Martin even had his own comedy show and many of his guests were country and western singers. He was even named man of the year by the country music association in 1966. Dean died in 1995 at the ripe old age of 78.

But looking back now, I remember him as being one of the so called "Rat Pack." Martin and Sinatra, along with friends Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, and Sammy Davis, Jr. formed the legendary Rat Pack, They were legendary for their Las Vegas performances which were almost never pre-announced.

One very important aspect of their routine was that The Rat Pack was largely responsible for the integration of Las Vegas, as Sinatra and Martin steadfastly refused to appear anywhere that barred Davis, forcing the casinos to open their doors to African-American entertainers and patrons, and to drop restrictive covenants against Jews.

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