Frank Sinatra vs. Dean Martin

Hey pallies, here's 'nother stellar Dino-honorin' post. From the pages of Memphis Magazine and a feature tagged Point/Counterpoint comes Mr. Tim Sampson's prose on what makes our Dino oh-so-much greater then the frankie. Sampson's thoughts are simply thrillin' to read....simply more great thoughts on what makes our beloved Dino the greatest of the great.

So once again, ilovedinomartin brings you more Dino-devotion for 'nother Dino-phile who truly "gets Martin." Thanks to Memphis mag and Mr. Tim Sampson for liftin' up the name of our Dino and helpin' other to gets likes whys truly our Dino is all that matters.... To view this in it's original format, likes just click on the tagg of this Dino-gram. Dino-only-focused, DMP

Features » Point/Counterpoint

Frank Sinatra vs. Dean Martin

By Mary Helen Randall and Tim Sampson



Dean Martin

From a fan's distance, it may look like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin lived almost parallel lives.

Both were accomplished singers and actors and both were members of the famed Hollywood Rat Pack. Both were huge in Vegas, both had multiple marriages, and both were reported to have ties to organized crime. They were also very good friends who fought for civil rights by refusing to perform in clubs and casinos that wouldn't allow their good friend Sammy Davis Jr. the same courtesies. Both were sons of Italian immigrants. Both were good guys.

But while Sinatra was busy playing politics in the early 1970s and supporting soon-to-be-ousted President Richard Nixon and helping pay the corruption-scandal legal bills of resigned Vice President Spiro Agnew — along with announcing his retirement from show business — Martin was in the middle of his nine-season variety hour, the super-popular Dean Martin Show, which lasted 245 episodes and cemented his image as one of the funniest, most charming men in show business. Who today doesn't remember his signature song, "Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime"?

Plus, he was much more handsome than Sinatra and knew how to fall through and destroy a fake piano with a cigarette in one hand and cocktail in the other, without spilling a drop, even if it was really just apple juice. Now that is a skill.

While Frank had some success as an actor, Dean starred in more than 50 films himself, not the least of which was Toys in the Attic, a fabulous Southern Gothic film based on the Lillian Hellman play. Even as a child, I was riveted. And let us not forget Dean in those wonderful Matt Helm movies that poked fun at James Bond.

As for those organized-crime ties, Sinatra was allegedly a wannabe and went to them. Martin had such charm that they came to him, but he did them small favors only when he felt like it. He didn't need them to make him feel important. When you're on your own variety show with, among other luminaries, with your friend Frank Sinatra as a special guest, who has time to impress the mob?

— tim sampson