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"Dean Martin on the Tonight Show, May 6 1969. One of the funniest episodes of late-night TV, a snapshot of the anything goes late 60's and Johnny's favorite episode. Dean Martin makes an unexpected appearance and steals the show from Bob Hope. The underrated George Gobel then shows up (in part 2) and unleashes one of the greatest lines of all time. Dean struggles to find an ashtray to the hilarity of all and Johnny is left valiantly trying to hang on to some kind of order and keep the censors happy."

Singer Dean Martin's daughter has put Johnny Depp at the top of her wish list to portray her father in an upcoming biopic. Deana Martin's memoir, Memories Are Made of This, is set for a big screen movie adaption, directed by Joe Mantegna, who played the iconic star in 1998 HBO movie The Rat Pack. The 63 year old, who is also a musician, has already recruited actress Jennifer Love Hewitt to portray her in the film, after running into the actress during a concert in the Big Apple last year, and Deana admits the casting was a dream come...

Two recent multi-disc releases -- TimeLife’s The Dean Martin Variety Show Uncut and Universal Music’s Dean Martin: Collected Cool -- capture the crooning, clowning, incessantly smoking king of cool in full bloom. On September 16, 1965, those familiar words, “The following program is brought to you in living color,” accompanied by the NBC television network’s stylized peacock mascot, preceded the debut of Martin’s weekly variety show. In the age of variety shows, including CBS’ Sunday night staple, The Ed Sullivan Show, Martin’s program breezed through nine seasons. Inexpensive to produce, the show earned tons of money for the network and...

Clearing up Matter of Sinatra and JFK

There are likely more than 10 things you don’t know about the Rat Pack, but the History Channel has whittled the list to a mere 10-pack and this week aired a special episode of the series “10 Things You Don’t Know About” centering on the fabled performers who first instilled swagger in Vegas. Several weeks ago, I was asked to contribute to this project to elaborate on the 10 pieces of triviata unearthed by History Channel producers. David G. Schwartz, director of UNLV's Center for Gaming Research, also was interviewed, and you can catch the full episode on the History...

Each held Saturday on $1.5 million bondTwo Broward County men were among three arrested this week in a nighttime police raid after they planned to attack four police stations, President Barack Obama's campaign headquarters and Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s house, according to court documents. The men arrested Wednesday in an apartment building in the Bridgeport neighborhood. They're accused of trying to make Molotov cocktails ahead of the two-day summit that starts Sunday. They were each held Saturday on $1.5 million bond. Brian Church, 20, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Brent Vincent Betterly, 24, of Oakland Park, Fla. and Jared Chase, 24, of...

It's no secret famed Rat Packer Dean Martin is still about as cool as it gets, so it only makes sense he would choose a vehicle as cool and unique as a 1962 Ghia L6.4 as a mode of transportation. After getting his hands on the car, Martin decided his Ghia—one of 26 L6.4s built—still needed a little bit more unique personality and enlisted famed custom car builder George Barris to add a few subtle touches. Whether you love the styling of the Ghia or hate it, it's impossible to dispute it's one of a kind nature. Under the hood...

A few years ago a group of us were having dinner at a steakhouse, and among the people at the table were the terrific sports columnist Mike Downey and his wife, Gail Martin. The manager of the place came over to say hello; introductions were made. At one point in the evening I was making my way to the men's room and ran into the manager again. I said to him, "That Gail Martin you met? I think you're probably familiar with her late father." "Who was her dad?" the man said. "His first name was Dean," I said. Within...

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmOgWdAWsKkPart 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1R7kqdA_r4

"Dean Martin pulls out of Arizona governor's race Friday, July 9, 2010, 2:59pm MST Phoenix Business Journal State Treasurer Dean Martin has pulled out of the race for governor of Arizona and will support Gov. Jan Brewer in her re-election bid. Martin said in a release that he didn’t want the primary race for governor to be a “distraction,” in a time when “serious debate about the fiscal condition of our state is needed.” Martin’s term will end in December, and he said at that time he will take some “much-needed time off.” The full text of Martin’s letter is...

I have not seen them in years, but I did watch them with my family growing up.... Dean Martin Ronald Reagan Don Rickles Flip Wilson Rich Little Bob Hope Jimmy Stewart Mark Spitz Rev Bill Graham Milton Berle.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH23UjMG5wQ They are now on Youtube, in this era of Political Correctness this could never happen again, but we have some great memories of *Hollywood* when it was great! Thoughts?

"The first thing I'll teach my daughter is the Lord's Prayer"

The world's greatest entertainer died -- 19 years ago. His name is Sammy Davis Jr. At Michael Jackson's memorial, Motown founder Berry Gordy called the late, incredibly talented Jackson "the greatest entertainer that ever lived." Someone once said that Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire's famous dance partner, did everything he did -- except backward and wearing high heels. Well, Sammy Davis Jr. did everything Michael Jackson did -- and more, much more -- except during Jim Crow and with one eye. Davis sang. He danced. He acted. He played piano, drums and trumpet. He did impressions of the popular celebrities of...

The life story of a Black star in a White world, a man who arguably was the world’s greatest entertainer, will not be coming to a theater near you anytime soon. If ever. During a recent interview on my radio program “The Andrea Shea King Show”, Hollywood conservative Burt Boyar, longtime friend and biographer of the late great Sammy Davis, Jr., said he’s concerned that the true story about the talented entertainer who fought and broke through racial barriers will never be seen on the silver screen. Two years ago, Boyar had negotiated a deal to sell his two biographies...

The wife of Arizona State Treasurer Dean Martin passed away Monday night shortly after giving birth to the couple's firstborn son.

It has been said that director Howard Hawks made Rio Bravo (1959) as a reaction to two popular westerns which angered him - High Noon (1952) and 3:10 to Yuma (1957). His comment on the former was, "I didn't think a good sheriff was going to go running around town like a chicken with his head off asking for help, and finally his Quaker wife had to save him." Hawks also considered 3:10 to Yuma, which had outlaw Glenn Ford playing psychological games with lawman Van Heflin, "a lot of nonsense." So Rio Bravo was the director's take on heroism...

If you have never seen this, it's absolutely hillarious!

If this classy and great entertainer doesn't put a smile on your face ... Smile along with him!

A holiday change of pace from your humble correspondent here. Instead of taking a non-political article and looking for a political theme, I am taking this Slate article about political media divas who refuse to appear with other guests and transferring it to a non-political pet peeve of mine...people in the entertainment industry who have such bloated egos that they never appear on a show with other guests. Nowadays this means almost everybody in the entertainment business. However, check out this video from almost 40 years ago. It features Bob Hope, Dean Martin, and George Gobel together on the Johnny...

H/t Doug T. It was all in good fun, but the Morning Joe gang staged a bit of business today suggesting there's something a mite stronger than half-and-half in Mika Brzezinski's cup of, well, morning joe. After signing off with NBC reporter Tom Costello, Joe Scarborough made much of Mika's absence from the set. Cut to a shot of Brzezinski at the coffee counter, where she is seen . . . emptying a blue mini-bottle into her coffee mug. Mika accommodatingly turns the bottle toward the camera so that all can see it is . . . Skyy vodka. View...