Die-hard Dean Martin fans probably are all aware that he wasn’t actually born with that name. No, he was born Dino Paul Crocetti, the son of Italian American immigrants. For the first several years of his life, the family used only Italian – but that became an issue for him once he was old enough to start school.
When he first entered elementary school in Ohio, he could only speak broken English with a heavy accent, which other kids often teased him for.
Kid Crotchet
It wasn’t immediately that Martin was able to make a name for himself in show biz. In fact, early on, he was so broke that he was living out of a hotel. In order to pay the bills, he and his friends would stage boxing matches out of their room and charge people to come and watch.
Apparently, Dean was a pretty good fighter and went on to win 24 of his 30 matches. He fought under the name, “Kid Crotchet.”
Plastic Surgery
Unfortunately, Hollywood has a way of convincing stars they need surgery to be the best versions of themselves, thus the nose job he underwent to slim down his nose at the beginning of his career.
Luckily his success in the industry had nothing to do with the size of his nose and everything to do with his talent and personality. Martin was 27-years old when he underwent the rhinoplasty procedure.
Name Change
The “King of Cool” was actually born as Dino Paul Crocetti in 1917. He was born in Ohio, and his father was a barber. When he first entered the industry, he kept his first name and tacked on a new, flashy last one, calling himself Dean Martini.
But in 1940, he changed his name to the one that would stick. Apparently, there was also a popular musician at the time who went by the name “Nino Martini,” and he didn’t want it to sound too close.
Comic Books
Martin was never a very big fan of reading. In fact, he only ever read one throughout the entirety of his life, which was Black Beauty. He did love his comic books, though. But even though he enjoyed reading them, he didn’t like going into the store to buy them.
So, he had his friend, comedian Jerry Lewis, get them for him and slip them to him in private. Then, he’d sneak off and read them alone in some quiet area.