Dean Martin’s heartbreaking final chapter: How the loss of his son left him a shadow of himself

Dean Martin, born Dino Paul Crocetti in 1917 to Italian parents Gaetano Alfonso Crocetti and Angela Crocetti in Steubenville, Ohio, U.S., was an American singer, actor, and comedian. He died on Christmas Day 1995. Dean's successful Hollywood career began in 1946 with his iconic partnership with Jerry Lewis as a musical comedy team.

Dean Martin went solo in 1957 and went on to feature in several successful films like Ocean’s 11, Some Came Running, Rio Bravo, The Sons of Katie Elder, Bells Are Ringing, Who Was That Lady, Marriage on the Rocks, and Kiss Me, Stupid. Later on in his career, he and popular singer Frank Sinatra, alongside Joey Bishop, Sammy Davis Jr., and Peter Lawford, formed the popular Rat Pack crew known for its Las Vegas Strip performances.

With all the success Dean Martin had in the early years of his life, his later years were significantly different as the “That's Amore” singer spent his last years sad and alone. According to multiple sources, the Rat Pack member often dined alone while mourning the death of his precious son Dino Jr. in silence.

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More details on Dean Martin’s last years

Dean Martin had seven children: Craig, Claudia, Gail, Deana, Dean Paul, Ricci, and Gina. According to reports, his namesake Dean Paul Martin, also known as Dino Jr., was his “Golden Child.” A flying accident in 1987 claimed the life of Dino Jr., leaving his father in a deep grief that, according to family and friends, he never fully recovered from.

Dino Jr. was a professional tennis player, a semi-professional football player, a race car driver, a pre-med student, a singer, a pilot, and a Golden Globe nominee.

As reported by People Magazine, Dean Martin said of his son:

“I’m proud of him. I’d be proud even if he didn’t become a jet pilot, because he’s a good boy. He just doesn’t know what he wants to be.”

William Keck, author and a friend of Dean, described the latter's final chapter as sad:

“Dean Martin’s final years were very, very sad after he lost his son. It was like looking at a candle without a flame.”

He went on:

“He was still the nice man that he seemed to be on television. He would always greet me when I came over to his table. He would always say, ‘I’ll be back on that stage one day. You’ll see me.’ But he was done,” he added in an interview with Fox.

Keck described watching him live his life as watching

“a wax figure that was barely moving around.”

Dean’s daughter Deana also talked about her father’s lonely final years.

“He didn’t want to have a lot of people around him, perfectly happy being alone at a restaurant,” she said.

She revealed that even when dining with others, he usually preferred quietness.

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“My husband and I would call and say, ‘Dad, you want us to come have dinner with you tonight?’ He’d say, ‘Well, sure, just no chitchat. I don’t mind the chit, it’s the chat.’ He wanted it to be quiet.”

“It was so sad, devastating for all of us. It was tough for him,” Deane added.

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