Alex Carson
Dean Martin is a legendary singer and comedian. He’s famous for his comedic antics alongside Jerry Lewis. He is serious endeavors as a singer contemporaneous with Frank Sinatra. In addition to, he’s famous as a versatile and charming entertainer, Dean is also a womanizer. He marries three times over the course of his life, though he engages in many extramarital affairs. He had seven children of his own and adopted an eighth from his third marriage. Although Dean is a loving figure for his wives and children, he can’t stop from engaging in affairs. Join Facts Verse as Dean Martin’s ex-wives prove that he was no gentleman.
Like his contemporaries in the Rat Pack, Dean Martin was a notorious womanizer during the height of his fame. Although he marries for a good deal of his life, Dean doesn’t let that stop him from pursuing other women! The legendary entertainer’s penchant for tracking down new lovers is a detriment to his three marriages. He ends up reconciling with his second wife and starting up a new romantic relationship with her before his death.
Dean Martin’s first wife was Elizabeth Anne McDonald. The two married in 1941 and went on to have four children together. Their first child is a son, Craig, born a year after their wedding. Daughter Claudia followed Craig two years later. The couple get another daughter in 1945, and she is Gail. A third daughter, named Deana, was born in 1948. The following year, Dean and Elizabeth divorced. Their 1949 divorce came as a result of numerous factors. These factors included Elizabeth’s growing alcoholism, as well as Dean’s growing penchant for indulging in extramarital affairs. Dean’s career in the entertainment industry is taking off during his first marriage and uses these opportunities to meet women.
Many wonders if Elizabeth’s alcoholism drives Dean to start relationships with other women. If it is Dean’s habit of cheating on his wife that causes her to seek comfort in the bottle. Either way, Dean Martin was the one that ended up coming out on top in the divorce. Dean’s financial security and Elizabeth’s alcoholism, Dean receives custody of the four children, and Elizabeth is alone, dying in 1989. Dean appears to be the good guy in the eyes of the public. He continues to be unfaithful over the course of his next two marriages. Dean would often joke in his comedic act that he was no gentleman, despite what the public thought. The stories of his wives prove this true!
Dean and his first wife divorces in 1949, and the same year Dean becomes successful working alongside comedian Jerry Lewis. They form the comedic duo of Martin and Lewis and go on to star in a variety of feature films. Then butting heads and ends their professional arrangement. The success of the comedic duo certainly came into play when Dean was seeking custody of his four children. Dean was a huge star, and his first wife was nobody! Dean also remarried in 1949.
He meets the woman that becomes his second wife while he’s still married to his first. Dean and his second wife Jeanne met in 1948. Jeanne is a beauty queen and catches the attention of Dean while she’s attending one of his comedy stage shows. Dean likes the beauty queen and keeps her in mind for when his divorce from Elizabeth goes through. Dean and Jeanne marry in September of 1949, and Jerry Lewis serves as the best man in the ceremony. Dean’s marriage to Jeanne lasts for over two decades, while Dean and Jerry’s professional relationship won’t exceed the 1950s.
Out of all of the women that Dean marries, Jeanne seems to be the one that he cares about most. The two marry for longer than Dean marries to either of his other wives. Also, he reunites with her romantically after divorcing his third wife. They marry until 1973 and receive three children in addition to the four from Dean’s first marriage.
Dean and Jeanne’s three children are Dean Jr., Ricci, and Gina, born in 1951, 1953, and 1956, respectively. If you’re enjoying this video so far, be sure to hit the like button to show your support! Also, subscribe to the channel if you’d like to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
Dean Martin ends up filing for divorce from Jeanne, while it’s typically the other way around in relationships. Despite this fact, Jeanne ended up taking Dean back after he divorced his third wife. As he had done after divorcing his first wife, Dean married the same year after divorcing his second. Dean and Jeanne divorced in 1973, and Dean was married to his third wife, Catherine Hawn, by the end of the year. Some friends of his family set Dean up with Catherine, and the couple went on to have an expectedly extravagant wedding ceremony.
Of Dean Martin’s three marriages, his marriage to Catherine Hawn proved his least successful. The pair married in 1973, and they became divorced only three years later, in 1976. Dean came into the marriage with seven children, and he didn’t have any new ones with Catherine. However, Dean did adopt Catherine’s daughter from a previous marriage named Sasha. After divorcing Catherine in 1976, Dean never remarried during the remaining years of his life.
Although Dean never remarried after his third divorce, he did get back together romantically with his second wife, Jeanne. Dean went on to live for many years after divorcing his third wife, finally passing away on Christmas Day of 1995. Dean’s cause of death was determined to be complications related to his struggles with lung cancer, and he was 78 years old. In addition to getting back together with Jeanne, Dean also eventually made up with the man that had served as his best man when he and Jeanne got married. After decades of not speaking, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis ended their notorious feud before Dean’s death.
After Dean’s death in 1995, Jeanne continued living for over two decades before eventually passing away herself. Shortly before her death in 2016, she had to live through the death of her and Dean’s youngest son, who was the aforementioned Ricci. Ricci was 62 years old at the time that he was found dead in his home, and the loss devastated his mother. Ricci had followed in the footsteps of his father by starting a career in the entertainment industry, having worked as a singer in Las Vegas for a period of time. Like Dean, Jeanne passed away from complications related to cancer. At the time of her death, she was 89 years old.
Ricci certainly wasn’t the only one of Dean Martin’s many children that ended up following in his footsteps in one way or another. Many of his children, with his first wife Elizabeth, ended up getting into the entertainment industry. Dean’s first son, Craig, became a producer in Hollywood, even working on some of his father’s productions! In addition to working on The Dean Martin Show, Craig also worked on the 1950s series The Juke Box Jury, as well as a 1968 television special by the name of A Family Thing.
Dean’s daughter Claudia went on to become an actress, appearing in such films as The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, For Those Who Think Young, and Ski Fever. Sadly, none of these B movies proved nearly as successful as her father’s many features, and Claudia never found much success in her entertainment career before her death in 2001. She tragically passed away at the age of only 56. Dean’s daughter Gail also delved into acting a little bit.
Of all of Dean Martin’s children who chose to follow in their father’s footsteps, the one who has found the most success is arguably Deana Martin. Deana followed in her father’s footsteps by becoming both a singer and an actress, with her having appeared in such films as Strangers at Sunrise, Davi’s Way, and Young Bill Young. She released her own solo album in 2006, with it’s name being Memories Are Made of This. While all of Dean’s children eventually became aware of the fact that their father’s relationships with their respective mothers fell apart due to infidelities, they all still loved and respected the legendary entertainer anyways.
Both Jeanne and Elizabeth have passed away in the years since being married to Dean Martin, making Catherine Hawn the only surviving ex-wife of the iconic crooner. Little is known about what Catherine is up to nowadays, though she appears to be doing okay! Though all of Dean’s ex-wives had their issues with him both before and after their marriages, they still managed to get along with him despite his bad habits. Dean made it clear in his comedy act that he was no gentleman, but he was still a kindhearted man to the people that he cared for. His problem was womanizing. In the years since Dean Martin’s 1995 passing, fans have continued to try and learn as much about the legendary entertainer’s personal life as they can. While Dean may not have been a perfect gentleman to his three wives, he was still beloved by his many children.
Although Dean Martin was no gentleman to his three wives, he still did his best to be there for his many children! Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that legendary entertainer Dean Martin was unfaithful to all three of his wives or did you think that he was a perfect gentleman? As always, like this video to show your support, and subscribe and hit the notification bell if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
