"They'd fought through his childhood and continued to do so until her dying day. But I believe that to counter her steel will he'd developed his own. To prove her wrong when she belittled his choice of career... Their friction first had shaped him; that, I think, had remained to the end and a litmus test of the grit in his bones. It helped keep him at the top of his game."
—Sinatra's daughter Nancy on the importance of his mother Dolly in his life and character.[7]
Francis Albert Sinatra[a] was born on December 12, 1915, in a tenement at 415 Monroe Street inHoboken, New Jersey,[9][10][b] the only child ofItalian immigrantsNatalina "Dolly" Garaventa andAntonino Martino "Marty" Sinatra.[13][14][c] His father wasSicilian, while his mother was fromGenoa. Sinatra weighed 13.5 pounds (6.1 kg) at birth and had to bedelivered with the aid offorceps, which caused severe scarring to his left cheek, neck, and left ear, and lifelong damage to his eardrum. Sinatra's grandmother resuscitated him by running him under cold water until he gasped.[16] Because of Sinatra's injuries, his baptism at St. Francis Church in Hoboken was delayed until April 2, 1916.[17] A childhood operation left major scarring on his neck, and during adolescence, Sinatra was further scarred bycystic acne.[18] He was raised in theCatholic Church.[19]
Sinatra's mother, Dolly, was energetic and driven;[20] biographers believe that she was the dominant factor in the development of her son's personality and self-confidence.[21] Sinatra's fourth wife,Barbara, would later claim that Dolly "knocked him around a lot" when he was a child.[22] Dolly became influential in Hoboken and in localDemocratic Party circles.[23] She worked as amidwife,[24] and according to Sinatra biographerKitty Kelley, ran an illegal abortion service for Italian Catholic girls, for which she was nicknamed "Hatpin Dolly".[25][d] She had a gift for languages and served as a local interpreter.[28]
Sinatra's illiterate father, Marty, was abantamweight boxer[29] who later worked at the Hoboken Fire Department, working his way up to captain.[30] Due to his illiteracy, Marty stressed the importance of a "complete and full" education and had instilled in his son the desire to become a civil engineer and enroll atStevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken.[31] Sinatra spent much time at his parents' tavern in Hoboken,[e] working on his homework and occasionally singing for spare change.[33] During theGreat Depression, Dolly provided money to her son for outings with friends and to buy expensive clothes, resulting in neighbors describing him as the "best-dressed kid in the neighborhood".[34] Excessively thin and small as a child and young man, Sinatra's skinny frame later became a staple of jokes during stage shows.[35][36]
At a young age, Sinatra developed an interest in music, particularlybig band jazz[37] and listened toGene Austin,Rudy Vallée,Russ Colombo, andBob Eberly while idolizingBing Crosby.[38] For his 15th birthday, Sinatra received aukulele from his uncle Domenico, with which he performed at family gatherings.[39] Sinatra attended David E. Rue Jr. High School from 1928,[40] and A. J. Demarest High School (since renamedHoboken High School) in 1931, where he arranged bands for school dances,[39] but left without graduating after having attended only 47 days before being expelled for "general rowdiness".[41]
To please his mother, Sinatra enrolled at Drake Business School, but departed after 11 months.[39] Dolly found him working as a delivery boy at theJersey Observer newspaper (since merged intoThe Jersey Journal), where his godfather Frank Garrick worked;[f] Sinatra later worked as a riveter at theTietjen and Lang shipyard.[43][44] He began performing in local Hoboken social clubs and sang for free on radio stations such asWAAT in Jersey City.[45] In New York, Sinatra found jobs singing for his supper or for cigarettes.[39] To improve his speech, Sinatra began takingelocution lessons for a dollar each from vocal coach John Quinlan, one of the first people to notice his impressive vocal range.[46]
Sinatra began singing professionally as a teenager. He never learned to read music butlearned by ear.[47][48] Sinatra got his first break in 1935 when his mother persuaded a local singing group called the3 Flashes to let him join.Baritone Fred Tamburro stated, "Frank hung around us like we were gods or something", admitting that they only took him on board because he owned a car[g] and could chauffeur the group. Sinatra soon learned they were auditioning for theMajor Bowes Amateur Hour show and "begged" the group to let him join.[50]
With Sinatra, the group became known as the "Hoboken Four" and passed an audition fromEdward Bowes to appear on the show. They each earned $12.50,[51] and attracted 40,000 votes to win first prize—a six-month contract to perform on stage and radio across the U.S.[52] Sinatra quickly became the group's lead singer, and, much to the jealousy of his fellow group members, garnered most of the attention from the girls.[53][h] Due to the success of the group, Bowes kept asking for them to return, disguised under different names, varying from "The Secaucus Cockamamies" to "The Bayonne Bacalas," although this may be apocryphal, sourced from Sinatra's humorous stage patter during his legendary appearance with the Count Basie orchestra at the Sands (1966).[35]
In 1938, Sinatra found employment as a singing waiter at aroadhouse called "The Rustic Cabin" inEnglewood Cliffs, New Jersey, for which he was paid $15 a week.[55] The roadhouse was connected to theWNEW radio station in New York City, and Sinatra began performing with a group live during theDance Parade show.[56] Despite the low salary, he felt that this was the break he was looking for, and boasted to friends that he was going to "become so big that no one could ever touch him".[57] In March 1939, saxophone player Frank Mane, who knew Sinatra from Jersey City radio station WAAT, arranged for him to audition and record "Our Love", his first solo studio recording.[58][i] In June, bandleaderHarry James, who had heard Sinatra sing on "Dance Parade", signed him to a two-year contract of $75 a week after a show at theParamount Theatre in New York.[59][j] It was with the James band that Sinatra released his first commercial record "From the Bottom of My Heart" in July. No more than 8,000 copies were sold,[63] and further records released with James through 1939, such as "All or Nothing at All", also had weak sales on their initial release.[64] Thanks to his vocal training, Sinatra could now sing two tones higher, and developed a repertoire that included songs such as "My Buddy", "Willow Weep for Me", "It's Funny to Everyone but Me", "Here Comes the Night", "On a Little Street in Singapore", "Ciribiribin", and "Every Day of My Life".[65]
Sinatra became increasingly frustrated with the Harry James band, feeling that he was not achieving the major success and acclaim he was looking for. Sinatra's pianist and close friendHank Sanicola persuaded him to stay with the group,[66] but Sinatra left James in November 1939 to replace Jack Leonard[k] as the lead singer of theTommy Dorsey band. Sinatra earned $125 a week, appearing at the Palmer House inChicago,[67] and James released Sinatra from his contract.[68][l]
On January 26, 1940, Sinatra made his first public appearance with the band at theCoronado Theatre inRockford, Illinois,[70] opening the show with "Stardust".[71] Dorsey recalled: "You could almost feel the excitement coming up out of the crowds when the kid stood up to sing. Remember, he was nomatinée idol. He was just a skinny kid with big ears. I used to stand there so amazed I'd almost forget to take my own solos".[72]
Dorsey was a major influence on Sinatra and became afather figure. Sinatra copied Dorsey's mannerisms and traits, becoming a demanding perfectionist like him, even adopting his hobby of toy trains. Sinatra asked Dorsey to be godfather to his daughterNancy in June 1940.[73] Sinatra later said that "The only two people I've ever been afraid of are my mother and Tommy Dorsey."[74] Although Kelley says that Sinatra and drummerBuddy Rich were bitter rivals,[m] other authors state that they were friends and even roommates when the band was on the road, but professional jealousy surfaced as both men wanted to be considered the star of Dorsey's band. Later, Sinatra helped Rich form his own band with a $25,000 loan and provided financial help to Rich during times of the drummer's serious illness.[76]
As his success and popularity grew, Sinatra pushed Dorsey to allow him to record some solo songs. Dorsey eventually relented, and on January 19, 1942, Sinatra recorded "Night and Day", "The Night We Called It a Day", "The Song is You", and "Lamplighter's Serenade" at a Bluebird recording session, withAxel Stordahl as arranger and conductor.[81] Sinatra first heard the recordings at theHollywood Palladium andHollywood Plaza and was astounded at how good he sounded. Stordahl recalled: "He just couldn't believe his ears. He was so excited you almost believed he had never recorded before. I think this was a turning point in his career. I think he began to see what he might do on his own".[82]
After the 1942 recordings, Sinatra believed that he needed to go solo,[83] with an insatiable desire to compete withBing Crosby,[n] but Sinatra was hampered by his contract which gave Dorsey 43% of Sinatra's lifetime earnings.[84] A legal battle ensued, eventually settled in August 1942.[85][o] On September 3, 1942, Dorsey bade farewell to Sinatra, reportedly saying, "I hope you fall on your ass",[84] but he was more gracious on the air when replacing Sinatra with singerDick Haymes.[68]
Rumors began spreading in newspapers that Sinatra's mobster godfather,Willie Moretti, coerced Dorsey at gunpoint to let Sinatra out of his contract for a few thousand dollars.[87][p] Sinatra persuaded Stordahl to come with him and become his personal arranger, offering him $650 a month, five times his salary from Dorsey.[89] Dorsey and Sinatra, who had been very close, never reconciled their differences.[90]
1942–1945: Onset of Sinatramania and Role in World War II
Perfectly simple: It was the war years, and there was a great loneliness, and I was the boy in every corner drugstore, the boy who'd gone off drafted to the war. That's all.
By May 1941, Sinatra topped the male singer polls inBillboard andDownBeat magazines.[92] His appeal tobobby soxers, as teenage girls of that time were called, revealed a new audience for popular music, which had previously been recorded mainly for adults.[93] The phenomenon became officially known as "Sinatramania" after his "legendary opening" at the Paramount Theatre in New York on December 30, 1942.[84]
According to Nancy Sinatra,Jack Benny later said, "I thought the goddamned building was going to cave in. I never heard such a commotion... All this for a fellow I never heard of."[94] Sinatra performed for four weeks at the theatre, his act following theBenny Goodman orchestra, after which his contract was renewed for another four weeks by Bob Weitman due to his popularity. Sinatra became known as "Swoonatra" or "The Voice", and his fans "Sinatratics". They organized meetings and sent masses of letters of adoration, and within a few weeks of the show, some 1,000 Sinatra fan clubs had been reported across the US.[95]
Sinatra's publicist, George Evans, encouraged interviews and photographs with fans and was the man responsible for depicting Sinatra as a vulnerable, shy, Italian–American with a rough childhood who made good.[96] When Sinatra returned to the Paramount in October 1944, only 250 persons left the first show, and 35,000 fans left outside caused a near riot, known as the Columbus Day Riot, outside the venue because they were not allowed in.[97][98][99] Such was the bobby-soxer devotion to Sinatra that they were known to write his song titles on their clothing, bribe hotel maids for an opportunity to touch his bed, and steal clothing Sinatra was wearing, most commonly hisbow tie.[100]
Sinatra signed withColumbia Records as a solo artist on June 1, 1943, during the1942–44 musicians' strike.[101] Columbia Records re-released Harry James and Sinatra's August 1939 version of "All or Nothing at All",[69] which reached number 2 on June 2 and was on the best-selling list for 18 weeks.[102] Sinatra initially had great success,[103] and performed on the radio onYour Hit Parade from February 1943 until December 1944,[104] and on stage.
Columbia wanted new recordings of their growing star as quickly as possible, soAlec Wilder was hired as an arranger andconductor for several sessions with a vocal group called the Bobby Tucker Singers.[105] Of the nine songs recorded during these sessions, seven charted on the best-selling list.[106] That year he made his first solo nightclub appearance at New York'sRiobamba,[107] and a successful concert in the Wedgewood Room of the prestigiousWaldorf-Astoria New York that year secured his popularity in New York high society.[108] Sinatra released "You'll Never Know", "Close to You", "Sunday, Monday, or Always" and "People Will Say We're in Love" as singles. By the end of 1943, he was more popular in aDownBeat poll than Bing Crosby.[109]
Sinatra did not serve in the military during World War II. On December 11, 1943, he was officially classified4-F ("Registrant not acceptable for military service") by his draft board because of his perforated left eardrum. However, Army files reported that Sinatra had actually been rejected because he was "not acceptable material from a psychiatric viewpoint;" Sinatra's emotional instability was hidden to avoid "undue unpleasantness for both the selectee and the induction service".[110] Briefly, there were rumors reported by columnistWalter Winchell that Sinatra paid $40,000 to avoid military service, but the FBI found this to be without merit.[111][112][113]
Young Sinatra fans listening to his records on a portable gramophone inSydney, Australia, 1945.
Despite being heavily involved in political activity in 1945 and 1946, Sinatra sang on 160 radio shows, recorded 36 times, and shot four films in those two years. By 1946, he was performing on stage up to 45 times a week, singing up to 100 songs daily, and earning up to $93,000 a week.[119]
In 1946, Sinatra released "Oh! What it Seemed to Be", "Day by Day", "They Say It's Wonderful", "Five Minutes More", and "The Coffee Song" as singles,[120] and launched his first album,The Voice of Frank Sinatra,[121] which reached No. 1 on theBillboard chart. William Ruhlmann of AllMusic wrote that Sinatra "took the material very seriously, singing the love lyrics with utter seriousness" and that his "singing and the classically influenced settings gave the songs unusual depth of meaning."[122] Sinatra was soon selling 10million records a year.[123]
Sinatra's third album,Christmas Songs by Sinatra, was originally released in 1948 as a 78rpm album set,[129] and a 10" LP record was released two years later.[130] When Sinatra was featured as a priest inThe Miracle of the Bells, due to press negativity surrounding his alleged Mafia connections at the time,[q] it was announced to the public that Sinatra would donate his $100,000 in wages from the film to theCatholic Church.[131]
By the end of 1948, Sinatra had slipped to fourth onDownBeat's annual poll of most popular singers,[133] and the following year, he was pushed out of the top spots in polls for the first time since 1943.[134]Frankly Sentimental (1949) was panned byDownBeat, who commented that "for all his talent, it seldom comes to life."[135]
Culminating the low of Sinatra's career was the death of publicist George Evans in January 1950. According toJimmy Van Heusen, Sinatra's close friend and songwriter, Evans' death to him was "an enormous shock which defies words", as he had been crucial to Sinatra's career and popularity with the "Bobby soxers".[139]
Sinatra's reputation continued to decline as reports broke in February of his affair with Ava Gardner and the destruction of his marriage to Nancy,[140] although Sinatra insisted that his marriage had long been over even before meeting Gardner.[141] In April, he was engaged to perform at theCopa club in New York, but had to cancel five days of the booking due to a submucosal hemorrhage of the throat.[142] Evans once said that whenever Sinatra suffered from a bad throat and loss of voice, it was always due to emotional tension, which "absolutely destroyed him".[143]
TheDesert Inn, Las Vegas, where Sinatra began performing in 1951
In financial difficulty following his divorce and career decline, Sinatra was forced to borrow $200,000 from Columbia to pay his back taxes after MCA refused to front the money.[144] Rejected by Hollywood, Sinatra turned toLas Vegas and made his debut at theDesert Inn in September 1951,[145] and also began singing at the Riverside Hotel inReno, Nevada.
Sinatra's decline in popularity was evident in his concert appearances. At a brief run at the Paramount in New York, Sinatra drew small audiences.[146] At the Desert Inn in Las Vegas, he performed to half-filled houses.[147] At a concert atChez Paree in Chicago, only 150 people turned up in a 1,200-seat venue.[148] By April 1952, Sinatra was performing at theKauai County Fair in Hawaii.[149] Sinatra's relationship with Columbia Records was disintegrating, withA&R executiveMitch Miller claiming he "couldn't give away" Sinatra records.[146][r] However, several notable recordings were made during this time period, such as "If I Could Write a Book" in January 1952, which Granata sees as a "turning point", forecasting his later work with its sensitivity,[152]
Columbia and MCA dropped Sinatra later in 1952.[154] His last studio recording for Columbia, "Why Try To Change Me Now", was recorded in New York on September 17, 1952, with an orchestra arranged and conducted byPercy Faith.[155] JournalistBurt Boyar observed, "Sinatra had had it. It was sad. From the top to the bottom in one horrible lesson."[146]
Nelson Riddle, Sinatra's album arranger for Capitol Records
The release of the filmFrom Here to Eternity in August 1953 marked the beginning of a remarkable career revival.[156]Tom Santopietro notes that Sinatra began to bury himself in his work, with an "unparalleled frenetic schedule of recordings, movies and concerts",[157] in what authors Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan describe as "a new and brilliant phase".[158] On March 13, 1953, Sinatra met with Capitol Records vice presidentAlan Livingston and signed a seven-year recording contract.[159] Sinatra's first session for Capitol took place at KHJ studios at Studio C, 5515 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, with Axel Stordahl conducting.[160] The session produced four recordings, including "I'm Walking Behind You",[161] Sinatra's first Capitol single.[162]
After spending two weeks on location in Hawaii filmingFrom Here to Eternity, Sinatra returned to KHJ on April 30 for his first recording session withNelson Riddle, an established arranger and conductor at Capitol who was Nat King Cole's musical director.[163] After recording the first song, "I've Got the World on a String", Sinatra offered Riddle a rare expression of praise, "Beautiful!",[164] and after listening to the playbacks, he could not hide his enthusiasm, exclaiming, "I'm back, baby, I'm back!"[165] In subsequent sessions in May and November 1953,[166] Sinatra and Riddle developed and refined their musical collaboration, with Sinatra providing specific guidance on the arrangements.[165] Sinatra's first album for Capitol,Songs for Young Lovers, was released on January 4, 1954, and it included "A Foggy Day", "I Get a Kick Out of You", "My Funny Valentine", "Violets for Your Furs", and "They Can't Take That Away from Me",[167] songs that became staples of his later concerts.[35][168]
That same month, Sinatra released the single "Young at Heart", which reached No. 2 and was awarded Song of the Year.[169][170][171][s] In March, he recorded and released the single "Three Coins in the Fountain", a "powerful ballad"[174] that reached No. 4.[175] Sinatra's second album with Riddle,Swing Easy!, which reflected his "love for the jazz idiom" according to Granata,[176] was released on August 2 and included "Just One of Those Things", "Taking a Chance on Love", "Get Happy", and "All of Me".[175][177]Swing Easy! was named Album of the Year byBillboard, and Sinatra was named "Favorite Male Vocalist" byBillboard,DownBeat, andMetronome in 1954.[178][179] Sinatra came to consider Riddle "the greatest arranger in the world",[180] and Riddle, who considered Sinatra, "a perfectionist",[165] said: "It's not only that his intuitions as to tempo, phrasing, and even configuration are amazingly right, but his taste is so impeccable... There is still no one who can approach him."[180]
Sinatra became one of Las Vegas's pioneerresidency entertainers,[181] and a prominent figure in the Vegas scenethroughout the 1950s and 1960s onwards, a period described by Rojek as the "high-water mark" of Sinatra's "hedonism and self-absorption". Rojek notes that theRat Pack "provided an outlet for gregarious banter and wisecracks" but argues that it was Sinatra's vehicle, possessing an "unassailable command over the other performers".[182] Sinatra would fly to Las Vegas from Los Angeles in Van Heusen's plane.[183] On October 4, 1953, Sinatra made his first performance at theSands Hotel and Casino, after an invitation by the managerJack Entratter.[184][185] Sinatra typically performed there three times a year and later acquired a share in the hotel.[186][t]
Sinatra's February 1956 recording sessions inaugurated the studios at theCapitol Records Building,[196] complete with a 56-piece symphonic orchestra.[197] According to Granata, his recordings of "Night and Day", "Oh! Look at Me Now", and "From This Moment On" revealed "powerful sexual overtones, stunningly achieved through the mounting tension and release of Sinatra's best-teasing vocal lines", while his recording of "River, Stay 'Way from My Door" in April demonstrated his "brilliance as a syncopational improviser".[198] Riddle said that Sinatra took "particular delight" in singing "The Lady is a Tramp", commenting that he "always sang that song with a certain amount of salaciousness", making "cue tricks" with the lyrics.[199] Sinatra's penchant for conducting was displayed again in 1956'sFrank Sinatra Conducts Tone Poems of Color, an instrumental album that has been interpreted to be a catharsis to his failed relationship with Gardner.[200] Sinatra also sang atthat year's Democratic National Convention and performed withThe Dorsey Brothers for a week soon afterward at the Paramount Theatre.[201]
Sinatra introducing his character to the audience in the 1957 trailer for the filmPal Joey
In 1957, Sinatra releasedClose to You,A Swingin' Affair!, andWhere Are You?—his first album in stereo, withGordon Jenkins.[202] Granata considers "Close to You" to have been thematically his closest concept album to perfection during the "golden" era, and Nelson Riddle's finest work, which was "extremely progressive" by the standards of the day. It is structured like a three-act play, each commencing with the songs "With Every Breath I Take", "Blame It on My Youth" and "It Could Happen to You".[203] For Granata, Sinatra'sA Swingin' Affair! andSongs for Swingin' Lovers! solidified "Sinatra's image as a 'swinger', from both a musical and visual standpoint."Buddy Collette considered the swing albums to have been heavily influenced bySammy Davis Jr. and stated that when he worked with Sinatra in the mid-1960s, he approached a song much differently than he had done in the early 1950s.[195] On June 9, 1957, Sinatra performed in a 62-minute concert conducted by Riddle at theSeattle Civic Auditorium,[204] his first appearance inSeattle since 1945.[168] The recording was first released as a bootleg, butArtanis Entertainment Group officially released it asSinatra '57 in Concert in 1999, after Sinatra's death.[205]
Sinatra inPal Joey (1957)
In 1958, Sinatra released the concept albumCome Fly with Me withBilly May, designed as a musical world tour.[206] It reached the top spot on theBillboard album chart in its second week, remaining at the top for five weeks,[207] and was nominated for theGrammy Award for Album of the Year at theinaugural Grammy Awards.[208] The title song, "Come Fly With Me", written especially for him, would become one of Sinatra's best-known standards.[209] On May 29, he recorded seven songs in a single session, more than double the usual yield of a recording session, and an eighth, "Lush Life", was abandoned as Sinatra found it too technically demanding.[210] In September, Sinatra releasedFrank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely, a stark collection of introspective[u] saloon songs and blues-tinged ballads, which proved a huge commercial success, spending 120 weeks onBillboard's album chart and peaking at No. 1.[212] Cuts from this LP, such as "Angel Eyes" and "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)", would remain staples of the "saloon song" segments of Sinatra's concerts.[213]
Sinatra in 1957 publicity shot
In 1959, Sinatra releasedCome Dance with Me!, a highly successful, critically acclaimed album that stayed onBillboard's Pop album chart for 140 weeks, peaking at No. 2. It won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, as well asBest Vocal Performance, Male andBest Arrangement for Billy May.[214] Sinatra releasedNo One Cares in the same year, a collection of "brooding, lonely" torch songs, which criticStephen Thomas Erlewine thought was "nearly as good as its predecessorWhere Are You?, but lacked the "lush" arrangements of it and the "grandiose melancholy" ofOnly the Lonely.[215]
In May 1959, Sinatra wrote an article entitled "You Can't Hate and be Happy" for a publication called "What the Stars Say" published by theStars Campaign for Inter-Racial Friendship after the murder, inLondon, of Kelso Cochrane.[216] In the words of Kelley, by 1959, Sinatra was "not simply the leader of the Rat Pack" but had "assumed the position ofil padrone in Hollywood." He was asked by 20th Century Fox to be the master of ceremonies at a luncheon attended by Soviet PremierNikita Khrushchev on September 19, 1959.[217]Nice 'n' Easy, a collection of ballads, topped theBillboard chart in October 1960 and remained in the charts for 86 weeks,[218] winning critical plaudits.[219][220]
Sinatra grew discontented at Capitol and feuded withAlan Livingston, which lasted over six months.[221] Sinatra's first attempt at owning his own label was with his pursuit of buying declining jazz labelVerve Records, which ended once an initial agreement with Verve founderNorman Granz "failed to materialize".[222]
Sinatra decided to form his own label,Reprise Records,[223] and, in an effort to assert his new direction, temporarily parted with Riddle, May and Jenkins, working with other arrangers such asNeil Hefti,Don Costa, andQuincy Jones.[224] Sinatra built the appeal of Reprise Records as one in which artists were promised creative control, as well as a guarantee that they would eventually gain "complete ownership of their work, including publishing rights."[225]
Under Sinatra the company developed into a music industry "powerhouse", and he later sold it for an estimated $80million.[226] Sinatra's first album on the label,Ring-a-Ding-Ding! (1961), was a major success, peaking at No.4 onBillboard.[227] The album was released in February 1961, the same month that Reprise Records releasedBen Webster'sThe Warm Moods,Sammy Davis Jr.'sThe Wham of Sam,Mavis River'sMavis andJoe E. Lewis'sIt is Now Post Time.[228] During the initial years of Reprise, Sinatra was still under contract to record for Capitol, completing his contractual commitment with the release ofPoint of No Return, recorded on September 11 and 12, 1961.[229]
In 1962, Sinatra releasedSinatra and Strings, a set of standard ballads arranged by Don Costa, which became one of the most critically acclaimed works of Sinatra's Reprise period. Frank Jr., who was present during the recording, noted the "huge orchestra", which Nancy Sinatra stated "opened a whole new era" in pop music, with orchestras getting bigger, embracing a "lush string sound".[230]
In 1963, Sinatra reunited with Nelson Riddle forThe Concert Sinatra, an ambitious album featuring a 73-piece symphony orchestra arranged and conducted by Riddle. The concert was recorded on a motion picture scoring soundstage with the use of multiple synchronized recording machines that employed an optical signal onto 35mm film designed for movie soundtracks. Granata considers the album to have been "impeachable" [sic], "one of the very best of the Sinatra-Riddle ballad albums", where Sinatra displayed his vocal range, particularly in "Ol' Man River", in which Sinatra darkened the hue.[234]
In 1964, the song "My Kind of Town" was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Original Song.[235] Sinatra releasedSoftly, as I Leave You,[236] and collaborated with Bing Crosby andFred Waring onAmerica, I Hear You Singing, a collection of patriotic songs recorded as a tribute to the assassinated President John F. Kennedy.[237][238] Sinatra increasingly became involved in charitable pursuits in this period. In 1961 and 1962, he went to Mexico to put on performances for Mexican charities,[v] and in July 1964, Sinatra was present at the dedication of the Frank Sinatra International Youth Center for Arab and Jewish children inNazareth.[240]
Sinatra's phenomenal success in 1965, coinciding with his 50th birthday, promptedBillboard to proclaim that he may have reached the "peak of his eminence".[241] In June 1965, Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., andDean Martin played live inSt. Louis to benefit Dismas House, a prisoner rehabilitation and training center with nationwide programs that, in particular, helped serve black Americans.
The Rat Pack concert, called The Frank Sinatra Spectacular, was broadcast live via satellite to numerous movie theaters across America.[242][243] The albumSeptember of My Years was released September 1965, and went on to win the Grammy Award for best album of the year.[244] Granata considers the album to have been one of the finest of his Reprise years, "a reflective throwback to the concept records of the 1950s, and more than any of those collections, distills everything that Frank Sinatra had ever learned or experienced as a vocalist".[245] One of the album's singles, "It Was a Very Good Year", won the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, Male.[246] A career anthology,A Man and His Music, followed in November, winning Album of the Year at the Grammys the following year.[247]
In 1966, Sinatra releasedThat's Life, with both the single of "That's Life" and album becoming Top Ten hits onBillboard's pop charts.[248]Strangers in the Night went on to top theBillboard and UK pop singles charts,[249][250] winning the award for Record of the Year at the Grammys.[251] Sinatra's first live album,Sinatra at the Sands, was recorded during January and February 1966 at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. He was backed by the Count Basie Orchestra, with Quincy Jones conducting.[252] Sinatra pulled out from the Sands the following year when he was driven out by its new ownerHoward Hughes after a fight.[253][w]
According to Santopietro, the album "consists of an extraordinarily effective blend of bossa nova and slightly swinging jazz vocals, and succeeds in creating an unbroken mood of romance and regret."[259] WriterStan Cornyn wrote that Sinatra sang so softly on the album that it was comparable to the time that he suffered from a vocal hemorrhage in 1950.[260]
On February 8, 1967, Frank Sinatra performed at a Teamsters annual charity concert in St. Louis, Missouri. The event was a benefit for the Dismas Clark Half-Way House, and also featured the Rat Pack with Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin. The concert was organized by Sinatra and held at Kiel Auditorium.
With Sinatra in mind, singer-songwriterPaul Anka wrote the song "My Way", using the melody of the French "Comme d'habitude" ("As Usual"), composed byClaude François andJacques Revaux.[264] Sinatra recorded it in one take, just after Christmas 1968.[265] "My Way", Sinatra's best-known song on the Reprise label, was not an instant success, charting at No. 27 in the US and No. 5 in the UK.[266] However, it remained in the UK charts for 122 weeks, including 75 non-consecutive weeks in theTop 40, between April 1969 and September 1971, which was still a record in 2015.[267][268] Sinatra told songwriterErvin Drake in the 1970s that he "detested" singing the song because he believed audiences would think it was a "self-aggrandizing tribute".[269] According toNPR, "My Way" has become one of the most requested songs at funerals.[270]
Caesars Palace in 1970, where Sinatra performed from 1967 to 1970 and 1973 onwards
In 1970, Sinatra releasedWatertown, a critically acclaimed concept album, with music byBob Gaudio (of the Four Seasons) and lyrics byJake Holmes.[272] However, it sold a mere 30,000 copies that year and reached a peak chart position of 101.[273]
Sinatra left Caesars Palace in September of that year after an incident in which executive Sanford Waterman pulled a gun on him.[x] Sinatra performed several charity concerts with Count Basie at theRoyal Festival Hall in London.[277] On November 2, 1970, Sinatra recorded the last songs for Reprise Records before his self-imposed retirement,[278] announced the following June at a concert in Hollywood to raise money for the Motion Picture and TV Relief Fund.[279] He gave a "rousing" performance of "That's Life", and finished the concert with aMatt Dennis and Earl Brent song, "Angel Eyes", which Sinatra had recorded on theOnly the Lonely album in 1958.[280] He sang the last line. "'Scuse me while I disappear." The spotlight went dark, and he left the stage.[281]
Sinatra toldLIFE journalistThomas Thompson, "I've got things to do, like the first thing is not to doanything at all for eight months... maybe a year",[282] while Barbara Sinatra later said that Sinatra had grown "tired of entertaining people, especially when all they really wanted were the same old tunes he had long ago become bored by".[283] Around this time, Sinatra designedVilla Maggio, a holiday home and retreat nearPalm Desert.[284] While he was in retirement, PresidentRichard Nixon asked Sinatra to perform at a Young Voters Rally in anticipation of the upcoming campaign. He obliged and chose to sing "My Kind of Town" for the rally held in Chicago on October 20, 1972.[285]
Sinatra initially developed problems with his vocal cords during the comeback due to a prolonged period without singing.[289] That Christmas, Sinatra performed at theSahara Hotel in Las Vegas,[290] and returned to Caesars Palace the following month in January 1974.[291] He began what Barbara Sinatra describes as a "massive comeback tour of the United States, Europe, the Far East, and Australia."[292] In July, while on a second tour of Australia,[293] Sinatra caused an uproar by describing journalists there – who were aggressively pursuing his every move and pushing for a press conference – as "bums, parasites, fags, broads and buck-and-a-half hookers."[294] After he was pressured to apologize, Sinatra instead insisted that the journalists apologize for "fifteen years of abuse I have taken from the world press." Union actions canceled concerts and grounded Sinatra's plane, essentially trapping him in Australia.[295]
Sinatra's lawyer, Mickey Rudin, arranged for Sinatra to issue a written conciliatory note and a final concert that was televised to the nation.[296] In October 1974, he appeared at New York City'sMadison Square Garden in a televised concert that was later released as an album under the titleThe Main Event – Live. Backing Sinatra was bandleaderWoody Herman and the Young Thundering Herd, who accompanied Sinatra on a European tour later that month.[297][298]
During Labor Day weekend in 1976, Sinatra was responsible for reuniting old friends and comedy partners Dean Martin andJerry Lewis for the first time in nearly 20 years, when they performed at the "Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon".[306][307] That year, theFriars Club selected Sinatra as the "Top Box Office Name of the Century", and he was given the Scopus Award by the American Friends of theHebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from theUniversity of Nevada.[299]
Sinatra continued to perform at Caesars Palace in the late 1970s and was performing there in January 1977 when his mother Dolly died in a plane crash on her way to see him.[308][309] Sinatra canceled two weeks of shows and spent time recovering from the shock in Barbados.[310] In March, he performed in front ofPrincess Margaret at theRoyal Albert Hall in London, raising money for theNational Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.[311] On March 14, Sinatra recorded with Nelson Riddle for the last time, recording the songs "Linda", "Sweet Lorraine", and "Barbara".[312] The two men had a major falling out and later patched up their differences in January 1985 at a dinner organized for Ronald Reagan when Sinatra asked Riddle to make another album with him. Riddle was ill at the time and died that October before they had a chance to record.[313]
In 1978, Sinatra filed a $1million lawsuit against a land developer for using his name in the "Frank Sinatra Drive Center" in West Los Angeles.[314] During a party at Caesars in 1979, Sinatra was awarded theGrammy Trustees Award, while celebrating 40 years in show business and his 64th birthday.[315][316] That same year, former PresidentGerald Ford awarded Sinatra theInternational Man of the Year Award,[317] and he performed in front of theEgyptian pyramids forAnwar Sadat, which raised more than $500,000 forSadat's wife's charities.[311]
In 1980, Sinatra's first album in six years was released,Trilogy: Past Present Future, a highly ambitious triple album that features an array of songs from both the pre-rock and rock eras.[318] It was the first studio album of Sinatra's to feature his touring pianist at the time, Vinnie Falcone, and was based on an idea bySonny Burke.[319] The album garnered sixGrammy nominations– winning for best liner notes– and peaked at number 17 onBillboard's album chart,[318] and spawned yet another song that would become a signature tune, "Theme from New York, New York".[312] That year, as part of the Concert of the Americas, he performed in theMaracanã Stadium inRio de Janeiro, Brazil, which broke records for the "largest live paid audience ever recorded for a solo performer".[320]
In 1981, Sinatra built on the success ofTrilogy withShe Shot Me Down, an album that was praised for embodying the dark tone of his Capitol years.[321] That same year, Sinatra was embroiled in controversy when he worked a 10-day engagement for $2million inSun City, in the internationally unrecognizedBophuthatswana, breaking a cultural boycott against apartheid-era South Africa. PresidentLucas Mangope awarded Sinatra with the highest honor, the Order of the Leopard, and made him an honorary tribal chief.[322]
Sinatra signed a $16million three-year deal with theGolden Nugget Las Vegas in 1982.Handprint of Sinatra. Atlantic City Boardwalk, New Jersey, US, 2006
Santopietro stated that by the early 1980s, Sinatra's voice had "coarsened, losing much of its power and flexibility, but audiences didn't care."[323] In 1982, he signed a three-year, $16million deal with theGolden Nugget of Las Vegas.
Kelley noted that by this period, Sinatra's voice had grown "darker, tougher and loamier", but he "continued to captivate audiences with his immutable magic." She added that Sinatra's baritone voice "sometimes cracked, but the gliding intonations still aroused the same raptures of delight as they had at the Paramount Theater."[324]
Also in 1982, Sinatra made a reported further $1.3million from the Showtime television rights to his "Concert of the Americas" in the Dominican Republic, $1.6million for a concert series atCarnegie Hall, and $250,000 in just one evening at the Chicago Fest. Sinatra donated a lot of his earnings to charity.[325] He put on a performance at the White House for Italian presidentSandro Pertini, and performed at theRadio City Music Hall withLuciano Pavarotti andGeorge Shearing.[326][327]
On September 21, 1983, Sinatra filed a $2million court case againstKitty Kelley, suing her for punitive damages, before her unofficial biography,His Way, was even published. The book became a best-seller for "all the wrong reasons" and "the most eye-openingcelebrity biography of our time", according toWilliam Safire ofThe New York Times.[329] Sinatra was always adamant that such a book would be written on his terms, and he himself would "set the record straight" in details of his life.[330]
According to Kelley, the family detested her and the book, which took its toll on Sinatra's health. Kelley says that Tina Sinatra blamed her for her father's colon surgery in 1986.[331] He was forced to drop the case on September 19, 1984, with several leading newspapers expressing concerns about censorship.[332]
In 1984, Sinatra worked with Quincy Jones for the first time in nearly two decades on the albumL.A. Is My Lady, which was well received critically.[333] The album was a substitute for another Jones project, an album of duets withLena Horne, which had to be abandoned.[y] In 1986, Sinatra collapsed on stage while performing inAtlantic City and was hospitalized fordiverticulitis,[335] which left him looking frail.[336] Two years later, Sinatra reunited with Martin and Davis and went on the Rat Pack Reunion Tour, during which they played many large arenas. When Martin dropped out of the tour early on, a rift developed between them, and the two never spoke again.[337]
On June 6, 1988, Sinatra made his last recordings with Reprise for an album that was not released. He recorded "My Foolish Heart", "Cry Me a River", and other songs. Sinatra never completed the project, but take number 18 of "My Foolish Heart" may be heard inThe Complete Reprise Studio Recordings (1995).[338]
In 1990, Sinatra was awarded the second "Ella Award" by the Los Angeles-basedSociety of Singers, and performed for a final time with Ella Fitzgerald at the award ceremony.[339] He maintained an active touring schedule in the early 1990s, performing 65 concerts in 1990, 73 in 1991, and 84 in 1992 in 17 countries.[340]
In 1993, Sinatra returned to Capitol Records and the recording studio forDuets, which became his best-selling album.[341] The album and its sequel,Duets II, released the following year,[342] would see Sinatra remake his classic recordings with popular contemporary performers, who added their vocals to a pre-recorded tape.[343]
During his tours in the early 1990s, Sinatra's memory failed him at times during concerts, and he fainted onstage inRichmond, Virginia in March 1994.[344] Sinatra's final public concerts were held inFukuoka Dome in Japan on December 19–20, 1994.[345] The following year, Sinatra sang for the last time on February 25, 1995, before a live audience of 1,200 select guests at the Palm Desert Marriott Ballroom on the closing night of the Frank Sinatra Desert Classic golf tournament.[346]
Esquire reported of the show that Sinatra was "clear, tough, on the money" and "in absolute control".[347] He was awarded theLegend Award at the1994 Grammy Awards, where Sinatra was introduced byBono, who said of him, "Frank's the chairman of the bad attitude... Rock 'n roll plays at being tough, but this guy is the boss– the chairman of boss".[348][349]
In 1995, to mark Sinatra's 80th birthday, theEmpire State Building glowed blue.[350] A star-studded birthday tribute,Sinatra: 80 Years My Way, was held at theShrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, featuring performers such asRay Charles,Little Richard,Natalie Cole andSalt-N-Pepa singing his songs.[351] At the end of the program, Sinatra performed on stage for the last time to sing the final notes of the "Theme from New York, New York" with an ensemble.[352] In recognition of his many years of association with Las Vegas, Sinatra was elected to theGaming Hall of Fame in 1997.[353]
Sinatra with Axel Stordahl at the Liederkrantz Hall in New York,c. 1947
While Sinatra never learned how to read music well, he had a natural understanding of it,[354] and Sinatra worked very hard from a young age to improve his abilities in all aspects of music.[355] Sinatra could follow alead sheet (simplified sheet music showing a song's basic structure) during a performance by "carefully following the patterns and groupings of notes arranged on the page" and made his own notations to the music, using his ear to detect semitonal differences.[356]
Granata states that some of the most accomplished classically trained musicians soon noticed his musical understanding and remarked that Sinatra had a "sixth sense", which "demonstrated unusual proficiency when it came to detecting incorrect notes and sounds within the orchestra."[357]
Sinatra was an aficionado of classical music,[358] and would often request classical strains in his music, inspired by composers such asPuccini andImpressionist masters. His personal favorite wasRalph Vaughan Williams.[359] Sinatra would insist on always recording live with the band because it gave him a "certain feeling" to perform live surrounded by musicians.[360] By the mid-1940s, such was Sinatra's understanding of music that after hearing anair check of some compositions byAlec Wilder, which were for strings and woodwinds, he became the conductor at Columbia Records for six of Wilder's compositions.[z] The works were considered by Wilder to have been among the finest renditions and recordings of his compositions, past or present.[354] Critic Gene Lees, a lyricist and the author of the words to the Jobim melody "This Happy Madness", expressed amazement when he heard Sinatra's recording of it onSinatra & Company (1971), considering him to have delivered the lyrics to perfection.[361]
Voice coach John Quinlan was impressed by Sinatra's vocal range, remarking, "He has far more voice than people think he has. He can vocalize to a B-flat on top in full voice, and he doesn't need a mic either".[46] As a singer, early on, he was primarily influenced by Bing Crosby,[38] but later believed thatTony Bennett was "the best singer in the business."[362] Bennett himself claimed that as a performer, Sinatra had "perfected the art of intimacy."[363] According to Nelson Riddle, Sinatra had a "fairly rangy voice",[aa] remarking: "His voice has a very strident, insistent sound in the top register, a smooth lyrical sound in the middle register, and a very tender sound in the low. His voice is built on infinite taste, with an overall inflection of sex. He points everything he does from a sexual standpoint".[364]
Despite his heavy New Jersey accent, when Sinatra sang, his accent was barely detectable;[365] according to Richard Schuller, Sinatra's diction became "precise" while singing and his articulation "meticulous".[364] Sinatra's timing was impeccable, allowing him, according to Charles L. Granata, to "toy with the rhythm of a melody, bringing tremendous excitement to his reading of a lyric."[366] Tommy Dorsey observed that Sinatra would "take a musical phrase and play it all the way through seemingly without breathing for eight, ten, maybe sixteen bars." Dorsey was a considerable influence on Sinatra's techniques for his vocal phrasing with his own exceptional breath control on the trombone,[367] and Sinatra regularly swam and held his breath underwater, thinking of song lyrics to increase his breathing power.[72]
"He'd always been critical of his voice, and that only intensified as he got older. He never liked to discuss a performance afterward because he knew his voice wasn't as good as it used to be. If someone told him he'd been great, he'd reply, 'It was a nice crowd, but my reed was off' or 'I wasn't so good on the third number.' Strangely, in spite of his hearing problems, he had the most incredible ear, which often drove those he worked with nuts. There could be an orchestra of a hundred musicians, and if one played a bum note, he'd know exactly who was responsible."
—Barbara Sinatra on Sinatra's voice and musical understanding.[368]
Arrangers such as Nelson Riddle and Anthony Fanzo found Sinatra to be a perfectionist who constantly drove himself and others around him, stating that his collaborators approached him with uneasiness because of his unpredictable and often volatile temperament.[369]
Granata comments that Sinatra was almost fanatically obsessed with perfection to the point that people began wondering if he was genuinely concerned about the music or showing off his power over others.[128] On days when Sinatra felt that his voice was not right, Sinatra would know after only a few notes and would postpone the recording session until the following day, yet still pay his musicians.[370]
After a period of performing, Sinatra tired of singing a certain set of songs and was always looking for talented new songwriters and composers to work with. Once he found ones he liked, Sinatra actively sought to work with them as often as possible and made friends with many of them. Over the years, he recorded 87 ofSammy Cahn's songs, of which 24 were composed byJule Styne and 43 by Jimmy Van Heusen. The Cahn-Styne partnership lasted from 1942 until 1954, when Van Heusen succeeded him as Sinatra's main composer.[371]
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Sinatra insisted upon direct input regarding arrangements and tempos for his recordings. Sinatra would spend weeks thinking about the songs he wanted to record and would keep an arranger in mind for each song.[372] Barbara Sinatra notes that Sinatra would almost always credit the songwriter at the end of each number and would often make comments to the audience, such as "Isn't that a pretty ballad" or "Don't you think that's the most marvelous love song", delivered with "childlike delight".[373] She states that after each show, Sinatra would be "in a buoyant, electrically charged mood, a post-show high that would take him hours to come down from as he quietly relived every note of the performance he'd just given."[374]
"His voice is more interesting now: he has separated his voice into different colors, in different registers. Years ago, his voice was more even, and now it is divided into at least three interesting ranges: low, middle, and high. [He's] probing more deeply into his songs than he used to. That may be due to the ten years he's put on and the things he's been through."
—Nelson Riddle noting the development of Sinatra's voice in 1955.[375]
Lahr comments that the new Sinatra was "not the gentle boy balladeer of the forties. Fragility had gone from his voice, to be replaced by a virile adult's sense of happiness and hurt".[377] Author Granata considered Sinatra a "master of the art of recording", noting that his work in the studio "set him apart from other gifted vocalists." During his career, Sinatra made over 1,000 recordings.[378] Recording sessions would typically last three hours. However, Sinatra would always prepare for them by spending at least an hour by the piano beforehand to vocalize, followed by a short rehearsal with the orchestra to ensure the balance of sound.[379]
During his Columbia years, Sinatra used anRCA Type 44 microphone, which Granata describes as "the 'old-fashioned' microphone, which is closely associated with Sinatra's crooner image of the 1940s".[380] At Capitol, he used aNeumann U 47, an "ultra-sensitive" microphone that better captured the timbre and tone of his voice.[381]
In the 1950s, Sinatra's career was facilitated by developments in technology. Up to 16 songs could now be held by the 12-inch L.P., and this allowed Sinatra to use song in a novelistic way, turning each track into a kind of chapter, which built and counterpointed moods to illuminate a larger theme".[382] Santopietro writes that through the 1950s and well into the 1960s, "Every Sinatra LP was a masterpiece of one sort of another, whether uptempo, torch song, or swingin' affairs. Track after track, the brilliant concept albums redefined the nature of pop vocal art".[383]
Sinatra attempted to pursue an acting career in Hollywood in the early 1940s. While films appealed to him,[384] being exceptionally self-confident,[385] Sinatra was rarely enthusiastic about his own acting, once remarking that "pictures stink".[386] Sinatra made his film debut performing in an uncredited sequence inLas Vegas Nights (1941), singing "I'll Never Smile Again" with Tommy Dorsey's Pied Pipers.[387] Sinatra had a cameo role along with Duke Ellington and Count Basie inCharles Barton'sReveille with Beverly (1943), making a brief appearance singing "Night and Day".[388] Next, he was given leading roles inHigher and Higher andStep Lively (both 1944) forRKO.[389][390]
Fred Zinnemann'sFrom Here to Eternity (1953) deals with the tribulations of three soldiers, played byBurt Lancaster,Montgomery Clift, and Sinatra, stationed onHawaii in the months leading up to theattack on Pearl Harbor.[400] Sinatra had long been desperate to find a film role that would bring him back into the spotlight, and Columbia Pictures bossHarry Cohn had been inundated by appeals to give Sinatra a chance to star as "Maggio" in the film.[401][ab] During production, Montgomery Clift became a close friend,[403] and Sinatra later professed that he "learned more about acting from him than anybody I ever knew before".[404] After several years of critical and commercial decline, hisAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor win helped Sinatra regain his position as the top recording artist in the world.[405] Sinatra's performance also won aGolden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture.[406] TheLos Angeles Examiner wrote that Sinatra is "simply superb, comical, pitiful, childishly brave, pathetically defiant", commenting that his death scene is "one of the best ever photographed".[407]
Sinatra leaving his signature in concrete at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California on July 21, 1965
Due to an obligation, Sinatra owed to20th Century Fox for walking off the set ofHenry King'sCarousel (1956).[ad] He starred oppositeShirley MacLaine,Maurice Chevalier andLouis Jourdan inCan-Can (1960). Sinatra earned $200,000 and 25% of the profits for the performance.[429] Around the same time, he starred in the Las Vegas-setOcean's 11 (1960), the first film to feature the Rat Pack together and the start of a "new era of screen cool" for Santopietro.[430] Sinatra personally financed the film and paid Martin and Davis fees of $150,000 and $125,000, respectively, sums considered exorbitant for the period.[431] He had a leading role oppositeLaurence Harvey inThe Manchurian Candidate (1962), which Sinatra considered to be the role he was most excited about and the high point of his film career.[432]Vincent Canby, writing for the magazineVariety, found the portrayal of Sinatra's character to be "a wide-awake pro creating a straight, quietly humorous character of some sensitivity."[433] He appeared with the Rat Pack in the westernSergeants 3 (1962),[431] and again in the 1964 gangster-oriented musicalRobin and the 7 Hoods. For his performance inCome Blow Your Horn (1963), adapted from theNeil Simon play, Sinatra was nominated for theGolden Globe Award for Best Actor– Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.[406]
Sinatra directed only one film, the anti-war American-Japanese co-productionNone but the Brave (released in 1965), which he also starred in and co-produced;[434] he then starred inVon Ryan's Express (1965), another major success.[435][436] In the late 1960s, he became known for playing detectives,[437] including Tony Rome inTony Rome (1967) and its sequelLady in Cement (1968).[438][439] Sinatra played a similar role inThe Detective (1968).[440] AsDie Hard was based on the novel sequel toThe Detective, the studio[vague][specify] was contractually obliged to offer Sinatra the role. Sinatra, who was 70 years old at the time, declined.[441][442]
After beginning on theMajor Bowes Amateur Hour radio show with the Hoboken Four in 1935, and later WNEW and WAAT in Jersey City,[56] Sinatra became the star of radio shows of his own onNBC andCBS from the early 1940s to the mid-1950s. In 1942, he hired arranger Axel Stordahl away from Tommy Dorsey before beginning his first radio program that year, keeping Stordahl with him for all of his radio work.[448] By the end of 1942, Sinatra was named the "Most Popular Male Vocalist on Radio" in aDownBeat poll.[449] Early on, he frequently worked withThe Andrews Sisters on radio. They would appear as guests on each other's shows,[116] as well as on many USO shows broadcast to troops via theArmed Forces Radio Service (AFRS).[117] Sinatra appeared as a special guest in the sisters' ABCEight-to-the-Bar Ranch series,[450] while the trio in turn guested on hisSongs by Sinatra series on CBS.[451] Sinatra had two stints as a regular member of the cast ofYour Hit Parade;[ae] his first was from 1943 to 1945,[453] and second was from 1946 to May 28, 1949,[454] during which Sinatra was paired with the then-new girl singer,Doris Day.[455] Starting in September 1949, theBBD&O advertising agency produced a radio series starring Sinatra for Lucky Strike calledLight Up Time– some 176 15-minute shows that featured him andDorothy Kirsten singing– which lasted through to May 1950.[456]
In October 1951, the second season ofThe Frank Sinatra Show began onCBS Television. Ultimately, Sinatra did not find the success on television for which he had hoped.[af] Santopietro writes that Sinatra "never appeared fully at ease on his own television series."[458] In 1953 and 1954, Sinatra starred in the NBC radio programRocky Fortune, portraying Rocco Fortunato (a.k.a. Rocky Fortune).[459]
In 1957, Sinatra formed a three-year, $3million contract with ABC to launchThe Frank Sinatra Show, featuring himself and guests in 36 half-hour shows. ABC agreed to allow Sinatra's Hobart Productions to keep 60% of the residuals and bought stock in Sinatra's film production unit, Kent Productions, guaranteeing him $7million.[460] Though an initial critical success upon its debut on October 18, 1957, it soon attracted negative reviews fromVariety andThe New Republic, andThe Chicago Sun-Times thought that Sinatra and frequent guest Dean Martin "performed like a pair of adult delinquents", "sharing the same cigarette and leering at girls."[461] In return, Sinatra later made numerous appearances onThe Dean Martin Show and Martin's TV specials.[462]
Sinatra's fourth and finalTimex TV special,Welcome Home Elvis, was broadcast in March 1960, earning massive viewing figures. During the show, he performed a duet with Presley, who sang Sinatra's 1957 hit "Witchcraft" with the host performing the 1956 Presley classic "Love Me Tender". Sinatra had previously been highly critical ofElvis Presley and rock and roll in the 1950s, describing it as a "deplorable, a rancid smelling aphrodisiac" that "fosters almost totally negative and destructive reactions in young people."[463][ag] ACBS News special about Sinatra's 50th birthday,Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, was broadcast on November 16, 1965, and received an Emmy award and aPeabody Award.[465]
Continuing his musical collaboration with Jobim andElla Fitzgerald in 1967, Sinatra appeared in the TV special,A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim, which was broadcast on CBS on November 13.[466] When Sinatra came out of retirement in 1973, he appeared in a TV special that shared its title with his contemporaneously released album,Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back.[467] In the late 1970s,John Denver appeared as a guest in theSinatra and Friends ABC-TV Special, singing "September Song" as a duet.[468]
Sinatra starred as a detective inContract on Cherry Street (1977), cited as his "one starring role in a dramatic television film".[469] Ten years later, Sinatra made a guest appearance oppositeTom Selleck inMagnum, P.I.. Shot in January 1987, the episode aired on CBS on February 25.[470]
Family portrait, 1949. Sinatra with (from left)Nancy,Tina, Nancy Barbato andFrank Jr.
Sinatra was married to Nancy (née Barbato) from 1939 to 1951. They had three children:Nancy (born 1940),Frank Jr. (1944–2016) andTina (born 1948).[471][472]
Sinatra met Barbato inLong Branch, New Jersey, in summer 1934[473] while working as alifeguard.[474] He agreed to marry her after an incident at "The Rustic Cabin" that led to his arrest.[ah] Sinatra had numerous extramarital affairs,[478] and gossip magazines published details of affairs with women includingMarilyn Maxwell,Lana Turner andJoi Lansing.[479][480][ai]
"Frank attracted women. He couldn't help it. Just to look at him—the way he moved, and how he behaved—was to know that he was a great lover and true gentleman. He adored the company of women and knew how to treat them. I had friends whose husbands were 'players', and every time the husbands had affairs my friends were showered with gifts. Well, I was constantly showered with gifts, but no matter what temptations Frank may have had while I wasn't around, he made me feel so safe and loved that I never became paranoid about losing him."
—Barbara Sinatra on Sinatra's popularity with women.[482]
Sinatra was married to Hollywood actressAva Gardner from 1951 to 1957. It was a turbulent marriage with many well-publicized fights and altercations.[483] The couple formally announced their separation on October 29, 1953, through MGM.[484] Gardner filed for divorce in June 1954, at a time when she was dating matadorLuis Miguel Dominguín,[485] but the divorce was not settled until 1957.[486] Sinatra continued to feel very strongly for her,[486] and they remained lifelong friends.[487]
Sinatra reportedly broke off engagements toLauren Bacall in 1958[489] andJuliet Prowse in 1962.[490] He was romantically linked toMarilyn Monroe,Pat Sheehan,Vikki Dougan, andKipp Hamilton.[491] Sinatra andMia Farrow were married on July 19, 1966, and the couple divorced in August 1968.[492] They remained close friends for life,[493] and in a 2013 interview, Farrow said that Sinatra might be the father of her son,Ronan Farrow (born 1987).[494][495] In a 2015CBS Sunday Morning interview, Nancy Sinatra dismissed the claim as "nonsense". She said that her father had avasectomy years before Farrow's birth.[496][497]
Sinatra was known for his immaculate sense of style.[510] He spent lavishly on expensive custom-tailored tuxedos and stylish pin-striped suits, which made him feel wealthy and important and that he was giving his very best to the audience.[511][512] Sinatra was also obsessed with cleanliness—while with the Tommy Dorsey band, he developed the nickname "Lady Macbeth" because of frequent showering and switching his outfits.[513] Sinatra's deep blue eyes earned him the popular nickname "Ol' Blue Eyes".[514]
Sinatra in 1955
For Santopietro, Sinatra was the personification of America in the 1950s: "cocky, eye on the main chance, optimistic, and full of the sense of possibility."[515] Barbara Sinatra wrote, "A big part of Frank's thrill was the sense of danger that he exuded, an underlying, ever-present tension only those closest to him knew could be defused with humor."[501]Cary Grant, a friend of Sinatra, stated that Sinatra was the "most honest person he'd ever met", who spoke "a simple truth, without artifice which scared people", and was often moved to tears by his performances.[516] Jo-Caroll Dennison commented that he possessed "great inner strength" and that his energy and drive were "enormous."[143] A workaholic, Sinatra reportedly only slept four hours a night on average.[517] Throughout his life, Sinatra had mood swings and bouts of mild to severedepression,[518] stating to an interviewer in the 1950s that "I have an over-acute capacity for sadness as well as elation."[519] Barbara Sinatra stated that he would "snap at anyone for the slightest misdemeanor",[520] while Van Heusen said that when Sinatra got drunk, it was "best to disappear."[521]
Sinatra's mood swings often developed into violence, directed at people he felt had crossed him, particularly journalists who gave him scathing reviews, publicists, and photographers.[522] According to Rojek, Sinatra was "capable of deeply offensive behavior that smacked of a persecution complex."[523] He received negative press for fights withLee Mortimer in 1947, photographer Eddie Schisser inHouston in 1950, Judy Garland's publicistJim Byron on theSunset Strip in 1954,[522][524] and for a confrontation withWashington Post journalistMaxine Cheshire in 1973, in which Sinatra implied that she was a cheap prostitute.[523][aj] His feud with then-Chicago Sun Times columnistMike Royko began when Royko wrote a column questioning why Chicago police offered free protection to Sinatra when he had his own security. Sinatra wrote an angry letter in response, calling Royko a "pimp" and threatening to "punch you in the mouth" for speculating that he wore atoupée.[525]
Sinatra was also known for his generosity,[526] particularly after his comeback. Kelley notes that whenLee J. Cobb nearly died from a heart attack in June 1955, Sinatra flooded him with "books, flowers, delicacies", paid his hospital bills, and visited him daily, telling him that his "finest acting" was yet to come.[527]
Sinatra became the stereotype of the "tough working-class Italian American", something that he embraced. Sinatra said that if it had not been for his interest in music, he would have likely ended up in a life of crime.[528]Willie Moretti was Sinatra's godfather and the notoriousunderboss of theGenovese crime family, and he helped Sinatra in exchange for kickbacks and was reported to have intervened in releasing Sinatra from his contract with Tommy Dorsey.[529] Sinatra was present at the MafiaHavana Conference in 1946,[530] and the press learned of his being there withLucky Luciano. One newspaper published the headline "Shame, Sinatra".[531] He was reported to be a good friend of mobsterSam Giancana,[532] Kelley quoted Jo-Carrol Silvers that Sinatra "adored"Bugsy Siegel and boasted to friends about him and how many people Siegel had killed.[533] Kelley says that Sinatra and mobsterJoseph Fischetti had been good friends from 1938 onward and acted like "Sicilian brothers".[534] She also states that Sinatra andHank Sanicola were financial partners withMickey Cohen in the gossip magazineHollywood Night Life.[535] (Johnny) Roselli's membership in the Friars Club in Beverly Hills was sponsored by celebrity singer and Friars Club abbot Frank Sinatra.[536]
The FBI kept records amounting to 2,403 pages on Sinatra, who was a natural target with his alleged Mafia ties, his ardentNew Deal politics, and his friendship withJohn F. Kennedy.[537] The FBI kept him under surveillance for almost five decades beginning in the 1940s. The documents include accounts of Sinatra as the target of death threats and extortion schemes.[538] The FBI documented that Sinatra was losing esteem with the Mafia as he grew closer to President Kennedy, whose younger brother Attorney GeneralRobert F. Kennedy was leading a crackdown on organized crime.[539] Sinatra said he was not involved: "Any report that I fraternized with goons or racketeers is a vicious lie."[540]
Sinatra held varied political views throughout his life. His mother, Dolly, was aDemocratic Party ward leader.[547] After meeting PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, Sinatra subsequently heavily campaigned for the Democrats in the1944 presidential election.[548] According to Jo Carroll Silvers, in his younger years, Sinatra had "ardent liberal" sympathies and was "so concerned about poor people that he was always quotingHenry Wallace."[549] Sinatra was outspoken against racism, particularly toward black people and Italians, from a young age. In the early 1950s, he was among those who campaigned to combine the racially segregated musicians' unions in Los Angeles.[550] In November 1945, Sinatra was invited by the mayor ofGary, Indiana, to try to settle a strike by white students of Froebel High School against the "Pro-Negro" policies of the new principal.[551] His comments, while praised by liberal publications, led to accusations by some that he was acommunist, which Sinatra denied.[552] In the1948 presidential election, he actively campaigned for PresidentHarry S. Truman.[553] In 1952 and 1956, Sinatra campaigned forAdlai Stevenson.[553]
Of all the U.S. presidents Sinatra associated with during his career, he was closest to John F. Kennedy.[553] Sinatra often invited Kennedy to Hollywood and Las Vegas, and the two would womanize and enjoy parties together.[554] In January 1961, Sinatra andPeter Lawford organized theInaugural Gala in Washington, D.C., held on the evening before President Kennedy was sworn into office.[553] After taking office, Kennedy distanced himself from Sinatra due partly to Sinatra's ties with the Mafia.[555] In 1962, Sinatra was snubbed by the President as, during his visit to hisPalm Springs, Kennedy stayed with the Republican Bing Crosby instead of Sinatra, citing FBI concerns about the latter's alleged connections to organized crime.[al] Sinatra had spared no expense upgrading the facilities at his home in anticipation of the President's visit, fitting it with a heliport, which he smashed with a sledgehammer after the rejection.[557][558] Despite the snub, when Sinatra learned of Kennedy's assassination, he reportedly sobbed in his bedroom for three days.[553][am] Sinatra worked withHubert H. Humphrey in 1968,[560] and remained a supporter of the Democratic Party until the early 1970s. Although still a registered Democrat, Sinatra endorsedRepublican Ronald Reagan for a second term asgovernor of California in 1970.[561][553] Sinatra officially changed allegiance in July 1972 when he supportedRichard Nixon in the1972 presidential election.[553]
In the1980 presidential election, Sinatra donated $4million to Ronald Reagan's campaign.[562] Sinatra arranged Reagan's Presidential gala, as he had done for Kennedy.[563][564] In 1985, Reagan presented Sinatra with thePresidential Medal of Freedom, remarking, "His love of country, his generosity for those less fortunate... make him one of our most remarkable and distinguished Americans."[329]
Sinatra watching anIDF military parade during a visit toIsrael, 1962
Santopietro notes that Sinatra was a "lifelong sympathizer withJewish causes."[565] He was awarded theHollzer Memorial Award by theLos Angeles Jewish Community in 1949.[136] Sinatra gave a series of concerts in Israel in 1962 and donated his entire $50,000 fee for appearing in a cameo role inCast a Giant Shadow (1966) to the Youth Center in Jerusalem.[565] On November 1, 1972, Sinatra raised $6.5million in bond pledges for Israel,[285] and was given the Medallion of Valor.[277] The Frank Sinatra Student Center at theHebrew University of Jerusalem was dedicated in 1978.[317]
From his youth, Sinatra displayed sympathy for black Americans and worked both publicly and privately all his life to help the struggle for equal rights. He blamed racial prejudice on the parents of children.[566] Sinatra played a major role in thedesegregation ofNevada hotels and casinos in the 1950s and 1960s.[567] On January 27, 1961, Sinatra played a benefit show at Carnegie Hall forMartin Luther King Jr. and led his fellow Rat Pack members and Reprise label mates in boycotting hotels and casinos that refused entry to black patrons and performers. According to his son, Frank Jr., King sat weeping in the audience at one of his father's concerts in 1963 as Sinatra sang "Ol' Man River", a song from the musicalShow Boat that is sung by a black American stevedore.[568] When he changed his political affiliations in 1970, Sinatra became less outspoken on racial issues.[328]
Sinatra's grave, as seen in 2004, located atDesert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California (gravestone replaced in 2021)
During the final years of his life, Sinatra was in ill health and was frequently hospitalized forheart andbreathing problems,high blood pressure,pneumonia, andbladder cancer. He made no public appearances following aheart attack in February 1997.[569] On the evening of May 14, 1998, Sinatra died in his sleep at age 82 after suffering another heart attack atCedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, with his wife Barbara at his side.[569][570][571] Barbara encouraged Sinatra to "fight" while attempts were made to stabilize him, and reported that Sinatra's final words were, "I'm losing."[572] His daughter, Tina, later wrote that she and her siblings had not been notified of their father's final hospitalization, and it was her belief that "the omission was deliberate. Barbara would be the grieving widowalone at her husband's side."[573] The night after Sinatra's death, the lights on theEmpire State Building were turned blue, the lights at theLas Vegas Strip were dimmed, and the casinos stopped spinning for one minute.[570][574] Significant increases in recording sales worldwide were reported byBillboard in the month of Sinatra's death.[241]
Sinatra was buried in a blue business suit; his grave, adorned with mementos from family members, was next to his parents inDesert Memorial Park inCathedral City, California.[576] The phrases "The Best Is Yet to Come", and "Beloved Husband & Father" were placed on Sinatra's modest grave marker.[577] Sinatra's gravestone was changed as of 2021[update] to read "Sleep Warm, Poppa", due to damage to the original gravestone.[578]
Robert Christgau referred to Sinatra as "the greatest singer of the 20th century".[5] His popularity is matched only byElvis Presley,the Beatles, andMichael Jackson.[neutrality isdisputed][569] For Santopietro, Sinatra was the "greatest male pop singer in the history of America",[579] who amassed "unprecedented power onscreen and off", and "seemed to exemplify the common man, an ethnic twentieth-century American male who reached the 'top of the heap', yet never forgot his roots." Santopietro argues that his career was centered around power, perfecting the ability to capture an audience.[580]
Gus Levene commented that Sinatra's strength was that when it came to lyrics, telling a story musically, Sinatra displayed a "genius" ability and feeling, which with the "rare combination of voice and showmanship" made him the "original singer" which others who followed most tried to emulate.[581]George Roberts, a trombonist in Sinatra's band, remarked that Sinatra had a "charisma, or whatever it is about him, that no one else had."[582] Biographer Arnold Shaw considered that "If Las Vegas had not existed, Sinatra could have invented it." He quoted reporterJames Bacon in saying that Sinatra was the "swinging image on which the town is built", adding that no other entertainer quite "embodied the glamour" associated with Las Vegas.[145] Sinatra is seen as one of the icons of the 20th century,[6] and has three stars on theHollywood Walk of Fame.[583]
Memorabilia from Sinatra's life and career, such as Frank Sinatra's awards, gold records, and various personal items, are displayed atUSC's Frank Sinatra Hall in Los Angeles and atWynn Resort's Sinatra restaurant in Las Vegas.[593][594]
Sinatra's three stars for recording, television, and motion pictures on theHollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles
Sinatra received threehonorary degrees during his lifetime. In May 1976, he was invited to speak at theUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas graduation commencement and was bestowed an Honorary Doctorate litterarum humanarum.[599] During his speech, Sinatra stated that his education had come from "the school of hard knocks" and that "this is the first educational degree I have ever held in my hand. I will never forget what you have done for me today".[600] In 1984 and 1985, Sinatra received an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts fromLoyola Marymount University and an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering from theStevens Institute of Technology.[601][602]
In 2023,Rolling Stone ranked Sinatra at No. 19 on their list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.[603]
In 2024, a new road in NorthBristol was namedSinatra Way, to commemorate Sinatra's 1953 visit toFrenchay Hospital.[604]
In 2021, Sinatra was portrayed by actor Frank John Hughes in the Paramount+ limited series, The Offer.
Sinatra believed that Johnny Fontane, a mob-associated singer inMario Puzo's novelThe Godfather (1969), was based on him. Puzo wrote in 1972 that when the author and singer met inChasen's, Sinatra "started to shout abuse", threatening violence.Francis Ford Coppola, director of thefilm adaptation, said in theaudio commentary that "Obviously Johnny Fontane was inspired by a kind of Frank Sinatra character".[619]
^On his original birth certificate, Sinatra's name was recorded incorrectly as "Frank Sinestro", a clerical error. In May 1945, he officially corrected the name on his birth certificate to "Francis A. Sinatra".[8]
^The house at 415 Monroe Street burned down and no longer exists.[11] The site is marked by a brick archway with a bronze plaque on the sidewalk that reads, "Francis Albert Sinatra: The Voice".[11] The building at 417 Monroe Street has a "From Here to Eternity", sign with images of an Oscar statue.[12] It was opened as a museum by Ed Shirak in 2001, but closed after five years because of maintenance issues.[11]
^Dolly was reportedly arrested six or seven times and convicted twice for providing illegal abortions,[26] the first of which was in 1937.[27]
^In 1920,Prohibition of alcohol became law in the US. Dolly and Marty ran a tavern during those years, allowed to operate openly by local officials who refused to enforce the law.[32]
^Sinatra's loss of employment at the newspaper led to a life-long rift with Garrick. Dolly said of it, "My son is like me. You cross him, he never forgets."[42]
^Nancy Sinatra notes that he owned a Chrysler and people would show amazement that such a young kid could afford it.[49]
^The jealousy exhibited by the group members often led to brawls in which they would beat up the small, skinny young Sinatra.[54]
^ Only one copy of this recording was made, a 78rpm disc. Mane wrote "Frank Sinatra" on the record label and kept the recording in a drawer through the years, giving Sinatra a copy on a cassette tape as a gift in 1979. Mane died in 1998, only months after Sinatra's death; in 2006, Mane's widow offered the recording for sale through Gurnsey's auction house in New York.[58]
^The only sticking point was that James wanted Sinatra to change his name to Frankie Satin, as he thought that Sinatra sounded too Italian.[60] Neither Sinatra nor his mother would agree to this; he told James that his cousin,Ray Sinatra, was a bandleader in Boston, kept his own name and was doing well with it. James actually knew Ray Sinatra, so he did not press the issue.[61][62]
^the vocalist, not to be confused with the comedianJack E. Leonard.
^Sinatra acknowledged his debt to James throughout his life, and upon hearing of James' death in 1983, stated: "he is the one that made it all possible."[69]
^Kelley says that arguments and fights regularly broke out between Sinatra and Rich, who were both arrogant with volatile tempers. In one incident witnessed by Stafford backstage at theAstor Hotel in New York, Rich called Sinatra a name, and Sinatra threw a heavy glass pitcher filled with water and ice at Rich's head. In another incident at theGolden Gate Theater in San Francisco, Rich reportedly attempted to ram Sinatra against the wall with his high F cymbal.[75]
^Sinatra said: "The reason I wanted to leave Tommy's band was that Crosby was Number One, way up on top of the pile. In the open field, you might say, were some awfully good singers with the orchestras.Bob Eberly (withJimmy Dorsey) was a fabulous vocalist.Mr. Como (withTed Weems) is such a wonderful singer. I thought if I don't make a move out of this and try to do it on my own soon, one of those guys will do it, and I'll have to fight all three of them to get a position".[84]
^Sinatra's lawyer, Henry Jaffe, met with Dorsey's lawyer N. Joseph Ross in Los Angeles in August 1943. In the words of Kelley: "In the end, MCA, an agency representing Dorsey and courting Sinatra, made Dorsey a $60,000 offer, which he accepted. To obtain Frank as a client, the agency paid Dorsey $35,000 while Sinatra paid $25,000, which he borrowed from Manie Sacks as an advance against his royalties from Columbia Records. MCA agreed that until 1948, it would split its commissions on Sinatra with GAC, the agency Frank had signed with when he left the Dorsey band."[85] However, during a 1979 concert at theUniversal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, Sinatra said that it took him years to escape the contract and that Dorsey had cost him 7million dollars.[86]
^The incident started rumors of Sinatra's involvement with the Mafia and was fictionalized in the book and filmThe Godfather.[88]
^Sinatra was spotted in Havana in 1946 with mobsterLucky Luciano, which started a series of negative press articles, implicating Sinatra with the Mafia.[131] In 1947, he was involved in a violent incident with journalistLee Mortimer, who had written some of the most scathing articles on his alleged connections. Kelley says that his articles grew so offensive that Sinatra pounced on him outside Ciro's and punched him behind the left ear in response to an insult in which he was called a "dago". Sinatra was taken to court, and according to Kelley, Mortimer received Mafia threats to drop the case or lose his life.[132]
^Miller tried to offset Sinatra's declining record sales by introducing "gimmicky novel tunes" in his repertoire, such as "Mama Will Bark" to appeal to younger audiences.[150][151] "Mama Will Bark" is often cited as the worst of Sinatra's career. Miller thought he would try this novelty approach for Sinatra because he felt his "great records" were not selling.[152] Initially, Sinatra went along with this approach, but eventually, he came to resent Miller for the poor material he was being offered.[153]
^Sinatra was not very enthusiastic about the song initially. His friend, Jimmy Van Heusen, convinced him that the song would be a success.[172]Young at Heart was produced by Day's husband at the time,Marty Melcher, whom Sinatra detested. Their feud grew worse when Melcher suggested that Day sing "Young at Heart" as the film's title song when Sinatra's recording of the song was already a hit—Day conceded that she did not care whose voice was heard singing the film's title song. Because of the rift, theYoung at Heart soundtrack album contains all the songs heard in the film but the titleYoung at Heart. Sinatra's hit recording is heard at the beginning and end of the film.[173]
^Sinatra bought a two percent share in the hotel for $54,000.[187] At one point the share reached nine percent.[188] He was reportedly ordered to sell his interest in the Sands in 1963, due to his association with mobsterSam Giancana.[189]
^Granata noted that Riddle himself believed that the album came across as darker and more introspective than normal due to the death of his own mother who had recently died earlier in the month that it was recorded.[211]
^Nancy Sinatra notes that her father had a falling out with a bureaucrat in the country, who refused to admit Sinatra into his house. She says that though he was not formally banned from the country, the bureaucrat "made it seem so" and stated that the situation caused much humiliation to the family.[239]
^Hughes still resented Sinatra for marrying Ava Gardner, the subject of his own affections.[253] After Hughes saw to it that the hotel imposed restrictions on what he could gamble in the casino,[254] Sinatra began whatThe Los Angeles Times describes as a "weekend-long tirade" against the "hotel's management, employees and security forces",[255] culminating in a punch from executiveCarl Cohen that knocked the caps off Sinatra's front teeth.[256] He began performing atCaesars Palace.[257]
^Sinatra was playing a high stakesbaccarat at Caesars Palace in the early morning of September 6, 1970. Normal limits for the game are US$2,000 per hand; Sinatra had been playing for US$8,000 and wanted the stakes to be raised to US$16,000.[274] When Sinatra began shouting, hotel executive Sanford Waterman came to talk with him. Witnesses said Waterman and Sinatra both made threats, and Waterman pointed a gun at Sinatra. Sinatra returned to Palm Springs without completing his three-week engagement. Waterman was arrested[275] but not prosecuted.[276]
^Horne developed vocal problems, and Sinatra, committed to other engagements, could not wait to record.[334]
^Mitch Miller played English horn and oboe on the Sinatra-led recordings.[354]
^Riddle notes that Sinatra's range was from the low G to the high F, almost two octaves, but that his practical range was the low A-flat to a D, in comparison to Bing Crosby whose range was G to C.[364] Though Riddle stated that Sinatra's lowest was G, he often hit the low F in concerts and hit the low E at 0:41 in the recording of "What Is This Thing Called Love?" for the 1955 albumIn the Wee Small Hours.
^Sinatra successfully later sued a BBC interviewer who said that he'd used his Mafia connections to get the part.[402]
^Sinatra later remarked that he had always considered his performance inThe Man with the Golden Arm to have been the greatest of his film career and that he'd won the Oscar for the wrong role.[411]
^Sinatra had stormed off the set when he learned that the film was to be shot in both Cinemascope and a new 55-millimeter process. Refusing to make "two pictures for the price of one", he left the production and did not return. Fox initially sued Sinatra for a million dollars for breach of contract and replaced him withGordon MacRae. Fox agreed to drop the claim on condition that he appear in another picture of theirs.[416]
^Your Hit Parade was a popular weekly radio and television program from 1935 to 1958. Sponsored by American Tobacco Company's Lucky Strike brand of cigarettes, the show featured the top ten songs of each week.[452]
^ProducerIrving Mansfield described Sinatra as being obsessed with the thought that his wife, Ava Gardner, was having an affair with her former husband, Artie Shaw. He often started shouting about this on the set of the television show when he phoned his home and could not reach Gardner. Mansfield had to communicate with Sinatra through the entourage that always accompanied him to CBS. Sinatra was always late to work and did not care to spend any time at rehearsal; he blamed all those connected with the program for the poor ratings it received. Mansfield was at his wits' end with Sinatra and his television show and quit the program. Mansfield informed him that he was a man of great talent but a failure as a person, which led to Sinatra attempting to angrily fire him. Mansfield replied that he was too late, as he had resigned that morning.[457]
^Presley had responded to the criticism: "...[Sinatra] is a great success and a fine actor, but I think he shouldn't have said it... [rock and roll] is a trend, just the same as he faced when he started years ago."[464]
^While working at "The Rustic Cabin" in 1939, he became involved in a dispute between his girlfriend, Toni Della Penta, who suffered a miscarriage, and Nancy Barbara, a stonemason's daughter. After Della Penta attempted to tear off Barbato's dress, Sinatra ordered Barbato away and told Della Pinta that he would marry Barbato, several years his junior, because she was pregnant. Della Penta went to the police, and Sinatra was arrested on a morals charge for seduction. After a fight between Della Penta and Dolly, Della Penta was later arrested herself.[475] Sinatra married Barbato that year,[476] and Nancy Sinatra was born the following year.[477]
^Turner later said the statements were not true in her 1992 autobiography, saying, "The closest things to dates Frank and I enjoyed were a few box lunches at MGM."[481]
^Rojek states that Sinatra verbally assaulted Cheshire at a party in 1973, remarking, "Get away from me, you scum. Go home and take a bath... You're nothing but a two-dollar cunt. You know what that means, don't you? You've been laying down for two dollars all your life". According to Rojek, Sinatra then proceeded to place two-dollar bills in her wine glass and remarked, "Here's two dollars, baby, that's what you're used to."[523]
^According to Kelley, Giancana blamed Sinatra for the ordeal and was fuming at the abuse he had given to the commission's chairman Ed Olsen. The two men never spoke again.[543]
^ Kennedy was strongly advised byHenry E. Petersen, a senior official of the Justice Department, to avoid staying with Sinatra.[556]
^When Sinatra learned that Kennedy's killerLee Harvey Oswald had watchedSuddenly just days before the assassination, he withdrew it from circulation, and it only became distributed again in the late 1980s.[559]
^"The 37th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. October 5, 2014.Archived from the original on October 31, 2014. RetrievedOctober 4, 2015.
^"8th Annual Grammy Awards". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.Archived from the original on October 7, 2015. RetrievedOctober 6, 2015.
^"9th Annual Grammy Awards". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. RetrievedOctober 9, 2015.
^"Mother's death grieves Sinatra".Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. Associated Press. January 10, 1977. p. 2.Archived from the original on October 30, 2021. RetrievedOctober 17, 2020.
^abSafire, William (September 19, 1986)."Essay: The Truth About Frank".The New York Times.Archived from the original on October 11, 2015. RetrievedSeptember 30, 2015.
^Kelley 1986, p. 66:"'Frank sang beautifully, but he spoke with "deze, dem, and doze" diction ... He had a terrible New Jersey accent, but it didn't show in his singing'".
^Elsworth, Catherine."My life with Frank Sinatra".The Daily Telegraph. June 5, 2011.Archived from the original on January 21, 2019. RetrievedOctober 7, 2015.
^"Saturday Review".The Sydney Morning Herald. August 3, 1985. p. 41. RetrievedJune 13, 2021.
^Tresniowski, Alex; Lacayo, Richard (June 1, 1998)."A Swinger with Swagger".People.Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. RetrievedAugust 17, 2015.
^Bash, Avi; Niotta, J. Michael (2021).Logo: Images of America Los Angeles Underworld. South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. p. 89.ISBN978-1-4671-0638-2....But when newly sponsored friar Johnny Roselli grew wise, he insisted on a one-fifth partnership. Roselli's membership was sponsored by celebrity singer and Friars Club abbot Frank Sinatra
^Nelson, Michael (2000). "Ol' Red, White, and Blue Eyes: Frank Sinatra and the American Presidency".Popular Music and Society.24 (4):79–102.doi:10.1080/03007760008591786.S2CID159717929.
Lamb, David (August 24, 2011).The Africans. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.ISBN978-0-307-79792-6.Archived from the original on April 29, 2016. RetrievedOctober 20, 2015.
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