How Dean Martin Finally Agreed to a Fan Club
Back in 1955, 17-year-old Bernard H. Thorpe was just one of Dean Martin‘s many fans across the globe. But while countless people bought copies of Dean Martin Sings or packed theaters to see Martin and Lewis films, Thorpe is the only one who founded and ran the world’s only society dedicated to Dino’s life and work, the Dean Martin Association.
Eager to connect with other fans and learn more about Martin’s projects, Thorpe wrote letters to the crooner regularly for five years, seeking his permission to start a fan organization, says Elliot Thorpe, Bernard’s son and the current president of the DMA. Each time, he received no response. Then, says Thorpe, “just as he was about to finally call it a day, in October 1960, a letter arrived in a long thin envelope with the single moniker ‘Dino’ embossed in gold on the top left. The letter read, ‘Dear Mr. Thorpe… As you are so damn insistent, I give you my permission to set up an organization in my name…’ It was signed… Dean Martin.”
The letter kickstarted a working relationship between the elder Thorpe and Martin that would last until Martin’s death in 1995. Though there had been fan clubs dedicated to Martin in the past, he was “very keen to ensure that [the Dean Martin Association] was more than just a fan club: Dean wanted it to be a news and information service, reliable, professional and trustworthy,” says Thorpe. To this end, “Dean was remarkably hands-on, regularly writing to Bernard and the team, sending copies of his latest single and LP releases, calling Bernard on the telephone every now and again for updates and a chat, and sending birthday gifts to Bernard’s family.”
Dean Martin Association founder Bernard H Thorpe circa 1983
Through its 64 year existence, the Dean Martin Association has celebrated Martin in a variety of ways, including publishing a number of dedicated journals and newsletters, overseeing the production of multiple re-release and compilation albums, and even leading a push to get Martin’s “Gentle on My Mind” to the top of the UK charts in 1969 (it worked!).
Growing up with his father running the DMA, Thorpe’s memories of Martin are of a “kind and supportive” man who appreciated that Bernard “treated him with great respect but was very honest and down to earth.”
“Here was this huge star, Hollywood royalty,” recalls Thorpe, “and he would telephone my dad on a Sunday, maybe before he went to record a TV show episode, and chat about the world like they were pallies, if only for a couple of minutes sometimes.” Though he was aware that he worked for Martin, “sometimes, Bernard wondered if Dino called just to step out of the limelight for a moment.”
Today, the Dean Martin Association has a number of upcoming projects in the works, including overseeing the 2025 Dean Martin Festival in Martin’s hometown of Steubenville, Ohio, and releasing a Dean Martin yearbook whose proceeds will benefit Martin’s beloved Muscular Dystrophy Association (they will also be on hand at the annual MDA Telethon on September 1, 2024).
But right now, fans can read Just Dino, the Association’s monthly digital magazine. Founded as a publication dedicated to previewing Martin’s new projects, it now takes a more retrospective approach, interviewing subjects who were involved in Martin’s career, and examining all aspects of his body of work. The next issue is dedicated to The Dean Martin Show, with looks back at The Sons Of Katie Elder, the album “Pretty Baby,” and Martin’s international album releases. Thorpe is “particularly looking forward to a piece on Dino’s choice of cologne!” The magazine is available to all members of the Dean Martin Association, and it — and membership — are free! Fans can sign up through the Association’s official website, and receive the next issue of Just Dino when it’s published on September 13.
The September 2024 issue of Just Dino
Though Martin passed away 29 years ago, part of the joy of the Dean Martin Association is that there’s still so much more to learn about Dino. For example, though Martin was notorious for not participating in rehearsals for his TV show, come showtime, “Dino would know everyone’s lines, everyone’s marks, all the camera placements and cues,” says Thorpe. “His way of rehearsing was on the golf course, or at home, or in his car: he would have cassette tapes of the rehearsals that he’d listen to over and over – then when he arrived on the sound stage to record, everyone would be amazed that he was so well prepared! Yet he didn’t do this to show off: he wanted the spontaneity of working with his guest stars for the first time. He reveled in the excitement of that.” Ain’t that a kick in the head!
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