Deaths 2022

Deaths 2021

Deaths 2020

Deaths 2019

Deaths 2018

Deaths 2017

Deaths 2016

Deaths 2015

Deaths 2014

Deaths 2013

Deaths 2012

Deaths 2011

Deaths 2010

Deaths 2009


Full list by date of death

Tony Martin

Singer-actor

Born - 25 December 1912, Oakland, California, USA
Died - 27 July 2012

Big, beefy, black-haired musician, singer and actor of almost Adonis-like handsomeness. Although the possessor of a rich baritone, Martin (born Alvin Morris, Alfred Morris or Alvin Maris according to which biography you read), began his showbusiness career as a saxophonist and bandleader. He was soon in Hollywood, at first in singing spots, but later as a male lead of limited acting ability, but easy-going, likeable personality: Foolish Hearts (1935), Follow the Fleet (1936), You Can't Have Everything (1937), Ali Baba Goes to Town (1937), Sally, Irene and Mary (1938), Winner Take All (1939), Music in My Heart (1940), Ziegfeld Girl (1941) and The Big Store (1941, in which he sang Tenement Symphony). After war service with boith the navy and army, he was bizarrely cast as Pepe le Moko in Casbah (1948), but otherwise it was mainly splashy Technicolor musicals: Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), Two Tickets to Broadway (1951), Easy to Love (1953), Hit the Deck (1955), Viva Las Vegas! (1956) and to Britain for Let's Be Happy (1957). He made cameo appearances in later years in Todos los Dios un Dia (1979) and Dear Mr Wonderful (1982), but his main occupation from the 1960s on lay in touring nightclubs with his second wife, actress-dancer Cyd Charisse, to whom he was married for 60 years until her death in 2008. His first wife was also a musical star - Alice Faye.