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.
Clash by Night
as Singer of 'I Hear a Rhapsody' (voice) (uncredited)An embittered woman seeks escape in marriage, only to fall for her husband’s best friend.
Movie pageThat's Entertainment!
as (archive footage)Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50...
Movie pageThe Big Store
as Tommy RogersA detective is hired to protect the life of a singer, who has recently inherited a department...
Movie pageMeet Me in Las Vegas
as Tony Martin (uncredited)Chuck Rodwell is a gambling cowboy who discovers that he's lucky at the roulette wheel if he...
Movie pageTill the Clouds Roll By
as Gaylord Ravenal / Tony MartinLight bio-pic of American Broadway pioneer Jerome Kern, featuring renditions of the famous songs...
Movie pageDeep in My Heart
as Performer in New MoonBiographic movie about the American composer Sigmund Romberg.
Movie pageZiegfeld Girl
as Frank MertonDiscovery by Flo Ziegfeld changes a girl's life but not necessarily for the better, as three...
Movie pageFollow the Fleet
as Sailor (uncredited)When the US Navy fleet docks at San Francisco, sailor Bake Baker tries to rekindle the flame...
Movie pageThat's Entertainment! III
as (archive footage)Some of MGM'S musical stars review the studios history of musicals. From The Hollywood Revue of...
Movie pageTwo Tickets to Broadway
as Dan CarterA young woman (Janet Leigh) leaves her small hometown in Vermont and travels to New York City...
Movie pagePoor Little Rich Girl
as Radio Baritone Soloist (uncredited)Cossetted and bored, Barbara Barry is finally sent off to school by her busy if doting widowed...
Movie pageDear Mr. Wonderful
as HimselfRuby Dennis is an middle-aged man with an unfulfilled ambition as a singer. As he begins to...
Movie pageSing, Baby, Sing
as Tony RenaldoThe "Caliban-Ariel" romance of fiftysomething John Barrymore and teenager Elaine Barrie is...
Movie pageBanjo on My Knee
as Chick BeanA young husband leaves his river shantyboat community in Pecan Point, Tennessee and travels to...
Movie pageYou Can't Have Everything
as Bobby WalkerStarving playwright Judith Wells meets playboy writer of musicals, George Macrae, over a plate...
Movie pageYou're the Top: The Cole Porter Story
as SelfBiographical portrait of one of Broadway's most brilliant songwriters. Told through the use of...
Movie pageAli Baba Goes to Town
as Yusuf/Tony MartinWhile visiting Hollywood a starstruck movie fan (Eddie Cantor) fantasizes about himself cast in...
Movie pageCasbah
as Pepe Le MokoPepe Le Moko leads a gang of jewel thieves in the Casbah of Algiers, where he has exiled himself...
Movie pageMusic in My Heart
as Robert GregoryA young woman engaged to a millionaire falls for the understudy in a Broadway musical.
Movie pagePigskin Parade
as Tommy BarkerBessie and Winston "Slug" Winters are married coaches whose mission is to whip their college...
Movie pageHere Come the Girls
as Allen TrentBob Hope stars as an inept member of the chorus boy in a turn of the century stage show. After...
Movie pageEasy to Love
as Barry GordonTwo men vie for the heart of a Cypress Gardens swimming star.
Movie pageSally, Irene and Mary
as Tommy ReynoldsManicurists Sally, Irene and Mary hope to be Broadway entertainers. When Mary inherits an old...
Movie pageQuincannon, Frontier Scout
as Linus QuincannonA young woman hires a frontier scout to help her discover if her brother died in an Indian...
Movie pageLife Begins in College
as Band LeaderWhen a wealthy Indian student endows the college so they can keep the football coach rumor has...
Movie pageThanks for Everything
as Tommy DavisPromoters set up a radio contest to find the average American and use him to sell food, apparel...
Movie pageLet's Be Happy
as Stanley SmithOn receiving an inheritance from her grandfather, Canadian Jeannie MacLean decides to visit the...
Movie pageHit the Deck
as Chief Boatswain's Mate Wm. F. ClarkSailors on leave in San Francisco get mixed up in love and show business.
Movie pageBack to Nature
as Tom WilliamsThe Jones family goes to a convention traveling in a trailer. The oldest daughter gets involved...
Movie pageThe Holy Terror
as Danny WalkerCorky is the daughter of an officer in the Naval Air Service who, while putting on musical shows...
Movie pageKentucky Moonshine
as Jerry WadeThe Ritz Brothers pretend to be Kentucky hillbillies in order to get a booking on a radio show.
Movie pageSing and Be Happy
as Buzz MasonRival advertising firms compete for a radio show's pickle manufacturing account.
Movie pageUp the River
as Tommy GrantA group of prison inmates pass the time playing football and romancing ladies in this prison...
Movie pageWinner Take All
as Steve BishopWhen a waiter makes a lucky hit and wins a benefit prizefight, gamblers rig some fights for him;...
Movie pageThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
as SelfThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight...
TV Show pageThe Merv Griffin Show
as SelfThe Merv Griffin Show is an American television talk show, starring Merv Griffin. The series ran...
TV Show pageThe Donna Reed Show
as uncreditedRevolves around typical family problems, such as firing a clumsy housekeeper, throwing a...
TV Show pageThe Colgate Comedy Hour
as SelfThe Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC...
TV Show pageWhat's My Line?
as Self - Mystery GuestFour panelists must determine guests' occupations - and, in the case of famous guests, while...
TV Show pageThe Oscars
as SelfAn annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The...
TV Show pageThe Dinah Shore Chevy Show
as SelfThe Dinah Shore Chevy Show is an American variety series hosted by Dinah Shore, and broadcast on...
TV Show pageThe Ed Sullivan Show
as SelfThe Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June...
TV Show pageStartime
as uncreditedStartime is an anthology show of drama, comedy, and variety, and was one of the first American...
TV Show pageDonny & Marie
as SelfDonny & Marie is an American variety show which aired on ABC from January 1976 to January 1979....
TV Show pageThe Hollywood Palace
as Self - SingerThe Hollywood Palace is an hour-long American television variety show that was broadcast weekly...
TV Show pageJessica
as uncreditedSet in the Australian outback at the turn of the twentieth century, this family based drama...
TV Show page