (nypost.com)

You can listen to Dean Martin’s Italian songs via the below link: 

Just Say I Love Her (Dicitencello Vuie) - YouTube

And you can listen to Dean Martin’s Christmas Album via the below link: 

White Christmas - YouTube

And you can learn more about Dean Martin by reading Nick Tosches' biography of him, Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams, as well as his daughter's memoir, Memories Are Made of This. .  

The Ugliest Man In Hollywood: On This Day in History Comedian Shemp Howard, One Of the Three Stooges, Was Born

Born on this day in 1895 was Shemp Howard. The American actor and comedian, one of the Three Stooges, was born in Brooklyn, New York. 

Howard, whose real name was Samuel Horwitz, died in 1955.  

TCM offers a piece on the late, great funny man.

Once described as "The Ugliest Man in Hollywood" as part of a publicity stunt concocted by his agent, comic actor Shemp Howard was an integral member of The Three Stooges for more than 70 films. Receiving his start on the vaudeville circuit, Shemp performed with his brother Moe and violinist Larry Fine alongside popular comedian Ted Healy on Broadway and in the two-reel short "Soup to Nuts" (1930) prior to venturing on to a solo career. Over the 15 years that followed, Shemp established himself as a film comedian opposite players like W.C. Fields and Abbott & Costello until the failing health of his younger brother Curly brought him back into the Stooges fold with the comedy "Fright Night" (1947). Less hyper-kinetic and childlike than Curly, Shemp's shameless mugging and trademark utterance of "Bee-bee-bee-bee!" - in addition to his willingness to take a mallet to the head or a pair of fingers to eyes - easily made him a welcome addition to the line-up. After appearing in dozens of shorts that included "I'm a Monkey's Uncle" (1948) and "Corny Casanovas" (1952), he died of a heart attack in 1955. And while replaced onscreen, the stringy-haired funny man would never be supplanted in the hearts of Stooge fans who truly appreciated what Shemp Howard and his fellow Stooges gave to the world of comedy, even if the critics did not.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/89697%7C139868/Shemp-Howard/biography.html

You can also watch a video of Shemp Howard and the other Stooges as detectives via the below link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFapPbBunO0

Note: I was and am a huge fan of Shemp Howard and the other Three Stooges. I love them as a kid and I still laugh when I see them.