Saturday, June 19, 2004
His fans come from all over the world to the festival.
STEUBENVILLE (AP) -- The house where Dean Martin was born and raised in this Ohio River steel town is long gone, a grass lot left in its place.
However, the legacy of the cocktail-hoisting, tuxedo-sporting crooner still lives on here.
There are photos of Martin inside Naples Spaghetti House, where he used to dine, and a mural of Martin on a Kroger grocery store overlooking downtown.
The mural is there because the site is in no immediate danger of being torn down, unlike some of the old buildings in town, said Rose Angelica, who is in charge of Steubenville's annual Dean Martin Festival this weekend.
Glitz and blight
The glitz embodied by the city's most famous son stands in marked contrast to its rust-belt blight.
As of April, the area's unemployment rate was 8.8 percent, well above the national average of 5.6 percent. The city's population has dwindled to 19,600, half its size in the 1930s, when Dino came of age.
There are still plenty of highlights for Martin fans, though, like his historical marker, just off Dean Martin Boulevard on the outskirts of town.
The city's festival in his honor includes a parade, a Martin memorabilia show, a Martin movie marathon and various Martin tribute concerts. There is even a Martin Mass scheduled at St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church, where he was an altar boy.
"People come here from all over the world, die-hard fans," Angelica said. "They worship the ground where this guy walked."
His career
Martin scored 45 Top 40 singles between the late 1940s and the late 1960s, including "Everybody Loves Somebody," which reached No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart in 1964. On the big screen, he made 55 movies, including a string of hit comedies with Jerry Lewis.
On the small screen, "The Dean Martin Show" was a popular fixture on NBC from 1965 to 1974. He died Christmas Day 1995 at age 78.
The school that Martin attended in Steubenville is another of the buildings being torn down.
Steubenville's Board of Education is considering naming a new elementary school after Martin even though the member of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack wasn't exactly a dedicated young scholar. Martin dropped out of high school after 10th grade.
"He was a comedian," says Martin's childhood friend Mario Camerlengo. "He always disturbed the class. When the teacher would say, 'Dino, you'll have to leave,' he'd hit me on the head as he shuffled out."
Bigger things
Martin's son, Ricci, doesn't recall hearing his father talk much about Steubenville.
"Look, for Dad, getting away from there was a motivating force in his life," Ricci said. "He didn't want to stay."
In 1940, Martin got a steady gig performing with the Sammy Watkins Orchestra in Cleveland's old Hollenden Hotel. Three years later, Martin was a rising star in New York City.
His laid-back personality belied a strong work ethic, Ricci said.
"Dad was able to pull off this persona where everything seemed to come naturally to him," Ricci says. "But it didn't. He worked very hard. He just wasn't a big shot about it. "When he'd say, 'Hey, pally, no big deal,' people believed it in the long run."
The Spot Bar is one of the last Martin hangouts still standing in Steubenville. During a recent visit there, Angelica led the way up a few stairs to the rear of the bar, where a single light illuminates a photo of the Rat Pack in its prime.
The former Dino Crocetti used to preside over craps games here, in the back room where they store beer these days. There is still a peephole in the door.
"If these walls could talk," Angelica said, "I'd be afraid of what they'd say."