Martin first established herself as a recording Artist with Producer Lee Hazlewood for the Reprise Records label. The recordings included her country hit, "Girl of the Month Club," while she was still a teenager. Other tunes on the project were "When He Remembers Me," "Baby I See You" and "The Bottom of My Mind," all recorded during the 1960s. Musicians from the famous Los Angeles group the Wrecking Crew, which included Glen Campbell on guitar, played on these recordings.
She made her television debut in 1966, performing on The Dean Martin Show She became a frequent guest, taking part in both musical and comedy numbers with a wide array of entertainers including Frank Sinatra. She trained professionally as an Actress at the Dartington College of Arts in the United Kingdom. She has performed in theater productions in a variety of leading roles onstage including Romeo & Juliet, A Shot in the Dark, and the national touring company of The Star-Spangled Girl with George Hamilton. The entertainer has been in movies, co-starring alongside Robert Mitchum, Angie Dickinson and David Carradine in the 1969 western Young Billy Young; Vito Scotti in "Pisano A Voice in the Night"; and in "Strangers at Sunrise" with George Montgomery in 1969's unusual western, which was set in Africa during the Boer war.
For many years, she and her husband worked to encourage the state of Ohio to recognize the achievements and career of Ohio's Favorite Son, Dean Martin. Throughout his career, her father never forgot his roots in Steubenville, Ohio. The couple's hard work paid off in 2001. Ohio Governor Bob Taft signed Senate Bill number 17, which henceforth enacted each June 7 as Dean Martin Day.
In 2002, an Ohio Historical Marker was unveiled. This marker serves as a reminder of the indelible link between the Ohio Valley city and Dean Martin.
In 2003, Martin appeared with Jerry Lewis for a musical performance on the annual MDA Show of Strength. The two performed a duet, "Time After Time".
In 2004, Martin released Memories Are Made of This: Dean Martin Through His Daughter’s Eyes. The book is an honest look at Dean Martin and his family, and gives insight into the varied sides of the entertainer she knew as her father.
In 2005, Martin joined Sirius/XM Satellite Radio and continues to work with them for various programming. On Father's Day 2013, she joined Tina Sinatra for her Father's Day Special. It also featured Natalie Cole, Monica Mancini, and Daisy Torme, all reminiscing about their famous fathers.
By 2008, following her successful sold-out "Memories Are Made of This" concert tour, she was ready to record again. She went into the studio at Capitol Records with the same team that produced her previous album to record Volare, released in 2009. It debuted at number seven on Billboard's Heat Seek chart, and climbed to 22 on the magazine's Jazz Albums Chart. Volare also charted on iTunes Top 10 chart.
In 2009 the singer's CD Volare, released on Big Fish Records, was in both the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart and the Billboard Heat Seekers chart. It was preceded by Memories Are Made of This in 2006. Deana's 2013 release, "Destination Moon," is a compilation of her favorite jazz and pop songs, plus a duet with her father, Dean Martin, onTrue Love. Martin returned in 2016 with Swing Street, an album of swing standards mixed with new songs soon to be classics. The singer is also an author with her New York Times best-selling book, Memories Are Made of This: Dean Martin Through His Daughter’s Eyes. Deana performs her father's songs as well as favorite classic pop hits in venues around the world including symphony halls, performing arts centers, blues venues, jazz clubs and festivals.
In 2011, Martin released her first album of holiday favorites, White Christmas. Joined by Andy Williams on the title track, Martin covered 10 of her favorite tunes, including "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm", "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow" and "Winter Wonderland".
A year later, Martin was back in the studio working on her 2013 CD, Destination Moon. The album features 15 pop classics including "Break It To Me Gently", "I Love Being Here With You", and "Beyond the Sea" Four new songs are included: "Where Did You Learn to Love Like That", "Stuck in a Dream with Me", "Read Between the Lines", and "Paradise".
In February 2015 Memories Are Made of This: Dean Martin Through His Daughter's Eyes was released as an e-book and put Deana back on the Best Seller list, as she hit the Wall Street Journal's Top 10 List.
Martin's 2016 album, Swing Street, on Big Fish Records, finds the songstress covering several swing classics as well as recording five new songs. Among the classic tunes are "Bye Bye Blackbird", "Georgia on My Mind", "Quando, Quando, Quando", and "Strangers in the Night". Newfound swing tunes covered by Martin are "Hearing Ella Sing", "I Know What You Are", and "I've Been Around". The album was produced by her husband, John Griffeth. Swing Street was arranged and conducted by Patrick Williams and recorded and mixed in Studio A at Capitol Studios in Hollywood, California, by Al Schmitt. The singer went back to the well, using the A-list session players, arrangers, composers, conductors, and Engineers in Los Angeles that she has used on previous albums to record this album.
