HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the KING of COOL!

 (My dad says Cary Grant is the King of Cool but my dad is weird. Sorry Dad.)

I was first introduced to Dean as one half of the Martin &  Lewis team...my initial reaction was "Hey, I like this guy, why doesn't that weirdo with him shut up?" --a position which quickly changed. ;) Nonetheless, I still like Dean an awful lot, particularly after I started watching the Dean Martin Show and the Roasts. He is the second-greatest straight man ever (the first being George Burns) and has the smoothest, warmest, most chocolate-y voice in the history of voices! Going off on a tangent here, I think Dean's voice is better than both Sinatra's and Bing's--actually, Dean and Bing sound pretty similar, except Dean's voice has a resonance, a warmth, and a depth that Bing Crosby could never achieve. Sorry Bing.

Dean and (one of) his cars

Together, Dean and Jerry made the world scream. Without Dean, Jerry would be a human pinball machine--well, ok, he's still a human pinball machine, but Dean puts him on a leash. ;) And even though I'm an avid Jerry fan, I always feel bad for Dean when he doesn't get laughs on Colgate. Dean's pretty funny, you know. He makes Jerry crack up lots of times. :D



I adore this song. Everything about Dean's version is perfect--the orchestration is soaring and bittersweet, the lyrics are dreamy and Dean's voice ties everything together with melted chocolate. :D Happy Birthday, Dean!

Dean at Frank Sinatra's home