When Deana (that’s “Dean-ah,” as you would expect of the daughter of Dean Martin) Martin started looking for photographs to illustrate the biography of her Rat Pack father, her research led her straight to the special collections department at UNLV’s Lied Library. Its vast archive of Las Vegas history includes photos and other memorabilia from the Sands Hotel, where the Rat Pack hung out.
The Sands Collection is comprised of the publicity files of Al Freeman, publicity director of the hotel for many years. Materials include business documents, correspondence, press releases, news clippings, and ads, but is particularly rich in photographs of A-list celebrities.
Dean Martin was a legend on the Las Vegas Strip, having performed periodically for decades before his death on Christmas Day 1995. Funeral services were private, but the Strip recognized its loss by turning off its lights for one minute, as it had only one other time, for Martin’s fellow Rat Pack member Sammy Davis Jr.
His daughter’s book gives a very personal look at Martin and his family with a perspective different from other family members who have written about Martin. “I was born into a struggling artist’s family,” Deana said in an interview prior to a campus book signing. “By the time my brother was born, the family was wealthy. So we don’t see things quite the same way.”
Deana Martin makes it clear that she adored her father. At the book signing, which brought many longtime Las Vegas personalities to campus, she both read from the book and told additional stories that did not make it into print.
The “Books” section is written by Barbara Cloud, a professor in the Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies.
