Dean Martin made his name opposite Jerry Lewis, as the straight half of one of America's most successful comedy duos of the 1940s and 1950s. They appeared together in sixteen films, including ‘Sailor Beware’ in 1951, ‘Artists & Models’ in 1955 and ‘Hollywood or Bust’ in 1965. When the team's ten-year partnership ended, the relaxed and often self-spoofing Martin sustained his popularity via recordings (such as the hit ‘Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime’), TV specials and his own long-running TV variety show.

He also had several competent screen roles, often as a smooth ladies' man, in films such as Edward Dmytryk's ‘The Young Lions’ and Vincente Minnelli's ‘Some Came Running’ - both of which were released in 1958. A year later, he featured in Howard Hawks' ‘Rio Bravo’, opposite John Wayne, and this was followed by four appearances in 1960, including his turn in ‘Ocean's Eleven’ and the almost tailor-made role in the Minnelli musical ‘Bells Are Ringing’. Even at the peak of his fame, Martin remained strangely contemptuous of stardom, and remained largely elusive. As a member of Frank Sinatra's inner circle in the early 1960s, he co-starred in the Rat Pack's off-the-cuff movies (‘Robin and the Seven Hoods’ in 1964) and he also played a hammy, Americanised version of James Bond in the Matt Helm movies of the late 60s.

By the late 1970s, Martin's health had begun to fail, and his career was primarily confined to casino club stages. After pulling out of a 1988 reunion tour with Sinatra and Davis, Martin spent his final years in solitude and died on Christmas Day, 1995.