Tony Martin

**Tony Martin** (born **Alvin Morris**, December 25, 1913 – July 27, 2012) was an American actor and singer who was married to performer Cyd Charisse for 60 years.

### Early life

Martin was born as **Alvin Morris** in San Francisco, California, the son of Hattie (née Smith) and Edward Clarence Morris.

### Career

In movies, he was first cast in a number of bit parts, including a role as a sailor in the movie _Follow the Fleet_ (1936), starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. 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 Records. Martin was featured in the 1941 Marx Brothers film  _The Big Store_, in which he played a singer and performed the now infamous (at least with Marx Brothers fans) _Tenement Symphony_, which was written by Hal Borne, who became his long-time musical director.

### Personal life

In 1937 he married Alice Faye, with whom he had starred in several films. They divorced in 1941. Martin remarried, to actress and dancer Cyd Charisse in 1948. They remained married until her death in 2008. They had one son together, Tony Martin, Jr. (August 28, 1950 – April 10, 2011), who predeceased his father. Martin adopted Charisse's son, Nicky, from her first marriage

### Death

Martin died on the evening of July 27, 2012, of natural causes. He was 98.

## Movies

- _Foolish Hearts_ (1936)
- _Follow the Fleet_ (1936)
- _The Farmer in the Dell_ (1936)
- _Murder on a Bridle Path_ (1936)
- _The Witness Chair_ (1936) (scenes deleted)
- _Poor Little Rich Girl_ (1936)
- _Back to Nature_ (1936)
- _Sing, Baby, Sing_ (1936)
- _Pigskin Parade_ (1936)
- _Banjo on My Knee_ (1936)
- _The Holy Terror_ (1937)
- _Sing and Be Happy_ (1937)
- _You Can't Have Everything_ (1937)
- _Life Begins in College_ (1937)
- _Ali Baba Goes to Town_ (1937)
- _Sally, Irene and Mary_ (1938)
- _Kentucky Moonshine_ (1938)
- _Up the River_ (1938)
- _Thanks for Everything_ (1938)
- _Winner Take All_ (1939)
- _Music in My Heart_ (1940)
- _Ziegfeld Girl_ (1941)
- _The Big Store_ (1941)
- _Till the Clouds Roll By_ (1946)
- _Casbah_ (1948)
- _Hollywood Goes to Bat_ (1950) (short subject)
- _Two Tickets to Broadway_ (1951)
- _Clash by Night_ (1952) (Cameo)
- _Here Come the Girls_ (1953)
- _Easy to Love_ (1953)
- _Deep in My Heart_ (1954)
- _Hit the Deck_ (1955)
- _Meet Me in Las Vegas_ (1956) (Cameo)
- _Quincannon – Frontier Scout_ (1956)
- _Let's Be Happy_ (1957)
- _Dear Mr. Wonderful_ (1982)

## Other websites

- Tony Martin bio on The Interlude Era  site
- Tony Martin bio on the Oldies.com site
- Tony Martin bio on the Feinstein's  site
- Photographs and literature
- 1954 episode of his television series at the Internet Archive

## Infobox (musical artist)

- **image**: Tony Martin 1953.JPG
- **caption**: Martin in 1953
- **name**: Tony Martin
- **background**: solo_singer
- **birth name**: Alvin Morris
- **birth place**: San Francisco, California
- **death place**: Los Angeles, California
- **genre**: Big band music
Traditional pop music
- **years active**: 1933–2009
- **occupation**: Singer, actor
- **label**: Decca Records, Mercury Records, RCA Victor, Motown Records