Last episode of Dean Martin show

Dean Martin’s early performances were decent but not great, his crooner style singing unable to escape the shadows of Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. So Martin decided to turn to comedy. His first show, teaming up with a young comic, Jerry Lewis, ran through a series of completely improvised routines. Some were vaudeville classics, some taken out of thin air, and all had the audience howling in laughter. Martin made a name for himself with Lewis, but always thought of himself as a solo actor, and parlayed his considerable fame into a fruitful career in television.

On this day, May 24, 1974, after a nine-year and 264-episode run the hugely popular Dean Martin Show broadcast its last episode.

Of all the acts hosted by Dean Martin, perhaps the most enduring was of the singing and dancing troupe The Goldiggers. Martin’s show was their first television appearance, and he liked them well enough to work their routines into this Vegas stage acts and give them his television spot during his the summer recess months. The Goldiggers were one of the acts that appeared on his last episode, paying their respects to the man that got them into showbusiness.