In 1965, Martin launched his weekly
NBC comedy-variety series,
The Dean Martin Show, which exploited his public image as a lazy, carefree boozer. It was there that he perfected his famous laid-back persona of the half-drunk
crooner suavely hitting on beautiful women with hilarious remarks that would get anyone else slapped, and making snappy if slurred remarks about fellow celebrities during his famous
roasts. Even though critics complained Dean was the epitome of
sloth, few entertainers worked as hard to make what they were doing look so easy. During an interview he stated, and this may have been tongue-in-cheek, that although he didn't attend rehearsals he had someone record them on cassette tape so he could listen to them.
The TV show was a huge hit. Dean prided himself on memorizing whole scripts -- not merely his own lines. He disliked rehearsing because he firmly believed his best performances were his first performances. The show's loose format often prompted comedic, quick-witted improvisation from Dean and the rest of the cast. On occasion, he made remarks in Italian, some of them obscenities that brought angry mail from offended, Italian-speaking viewers. This prompted a battle between Martin and NBC censors, who insisted on more scrutiny of the show's content. As a result, the show was often in the Top Ten. Martin, deeply appreciative of the efforts of the show's producer, his friend
Greg Garrison, later made a handshake deal giving Garrison, a pioneer TV producer in the 1950s, 50% ownership of the show. However, the validity of that ownership is currently the subject of a lawsuit brought by NBC/Universal.
Despite Martin's reputation as a heavy drinker — a reputation perpetuated via his vanity license plates reading 'DRUNKY' — he was remarkably self-disciplined. He was often the first to call it a night, and when not on tour or on a film location liked to go home, see his wife, and play with his children. It has been claimed that Martin was usually sipping
apple juice (not liquor) most of the time onstage. He borrowed the lovable-drunk
shtick from
Joe E. Lewis, but his convincing portrayals of heavy boozers in
Some Came Running and Howard Hawks's
Rio Bravo led to unsubstantiated claims of
alcoholism. More often than not, Martin's idea of a good time was playing golf or watching television, particularly westerns -- not staying with
Rat Pack friends Frank Sinatra and
Sammy Davis, Jr. into the wee hours of the morning.
By the early 1970s, Martin seemed to have the Midas touch,
The Dean Martin Show was still earning solid ratings, and although he was no longer a Top 40 hitmaker, his record albums continued to sell well. His name on a marquee could guarantee casinos and nightclubs a standing-room-only crowd. He found a way to make his passion for golf profitable by offering his own signature line of golf balls. Shrewd investments had greatly increased Martin's personal wealth; at the time of his death, Martin was reportedly the single largest minority shareholder of RCA stock. Martin even managed to cure himself of his
claustrophobia by locking himself in the elevator of a tall building and riding up and down for hours until he was no longer panic-stricken.
Despite his enormous success, Martin retreated from show business by the early 1970s. The final (1973-74) season of his variety show would be retooled into one of celebrity roasts, requiring less of Martin's involvement. After the show's cancellation, NBC continued to air the Dean Martin Celebrity Roast format in a series of TV specials through 1984. In those 11 years, Dean and his panel of pals successfully ridiculed, embarrassed and made fun of legendary stars like, Frank Sinatra,
Lucille Ball, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin himself, to name a few. For nearly a decade, Dean had recorded as many as four albums a year for
Reprise Records. That stopped in November of 1974, when Martin recorded his final Reprise album -
Once In A While, released in 1978. His last recording sessions were for Warner Brothers Records. An album titled
The Nashville Sessions was released in 1983, from which he had a hit with "{I Think That I Just Wrote) My First Country Song", which was recorded with
Conway Twitty and made a respectable showing on the country charts. A follow up single "Drinking Champagne" came in 1985. The 1975 film
Mr. Ricco marked Martin's final starring role, and Martin limited his live performances to Las Vegas and Atlantic City.
Martin seemed to be suffering a mid-life crisis. In 1972, he filed for divorce from his second wife, Jeannie. A week later, his business partnership with the Riviera casino was dissolved amid reports of the casino's refusal to agree to Martin's request to perform only once a night. He was quickly snapped up by the
MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, and was signed to a three-picture deal with MGM Studios. Less than a month after his second marriage had been legally dissolved, Martin married 26 year-old Catherine Hawn on April 25, 1973. They divorced November 10, 1976. He was also briefly engaged to
Gail Renshaw,
Miss USA 1969, and later dated actress
Phyllis Davis.
Eventually, Martin reconciled with Jeannie, though they never remarried. He also made a public reconciliation with Jerry Lewis on Lewis'
Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon in 1976.
Frank Sinatra shocked Lewis and the world by bringing Martin out on stage. As Martin and Lewis hugged and smiled, the audience erupted in cheers and the phone banks lit up, resulting in one of the telethon's most profitable years. Lewis reported the event was one of the three most memorable of his life. Lewis brought down the house when he quipped, "So, you working?" Martin, playing drunk, replied that he was "at the Meggum" -- this reference to the MGM Grand Hotel convulsed Lewis. This, along with the death of Martin's son
Dean Paul Martin a few years later, helped to bring the two men together. They maintained a quiet but deep friendship but only performed together again once in 1989, on Dean's 72nd birthday.