Dean Martin was a legendary singer and comedian, known both for his comedic antics alongside
Jerry Lewis and his more serious endeavors as a singer contemporaneous with Frank Sinatra.
In addition to being known as a versatile and charming entertainer, Dean was also known
as a womanizer.
He was married three times over the course of his life, though he engaged in many extramarital
affairs.
He had seven children of his own and adopted an eighth from his third marriage.
Although Dean was a loving figure in the lives of his wives and children, he couldn’t stop
himself 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 was married for a good deal of his life, Dean didn’t let that stop him
from pursuing other women!
The legendary entertainer’s penchant for tracking down new lovers proved a detriment
to his three marriages, though he did end 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 was a son named Craig, born a year after their wedding.
Daughter Claudia followed Craig two years later.
The couple had another daughter in 1945, and she was named 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 was taking off during his first marriage,
and he used these opportunities to meet many new women.
Many wonder if Elizabeth's alcoholism drove Dean to start relationships with other women
or if it was Dean's habit of cheating on his wife that caused her to seek comfort in the
bottle.
Either way, Dean Martin was the one that ended up coming out on top in the divorce.
Because of Dean's increased financial security and Elizabeth's documented alcoholism, Dean
was given custody of the four children, and Elizabeth was left to her own devices, dying
in 1989.
Although Dean appeared to be the good guy in the eyes of the public, he would continue
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 Martin and his first wife divorced in 1949, and that was the same year that Dean
began finding massive success working alongside comedian Jerry Lewis.
The two formed the comedic duo of Martin and Lewis and went on to star in a variety of
feature films before eventually butting heads and ending 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.
Dean met the woman that was going to become his second wife while he was still married
to his first.
Dean and his second wife Jeanne met in 1948.
Jeanne was a beauty queen, and she caught the attention of Dean while she was attending
one of his comedy stage shows.
Dean took a liking to the beauty queen and kept her in mind for when his divorce with
Elizabeth went through.
Dean and Jeanne ended up getting married in September of 1949, and Jerry Lewis served
as the best man in the ceremony.
Dean's marriage to Jeanne would go on to last for over two decades, while Dean and Jerry's
professional relationship wouldn't exceed the 1950s.
Out of all of the women that Dean Martin was married to, Jeanne seems to be the one that
he cared for the most.
Not only were the two married for longer than Dean was married to either of his other wives,
but he also reunited with her romantically after divorcing his third wife.
They stayed married until 1973 and had three children in addition to the four that Dean
brought over from his first marriage.
Dean and Jeanne’s three children were named Dean Jr., Ricci, and Gina, born in 1951, 1953,
and 1956, respectively.
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Dean Martin was the one that ended 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
from 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 its 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?
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