Dealer With A Hot Hand

TITLE: DINO

AUTHOR: NICK TOSCHES

PUBLISHER: DOUBLEDAY; 572 PAGES; $24

THE BOTTOM LINE: Smooth and sexy, uncaring and unknowable, Dean Martin was the showman America deserved.

He sang like Bing Crosby. More important, he looked like Crosby sang: dark, romantic, utterly at ease. Those seductive glissandi and buh-buh-buh-boos made him a housewife's heart murmur and the ideal straight man for a crew-cut ba- ba-baboon, Jerry Lewis -- "the organ grinder and the monkey," they were called. In the early '50s the duo owned movies, TV, nightclubs, stage shows, and the singer had hit records (That's Amore, Memories Are Made of This)...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!