Italian-American crooner Dean Martin first emerged as the straight man in a comedy double-act with close friend Jerry Lewis; Martin would try to sing while Lewis heckled him, and various films emerged from their on-stage chemistry. Although they split as a duo in 1956, Martin had made friends with Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop, and this group of entertainer friends became known as 'the Rat Pack'. Martin continued to act in films (such as The Young Lions and Rio Bravo), and also released many albums of smooth Sinatra-style crooning. Martin, Sinatra and Davis performed regularly together in Las Vegas, and assisted each other in films and on recordings. Martin continued to release several albums a year through the 60s, mostly for Sinatra's label Reprise, while he also moved into television with his own variety show. The Dean Martin Show ran on NBC for 10 years, but after that Martin retreated from public life. He performed live less regularly, and only recorded new albums every few years. After his son died in military service in the late 80s, Martin never regained the appetite for public entertainment. On Christmas Day 1995, Dean Martin died of respiratory failure brought on by lung cancer. He was 78.
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