x

Login

Remember me
Forget password ?

Or via social

x

sign up

person_profile-Tony Martin

Tony Martin Died at age: 98

Actor | Producer

Fullname:

Tony Martin

Date of Birth:

Dec 25, 1913

Country of birth:

USA

Died:

Jul 27, 2012

Biography of

Tony Martin

    Alvin Morris, known professionally as Tony Martin, was an American actor and popular singer. His career spanned over seven decades, and he scored dozens of hits between the late-1930s and mid-1950s with songs such as "Walk Hand in Hand", "Stranger in Paradise" and "I Get Ideas". He was married to actress and dancer Cyd Charisse for 60 years, from 1948 until her death in 2008.

    In his grammar school glee club, he became an instrumentalist and singer. He formed his first band, named "The Red Peppers," when he was in high school. After college, he went to Hollywood to try films. It was at that time that he adopted the stage name of Tony Martin.

    On radio, Martin sang and was master of ceremonies on Tune-Up Time, with Andre Kostelanetz, on CBS in the early 1940s. NBC broadcast The Tony Martin Show, a 15-minute variety program. One of his guests was Dinah Shore. He was also a featured vocalist on the George Burns and Gracie Allen radio program.

    In films, Martin was first cast in a number of bit parts, including a role as a sailor in Follow the Fleet. He eventually signed with 20th Century-Fox and then Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in which he starred in a number of musicals. Between 1938 and 1942, he made a number of hit records for Decca. In 1941, Martin received equal billing with the Marx Brothers in their final film for MGM, The Big Store.

    Martin joined the United States Navy in 1942 as a chief specialist, the equivalent of a chief petty officer. He was dismissed from the service that year for "unfitness" after he testified at the court martial of a Naval procurement officer. He enlisted as a specialist after the officer twice failed to obtain a commission for him. Martin said that he had given the officer an auto worth $950 to "facilitate" his enlistment. At the time of his dismissal, the Navy said that removal for unfitness was not equivalent to a dishonorable discharge and "does not carry degradation."

    After the war, Martin signed with Mercury Records, then a small independent label run out of Chicago, Illinois. He cut 25 records in 1946 and 1947 for Mercury, including a 1946 recording of "To Each His Own," which became a million-seller. It was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. This prompted RCA Victor to offer him a record contract, which he signed in 1947 after satisfying his contract obligations to Mercury. He continued to appear in film musicals during the 1940s and 1950s. His rendition of "Lover Come Back to Me" with Joan Weldon in Deep in My Heart – based on the music of Sigmund Romberg and starring José Ferrer - was one of the highlights of that film. He also starred as Gaylord Ravenal in the Show Boat segment from the 1946 film Till the Clouds Roll By. In 1958, he became the highest paid performer in Las Vegas, signing a five-year deal at the Desert Inn, earning $25,000 a week. In an unlikely pairing, Martin recorded for the Motown Records label in the mid-1960s, scoring a minor hit with the record "Talkin' To Your Picture."

    Martin was a stockholder in the Parvin-Dohrmann Corporation, a hotel and casino company that owned the Flamingo Las Vegas.

Photos of

Tony Martin

Photos ( 3 Photos

Filmography of

Tony Martin

Found 35 Movies in total

That's Entertainment! III

(archive footage) ( Actor )

... 1994

... 1990

Dear Mr. Wonderful

Himself ( Actor )

... 1982

That's Entertainment!

(archive footage) ( Actor )

... 1974

Let's Be Happy

Stanley Smith ( Actor )

... 1957

Quincannon, Frontier Scout

Linus Quincannon ( Actor )

... 1956

Meet Me in Las Vegas

Tony Martin (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1956

Hit the Deck

Chief Boatswain's Mate Wm. F. Clark ( Actor )

... 1955

Deep in My Heart

Performer in New Moon ( Actor )

... 1954

Easy to Love

Barry Gordon ( Actor )

... 1953

Here Come the Girls

Allen Trent ( Actor )

... 1953

Clash by Night

Singer of 'I Hear a Rhapsody' (voice) ( Actor )

... 1952

Two Tickets to Broadway

Dan Carter ( Actor )

... 1951

Casbah

Pepe Le Moko ( Actor )

... 1948

Till the Clouds Roll By

Gaylord Ravenal / Tony Martin ( Actor )

... 1946

The Big Store

Tommy Rogers ( Actor )

... 1941

Ziegfeld Girl

Frank Merton ( Actor )

... 1941

Music in My Heart

Robert Gregory ( Actor )

... 1940

Winner Take All

Steve Bishop ( Actor )

... 1939

Thanks for Everything

Tommy Davis ( Actor )

... 1938

Up the River

Tommy Grant ( Actor )

... 1938

Kentucky Moonshine

Jerry Wade ( Actor )

... 1938

Sally, Irene and Mary

Tommy Reynolds ( Actor )

... 1938

Ali Baba Goes to Town

Yusuf/Tony Martin ( Actor )

... 1937

Life Begins in College

Band Leader ( Actor )

... 1937

You Can't Have Everything

Bobby Walker ( Actor )

... 1937

Sing and Be Happy

Buzz Mason ( Actor )

... 1937

The Holy Terror

Danny Walker ( Actor )

... 1937

Banjo on My Knee

Chick Bean ( Actor )

... 1936

Pigskin Parade

Tommy Barker ( Actor )

... 1936

Sing, Baby, Sing

Tony Renaldo ( Actor )

... 1936

Back to Nature

Tom Williams ( Actor )

... 1936

Poor Little Rich Girl

Radio Baritone Soloist (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1936

Murder on a Bridle Path

Man with Violet (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1936

Follow the Fleet

Sailor (uncredited) ( Actor )

... 1936