Saturday, December 12, 2009

Frank Sinatra



Frank Sinatra was born Francis Albert Sinatra on December 12, 1915 in Hoboken, New Jersey. The only child of Italian immigrants Natalie Della Garaventa and Antonio Martino Sinatra.

Frank Sinatra left high school without graduating, having attended only 47 days before being expelled due to his rowdy conduct.

Frank Sinatra got his first break in 1935 when his mother persuaded a local singing group, The Three Flashes, to let him join. With Sinatra, the group became known as the Hoboken Four. He next teamed up with Tommy Dorsey.

Frank Sinatra became a successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s.




In 1943, he went before his draft board on December 11, 1943, and received on his file a 4-F "Registrant not acceptable for military service," classification for a perforated eardrum.

The 1960s version of the group included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, and for a brief stint, Norman Fell (Mr. Roper from Three's Company). Marilyn Monroe, Angie Dickinson, Juliet Prowse, and Shirley MacLaine were often referred to as the "Rat Pack Mascots", a title which reportedly made these ladies feel like "one of the boys".



Frank Sinatra had a 62 year span of top-ten albums on Billboard -- from The Voice of Frank Sinatra which reached No. 1 in 1946 to Nothing But the Best, which reached No. 2 in 2008.


Frank Sinatra was the recipient of eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees Award, Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 1944, Frank Sinatra made his film debut in Step Lively.

Frank Sinatra's first big break in films was in 1945, he and Gene Kelly starred in Anchors Aweigh. Frank and Gene Kelly would go on to co-star in Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949) and On the Town (1949).




In 1946, he won an Honoray Academy Award for The House I Live In.

In 1953, Frank Sinatra won the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in From Here to Eternity.

In 1957, he won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for My Pal, Joey.

Frank Sinatra and his fellow Rat Pack members appeared in Ocean's Eleven (1960) and Sergeants 3 (1962).

Frank Sinatra also appeared in such films as The Kissing Bandit (1948), The Man With The Golden Arm (1955), Guys and Dolls (1955), High Society (1956), The Pride and the Passion (1957), Never So Few (1959), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Come Blow Your Horn (1963) and Dirty Dingus Magee (1970).



Frank Sinatra has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: motion pictures, recording and television.


In 1970, he was awarded The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

Frank Sinatra was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983.

In 1985, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan.

In 1997, he received the Congressional Gold Medal.

Frank Sinatra had three children: Nancy, Frank Jr. and Tina by his first wife Nancy Barbato (married 1939-1951). He was married three more times, to the actresses Ava Gardner (married 1951-1957) and Mia Farrow (married 1966-1968) and finally to Barbara Marx (married 1976), to whom he was still married at his death.

Throughout his life, Sinatra had mood swings and bouts of depression, symptoms of bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic depression.

When Bela Lugosi died virtually penniless, Sinatra quietly paid for his funeral.



Frank Sinatra died on May 14, 1998 of a heart attack with his wife Barbara by his side. He was 82 years old.