.....how down to earth and nice Dean Martin was to everyone around him.

Hey pallies, likes the folks at Google 'lerts have turned up an amazin' Dino-find this time dudes! From the blog, "West Hollywood Wives, " where blogger Mr. David Del Valle holds forth, comes a rare look at the life and times of our most beloved Dino's wife numero duo, Jeanne. In his post, "I Dream of Jeanne," Del Valle gives us a behind the scenes expose on the post divorced Mrs. Martin.

Seems that Mr. Del Valle was close friends with someone (Chris Dietrich) who was hired as Mrs. Martin's home security person, and through their friendship, at times, Del Valle hung out at Mrs. Martin's Beverly Hills pad.

Below is a short excerpt from his tell-all prose, includin' favorable references to our amazin' Dino and his revered boypallie Dino Martin Jr. It's great to hear how "down to earth and nice" our King of Cool "was to everyone around him." And, Del Valle shares some very revealin' information on our Dino's prodigy.

Mr. Del Valle is plannin' to include this prose in "Whatever Happened to Bette David?" his "forthcoming memoir of the same name." So that will certainly be somethin' to look forward to. To read Del Valle's complete post, simply, as usual, clicks on the tag of this Dino-gram.

ilovedinomartin thanks Mr. David Del Valle for sharin' this very insightful look into family Martin with his readers helpin' more and more pallies to grow in knowin', lovin', and honorin' our Dino! Keeps lovin' our Dino! Dino-always, ever, and only, DMP

from "I Dream Of Jeanne" by Mr. David Del Valle

Chris was always taken with how down to earth and nice Dean Martin was to everyone around him. Chris was very impressed with the way Dean behaved and looked forward to each and every meeting, few as there would be during his year and a half working with Jeanne.

—Dean Paul Martin. One of the highlights in the Martin household during Chris’s watch was the big screen debut of Jeanne’s oldest son, Dean Paul, in 1979′s romantic drama Players. This was tailor-made for Dean Paul since he was the character, right down to being a tennis pro in real life. Jeanne was privately amused by the fact in the film he is pursued by an older woman (played by Ali MacGraw) since Dean Paul was first seduced by an older friend of Jeanne’s when Dean Paul was about 15 years old. They do say art imitates life and so it was with Players. The night of the screening the entire house was energized by the aspect of seeing Dean Paul finally cash those good look in for a chance at being a leading man in ways perhaps even his dad did not accomplish in his screen career, although in films like Some Came Running and Toys in the Attic his dad more than proved he had the chops to be a fine dramatic actor in his own right. Dean Paul had a lot to live up to and he was painfully aware of this.

One example of just how nice a guy Dean Paul was in life was when I was asked to sub for Chris during an afternoon when the Martin station wagon was in the garage. Dean Paul was coming into LAX and needed a ride to his apartment in West Hollywood so I agreed to drive out and pick him up. He was always a class act and this time was no exception we chatted away on the way to his place like two old college chums. I remember at that time I was still doing personal management with the few clients I had left over from Del Valle, Franklin & Levine. I mentioned to Dean Paul that I would really like to take David Essex, the English rocker, to Morton’s when he got into town the following week, but without the private phone number Morton’s was strictly off limits. Dean listened intently as I described the various attempts I had made to secure this fabled number. When we did finally arrive at his doorstep he thanked me for the ride and asked to be remembered to Chris and then without any fanfare he handed me one of his personal cards with his name of the front in silver and on the back was Morton’s private number. He winked at me and said as he departed, “Just tell the maitre D’ that you are part of my regular table and you should have no worries.” With that he walked away. A few days later David Essex and I were seated at one of the primo tables in Morton’s and when we ordered our first round of drinks and they arrived I proposed a toast: “To Dean Paul, a man who is tops in his class.”


—Dean Paul and Dean Martin.

Chris had several chats with Dean Paul during this period and he confided to me that all Dean Paul ever wanted was to race cars and fly jets. He was a speed freak and loved every moment of it. This would of course come back to haunt all of us after the event of December 1987 when we lost him to an accident that claimed his life, forever ending any joy in his dad’s world. The premiere went beautifully and Dean Paul looked and acted every inch the movie star, even if his heart was really not into all the glitz and glamour that was his birthright. Jeanne was a walking rainbow of motherly pride and she never looked more radiant than she did that night, nor was she ever more proud of her son as she was that night. Anyone who ever wondered what kept this lady centered need look no further since Jeanne was a survivor and a rock for her family, and that was as good as it gets in the world she had created for herself.