The winners are….

1st place winner is Michelle Castagne (PRIZE SENT $25 Amazon GC & RECEIVED)

2nd place winner is Vickie Couturier! (PENDING)

3rd place winner is Cindy Barr! (PENDING)

[tweetthis]Congrats to @porschepuppy21, #VickieCouturier, & #CindyBarr in the 7th #4M Blogiversary Giveaway! #4M[/tweetthis]

Thank you for including me in your Monday, kittens & dawgs! It’s “your choice mewsic” week. I kicked off a special theme project, Famous Musicians & Their Musical Kids and I featured the late 50s teen-idol Ricky Nelson and Sons, Part 1. This is going to be an involved series and hopefully chocked full of goodies for you to enjoy.

Born Dino Paul Crocetti, June 7, 1917, but the world knows him as Dean Martin, King of Cool. The man who delivered mewsic seemingly effortlessly to the listener’s ear was equally entertaining on screen. I loved watching Martin on screen in dozens of movies and TV shows (1946-1985). My favorite being the Dean Martin Show.

1. Powder Your Face With Sunshine (1949) first solo hit, peaked #11 after breaking up the showbiz act with Jerry Lewis
2. I Will Always Love You (1950), peaked #11
3. You Belong To Me (1952) #12
4. That’s Amore (1953 from the film, The Caddy) peaked #2 for 5 weeks
5. Memories Are Made Of This (1955) peaked #1 for 6 weeks
6. Volare (1958), #12
7. Return To Me (1958) peaked #4
8. Everybody Loves Somebody (1964) peaked #1 for 1 week
9. The Door Is Still Open To My Heart (1964) #6
10. I Will (1965) #10

If being married once isn’t enough, Martin married three times. His first marriage was to Betty McDonald in 1941. They had four children: Craig, Claudia, Gail, and Deana. The two divorced in 1949 after which Dean received custody of the children.  Betty lived a quiet life in San Francisco until her death in 1987.

There isn’t a lot of info on the two oldest children. Craig (1942) worked behind scenes producing The Dean Martin Show and Claudia (Mar. 14, 1941) followed her dad into show biz as an actress. Sadly, she passed away from breast cancer in 2001

While filtering through YouTube vids, I stumbled on this video of Dean singing a medley with his second daughter, Gail (1945).

I thought it interesting to read an article which Gail had this to say about her dad.

“Dad wasn’t a big party animal so he’d sneak upstairs at 10 o’clock, phone the local cops and say, ‘Those Martins are having another wild party. Can you come round and break it up?’ He wanted a good night’s sleep so he could get up next morning to go play golf. He didn’t like mixing in big company or crowds. He gave it all on stage so at home he didn’t want to sit and chit-chat. Dad preferred to be alone.”

Ironically after the mental birth of this mewsic post series, we were watching TV when Deana Martin (August 19, 1948) popped on the screen. No doubt, DH was channel surfing.  I had no clue Dean had children let along any that followed in his mewsical footsteps.  As it turns out, Deana the youngest from his first marriage and is a moderately successful singer who still performs. I pulled together a short playlist with her singing two of her dad’s #1 hits and a couple of retro clips singing with Dino.

Moving to the second marriage, Dean weds Orange Bowl Beauty Queen, Jeanne Biegger in 1949. Their marriage lasted 24 years and produced three kids. This is Dean’s longest running relationship, so I have to believe she had to be the love of his life but why they split, I dunno. Jeanne passed away in August 2016 from cancer.

Firstborn in Dean’s second marriage was Dean “Dino” Paul, on November 17, 1951. Dino singer, actor, tennis pro, and pilot… what couldn’t this kid do? Prior to his occasional TV appearances on his dad’s TV variety show in the 70s, he and two of his closest friends Desi Arnz, Jr. and Billy Hinche formed the band, Dino, Desi & Billy in the 60s. They had one hit song, I’m a Fool.

He married twice (Olivia Hussey 1971-1979 and Dorothy Hamill 1982-1984) and tragically died at the young age of 35 on March 21, 1987 in a jet-fighter crash. He had one son, Alexander, from his first marriage.

Here’s a bit of interesting trivia, as a toddler one of Dino’s baby sitters was the blonde bombshell, Marilyn Monroe.

Dean’s 6th kiddo, Ricci (1953) formed The Pack in 1977 and with the help of Beach Boys, Carl Wilson produced BEACHED.

I couldn’t find a video of Ricci singing with his dad.  In August 2016 before his mother’s death, the singer and book author was found dead (cause unknown) in his Hollywood home.

Dean’s daughter, Gina, (1956) married Carl Wilson in 1987. There’s no mention of mewsical interests but appears she’s done some acting.

Dean married Catherine Hawn in 1973.  He adopted Hawn’s daughter, Sasha. They barely got out of the gate with their marriage before Martin filed for divorce three years later.

I wanted to include a photo of Sasha but I couldn’t find any of her on the net. Do you have any to share? Please share in comments or zip me an email. Anywho, Sasha did some acting. She appeared in the daytime soap, “Guiding Light” as Marina Cooper from 1996-2000 and Harold Stern’s 1997 movie, “Private Parts” in which she played his daughter.

A life time smoker, Dean Martin was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1993 but decided to not treat the disease. In the end, it was Jeanne who was at Martin’s bedside, remaining with him until he passed from this life to the next. According to an interview in People magazine, Dean told his second wife, “You’re the only girl I ever loved.” We said farewell to the King of Cool Christmas Day 1995 suffering from acute respiratory failure resulting from emphysema.

I invite you to hit the dance floor with XmasDolly, Stacy, Colette , and little ole me! This week’s theme is “your choice“.

[tweetthis]Tell a friend & hit the dance floor with “your choice” #music with the #4M gals! @xmasdolly [/tweetthis]

I hope you enjoyed Famous Musicians & Their Musical Kids Part 2. The series will continue in September. If you liked this edition and ya don’t want to miss the next, then consider joining my email subscription.  Have a songtastic week and I’ll see ya back on the dance floor next week with “Tunes with Male Names in Them” on Monday’s Music Moves Me!

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