Hey pallies, likes today's post is gonna be one of the most, indeed, if not the most, provocative posts ever shared at ilovedinomartin. And, 'cause of the extremely provocative nature of this Dino-piece, I am likes sure that it oughta provide some very very evocative comments from the ilovedinomartin faithful. So, likes know in advance that we are expectin' your cards and letters comin' in on this very revealin' Dino-tale.Today's Dino-prose originated as a comment to the MOG Dino-post by Masoo, " random friday, 1964 edition: dean martin, "everybody loves somebody" that was published here on Monday of this very Dino-week under the tag, "my dad watched Dean Martin's TV show religiously." Masoo's Dino-reflections generated a bunch of comments when it was first posted, includin' the one we are sharin' this day at ilovedinomartin.
A dude tagged Jonh Ingham, shares a first-person report of a Dino-encounter he observed at one of our most beloved Dino's fav hangouts, Hamburger Hamlet. It is sometime in the year 1984 and our Dino, perhaps somewhat stoned, is makin' the scene with his latest blond amore, when a Dino-devotee spots his idol and heads to Dino's table, pen in hand, to ask our amazin' man to sign his name. And, likes as you read below, you will find out what happens when fan and our King of Cool meet.As I soaks in this story, likes I find myself havin' likes a ton of feelin's evoked. Likes who can blame the adorin' fan for seekin' even the briefest of brief moments with our Dino? Likes who can blame our Dino for bein' upset havin' his amorin' interfered with? So, as I turn this Dino-tale over and over...I simply can't take one side or the other. So, likes I am wonderin' pallies likes what are your takes on this very very evocative Dino-prose? Will so be lookin' forward to your Dino-reflections.
ilovedinomartin expresses our very very deep Dino-appreciato to Mr. Jonh Ingham, for sharin' his Dino-report with the world through Masoo's blog post. I simply loves to read every single true Dino-encounter that I can gets my hands on! To view this in it's original format, just clicks on the tag of this Dino-message. Dino-psyched, DMP
Jonh Ingham says
This is a fascinating story. It's always been a casual mystery for me as to why Dino was so popular and I can remember being a bit stunned when I saw that Nick Tosches had written a biography - why spend all that time summing up such a lightweight?? Obviously he had deeper currents within, as you make clear.
Towards the end of his life the public drunk ceased to be a myth. I know I'm always coming with the stories and I do try to stop, but I can't help myself on this one.
In 1984 I saw one of the most amazing vignettes on fame and its consequences. I was in the Hamburger Hamlet on Sunset, a very upscale hamburger restaurant about 100 yards outside the Beverly Hills city limits. They made a fantastic Bloody Mary - and probably still do. The very cool stars of the Dino era all lived in the streets above this place, so it was common to see the likes of Andy Williams, Don Rickles et al in there. On this night, Dino was sitting about 30 feet away, chatting up a very pneumatic blonde with her hair piled up in the style popular in the mid-60s. They're sitting with their back to the wall and it's clear even from my distance that Dean was really, really smashed. There was a buzz in the air that was purely the result of Dino's presence - you just could not help being aware of the man. So he's leaning in close to her face and hustling her and she's pulling on the cigarette and then from the left a guy starts approaching them. He was so obviously a fan - his face was radiant with joy at seeing Dean and he was moving with reasonable speed, pen out and going to ask for an autograph. What special nervous system does a star have that even when he is so drunk he probably has no peripheral vision he can sense a fan coming at him from 20 paces? Dino's head jerked away from the girl and turned to the fan. The guy was still some distance away and Dean just lit up with an amazing flow of invective - brutally swearing at the guy, telling him to fuck off and who the hell did he think he was - in a voice so filled with rage and a face of pure anger. How many times had he been bothered by guys like this, wanting a piece of his soul? The fan's face was amazing to see - from a big grin to absolute shock in a millisecond. He actually faltered in his step. Then he stopped, stared at Dino, unable to assimilate the reality in front of him to the guy in his mind, then turned and kind of sloped away. Dino just turned back to the woman and resumed the conversation.
I can remember feeling quite sad for Dean. Not just for the state of him, but for the rage within him. It really made me reevaluate the meaning of fame.
16 comments:
I have heard some similar stories -- about both our Dino and Frank Sinatra.
I'm not sure that our Dino's anger described in this encounter can be completely attributed to intoxication -- although, of course, intoxication lowers inhibitions and most certainly played a part.
I think that our Dino because extremely short fused after his breakup with Jeanne. In fact, I'm not sure that he was ever truly happy again.
Jeanne seemed to have had a calming and centering influence on our Dino.
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And here's another thing....Males over 55 often seem to suffer bouts of what I call Pissy Male Syndrome. Yes, that syndrome does relate to fluctuating hormone levels, but I think that the syndrome also has a lot to do with a growing awareness of mortality.
In the case of our Dino, by 1984, the joyous days of the Rat Pack and of movies such as our Dino loved to make were gone -- and never to return to any extent as the world moved on. One of the inevitable cycles, certainly, but I think that this particular cycle hit our Dino hard.
The book by Nick Tosches surmises that our Dino suffered from some form of dementia. That might have been the case. At the time of the encounter described, our Dino was about 67 years old -- a time when some form of dementia frequently appears, whether or not it even develops into full blown dementia.
Finally, our Dino was a man who valued his privacy. He thought that adoring fans should observe boundaries of time and place. Furthermore, he didn't NEED adoring fans as he was secure in his own personage. He wasn't much of a socializer in the traditional sense of that word.
Oh, and I think that I can understand a bit how anyone would be frustrated when an outsider "wants a piece of you."
At this stage of his life, our Dino no longer had to pander to anyone. His days of career climbing had ended, and I think that he was pretty much retired by then anyway.
Hey, what can I say pals...we're all human. EVEN our beloved Dino has good days & bad ones. I've certainly had my moments that I'm not proud of after a few too many vinos;)! Let's cut our guy some much deserved slack.
Danny G.
Kys back from holidays tomorrow and i dont think she is gonna like this.
Thinking that Dino would have to be very drunk and maybe he was having a bad time with this blonde, you know what women are like.
Think if Dino had been sober he would have been nice to the fan and signed an autograph.
My dad drank, when he was sober, he was a nice man, when he was drunk which was a lot, he was mean.
I dont drink, if i did maybe i would have a mean side i dont know about.
Ky dont drink too, she says the muck tastes like vinegar.
I think the real Dino was a cool guy who everybody liked.
Thinking maybe too much drink brings out the worst in guys and girls.
Dont think Dino would remember the fan the next day or the blonde.
Levi
Hey pallie, likes thanks so so much Miss AOW for all that thought-provokin' Dino-commentary...many wise notions you have shared...much for us all to Dino-ponder...I'm with you on all of this...'specially..."Furthermore, he didn't NEED adoring fans as he was secure in his own personage."l Indeed our Dino never ever needed anyone or anythin'! Keeps lovin' our Dino!
Hey pallie, likes thanks Danny-o for your Dino-patter...likes I just thinks this Dino-essay shows 'nother side of our great man...a very human side...one that we can all relate to...and of well-intendin' Dino-devotees as well. Keeps lovin' our Dino!
Hey pallie, likes Deanager Levi, whether we like this Dino-tale or not..it certainly is evokin' much much Dino-thoughts, and I am particularly struck by the wisdom you have shown in your Dino-commentary! Keeps lovin' our Dino!
Levi told me about this about 30 minutes ago and I just had to check this out.
Jonh Ingham says
This is a fascinating story. It's always been a casual mystery for me as to why Dino was so popular and I can remember being a bit stunned when I saw that Nick Tosches had written a biography - why spend all that time summing up such a lightweight??
For starters, I am so angry with this guy John Ingham who obviously isn`t a Dean Martin fan.
We all know why Dean was so popular and Dean was no lightweight, he was and still is the greatest entertainer of all time.
As for this story about Dean yelling abuse at a fan, if we were talking about Frank or anyone else I could believe it.
We only have the comments of one witness who claims he saw this.
Judge Judy would throw this so called witness out of court.
Dean always apreciated his fans and apart from this one story, I`ve never heard anything about Dean ever being rude to his fans.
I have a friend in England who met Dean and it was so nice of Dean to take the time to chat to this great fan.
If this did happen, the only explanation is Dean was under a lot of stress.
I don`t believe it.
No celebrity likes being interrupted by fans when dining out but I think Dean would have remained calm and quietly signed the autograph.
I just have one other comment, this one directed at my dear friend Levi who wrote "You know what women are like"
What does that mean ?
Levi be careful, be very careful, lol
Hugs n Kisses
from Kylie xxxoooxxx
Hey pallie, likes Miss Ky, just got to ask you a question dear friend....have you ever had someone you deeply love disappoint you? If you read our Levi's response to this post, he gave a great example of what I mean by this. Just because we love someone and admire them deeply, doesn't mean they aren't goin' to say or do thin's that make us sad...even mad.
ilovedinomartin is dedicated to sharin' every dimension of our Dino...most often the glorious and delightful, but sometimes like in the case of this post, a less then stellar image of the Dino we love.
I believe that Mr. Ingham has told it like it was, and he has expressed his saddness for our Dino and what transpired....if I thought that Ingham had a axe to grind I woulda never printed it...after all he expresses the awe of the Hamlet with Dino there...."There was a buzz in the air that was purely the result of Dino's presence" Remember sweet lady the the very people we most love and admire will often disappoint us. Keeps lovin' our Dino!
Hi Dean,
I was so upset when I came home from holidays and read this about Dean.
What you and everyone else said makes a lot of sense and I accept this most likely did happen.
It`s not the Dean we all know and love.
I think it was the alcohol talking.
As you know I`ve read all the books ever released on Dean Martin except the book by Nick Toches.
I think it was you who warned me I wouldn`t like this book.
Without ever having read it, I have known Dean was a womaniser and I prefer not to think of him that way but I know it`s true.
Women were attracted to Dean like moths to a flame.
I have never heard anyone mention bad things about Dean and his fans before.
I want to think this was just a one off.
I remember a few years ago I saw a show called Hard Copy and they showed a very old and frail Dean leaving his favourite resteraunt and the reporters were really annoying Dean as he slowly headed for his car.
This was only a few months before Dean died and I thought how cruel can these reporters be ?
I felt so sad for Dean.
Dean remained calm and polite.
I`m sorry to say I am inclined to believe the incident with the fan did take place but Dean was only human like the rest of us.
I`m no exception, while on holidays there were a couple boys who had been throwing stones in the Pelicans bills and I really lost my temper and I said a few things maybe I shouldn`t have.
We need to think of all the good things we`ve heard about Dean and try and overlook this incident.
I hope the fan forgave Dean but most likely Dean lost a fan that night.
I remember reading in Riccis book how Dean saved a dog which was being treated cruelly by its master.
Dean adopted the dog.
When we think of some of the celebrities of today like Mel Gibson, Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan and so many others.
Dean was a man to be proud of.
He didn`t abuse his family, he was never a racist, he was never charged by the police for anything except for carrying a gun after the Sharon Tate murders.
I`ve read a lot of articles, everyone whoever worked with Dean respected him.
I agree with everyone that Dean must have been very intoxicated to be that rude.
Hey pallie, likes thanks for your thoughtful reply Miss Ky. Glad you have been able to put this story into Dino-perspective. Indeed, I was the one to warn you 'bout Tosches' Dino-tome. Someday when you are ready, I know that you will want to read this and get a fuller picture of our great man. Readin' 'bout the darker side of our most beloved Dino just makes me want to love him more 'cause I learn more and more how he is just like us....human in every way. Keeps lovin' our Dino!
We all have bad days. Simple as that. We're human. This fan thought he was approaching Dean Martin The Celebrity Persona. The Dino he knew and loved from TV, movies and song. What he got was Dean Martin the human being who was having a bad day for whatever reason. Career, finances, relationships or just a really bad day out on the golf links. Who knows? It happens to all of us and probably more than we would like. If he caught Dino on a better day maybe things would have been different. In any event, thanks for posting this DMP!
Hey pallie, likes Mr. Matty, glads to here you chime in on this Dino-discussion..this post has generated deeper and broader Dino-dialogue then most posts here do.
As you can tell, your Dino-perspective on this pretty much parallels my own. Thanks for your appreciato of this particular Dino-postin'...it is my desire that ilovedinomartin shares all sides of our most beloved Dino in order for us to learn the most, and keeps growin' in knowin', lovin' and honorin' our most beloved Dino!
Likes very much appreciate you takin' the time to speak your Dino-thoughts...hopes you will continue to check out ilovedinomartin and share your wisdom with us. Keeps lovin' our Dino!
This story got lots of comments, i knew ky would be mad at first, good she calmed down and understood.
I dont think its nice to go up to anyone while they are having dinner to get an autograph.
The fan should have waited till Dino was leaving and then tried
Hey pallie, Levi, likes I am with you man...but knows if I ever had the op to be in the presence of our most beloved Dino, likes dude, I woulda have such a hard time not wantin' to get a bit of the Dino-action...I thought your first comments were so very insightful for one so young in Dino! Keeps lovin' our most beloved Dino!
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