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.
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.
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.
The Adventures of Dean Martin
He loved comic books so much that it’s only fitting he’d wind up starring in his own. In the early 1950s, The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis was released by DC Comics. And it wasn’t just a one-time deal.
The series would run from 1952-to 1957 until the dynamic duo broke up. Then, the series was renamed to just: The Adventures of Jerry Lewis.