Singer Deana Martin celebrates father Dean's legacy at the Arcada

Deana Martin, named for her superstar father Dean Martin, knew from a young age that she wanted to be onstage too.

“I was a little girl, maybe 8- or 9-years-old, sitting ringside at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. And there he (Dean) was. He was funny, and he sang beautifully. Then my uncles Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra came onstage. And to watch these three unbelievable guys - the talent was amazing. I said, 'That is what I am going to do.' I learned from the best.”

Deana Martin presents a musical tribute to her dad with “Deana Sings Dino,” on Saturday, Oct. 21, at the Arcada Theatre.

Dean Martin, who died on Christmas Day in 1995, would have turned 100 this year.

“We are celebrating the 'King of Cool',” Martin said, citing her father's well-known Hollywood nickname, in a telephone interview. “I wanted to do something special, thinking about his life and career.”

Her show includes famous Dean Martin songs such as “That's Amore,” video clips of Dean and Deana over the years and songs from her own albums.

“I also sing songs from my Uncle Frank (Sinatra), and from others like Bobby Darin and Ella Fitzgerald,” she said.

Dean Martin was known for his elegance and humor, his onstage cocktail glass and banter with “Rat Pack” friends Sinatra, Davis, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop, and his years as part of the comedy duo Martin and Lewis, with comic Jerry Lewis.

But he was very a “down-to-earth” man, Deana Martin said - one who had the same snack every afternoon, when he returned home from the studio, or from playing golf or cards with his friends.

“Every day at 5 p.m. he would walk through the back door. He had taps on his shoes, so we could hear him,” Martin recalled. “He would have a slice of Wonder Bread with butter on it. Then he would come into the living room to see all of us.”

The Martin home was often filled with celebrities, and Deana Martin and her seven siblings attended school with famous classmates including Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr.

“It was an amazing life. Sammy Cahn would play 'Time After Time' on our living room piano. Tina Sinatra called my dad 'Uncle Dean,'” Martin said.

But she said Dean Martin made sure his kids did not let their glamorous lifestyle keep them from being well-behaved.

“My father had his 'Italian dad' rules,” Martin said. “He would say, 'In this house, you live by the rules. You clean your room. You are not late for dinner.' We were all good kids. We were taught respect.”

Deana made her TV debut in 1966 on “The Dean Martin Show.” She studied acting at Dartington College of Arts in England and recorded some country songs. Later, she had roles on stage and in films.

In the 1980s, Martin took time off from performing to raise her son. But eventually, she returned to the stage and to the recording studio.

In the famous Studio A at Capitol Records, Martin recorded the duet “True Love,” singing along with a tape of her father's voice for her “Destination Moon” album.

“It was hard for me to get through it,” she said. “To hear his voice and that arrangement - and to sing with him! I could feel him there. It was magic. Hearing the playback, I started to cry.”

Martin said she was devastated at the recent death of her father's longtime comic partner, Jerry Lewis. He died on Aug. 20, one day after Martin's birthday.

“Oh, I miss Uncle Jerry,” Martin said. “I miss him so much.”

Lewis wrote the forward to Martin's 2004 book, “Memories Are Made of This: Dean Martin Through His Daughter's Eyes.”

These days, Martin and her husband John Griffeth divide their time between homes in Beverly Hills and Branson, Missouri. Martin is on the road, performing or recording, more than 250 days a year.

Her newest album, her fifth, is “Swing Street,” a collection of jazz and blues tunes, produced by Griffeth. Martin is also working to get her book made into a movie.

But singing - and celebrating her father's legacy - is her joy.

“I am excited to wake up every day,” Martin said. “To get up onstage and sing all of his music, to honor him - and to perform my music and my songs. This is what I was meant to do.”

Deana Martin with “Deana Sings Dino”

<b>When:</b> 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21

<b>Where:</b> Arcada Theatre, 105 E. Main St., St. Charles, (630) 962-7000 or arcadalive.com

<b>Tickets:</b> Start at $29