Deana Martin has not only helped to keep her father Dean’s legacy going and growing, but she has also carved out an impressive career of her own.

On her latest album, “Volare,” Deana puts her own wonderfully engaging imprint on classic pop tunes.

She made her TV debut in 1966, performing on “The Dean Martin Show.” She made many more appearances on the series, gracing musical and comedy numbers.

After studying theatre at England’s Dartington College, Deana starred in numerous stage productions. Her films include the western “Young Billy Young,” co-starring Robert Mitchum and Angie Dickinson. She also guested in such TV series as “The Monkees” and “The Joey Bishop Show.”

As a vocalist, Deana headlined venues ranging from Hollywood’s Whisky A-Go-Go to Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. Recording for Reprise, she had a hit with the song “Girl of the Month Club.” She performed on Mike Douglas and Merv Griffin’s TV shows.

In the ‘80s and ‘90s, she turned her focus to health and exercise, operating a successful fitness company - Bodies by Deana. “The Deana Martin Total Body Workout” was a hit video.

She starred in her own talk show for four seasons and hosted popular, nationally syndicated radio programs, including one with her husband, John Griffeth.

These days, Deana is winning acclaim internationally, as she tours with her captivating nightclub show “Deana Sings Dino.”

Deana Martin plays San Francisco’s The Rrazz Room at Hotel Nikko (www.therrazzroom.com; 866-468-3399), Saturday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 7 at 5 p.m.; and Monday, Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $35, $45 for limited VIP.

Nov. 9 and 10, she plays The Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood, Ca., followed by dates in Florida. For details, visit www.deanamartin.com.

Her best-selling memoir, “Memories Are Made of This: Dean Martin Through His Daughter’s Eyes,” is currently being developed into a movie.

She works extensively for charitable causes, including the annual Dean Martin Festival in her father’s hometown, Steubenville, Ohio, which provides music scholarships to worthy young performers. Deana also lends her talents to Jerry Lewis’ Labor Day MDA telethons.

The charming Ms. Martin spoke with Pop Culture Classics.

POP CULTURE CLASSICS:
“Volare” appears to be a labor of love for you. Does each song have special meaning for you, personally?

DEANA MARTIN:
Actually all of the songs do have a special meaning for me. For one thing, I’ve always loved ‘Volare.’ I just thought that was a cool song and a big hit for my dad in 1958. And my husband and I are both pilots and we named our plane ‘Volare.’ ‘Volare’ means ‘to fly.’ So that was kind of fun.

And, of course, I love ‘What A Difference A Day Makes.’ That was for my darling stepmom. Well, she’s my mom, Jeanne. And then, of course, my handsome husband John, his mom’s favorite song was ‘Kiss To Build A Dream On.’

It’s been so crazy here. We’re getting ready to come up north. We’re so excited to be coming to the Rrazz Room.

PCC:
It’s a great venue.

DEANA:
Oh, I know! We saw Cloris Leachman there, not long ago. She’s amazing. So I’m looking forward to that.

But you know, all the songs on the album are favorites of mine. It’s so fun to be able to sing Uncle Frank Sinatra’s ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’ and ‘The Lady Is A Tramp.’ They all have special meaning to me.

PCC:
And the show focuses on your Dad’s hits?

DEANA:
The show is called ‘Deana Sings Dino.’ And it’s a tribute to my Dad. But I’ll be singing a little Bobby Darin, a little Nat ‘King’ Cole. It’s the people that I grew up with... who were actually in my living room [Laughs]. You know, everybody’s house was filled with the sounds of all these incredible singers - Tony Bennett, Andy Williams, Jack Jones, Steve Lawrence, Eydie Gorme - but they were actually at my home. And how lucky was I?

PCC:
With all these stars hanging out all the time, did you become jaded about celebrity?

DEANA:
No, you never become jaded. Well, hopefully I haven’t. No, it’s all exciting to me. Each one of them had a different, unique personality and style. And they were their own people. I mean, for me, on a Christmas Eve, to sit down and sing Christmas carols with Rosemary Clooney. That never gets old [Laughs]. It was just really special.

PCC:
Any others who made an indelible impression on you or who served as role models?

DEANA:
Well, for me, really, I’d have to say Frank Sinatra was really wonderful to me. He gave me my first singing lesson. His phrasing, everything about him, I just absolutely adored. He would spend time with me and talk to me, so that was very nice.

But, of course, I loved Judy Garland and Andy Williams. He was over at the house. Jack Jones I loved. So each one had a different meaning for me. But there’s something about Frank Sinatra that just touched my soul.

PCC:
As a teen, were you already attracted to the Great American Songbook? Or were you more into the contemporary records your peers were listening to?

DEANA:
I was more into the contemporary songs, sure. And I had a little bit of a country hit back in the ‘60s. In fact, it’s when Lee Hazelwood wrote and produced a few songs for me on Reprise. And he had just had a huge hit with ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin’’ with Nancy. And he wrote a song called ‘Girl of the Month Club’ for me and it did pretty well. I went to Nashville and did all the shows.

But I was, of course, into The Beatles and Buffalo Springfield and everyone at that time, Bob Dylan. So I was really excited when my Dad’s song, ‘Everybody Loves Somebody’ knocked The Beatles out of first place in 1964. That was quite something around the house.

PCC:
That was quite something everywhere. That generation of singers had disappeared from the charts, but somehow he managed to record hits and rival the British Invaders.

DEANA:
It’s true. And then he sent telegrams to Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra and said, ‘I did it!’ [Laughs] It was cute.

PCC:
I understand your Dad introduced you to Elvis at one point?

DEANA:
Yes, he did. It was at Paramount Studios. And I will never, ever, ever forget that. We were standing out in front of his dressing room. And in those days, they wouldn’t use golf carts or anything like that. People would ride around on bicycles. And Elvis came riding up and he got off of his bicycle and he had this huge grin on his face. What was he doing then? It might have been ‘King Creole.’ He got off of his bike and he said to my Dad, ‘Are these your beautiful daughters?’ And Dad said, ‘Yes, this is my daughter, Deana.’ And Elvis leaned down.

He was just so handsome. And he had a big smile on his face. And he said, ‘You know, I love your Dad.’ He said, ‘They call me the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, but your Dad is the King of Cool!’ And I almost died! [in little girl voice] ‘Oh, it must be true! Elvis said it!’ He was charming.

PCC:
Your friends must have been so jealous.

DEANA:
Oh, yeah. And I carried the picture with me wherever I went. It was just amazing.

PCC:
Your Dad, on his TV show, had a lot of the rock bands of the day like The Dave Clark 5, Herman’s Hermits, Jan & Dean. That must have been a big thing, too, for you, when you were in your teens.

DEANA:
Yes, it was funny. He would call us and say, ‘You probably want to come down to the studio today.’ In fact, I remember, he was doing ‘The Hollywood Palace,’ he was emceeing it. I think Raquel Welch was the card girl. She would bring out a card introducing the next act. And my Dad called me and said, ‘Deana, you and Claudia come down to ‘The Hollywood Palace,’ because I’m sure you’re going to love these guys. I think they just got off the boat.’ I said, ‘Well, who is it?’ He said, ‘I think they’re called... The Rolling Stones?’ And we said, ‘Oh, my gosh! We’ll be there in a minute!’ And we came down and there they were. It really was The Rolling Stones. It was quite something. And The Dave Clark Five, too.

PCC:
With that excitement and glamor around you, did you always think show business was going to be your path?

DEANA:
You know, I always knew that it was going to be. I remember being very young, going to the Sands Hotel to watch my father. It was The Rat Pack days. And I remember sitting there, watching him, hearing the audience around him. And they would laugh. Even when he walked out on stage, you would hear an audible gasp. People would go, ‘Oh, there he is!’ The spotlight would be on him and he would sing and he was just so handsome and funny and everybody adored him. I thought, ‘Ooh, this is going to be great!’

Then he would introduce me and he’d say, ‘Deana, honey, stand up. Let everybody see how pretty you are.‘ And I’d stand up and the audience would applaud and the spotlight would shine on me and I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is what I want to do [Laughs]. I want to go up and sing for people.’ And I’ll never forget that. I always wanted to be an entertainer and singer.

PCC:
Was your dad protective and worried about you going into the business? Or was he just happy and supportive?

DEANA:
He was so cute. He would never push you to do anything. He wasn’t that way. Whatever we wanted to do, if that made us happy, then he was happy for us. And I went to Dartington College of Arts in England to become an actress. And he was supportive of that. But it’s not that he would push us.

He wouldn’t pick up the phone and call Lew Wasserman and say, ‘Put Deana in a movie.’ That’s not the way he was. He wanted us to do it on our own. But he would give us any kind of instruction, if we wanted it. He didn’t want us to embarrass him [Laughs]. That’s for sure.

I remember asking him, ‘Should I take voice lessons? Singing lessons?’ And he said, ‘No, not unless you want to sound like everybody else in the choir.’ And I thought, the reason he didn’t understand why people would want to take voice lessons was because he was so natural. He just had it. It wasn’t something that he worked at consciously. He was a naturally fabulous singer with that beautiful voice.

Of course, I did take voice lessons, lots of them. And that was probably thanks to Frank Sinatra. He said, ‘Yeah, go do it.’ He really told me about breathing and air, breath control.

PCC:
And what about the study of acting, did that help in some ways with the singing, in terms of expressing emotion?

DEANA:
Oh, yes. You have to get into the lyrics of the song and you have to put yourself there. That makes it so much more fun to sing. If I’m singing ‘Mack The Knife,’ if you think about who that’s about - Mack The Knife, he was murdering people. So I try to bring an interesting character to it. Every song has a character. And it really did help me to, first of all, to project. When you’re on stage, you have to project and you have to get into that character. And it sells the song. And it’s so much more fun, rather than just standing up in one position, singing a song. I mean, there are a lot of people who can do that. And they can sell a song with just singing with these gorgeous, gorgeous voices. But that’s not my style to just stand there and sing. I kind of act it out. It’s more fun for me and I think it’s very entertaining to see a show like that.

PCC:
You were on your dad’s TV show several times. Did that help make you feel comfortable on sets?

DEANA:
Probably. I haven’t really thought about that, making me feel comfortable. I feel comfortable when I know my material, know what I’m going to do. If it’s a new song and I haven’t performed it many times, there’s always a chance of, ‘Oh, my gosh, am I going to remember the words?’ So when I know my lines and I know what I’m doing, then I have all the confidence in the world. Then I can get up there and sing and perform. But if I’m not prepared - and I try never to be unprepared - that’s when the nervousness comes in. There’s always a little bit of excitement before I go on, of course. I wouldn’t say that I’m nervous about it. I’m just excited about it. And when I know what I’m doing, then I’m at ease.

And that’s one thing about my father - he would never rehearse. He would just get out there and do his show. And there was just something so natural and fabulous about him. He had that knack. I don’t really have that. I would rather know what I’m going to do and then have fun with that, within a certain structure.

PCC:
Your dad did seem so natural, so the public felt that they knew him. Were there aspects of him that people didn’t see, didn’t get to know, that you wish they had?

DEANA:
Well, I wish that they knew that he wasn’t, you know, an alcoholic. He wasn’t drinking. That was his gimmick. I’m always amazed right now, when I’ll meet someone new and they’ll say, ‘Did your father drink that much? Is that really what he did?’ It’s kind of shocking to me, because, no, of course not. How could he have done the body of work, if he had been drinking all the time? So that is a little shocking to me, when I hear that. I think, ‘Why would they even think that?’ But that was, like I say, his gimmick and his persona.

But there were two really different people in Dean Martin. He was a Gemini. He could get out there and entertain and be wonderful and charming and funny. And then, when he wanted to be alone, by himself, he was quiet and just easy and happy with himself. He could just sit and watch TV and that made him happy. Watch movies, westerns. And he was perfectly happy going to a restaurant by himself and sitting down and having dinner. He was happy with his own company. So he was an interesting, interesting man. But so unbelievably funny. I hope that people knew that about him. It was just natural with him.

PCC:
Those years with Jerry Lewis, that was such a phenomenon. I don’t think anything like that has been since before or since, in terms of the wild popularity of comedians. Martin & Lewis were like rock stars.

DEANA:
Exactly. There were lines around the block for them. And they were the first to do that. And they worked so brilliantly together, the chemistry. And they adored each other. You could just tell. When I see some of those old Colgate or Palmolive TV shows, where they would do their skits, they would look at each other and they would almost crack up, and I could just see the love that they had for each other and how they enjoyed doing that comedy together.

There was this one bit, this water started pouring out of this hole in the wall. And Jerry would try to push the water back into the hole in the wall. And I remember one time my Dad putting his hand over the hole, so it would stop the water. And the water’s coming out over his watch. And Jerry’s looks at him and says, ‘You forgot to take off your watch, didn’t you?’ And it was just looking at them together, where they would just crack up. That was not in the script. It’s just that my father forgot to take off his watch [Laughs]. Just to watch them, they were brilliant together. And they had such a good time doing it. And so that 10 years of Martin & Lewis was just remarkable.

PCC:
So did you, as a child, become close to Jerry during that time?

DEANA:
Yes, when I was a child. And I have remained friends with him through the years. He is a very, very dear, close friend of mine. We talk all the time. He’s a genius. He really is a genius. Do you know that he invented the video assist camera? And those Jerry Lewis Cinemas, the super cinemas, in the beginning, where it was more than just one theatre screen.

But there’s something about Jerry that I adore. He makes me laugh. And he’s just my dear, dear friend.

PCC:
So was it difficult for you, when Dean and Jerry became estranged? Or did you just maintain your friendly relationship with Jerry?

DEANA:
Well, it was difficult at that time, Dad really did not want to hear the name Jerry Lewis. And it was quite a long time before they spoke again, 25 years. And I remember watching the MDA telethon and I looked and I saw Frank Sinatra and he said, ‘Jerry, I’ve got someone who would like to come out and see you.’ And I saw my Dad walking from the darkness into the light and I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh! He’s there!’ And none of us knew that he was going.

In fact, Ed McMahon, years later, told me that they hid my father in Ed’s dressing room, in his Winnebago, outside. So no one knew that he was going to be there. And it was pretty exciting. I think it was one of the top 100 moments in TV’s history. It certainly was for me.

PCC:
But they didn’t stay reconnected from that point, did they?

DEANA:
No and it wasn’t until my brother Dean Paul’s funeral. And it was quite something. That was 1987. And we were at the Veterans Memorial, at the cemetery, in West L.A., and actually, Jerry showed up at the funeral, but he didn’t come in, to where everybody was seated. He stayed way in the back, outside, because he didn’t want anyone to see him there, because he didn’t want to make Dino’s funeral about Martin & Lewis getting back together again. So he stayed where no one could see him.

And then when we went to my father’s house afterwards, he got a call from the manager, who said Jerry had been there, but he wouldn’t come in and see anyone. My Dad said, ‘Well, get him on the phone.’ And they went and they talked for about an hour or two hours. It was quite something. And they were friendly after that.

PCC:
With the tragedy with Dean Paul [who died piloting a jet crash during a National Guard training mission], I was surprised to learn that you are a pilot.

DEANA:
Yes, well, you know, you have to get back. It was very, very scary for me. My husband John has been a pilot forever. And he’s wonderful. And he said to me,’ Deana, I’d like for you to go flying with me. This is a passion of mine and I love to do it.’ I said, ‘I don’t know... small planes...’ because I used to go with Dean Paul all the time. And John said, ‘Well, I think I would like for you to take lessons, because we’ll go up and go flying and I’d like for you to be able to land the plane, if something happens to me.’ And I thought, ‘Ooh, that’s a good idea.’ So I started taking lessons and I just loved it.

It was sweaty palms all the time, of course, especially on my first solo cross-country. But I looked up to the heavens and said, ‘Dean Paul, if you’re ever going to help me, help me now.’ [Chuckles] And I made it to Santa Ynez. Landed and turned around and came back. That’s what they call a solo cross-country. I went from Santa Monica up to Santa Ynez, all by myself, and it was quite something. It was very freeing. And I love it now.

My mom was a little bit nervous about this. But she understood. Everybody’s very proud of me. And I’m very proud that I became a pilot.

PCC:
And your Mom wrote the lyrics for the song ‘For Your Love’?

DEANA:
That’s correct.

PCC:
Was she involved in lyric-writing quite a bit? Was that an isolated thing?

DEANA:
She wrote quite a few songs. Now, for me, I have two moms. My mother, Betty - Elizabeth Martin, Betty McDonald, who was my mom, and she’s the one who wrote ‘For Your Love.’ And then Jeanne, who’s my stepmom, who really raised me from the time I was nine.

But Betty, she wrote ‘For Your Love,’ probably in 1958, after my parents had been divorced. She wrote that. In fact, my aunts Barbara and Anne were there when she wrote the song. She actually wrote words and music. And then Ed Townsend recorded the song and, of course, said that he did it.

And it wasn’t until I recorded ‘For Your Love’ on my album that I found out that he had been taking all the credit for it. That was kind of shocking to me.

PCC:
So your mother, did she also encourage creativity among the kids?

DEANA:
Oh, yes. And she was fabulous, quite something, quite a sense of humor. And she had us, when we were quite little kids, in tap dance lessons, acrobatics, ballet, we were always doing all of that.

I remember going to Muscle Beach in Venice, where they would throw around the acrobats. And we were there being thrown around [Laughs]. I was on top of the pyramid. Always very athletic. Always doing nice, healthy things.

PCC:
But that’s great that you have that strong bond with your stepmom, as well. And I guess, with your half-brothers and sisters?

DEANA:
Yeah, well I don’t think of them as half, at all. We were all just brothers and sisters. And grew up in that big, beautiful house at 601 Mountain Drive. With a tennis court and a pool and a projection room and seven kids altogether. If everyone had a friend over, that was 14 right there. So it was pretty wild.

PCC:
So when you went out on your own, some people might assume it’s easier when you have a celebrity parent, but in reality, sometimes there’s a lot of extra skepticism to overcome. Did you find that?

DEANA:
True. It’s funny. A lot of doors did open. But once you get in there, you have to prove yourself. For me, especially being Deana Martin, you couldn’t mistake that {Laughs]. It’s not like I was named Claudia or something. Still, to this day, if I meet someone new, they say, ‘Dean Martin - any relation?’ And I say, ‘Yes, that’s my father.’

But I remember one time, I was up for something. There were hundreds of people who went in for the reading and then it got down to 150, then 10, then two. And it was between me and - I’m not going to say who the other girl was, she ended up getting the part. We went back and forth and read a few times. Finally they said, ‘Well, you know what? We’re giving it to her.’ I said, ‘How come?’ They said, ‘Well, you don’t need this. You’re Dean Martin’s daughter.’ And I thought, ‘Hmmm.’ That was interesting to me. That was when I wanted to write a book called, ‘Dad’s Rich, I’m Not.’ [Laughs]

So, in that one instance that kind of hit me. But I think it’s usually pretty fair. People want you to be good. They want to hire the best person for the part. And, as I say, my father would never pick up the phone and call and say, ‘Please put my daughter in this.’ He just wasn’t that way. He would try to help you in any way that he could. But he wanted us to do it on our own.

PCC:
Did you find some of the film or TV work to be particularly satisfying?

DEANA:
For me, to be onstage in a play, that is the most rewarding. You have your director, you go through all the rehearsals and you find out different ways, how you’re going to portray that character. But once it’s opening night, and you walk out, that’s you. And you have to keep it fresh, from beginning to end, and there’s nobody out there yelling,’Cut! Let’s do that again!’ You have that whole little moment in time that cannot be changed or stopped. And that’s what you create every time you come out there.

For me, when I would do a TV show or a movie, it’s a lot of sitting around, waiting. And they would set up the one scene and you would do the master. If they didn’t like the way you did it, they’d yell ‘Cut!’ and you’d redo it. And it takes a long time. For me, I would rather just be up on stage for that two hours and do the play from beginning to end. And that’s what I love. Not that I would turn down any parts in TV [Laughs]. But my love is really the theatre and stage and getting that feedback from the audience.

PCC:
Your Dad had such a strong bond with his audience. Do you find that they embrace you, as well, when you’re performing live?

DEANA:
Yes, I do. I think they want to like me the minute I come out. That’s why they come in the first place. I mean, I have lots of Deana Martin fans now, which is wonderful. But I know that they’re coming to see Dean Martin’s daughter and get a little bit of Dean Martin, which thrills me no end. I know that I wouldn’t be doing any of this, if it weren’t for Dean Martin.

Yes, I’ve worked very hard to study my craft and be the best that I can possibly be, but I know that they have that love for Dean Martin and they want to give that to me. After a show, they’ll come up and say, ‘Oh, I just loved your father. I’m his number one fan. You were fabulous, but I have an altar to him in my living room.’ And it’s great. It’s amazing to me, after all these years, they still love Dean Martin. It warms my heart. And it makes it so much better for me.

PCC:
You mentioned that there’s no escape from the connection, with your name being Deana. But it must have been difficult for your brother Dean, going into the business and getting the comparisons. He seemed to be a remarkable guy, excelling at everything he tried [tennis, football, acting, singing].

DEANA:
He really and truly did. That was the way he was. He was a Scorpio. And he studied and he worked at what he did. He was so intense. If he was out there on the tennis court, he was going to be the best. If he was racing cars, he was going to be the best.

I remember my father and Mom calling Steve McQueen. It was during the time of ‘The Great Escape.’ They called Steve and asked him to teach my brother how to ride a motorcycle. Because Dino, he walked around in the khaki pants and a blue sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off, thinking he was Steve McQueen. For years! [Laughs]. It was so cute. But he was so focused on what he was going to do. And he really was good at everything he did. And we lost him way too soon, oh, my gosh. And what a nice, nice, good guy he was.

PCC:
You had those encounters with The Stones and Elvis, but it must have been a little strange to have your own brother be a teen idol for a while.

DEANA:
Oh, yeah, it was great! Dino, Desi & Billy, they made so much money when they were just 14, 15 years old. I remember going to Atlantic City, when they were doing a rock concert. and it was a phenomenon, to see all these girls screaming for my little brother. And for little Desi. And little Billy [Laughs]. I was only a couple years older. But it was quite something.

And then, Dino came back and, at 15 years old, he bought himself a Dino Ferrari. He couldn’t drive it. It sat in the garage under my bedroom. And he would go in there in the morning and rev it up, ‘Vrooooom. Vrooom.’ And he’d turn it off. Then after school, he’d come back and he’d turn it on [Laughs]. It was funny.

PCC:
The ultimate toy.

DEANA:
Yeah.

PCC:
And you appeared on an episode of ‘The Monkees.’

DEANA:
Yes, I did.

PCC:
What was that experience like?

DEANA:
It was so much fun. We loved The Monkees. It was called ‘Some Like It Lukewarm.’ And it was a takeoff on ‘Some Like It Hot.’ I was in a girl band and, of course, The Monkees were a boy band and there was going to be a contest. It had to be a mixed group, though. It had to be boys and girls in the group. So I dressed up as a boy and Davy dressed up as a girl. So it was the Battle of the Bands. And, of course, we took off our costumes and went out to dinner one night and I meet him and he meets me and we don’t know that we’re in the rock band. And we fall in love. And it was just very funny.

I still get e-mails and letters to this day, because it was ‘The Monkees,’ for heaven’s sakes!

PCC:
And was it fun on the set?

DEANA:
It was really so much fun. It was very different from going to visit my Dad’s set [Laughs]. They were all a lot younger. It was a whole different vibe. Different atmosphere.

PCC:
Actually, Davy played The Rrazz Room recently.

DEANA:
Oh, he did? I’ve got to give him a call. We did a show in Chicago. I came out and surprised him. We sang, ‘Everybody Loves Somebody’ together. And it was cute. He’s fabulous. I don’t know how old he is, but he looks fantastic and he jumps around, puts on a great show. And what a nice gentleman he is.

PCC:
The fascination with The Rat Pack never seems to wane. Why do you think it’s just as cool today as it was back then?

DEANA:
I think because they were so classy and they looked good. They were funny and they were hip. And their music.... For me, what could be better than being in front of a big band? Although I love what I’m going to do at The Rrazz Room with this quintet that I have. They’re all monster musicians.

But I think, because they were so cool, people want to be like them. And it was an era where women looked beautiful. They wore beautiful cocktail dresses. And men were in fabulous suits that fit perfectly and they’d have a martini in their hand. And it was a time of elegance that we don’t have anymore. And i’m glad to see that some people are keeping it alive. I know I am. I’m trying to [Laughs].

When you go to a show and you see all the horns and everything, it’s a magical, magical moment in time. And I think we’re just hungry for that.

I don’t get rap. I don’t understand it. I want to hear the songs that have meaning to me, that I understand the words and I’m not embarrassed if my son hears them [Laughs]. Something that touches you and that’s classic. And has meaning. That’s what I’m about. And I think that’s what people want in their lives. It’s tough right now.

PCC:
And all of those Rat Packers, were they like uncles to you?

DEANA:
Oh, yeah. Like I say, Frank Sinatra, I called him Uncle Frank. And Sammy Davis Jr., Uncle Sammy. The reason being, it would not be right or proper for us to say, ‘Hi Frank’ or ‘Hi, Sammy.’ So all of the entertainers who came to our home... it would be Aunt Judy or Aunt Rosemary. It was just a nicer, gentler time then. And they were like family. We all got along very well. My dad was so easy. Jeanne would put on incredible parties and people would stop by. Christmas Eve or Thanksgiving, it was quite a time.

PCC:
And Joey Bishop, you were on his sitcom?

DEANA:
I believe I was. It seems like a long time ago. He was funny. I went to see Joey not long before he passed away and he was, gosh, he was one of the last to go. And it was kind of tough for him. And it’s got to be so difficult to see all your friends, from that time and that era, when you were at the top of your game, and to have that all disappear and go away. It’s tough for everybody.

In fact, one of my dear friends is Henry Silva, who was in the original ‘Oceans 11’ movie, ‘The Manchurian Candidate.’ Do you know who Henry Silva is?

PCC:
Oh, sure. ‘Johnny Cool.’

DEANA:
Yeah, that’s him. I talk to him once a month. He was definitely Johnny Cool, wasn’t he? [Laughs]. And he looks the same. He’s still six-foot-something. And that bone structure! And what a wonderful sense of humor. But he’s the last one there... and he’s feeling that. It’s tough. I’m not looking forward to that.

PCC:
Well, you’ve got a long, long ways to go before you reach that stage of life.

DEANA:
That may be true, but you know, the past 20 years has just gone like that.

PCC:
When you were writing the book ‘Memories Are Made of This,’ was that difficult, cathartic?

DEANA:
It was very difficult. First of all, it was joyful, but it was also difficult. I would sit at the dining room table and I would be writing and I would have a tape recorder and I would remember something and I would tape it. And my husband would walk out in the middle of the night and go, ‘What’s the matter?’ And I’d say, [tearful voice] ‘I was writing about Claudia, when she passed away...’ Or Dean Paul. And then I’d have to stop. He would comfort me. Then, the next day, I would be remembering about my 18th birthday party, with the Buffalo Springfield. So there were joyful memories... and painful memories.

PCC:
Buffalo Springfield - they were at your party?

DEANA:
Oh, yes. They played at my party!

PCC:
You’re kidding!

DEANA:
I’ m not kidding you. The Buffalo Springfield! So it was Stephen Stills, Dewey Martin, Neil Young, Richie Furay.... It was something. And that’s the night that my father called the Beverly Hills police department and said, ‘Those Martins are making too much noise,’ once he wanted to go to bed [Laughs]. Oh, my gosh.

PCC:
That must have been heaven for a teenager.

DEANA:
Oh, it was heaven. And I’m not going to tell you how much the check was. You wouldn’t believe it. It was under $700. I had like a limit of like a thousand dollars or something. I remember going to see their manager, it was a place on Sunset. I had to take the check to him and Neil Young was in the waiting room when I took it there. He had his guitar. I walked in and I said, ‘Hi, I’m Deana Martin and I’m a singer.’ He said, ‘Well, I’m a songwriter.’ I said, ‘Write me a song.’ He said, ‘I will.’ And I gave them the check and left. And it was really fun.

I think this was around the time my sister was dating Terry Melcher and he was recording The Byrds. That’s when Roger McGuinn was Jim McGuinn. He changed his name. And we were recording ‘Mr. Tambourine Man.’ Or maybe that was before... Well, it was the ‘60s for heaven’s sakes. I can’t remember it exactly. [Laughs]

PCC:
You so got to sit in on some of the recording sessions?

DEANA:
Oh, yeah. We were in the background singing.

PCC:
When you mentioned recording ‘Mr. Tambourine Man,’ I didn’t know you meant you were actually singing on the record.

DEANA:
Oh, yeah.

PCC:
How cool is that?

DEANA:
Just crazy cool.

PCC:
And you should contact Neil and tell him he still owes you a song.

DEANA:
Yeah, I know I should. Whenever I think about it, something else comes up, we get so busy. But now would be a great time to do that. And I should remind him of my 18th birthday party [Laughs]

PCC:
And now I understand your book is being made into a movie?

DEANA:
Yes, it is. I just got an e-mail from Bonnie Hunt, who’s our screenwriter. Once I saw the movie ‘Return To Me,’ which she wrote, I thought this was probably going to be the person I’m going to have write the screenplay for the book. I asked her and she said yes. And Joe Montegna’s going to direct and he’s going to co-produce with us.

PCC:
I guess you liked his portrayal of your Dad in the HBO Rat Pack movie.

DEANA:
Yes, well, I don’t know if he’ll be acting in this...

PCC:
But you must have liked his performance, if you wanted him involved in this project.

DEANA:
Oh, yes. First of all, he’s a wonderful actor. And he has such respect. And when he portrayed my father, he did it with such love. He was pretty right-on for that. And I adore him for that. And Bonnie and he are very good friends. They’re both from Chicago [Deana says in a spot-on Chicago accent]. When the book came out, Joe called and said he would like to option it, to make the movie. And I said I would love for him to do that. And then I thought of Bonnie. And then I thought, ‘Who would play Dean Martin? Who would play Deana Martin?’

And just a couple weeks ago, it was so funny, I was playing at Michael Feinstein’s [New York cabaret] with my quintet. And I got to the point in my show where I talk about the book and how I’m making it into a movie. And I said, ‘I would love for Jennifer Love Hewitt to play me in the movie.’

And all of a sudden, I hear from the audience, ‘Okay, I’ll do it!’ I said, ‘What?!’ And she said, ‘It’s me, Jennifer Love Hewitt. I’d love to play you in the movie.’ I said, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’ll see you after the show.’ [Laughs] So that’ll be fabulous. What a great group of people we have. We’re putting that together right now.

PCC:
What made you feel that Jennifer was the ideal choice?

DEANA:
I’ve always loved Jennifer Love Hewitt. First of all, she’s little. She’s my size. And she’s a great singer. She’s a wonderful actress. And there’s just some energy about her that I adore. There’s a sparkle in her eye. And I just have this feeling about her. So it’s funny how things just kind of seek you out. Things happen for a reason. I guess that’s why she was at Feinstein’s in New York, when I was doing the show and I mentioned it. I believe that things are meant to be.

PCC:
I’ve heard that your dream casting for your Dad in the movie would be Johnny Depp.

DEANA:
He would be wonderful. You know, there’s something about Johnny. A lot of people have said, ‘Yes, he would be great’... when they think about it. Some say, oh, no, it should be George Clooney or Harry Connick, Jr. But there’s something about Johnny Depp. He’s such a good actor. And he can sing. He has the hairline [Laughs]. And he’s cool. We’ll see how it all works out. I mean, I’m open to suggestions.

PCC:
What else is ahead for you?

DEANA:
I’m on the road so much. I have concerts booked until January of 2012. Something that I’m looking forward to, of course, is I have all my symphony dates. To be able to sing in front of 88 musicians is just a dream. I have quite a few of those coming up.

PCC:
You have quite a talented lineup in your own quintet.

DEANA:
They’re fabulous musicians. Vince Falcone is my musical director, plays the piano for me. He was with Frank Sinatra for 10 years. And he’s traveled all around the world with me. He’s remarkable. And he and Joe Lano, who’s on guitar, rearranged and redid my charts for the quintet. And I have Bob Sachs, who was with Keely Smith forever. He’s my bass player. Mike Meecham is on drums. And Dale Rampton is on percussion. These musicians, they’re all from Las Vegas now. And they’re so fabulous together. What a history is up there on stage. And so I feel totally safe. I could even start singing any song I wanted to and they would fall in and do it beautifully. It’s another kind of magic, having these five musicians as opposed to having 42 or 88, where we can do what we want and have a fun time. Not that I can’t do what I want and have a fun time with the symphony... it s just a little different [Laughs].

PCC:
Performing with artists who have that kind of history, you must feel like you’re preserving that sort of classic music.

DEANA:
I do. And I even mention, I say, ‘You have no idea who’s up on stage tonight.’ And all of these people had played with my father at some time. But these guys are just master musicians. And they know what they’re doing. And when I’m up there, it’s a little overwhelming for me, because I know what I’ve got behind me and it makes me proud that I am preserving this and I am continuing this legacy. I guess that’s why I was named Deana Martin. There has to be a reason for that, also.

It’s just so special. And people will adore the show. You can’t go wrong with great musicians and great songs and fabulous stories about Dean, Frank and Sammy and Judy and Bobby. So it’s just an honor for me.

PCC:
And what was your impression of Bobby Darin when you were a youngster?

DEANA:
He was cocky and he knew he was great. And he was super-cool. To watch him do ‘Mack The Knife’ or even ‘Splish Splash,’ you felt the excitement and the energy.

PCC:
And Judy?

DEANA:
Judy reminded me a lot of my mother. And her sense of humor was just remarkable. And she was very small. You know, she was only 4’11”. She seemed so much taller than that. I remember, we put on a play at her house, on Mapleton Drive, in Holmby Hills. All the kids. ‘Let’s put on a show!’ And I remember, my first play, she came over to me after the production was over. We were just outside. She said, ‘Deana, you played the best tree I ever saw.’ [Laughs] I had to just stand there and just be a tree, which wasn’t really fair. I was just very little. But I will never forget her leaning down and saying, ‘You played the best tree I’ve ever seen.’

And she would come over to the house. And she just was so funny. What a sense of humor she had.

PCC:
Do you lament the loss of that sort of glamor, now that we’re in age dominated by reality shows, paparazzi and tabloids?

DEANA:
Yes, I do. I don’t know how the celebrities make it today. How do they do anything. There is no respect. You can’t walk down the street. You can’t go into a restaurant. It’s not the way it used to be, where, the paparazzi, maybe there’d be four of them and they’d take a picture of you, happy, as you walked out. They wouldn’t try to get into the restaurant and run after you car. And I understand how people get so upset now. You can’t have a life. Or any kind of normal life. It’s nice to be able to go to the market and pick out some things that you want. Or to go to a store, be able to take your kids out, without getting mobbed. And that’s not happening anymore. Who knows how to stop it? If you’re being paid $10,000 to get a photo of someone now, with their kids, at a park, it’s always going to be that crazy.

PCC:
Did your father sometimes wish he could be out of the spotlight?

DEANA:
Well, he would love to get away from it. But, the way my father was, I’ll never forget this, it wasn’t that long ago, it was my birthday. And it was my Dad and me and my husband and we went to Chasen’s, right before it was closed down. And I remember going out after, waiting for the car. And people came up and were asking for autographs. And Dad was always very generous with that, because he said it comes with the territory.

But this one man came up with a stack of 8x10s and I said, ‘Wait a minute!’ I hadn’t noticed, but my Dad had already been signing these for him. I said, ‘Wait! Don’t sign 35 8x10s. He’s going to go out and sell these things.’ But my Dad was just so sweet. He said that’s the way it is. It comes with the territory. He said, ‘I signed on for all of it.’

But he would love to sit down and have a nice, calm dinner without anyone bothering him. Who wouldn’t?

PCC:
You’re performing a lot of your favorite songs of his. What were your favorite Dean Martin movies?

DEANA:
Oh, my gosh. First of all, I loved ‘Rio Bravo.’ I thought he was brilliant in that. ‘Toys in the Attic.’ And ‘Some Came Running,’ he was remarkable. And ‘The Young Lions.’ Fabulous movie. He made some very good movies and he was a very good actor.

PCC:
Yes, sometimes underrated as an actor.

DEANA:
Yes, I think so. I have a theory about my father. He always made everything seem so effortless and easy that I think people didn’t notice the work that went into it, whereas, my darling Uncle Frank, you know that he worked hard, worked for every note he sang. And that’s what he put out there. And there was quite a lot of respect for that. When you talk about a fabulous singer, they’ll say Frank Sinatra was a fabulous singer. I think Dean Martin was a fabulous singer, but he didn’t make it look like really hard work, to make it more important. And I think that may be why he wasn’t given the credit due to him, because of his easy, nonchalant manner. But he worked very hard at his craft and he knew exactly what he was doing.

PCC:
It can be difficult to make things look effortless. You mentioned ‘Rio Bravo,’ I guess you got to hang out with Ricky Nelson, as well.

DEANA:
Ricky Nelson! Can you imagine? Oh, yes. He was so cute. I’m so glad I’m talking to you right now, because you’re bringing back so many memories. We end up going day to day and what’s tomorrow and what’s tomorrow. And we don’t sit back and think about all the great memories that I had in my life. And I’ve forgotten about a lot of things. And I thank you for bringing them back... I’ve got to sit down and read my book again. [Laughs]

PCC:
I have to get the book myself.

DEANA:
Oh, you really do. You will laugh and you will cry. And you won’t be able to put it down.

PCC:
You’ve had such a rich life going on, do you have goals you’re still striving towards?

DEANA:
I still do. Yes, I would love to go to Broadway. I do love theatre so much. What vehicle, I don’t know yet. But that’s something that I want to do.

And there is no limit. Because I love learning something new - a new song, a new show, getting out there and doing different things. I don’t want to just be stuck in one place and not grow. I think it’s exciting to learn new things. I think it’s important.