Dean Martin at 105
More than movies or recording, television was Martin’s natural medium, and he was incredibly funny, tuneful, charming, and, more than is generally admitted, moving and poignant.
Supposedly it was Elvis Presley who first anointed Dean Martin with the sobriquet “King of Cool.” The way Martin’s daughter, Deana, tells the story, she went to visit her father on the Paramount Pictures lot circa 1960 when they met Presley, who let her know in no uncertain terms, “I may be the king of rock and roll, but your daddy is the King of Cool.” Hence the title of a 2021 documentary, “Dean Martin, King of Cool.”
“Cool” is heard here even more times than the F-word in a Martin Scorsese gangster movie. Apparently everyone thinks Dino was cool, including contemporary musicians who appear in the feature, like Josh Homme and RZA; I’ve never heard of them, but I’ll take director Tom Donahue’s word that they’re cool enough to tell us that Dean Martin was cool. (I’m in the movie, too, wearing a bright red blazer and bow-tie deliberately chosen as the antithesis of cool.)
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