a Tragic Reminder Of Dean Martin and His Son “Dino”

Friends, this week along with the rest of the world, we mourn the tragic death of Sage Stallone. The following essay was recently posted at blog "Peace And Freedom."
Written by blogger Mr. John E. Carey, the essay remembers the similiar tragedy that our Dino experienced with the death of his most beloved name sake Dino Martin Jr.

I am pleased, as I am sure we all are, that Mr. Carey has so lovingly remembered and shared with his readership this heart-breaking time in the life of our Dino. Our Dino and his son Dino Jr. are gone from our presence, but it is gratifying to know that there are folks out there like Mr. Carey who keep remembering and honoring our Dino in special ways likes this.

Thanks to Mr. John Carey for this tender remembering of the huge loss that our Dino suffered in the untimely death of his beloved Dino Jr. To view this in it's original format, click on the title of this post. In remembering our Dino, DMP




Death Of Sage Stallone a Tragic Reminder Of Dean Martin and His Son “Dino”

We join the many mourning the tragic loss of Sage Stallone. We are praying for him and his parents, siblings and other relatives.

It isn’t easy being the child of a star. The record of the offspring of big name stars is sometimes star-crossed.

Dean Martin was as big as a guy can get in Hollywood. Movie Star. Famed straight man comic to Jerry Lewis. Beloved on-stage crooner. Member in good standing in Frank Sinatra’s “Rat Pack.” Legend in Vegas. TV idol with his own variety show.



Above: Dean Martin (left) with Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra

Dean Paul ”Dino” Martin was one of the big star’s beloved children. He was a hunk, playboy, race car driver, semipro football player, tennis star and a musical talent encouraged to perform on stage himself. He teamed with another “Son of A Great One” Desi Arnaz Jr. on stage.

Some said Dino was a classic case of an over-achiever son of a highly regarded Dad.



Above: “Dino” Martin

He was also an Air Force fighter pilot: and it doesn’t get much cooler than that.

Dean Martin’s son died in 1987 doing what he loved: flying for the Air Force.

Doing what he liked best: piloting an F-4C Phantom jet on a routine exercise for the California Air National Guard., Dean Paul Martin lost his life in a tragic crash.

Many say his father Dean Martin was never the same after that.

Pictures circulated for years in newspapers of a “lost” looking Dean Martin. Some said it was Alzheimer’s but others said his heart was broken from the day he heard the news of “Dino’s” death.

I remember an editor passing up on the opportunity to use such a picture saying, “It’s just too tragic.”

When parents bury a child, life is never the same.

We add our prayers to yours for Sage Stallone, and his Mom and Dad, who are certainly feeling great pain and anguish — and may be for some time to come.

John E. Carey
Peace and Freedom

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From People Magazine, By Ron Arias, April 13, 1987

It was early Saturday afternoon, March 21, and Capt. Dean Paul Martin, 35, was doing what he liked best: piloting an F-4C Phantom jet on a routine exercise for the California Air National Guard. Before takeoff he said goodbye to his son Alex, 14, then taxied out for a flight over the snow-covered, cloud-laced San Bernardino Mountains. Martin’s fully fueled craft, which also carried his weapons officer, Capt. Ramon Ortiz, 39, was the middle jet in a line of three Phantoms. Ten minutes later, at 1:55 p.m. and after unaccountably dropping down from 9,000 to 5,500 feet, his plane slammed into the top of a ravine at 400 mph, killing both men.

Thus ended the hard-driving, golden-boy story of “Dino” Martin, the handsome, multitalented son of entertainer Dean Martin and his second wife, Jeanne Bieggers. As a singer, actor, athlete and pilot, twice married Dean Paul “lived the life of 100 people and had the energy of 200 kids,” says his sometime girlfriend, TV scriptwriter Wendon Swift. Adds Morgan Mason, son of James and Pamela Mason: “His life was fuller than most people 100 years old.”

Yet for all Dean’s efforts to carve a niche for himself apart from the Rat Pack glamour of his father, he never lost his image as a restless playboy unable to focus on a single passion. “The problem with Dean is that he was too good at too many things,” says Mason. “He had a lot of money and he’d spend it freely. He went through Ferraris when he was a kid. He was terrific looking, from a famous family, and he had talent. When you have all those things on your plate—well, it’s hard to resist someone like that.”

At 11, coached by tennis ace Pancho Segura, Dean began playing junior tournaments. At 13, he abandoned tennis and formed a rock band with his friend Desi Arnaz Jr. and a neighbor, Billy Hinsche. The group was called Dino, Desi and Billy and produced several teenybopper hits (remember I’m a Fool?). Eventually Dean returned to tennis at UCLA, where he joined the NCAA championship squad, which included Jimmy Connors. At 19, after two semesters, he dropped out of college to marry 19-year-old actress Olivia (Romeo and Juliet) Hussey, who would become the mother of Dean’s only son, Alex. Within four years they were divorced.

Then in the mid-’70s, the 6′,175-lb. Martin played briefly as wide receiver for a semipro football team, the Las Vegas Casinos (“the most irrational act of my life”), before trying a stint as a race car driver and seriously trying the pro tennis circuit. An avid firearms collector, he was arrested in 1974 for possession of unregistered World War II guns. He pleaded guilty, explaining that he started his collection when he was 12 but forgot to keep up with registration laws. Fined $2,000, he was placed on probation and subsequently gave up the hobby.

Read the rest:

http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20096059,00.html