Jeanne Martin, Model and Ex-Wife of Dean Martin, Dies at 89

Dear Friends, as you have already read from Danny G.'s post, there is more sad news this day for the Martin Family.  The family announced through "THE HOLLYWOOD REPORT" that Jeanne Martin, Dean's second wife has died yesterday, Wednesday, August 24,  of cancer at the age of 89.  This news comes on the heels of the news that her youngest son, Ricci James Martin, died earlier this same month.

Below is the news as shared by "THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER" including a wonderful picture of Dean and Jeanne taken in 1957.  The prose is well written and includes some details on Mrs. Martin that we had not known previously.  We wish to extend our sincere sympathy to the Martin family on the death of  Miss Jeanne.

We will interrupt our normal posting schedule to share more posts on Mrs. Martin's death in the days ahead.  We thank the staff at "THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER" for honoring Miss Jeanne in this way.   To read this information as it has been shared at the original source, please click on the title of today's message.  We thank our Danny G. and Miss AOW for both of their contributions to getting this sad news to the ilovedinomartin readership.

DMP

Jeanne Martin, Model and Ex-Wife of Dean Martin, Dies at 89

 8/24/2016 by THR Staff



Dean and Jeanne Martin in 1957

Their youngest son, musician Ricci Martin, died earlier this month.

Jeanne Martin, a model and Orange Bowl queen who became the wife of singer and actor Dean Martin during the height of his fame, died Wednesday after a battle with cancer at her Beverly Hills home, her family announced. She was 89.

After marrying Dean Martin in 1949, the pair were one of Hollywood’s most photographed couples. Matriarch of their large family, she gave birth to three of Dean’s children while raising four more from his previous marriage. Their breakup in 1969 caused nearly as much distress to Martin’s fans as his professional split with partner Jerry Lewis had in 1956.

“Dean’s viewers knew he was a good husband and father and the booze-and-broads jokes were just part of the act,” wrote Lee Hale in the 2000 book Backstage at the Dean Martin Show, having served as musical director for the NBC program.

Born Dorothy Jean Biegger on March 27, 1927, in Coral Gables, Fla., she went by Jeanne when she began modeling in Miami. She was voted Orange Bowl queen in 1947. A year later, she came to the Beachcomber Club in Miami to see a New Year’s Eve show starring Martin and Lewis.

Jeanne maintained she had never heard of either entertainer until that night. She told author Nick Tosches for a 1992 biography of Dean Martin that upon seeing him on stage, “We locked eyes and I knew. We just fell madly in love.”

A week after Martin was granted a divorce from first wife Betty McDonald, he and 22-year-old Jeanne Biegger wed on Sept. 1, 1949, at the Beverly Hills home of Herman Hover, owner of famed Hollywood nightclub Ciro's. Lewis was best man.

She was “the best thing (next to me) that ever happened to Dean,” wrote Lewis in a 2005 memoir, Dean & Me.

For 20 years, they were viewed as one of Hollywood’s happiest couples until on Dec. 10, 1969, Jeanne issued a statement that they were parting ways.

The divorce wasn't finalized until 1972. Dean Martin was wed once more, to Catherine Hawn, a hair-salon receptionist, and legally adopted her daughter, Sasha, but that union ended in 1976. Jeanne Martin never remarried.

The pair became reacquainted in 1987 when one of their sons, actor Dean Paul Martin, was killed at 35 while piloting a military jet. Jeanne and Dean remained on good terms until his death from respiratory failure on Christmas Day 1995.

Eldest daughter Claudia Martin died of breast cancer in 2001.

Their youngest son, musician Ricci Martin, died on Aug. 3.

She is survived by son Craig Martin; daughters Gail Martin Downey, Deana Martin Griffeth and Gina Martin Romano; and 11 grandchildren. Funeral services will be private.