Dean Martin’s Last Phone Call to Frank Sinatra—The 6 Words He Said After 8 Years DESTROYED Him 

Beverly Hills, California. December 21st, 1995. 9:47 p.m. Frank Sinatra’s phone rings. He’s sitting in his armchair, 80 years old, tired. But when the phone rings, his ear sharpens. His daughter Nancy picks up. Sinatra residence. The voice on the other end is weak, struggling to breathe. Nancy, it’s it’s Dean.

 Nancy freezes. Dean Martin. Eight years. Eight years since he last spoke to her father. Dean, she whispers. How are you? Not good. Nancy, is Frank there? Nancy covers the phone, looks at her father. It’s Dean. He wants to talk to you. Frank’s face changes. Shock. Then something else. Pain, longing, regret. Dean, Frank says quietly.

 Eight years of silence and now Dean is calling. To understand what this phone call meant, you need to understand what happened eight years earlier. March 21st, 1987. Dean Martin’s son, Dean Paul, dies in a plane crash. He was 35 years old, Air National Guard pilot. His F4 Phantom jet crashes into Mount San Gorgonio, California.

 Dean Martin was performing in Las Vegas when he got the news. He was on stage singing olar. The stage manager handed him a note. Dean read it. His face went white. He walked off stage mid song. Didn’t say a word to the audience. And from that moment, Dean Martin shut down. He stopped performing, stopped seeing friends, stopped answering calls.

 He retreated into his house in Beverly Hills and refused to come out. Frank Sinatra tried to reach him. Called every day for two weeks. Dean wouldn’t take the calls. Frank showed up at Dean’s house. Dean wouldn’t open the door. “Dino, it’s me,” Frank said through the door. “Let me in. Let me help you.” Nothing. Dino, please.

 You can’t do this alone. Silence. Frank stood there for 20 minutes. Then he left because he knew Dean. And when Dean closed the door, it stayed closed. The Rat Pack tried. Sammy Davis Jr. sent letters. Joey Bishop called. Peter Lofford showed up with food. Dean ignored them all. Eight years passed. 1987, 1988, 1989.

 The years blurred together. Dean barely left his house. His career ended. His friendships faded. His life became a quiet, isolated routine. Frank never stopped trying. Every few months, he’d call. Every time Nancy would answer. Every time Dean wouldn’t come to the phone. Tell him I’m thinking about him, Frank would say. I will, Mr. Sinatra. Tell him I love him.

I will. But Dean never called back. Because Dean Paul’s death had broken something inside Dean Martin that couldn’t be fixed. And in his grief, Dean had decided that the world, including Frank, was too painful to face. Now, December 21st, 1995, Frank takes the phone from Nancy. His hand trembles. Dino. Frank.

 Dean’s voice is a whisper, raspy, dying. Dino, where have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you for 8 years. I know. I’m sorry. Frank’s eyes fill with tears. Don’t be sorry. Just Just talk to me. Tell me you’re okay. I’m not okay, Frank. I’m dying. The words hang in the air. Frank sits down hard like his legs gave out.

What? The doctors say I have days, maybe hours. My kidneys, my heart, everything’s failing. Dino, I’m coming over right now. Where are you? No, don’t. I’m calling because because I need to say something and I don’t have much time. Frank wipes his eyes. Okay, I’m listening. Dean takes a breath. It sounds painful.

 Frank, I’m sorry for 8 years for shutting you out for for everything. You don’t have to apologize. I do. You were my best friend and I pushed you away. I pushed everyone away. When Dean Paul died, I I couldn’t face the world. I couldn’t face you. I understand, Dino. You were grieving. But you were grieving, too. Dean Paul loved you. He called you Uncle Frank.

 And I didn’t let you mourn him. I didn’t let you help me. That was wrong. Frank is crying now openly. Dino, it’s okay. I never stopped loving you. I never stopped being your friend. I know. And that’s why I’m calling because I need you to know something before I go. What? Dean pauses. The silence stretches. 5 seconds. 10 seconds. Then he says it.

Six words. Six words that Frank Sinatra will carry with him for the rest of his life. You were my best friend, Frank. Frank’s breath catches. Dino, let me finish. You were my best friend for 40 years. The Rat Pack, Vegas, the movies, the laughs, all of it. You were the best part of my life.

 And I’m sorry I wasted 8 years. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but I’m telling you now, you were everything to me. Frank can’t speak. He’s sobbing. Nancy, standing nearby is crying, too. Frank, you still there? I’m here, Dino. I’m here. Good, because I need you to know one more thing. What? I love you. I always did. I always will. Frank closes his eyes.

 I love you, too, Dino. God, I love you, too. Thank you for never giving up on me. Thank you for calling all those years. Thank you for for being you, Dino. Please let me come see you. No, I want you to remember me the way I was, not the way I am now. Can you do that for me? Frank nods even though Dean can’t see him. Yeah. Yeah, I can dothat. Good.

 Then I’ll say goodbye, Frank. Don’t say goodbye. Say, say see you later. Dean laughs, a weak, broken laugh. See you later, Frank. See you later, Dino. The line goes dead. Frank sits there, phone in his hand, staring at nothing. Nancy comes over, puts her hand on his shoulder. Dad. Frank doesn’t respond. He just sits there crying.

 3 days later, December 24th, 1995, Christmas Eve morning, Dean Martin dies at home, alone, quietly. Frank finds out from Nancy. She tells him gently, carefully, but it doesn’t matter. Frank collapses. Actually collapses. Nancy catches him, helps him to a chair. No, Frank whispers. No, no, no. I’m sorry, Dad. I should have gone to him.

 I should have been there. He didn’t want that. He wanted you to remember him the way he was. I don’t care what he wanted. I should have been there. Frank Sinatra attends Dean Martin’s funeral on December 28th, 1995. Westwood Village Memorial Park. Hundreds of people, Hollywood royalty. But Frank doesn’t see any of them.

 He only sees the casket. He sits in the front row next to Dean’s daughter, Dena. He doesn’t speak during the service. He can’t. If he opens his mouth, he’ll scream. During the ceremony, Frank holds something. A photograph from 1960. The Rat Pack. Sans Hotel. Frank, Dean, Sammy, Peter, Joey, all of them on stage. All of them young.

 All of them laughing. Frank stares at that photo and he thinks, “Don’t leave me, Dino. Please don’t leave me. But Dino is already gone. After the funeral, Frank goes home. He doesn’t talk to anyone. He goes straight to his study, closes the door, takes out a notebook, and he starts writing.

 For the next 3 years, from 1995 to 1998, Frank Sinatra writes in that notebook almost every day about Dean, about their friendship, about the eight years, about regret. Nobody knows about the notebook, not even Nancy. Frank keeps it in his desk drawer, locked, but he writes because he can’t talk to Dean anymore, but he can still write to him.

December 25th, 1995, Christmas Day. Frank writes, “Dean died yesterday. He called me 3 days before. Our last conversation, our last chance. And what did I do? I cried. That’s all I could do. Cry. There was so much I wanted to say, but my throat closed up. I couldn’t get the words out. 8 years. I lost him for 8 years because of pride, because of ego, because I thought he should come to me. But he didn’t come.

He was suffering. He lost his son. And I I wasn’t there for him. Now he’s gone. And I’m here full of regret. I wish I could have told him, Dino, you weren’t just my friend. You were my brother. You were family and every day I lost you, a piece of me died. January 2nd, 1996. Frank writes, “I went to Dean’s funeral today. I couldn’t speak.

 The words wouldn’t come. I stood by his casket. The man inside that box was my best friend. 40 years together. The rat pack, Vegas, movies, jokes, songs, laughter. But the last 8 years, silence. And now silence forever. But that phone call, that last phone call, it changed everything. Because in that call, Dino reminded me of something.

 Love is stronger than pride. Love is stronger than time. We didn’t talk for 8 years, but he still loved me, and I still loved him. And that that’s enough. February 14th, 1996, Valentine’s Day. Frank writes, “I looked at old rat pack photos today. 1960 Sans Hotel. Dean, Sammy, Peter, Joey, and me. All of us young.

 All of us thinking we were invincible. But now Sammy’s gone. Dean’s gone. Peter’s gone. Joey’s gone. Just me left. And I’m so damn alone. But I know they’re waiting for me on the other side. Dean, Sammy, all of them. One day I’ll go to them. And the first person I’ll see will be Dean. And I’ll tell him, “I’m sorry, Dino.

 We lost 8 years, but I never stopped loving you. May 10th, 1998. Frank writes, “I’m in the hospital. Heart attack. Second one. Doctors aren’t hopeful, but I’m not afraid because I know Dean is there waiting for me. Last night I dreamed about him. We were on stage Vegas singing Everybody Loves Somebody.” He turned to me, smiled, said, “Come on, Frank.

 Let’s sing it together like the old days.” and I walked on stage and we sang. When I woke up, I was smiling. For the first time in three years, I was really smiling because I know soon I’ll see him again. And this time, we’ll never be apart. May 14th, 1998. Thursday night. Cedar Sinai Hospital. Frank Sinatra is dying. Heart failure. Second attack.

 The doctors give him hours. Nancy sits by his bed. Frank is sleeping. His breathing is shallow, labored. The machines beep. Frank’s eyes open, blurry. He looks around the room. Then he looks at the corner and he smiles. Nancy doesn’t understand. There’s nobody in the corner, but Frank sees him. Dean standing there waiting. Frank’s lips move. One word comes out.

Dino. Nancy leans in, takes her father’s hand. Dad. Frank looks at her. His eyes are clear, like a final moment of clarity. He whispers something. Nancy barely hears it. I’m coming, Dano. Wait for me.Frank closes his eyes. And on May 14th, 1998, at 10:50 p.m., Frank Sinatra dies. His last word, dino.

 The next morning, Nancy goes through her father’s belongings. She finds the notebook. in his desk drawer, small, leather bound, filled with Frank’s handwriting. She opens it, reads the first page. Dean, if you can hear me, know that I never stopped loving you. 8 years of silence didn’t erase 40 years of love. You were my brother and you always will be.

 Nancy cries because now she understands. Her father spent three years waiting for Dean every day, every night. And on May 14th, 1998, they finally reunited. Frank Sinatra’s funeral is held on May 20th, 1998. Good Shepard Catholic Church, Beverly Hills. Thousands attend, presidents, actors, singers, legends.

 But the most emotional moment comes when Nancy speaks. She holds up the notebook, shows it to the cameras, to the crowd. My father, Nancy says, wrote in this notebook every day after Dean Martin died for three years about Dean, about their friendship, about regret. She opens to a page, reads it aloud. Dean, you were my best friend.

 8 years of silence didn’t change that. You were my brother forever. The church is silent. Only the sound of crying. My father, Nancy continues, spent the last three years of his life waiting for Dean. They didn’t speak for eight years, but love never died, and now they’re together forever. Frank Sinatra is buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park, 100 meters from Dean Martin’s grave.

 Nancy makes a special request. She wants specific words on her father’s headstone. Today the headstone reads Francis Albert Sinatra 1915 to 1998. The best is yet to come. Now with Dino everyday people visit both graves, Dean’s first, then Frank’s, and some people leave flowers between the two graves in the middle.

 Because Dean and Frank, even in death, are not apart. In 2016, Nancy Sinatra gives an interview, CBS Sunday Morning, 18 years after her father’s death. The journalist asks, “Why didn’t your father and Dean speak for 8 years?” Nancy answers carefully, “Payne, Dean lost his son.” March 1987, Dean Paul, plane crash.

 And Dean, he couldn’t face anyone, not even my father. But my father understood. He waited eight years because he knew Dean was suffering. Then in 1995, Dean called three days before he died. And my father, he cried from happiness because after 8 years, his brother came back. Nancy shows a photograph. 1960. Frank and Dean on stage laughing, young alive.

 This photo, Nancy says, sat on my father’s desk from 1987 to 1998. He looked at it every day, and I know what he was thinking. One day, we’ll be together again. And in 1998, it happened. She smiles, but her eyes are wet. When my father died, his last word was, “Dino, because Dean was waiting for him. He knew. And now they’re both together forever.

” In 2018, Nancy reveals one more thing. The phone call. It was recorded. Frank’s home had an automatic recording system, security purposes. And that conversation accidentally was saved. Nancy and Dean’s daughter, Deanna, listen to it together for the first time, 23 years later. They both cry. Because the recording isn’t just a phone call.

 It’s the goodbye of two legends. Nancy and Diana make a decision. They’ll never release the full recording. It’s too personal, too sacred, but they share the essence. Nancy tells the press, “Dean apologized to my father for the eight years, and my father cried because Dean’s voice, it was the voice of a dying man. Dean told my father something he never forgot.

 You were the best part of my life. I always loved you. I always will.” And my father, he could only cry. Then Dean said, “See you on the other side.” And my father answered, “Wait for me, Dino. I’m coming.” Three days later, Dean died. Three years later, Frank died. And now they’re both together. Today at Westwood Village Memorial Park, Dean and Frank’s graves stand side by side.

People come every day from all over the world. They leave flowers, take photos, cry. Because Dean and Frank’s story isn’t just about two famous men. It’s about all of us. Lost friendships, unspoken words, pride, time, regret, and finally love. Dean and Frank didn’t speak for 8 years. But love never ended. It just waited.

 And in 1998, two legends reunited in death. Quietly forever. At the cemetery, people sometimes touch both graves. First Deans, then Franks, and they whisper, “You’re finally together.” Because love is stronger than time. Love is stronger than pride. Love is stronger than death.