# Favorite Alcoholic Celibrity? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 27, 2005, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-alcoholic-celibrity/296434 "2005-03-27T03:49:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-alcoholic-celibrity/296434/41 "2005-03-28T15:57:52Z")
I’ve heard numerous accounts that Dean Martin drank moderately, but the drunk act was just that, an act. A good one though: _“I shook hands once with Pat Boone and my whole right side sobered up.”_ ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-alcoholic-celibrity/296434/42 "2005-03-28T16:25:43Z")
> [@Padeye](#): > > The OP didn’t ask who drank the most but who our favorite was. Any asshole can drink himself stupid and have his vomit encrusted shame displayed on consumption whaddyacallit dot com but Dino made being drunk look good and sang damn well while doing it. Touche. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-alcoholic-celibrity/296434/43 "2005-03-28T16:29:11Z")
> [@Padeye](#): > > Dino made being drunk look good and sang damn well while doing it. And funny too. On one show he came out with his “Martini” and sang a little snippet, “I’m just breezin’ along with the breeze, 'cuz I’ve got a hole in my BVDs.” ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-alcoholic-celibrity/296434/44 "2005-03-28T16:55:16Z")
I always thought the Rat Pack virtually invented the whole concept of the “classy” Amarican bacchanalia, and that Dino distinguished himself from his peers by wearing his inebriation on his sleeve, and by being laid-back about it to the point of horizontality. I’ve had members of my own family who were remarkably functional drunks. I had a great uncle who I would hesitate to strike a match near, but was astonishingly composed. At evening gatherings he’d consume volumes of Scotch that would send me straight in to the stomach pump, and he could perform card tricks with the steady hand of a surgeon. It’s entirely plausible to me that Dino was one of these sorts of people, though that may not be the case. I simply don’t think his ability to hold a TV variety show together clearly demonstrates his sobriety, though. ---
**Author:** ![lightingtool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@lightingtool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightingtool)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-alcoholic-celibrity/296434/45 "2005-03-28T17:08:19Z")
Somebody already said Bukowski, so I’ll have to go for Hemingway. When his favorite bar got closed down in Key West, he grabbed the [urinal](http://www.travel.tennisonfamily.com/florida/hemingway/pages/hemingway_019.html) and took it home with him, supposedly saying that he had pissed away so much of his money in the bar that he felt like he owned the urinal. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-alcoholic-celibrity/296434/46 "2005-03-28T17:24:30Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > I always thought the Rat Pack virtually invented the whole concept of the “classy” Amarican bacchanalia, and that Dino distinguished himself from his peers by wearing his inebriation on his sleeve, and by being laid-back about it to the point of horizontality . . . Two words: Nick Charles. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-alcoholic-celibrity/296434/47 "2005-03-28T17:30:32Z")
“The Thin Man”? Well, I lack your encyclopedic knowledge of film, so I must defer to your wiser judgement. In my defense, I’d say William Powell isn’t as recognizable a name to some of us as Dean Martin. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-alcoholic-celibrity/296434/48 "2005-03-28T17:54:02Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > Aw, c’mon. > > Dean Martin was the king. Heh heh… I read that as “Don Martin.” I can just picture the sequence… _chhhhhsssshhhhhhh_ _galumpgalumpgalump_ _blllllllllleeeeerrrrrrcch_ ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-alcoholic-celibrity/296434/49 "2005-03-28T18:07:07Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Two words: Nick Charles. Two more: Nora Charles. She was no slouch in the inebriation department. “Nicky, be a doll and mix us a drink. Make mine a double.” ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-alcoholic-celibrity/296434/50 "2005-03-28T18:50:06Z")
> [@China Guy](#): > > Charles Bukowski You stode mine. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-alcoholic-celibrity/296434/51 "2005-03-28T18:58:30Z")
I must admit, the _Thin Man_ films’ portrayal of boozy bon vivants predated Dean Martin’s schtick by a few decades, and probably were quite a bit more iconic in their day than I appreciate. Perhaps Dino _reinvented_ the character? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoneyKingofNowhere)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-alcoholic-celibrity/296434/52 "2005-03-28T20:51:44Z")
Haray Caray. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-alcoholic-celibrity/296434.md?page=2)