Singer Martin dies, aged 98

Tony Martin, the romantic singer who appeared in movie musicals from the 1930s to the 1950s and sustained a career in records, television and nightclubs from the Depression era into the 21st century, has died.

Martin died at the age of 98 of natural causes at his West Los Angeles home, his friend and accountant Beverly Scott said yesterday.

A peer of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, Martin sang full voice in a warm baritone that carried special appeal for his female audience. Among his hit recordings were I Get Ideas, To Each His Own, Begin the Beguine and There’s No Tomorrow.

“He’s the ultimate crooner who outlasted all is contemporaries,” musician and longtime friend Gabriel Guerrero said.

He married two movie musical stars, Alice Faye and Cyd Charisse, and the latter union lasted 60 years, until her death in 2008.