Tony Martin, Hollywood musicals star, dies at 98

Hollywood crooner Tony Martin has died.

Martin, who starred in movie musicals such as “Ziegfeld,” “Casbah,” and “The Big Store,” died from natural causes at his home in Los Angeles on Friday, the LA Times reported.

He was 98.

Martin, a contemporary of Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, enjoyed a highly acclaimed career in movies, television, records and nightclubs from the Depression era to the 21st century, the Associated Press reported.

He continued to perform into his 90s.

The romantic singer's hit recordings included “I Get Ideas,” ‘’To Each His Own,” ‘’Begin the Beguine” and “There’s No Tomorrow.”

The Hollywood Reporter said Martin was the “last of the big stars from the golden age of film musicals.”

Martin married two movie musical stars, Alice Faye and Cyd Charisse. His marriage with Faye lasted just two years.

Martin and Charisse were wed 60 years until she died in 2008.

Born on December 25, 1913 into a poor Russian Jewish family, Martin used music as a way to escape the taunts of gentile classmates, the AP reported.

“I always sang,” he wrote. “I always played some instrument or other, real or imagined. … At first, of course, my music was just for my own fun. I didn’t recognize it right away as my passport away from poverty.”

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