Catherine Hawn is the third wife of legendary entertainer Dean Martin, a founding member of the Rat Pack alongside Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. The couple married on April 25, 1973, when Martin was 55 years old and Hawn was 26, marrying less than a month after the end of his second marriage. This article gathers the verified facts about Catherine Hawn, her marriage to Dean Martin, and what happened after their relatively short union came to an end.
Catherine Hawn: Quick Bio Table
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Catherine Hawn |
| Spouse | Dean Martin, entertainer and Rat Pack member |
| Married | April 25, 1973 |
| Divorced | November 10, 1976 |
| Age at Marriage | 26 (Martin was 55) |
| Previous Occupation | Receptionist at Gene Shacove’s Beverly Hills hair salon |
| Children | Dean Martin adopted her daughter from a previous relationship |
| Known For | Being Dean Martin’s third wife |
Meeting Dean Martin at the Salon
Before marrying Dean Martin, Catherine Hawn worked as a receptionist at Gene Shacove’s upscale hair salon in Beverly Hills, a business that catered to Hollywood clientele and placed Hawn in regular contact with entertainment industry figures. Gene Shacove himself was a well known figure in Hollywood at the time, and his salon served as a gathering place for celebrities and industry professionals, making it a plausible setting for Hawn’s introduction to Martin.
This kind of connection, between a Hollywood adjacent workplace and an eventual relationship with a major entertainment figure, was not unusual in the entertainment industry during this era, particularly in a city like Los Angeles where celebrity clientele frequently crossed paths with service industry professionals working in high end, image conscious businesses like hair salons catering specifically to the entertainment world.
Beverly Hills during the early 1970s remained a hub of entertainment industry activity, with high end salons, restaurants, and boutiques serving as informal meeting points for actors, musicians, and other public figures. Working in such an establishment placed Hawn in regular proximity to precisely the kind of clientele that included someone as prominent as Dean Martin, a dynamic that has played out in similar ways across numerous relationships between service industry workers and entertainment figures throughout Hollywood’s history.
A Quick Marriage After Martin’s Second Divorce
Catherine Hawn married Dean Martin on April 25, 1973, in a marriage notable for how quickly it followed the end of his second marriage, which had concluded less than a month earlier. At the time of their wedding, Martin was 55 years old, while Hawn was just 26, an age difference of nearly three decades that drew attention within entertainment media coverage of the marriage.
This rapid transition from one marriage to the next reflected a broader pattern in Martin’s personal life, during which his romantic relationships often moved quickly, consistent with his larger than life public persona as one of the most recognizable entertainers of his generation. The marriage to Hawn represented Martin’s third trip to the altar, following his first marriage to Elizabeth McDonald Martin and his second marriage to actress Jeanne Biegger.
Martin’s first marriage to Elizabeth McDonald Martin lasted many years and produced several children, while his marriage to Jeanne Biegger similarly spanned a significant portion of his career and included additional children, meaning that by the time he married Hawn, Martin had already built an extensive family across two prior marriages. This context is important for understanding the household Hawn entered when she married Martin, since she became connected not just to Martin himself but to an already established blended family structure built over the course of his two previous marriages.
Life Together and an Adopted Daughter
Although Catherine Hawn and Dean Martin did not have biological children together, Martin adopted Hawn’s daughter from a previous relationship, formally welcoming the child into his family during their marriage. This decision to adopt Hawn’s daughter reflected a level of commitment to blending their respective family lives, even though the marriage itself would ultimately prove to be relatively short lived compared to some of Martin’s other relationships.
Martin already had several children from his previous marriages by the time he married Hawn, meaning his household during this period included children from multiple relationships, a blended family structure that became increasingly common among Hollywood figures navigating multiple marriages over the course of long careers in entertainment.
Navigating a blended family of this scale required significant coordination, particularly for a marriage that would ultimately last only a few years, and Martin’s decision to formally adopt Hawn’s own daughter suggests a genuine effort on his part to integrate her child fully into the family structure he had already built, rather than treating the relationship as a more casual or temporary arrangement during the years the marriage lasted.
The End of the Marriage
Catherine Hawn and Dean Martin divorced on November 10, 1976, bringing their marriage to an end after roughly three and a half years together. Following their separation, Martin briefly dated model Patricia Sheehan before eventually reconciling with his second wife, Jeanne Biegger, though the two never formally remarried despite their renewed relationship later in life.
This eventual reconciliation with his second wife, occurring after his marriage to Hawn had ended, illustrates the complicated and evolving nature of Martin’s personal relationships throughout his life, with his connection to Biegger apparently remaining significant enough to draw the two back together even after Martin’s subsequent marriage to Hawn had run its course.
Reconciling with a former spouse after an intervening marriage is a relatively unusual pattern, even within the entertainment industry, where multiple marriages and complicated personal histories are not uncommon. Martin’s willingness to return to a relationship with Biegger years after their divorce, despite the marriage to Hawn occurring in between, suggests that his connection to Biegger carried a significance that outlasted the more brief chapter of his life spent married to Hawn.
Dean Martin’s Career for Context
To understand the level of public attention that surrounded Martin’s marriage to Hawn, it helps to understand his significant standing in American entertainment during this period. Dean Martin had built a career spanning music, film, and television, becoming one of the most recognizable entertainers of the mid twentieth century through his work as a singer and actor and as a member of the Rat Pack alongside Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. This trio became closely associated with a glamorous, high profile lifestyle centered around Las Vegas performances and Hollywood film projects throughout the 1960s.
By the time Martin married Hawn in 1973, he had also established a successful career in television, hosting “The Dean Martin Show,” a popular variety program that ran for many years and further cemented his status as one of the most beloved entertainers of his era. This combination of music, film, and television success meant that any development in Martin’s personal life, including his marriage to Hawn, generated considerable media attention given his prominent public profile at the time.
“The Dean Martin Show” ran for nearly a decade on network television, and its combination of musical performances, comedy sketches, and celebrity guest appearances made it one of the defining variety programs of its era, reaching millions of households weekly and reinforcing Martin’s status as one of the most recognizable entertainers on television at the time of his marriage to Hawn. This level of sustained weekly visibility meant that virtually any development in Martin’s personal life was likely to draw significant public and media interest throughout this period of his career.
Life After the Divorce
Following her divorce from Dean Martin, Catherine Hawn has maintained a private life away from public attention, consistent with someone who was not herself a public figure prior to her marriage and who did not pursue an independent public profile following their separation. Available information about her life after the divorce remains limited, reflecting a pattern common among the former spouses of major entertainment figures whose relationships occurred relatively briefly compared to a celebrity’s overall public career.
This kind of limited post divorce documentation is typical for individuals like Hawn, who entered a high profile marriage without previously holding a significant public profile of her own, and who chose not to build one following the end of that marriage, unlike some former spouses of celebrities who go on to write memoirs or give extensive interviews about their relationships.
Readers researching Catherine Hawn should be aware that limited primary documentation exists about her life beyond the basic facts of her marriage to Martin, meaning that any highly specific claims about her subsequent career, relationships, or current circumstances found on entertainment websites should be treated with appropriate caution absent a clear, checkable source.
Why People Search for Catherine Hawn
Public interest in Catherine Hawn comes almost entirely from her marriage to Dean Martin, one of the most celebrated entertainers of the twentieth century and a founding member of the Rat Pack. Fans interested in the full scope of Martin’s personal life, including his multiple marriages and the family he built across those relationships, often search for information about Hawn as part of understanding the complete picture of Martin’s romantic history during the 1970s.
This curiosity tends to arise most frequently in the context of broader retrospectives on Martin’s life and career, particularly documentaries, biographies, or anniversary pieces marking significant milestones connected to his music and television work, which often include a full accounting of his marriages as part of establishing his complete personal history.
Conclusion
Catherine Hawn was the third wife of entertainer Dean Martin, married to him from 1973 to 1976 in a relationship that began quickly after the end of his second marriage and included his adoption of her daughter from a previous relationship. Though their marriage was relatively brief within the context of Martin’s long and storied personal history, it remains a documented chapter in the life of one of the twentieth century’s most beloved entertainers.
Frequently Asked Questions About Catherine Hawn
Who is Catherine Hawn?
Catherine Hawn is the third wife of entertainer Dean Martin, whom she married in 1973 and divorced in 1976.
How did Catherine Hawn meet Dean Martin?
She worked as a receptionist at a Beverly Hills hair salon frequented by Hollywood clientele before their relationship began.
Did Catherine Hawn and Dean Martin have children together?
They did not have biological children, but Martin adopted her daughter from a previous relationship.
How long were Catherine Hawn and Dean Martin married?
They were married from April 25, 1973, until their divorce on November 10, 1976.
What happened after Catherine Hawn and Dean Martin divorced?
Martin briefly dated model Patricia Sheehan before eventually reconciling with his second wife, Jeanne Biegger.
