Life of Frank Sinatra Part III

 

Television and radio career

After beginning on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour radio show with the Hoboken Four in 1935, and later WNEW and WAAT in Jersey City, Sinatra became the star of radio shows of his own on NBC and CBS from the early 1940s to the mid-1950s. In 1942, Sinatra hired arranger Axel Stordahl away from Tommy Dorsey before he began his first radio program that year, keeping Stordahl with him for all of his radio work. By the end of 1942, he was named the "Most Popular Male Vocalist on Radio" in a DownBeat poll. Early on he frequently worked with The Andrews Sisters on radio, and they would appear as guests on each other's shows, as well as on many USO shows broadcast to troops via the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS). He appeared as a special guest in the sisters' ABC Eight-to-the-Bar Ranch series, while the trio in turn guested on his Songs by Sinatra series on CBS. Sinatra had two stints as a regular member of cast of Your Hit Parade; his first was from 1943 to 1945, and second was from 1946 to May 28, 1949, during which he was paired with the then-new girl singer, Doris Day. Starting in September 1949, the BBD&O advertising agency produced a radio series starring Sinatra for Lucky Strike called Light Up Time – some 176 15-minute shows which featured Frank and Dorothy Kirsten singing – which lasted through to May 1950.

In October 1951, the second season of The Frank Sinatra Show began on CBS Television. Ultimately, Sinatra did not find the success on television for which he had hoped. Santopietro writes that Sinatra "never appeared fully at ease on his own television series". In 1953 and 1954, Sinatra starred in the NBC radio program Rocky Fortune, portraying Rocco Fortunato (a.k.a. Rocky Fortune).

In 1957, Sinatra formed a three-year $3 million contract with ABC to launch The 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 $7 million. Though an initial critical success upon its debut on October 18, 1957, it soon attracted negative reviews from Variety and The New Republic, and The 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". In return, Sinatra later made numerous appearances on The Dean Martin Show and Martin's TV specials.

Sinatra's fourth and final Timex 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 of Elvis Presley and rock and roll in the 1950s, describing it as a "deplorable, a rancid smelling aphrodisiac" which "fosters almost totally negative and destructive reactions in young people." A CBS News special about the singer's 50th birthday, Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, was broadcast on November 16, 1965, and garnered both an Emmy award and a Peabody Award.

According his musical collaboration with Jobim and Ella Fitzgerald in 1967, Sinatra appeared in the TV special, A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim, which was broadcast on CBS on November 13. When Sinatra came out of retirement in 1973, he released both an album and appeared in a TV special named Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back. In the late 1970s, John Denver appeared as a guest in the Sinatra and Friends ABC-TV Special, singing "September Song" as a duet.

Sinatra starred as a detective in Contract on Cherry Street (1977), cited as his "one starring role in a dramatic television film". Ten years later, he made a guest appearance opposite Tom Selleck in Magnum, P.I.. Shot in January 1987, the episode aired on CBS on February 25.

Personal life

Sinatra was married to Nancy Sinatra (née Barbato) from 1939 to 1951. The couple had three children, Nancy (born 1940), Frank Jr. (1944–2016) and Tina (born 1948).

Sinatra met Barbato in Long Branch, New Jersey in the summer of 1934, while working as a lifeguard. He agreed to marry her after an incident at "The Rustic Cabin" that led to his arrest. Sinatra had numerous extramarital affairs, and gossip magazines published details of affairs with women including Marilyn Maxwell, Lana Turner, and Joi Lansing.

"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.

Sinatra was married to Hollywood actress Ava Gardner from 1951 to 1957. It was a turbulent marriage with many well-publicized fights and altercations. The couple formally announced their separation on October 29, 1953, through MGM. Gardner filed for divorce in June 1954, at a time when she was dating matador Luis Miguel Dominguín, but the divorce was not settled until 1957. Sinatra continued to feel very strongly for her, and they remained friends for life.

Sinatra reportedly broke off engagements to Lauren Bacall in 1958 and Juliet Prowse in 1962. He was romantically linked to Pat Sheehan, Vikki Dougan, and Kipp Hamilton. Sinatra and Mia Farrow were married on July 19, 1966, and the couple divorced in Mexico in August 1968. They remained close friends for life, and in a 2013 interview Farrow said that Sinatra might be the father of her son Ronan Farrow (born 1987). In a 2015 CBS Sunday Morning interview, Nancy Sinatra dismissed the claim as "nonsense".

Sinatra was married to Barbara Marx from 1976 until his death. The couple married on July 11, 1976, at Sunnylands, in Rancho Mirage, California, the estate of media magnate Walter Annenberg.

Sinatra was close friends with Jilly Rizzo, songwriter Jimmy Van Heusen, golfer Ken Venturi, comedian Pat Henry, baseball manager Leo Durocher, and president John F. Kennedy (who he organized an inaugural ball for with Peter Lawford). In his spare time, he enjoyed listening to classical music. He swam daily in the Pacific Ocean. He often played golf with Venturi at the course in Palm Springs, where he lived, and liked painting, reading, and building model railways.

Though Sinatra was critical of the Church on numerous occasions and had a pantheistic, Einstein-like view of God in his earlier life, he was inducted into the Catholic Sovereign Military Order of Malta in 1976, and he turned to Catholicism for healing after his mother died in a plane crash in 1977. He died as a practicing Catholic and had a Catholic burial.

Style and personality

Sinatra was known for his immaculate sense of style. 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. He 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. His deep blue eyes earned him the popular nickname "Ol' Blue Eyes".

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". 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". 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. Jo-Caroll Dennison commented that he possessed "great inner strength", and that his energy and drive were "enormous". A workaholic, he reportedly only slept four hours a night on average. Throughout his life, Sinatra had mood swings and bouts of mild to severe depression, stating to an interviewer in the 1950s that "I have an over-acute capacity for sadness as well as elation". Barbara Sinatra stated that he would "snap at anyone for the slightest misdemeanor", while Van Heusen said that when Sinatra got drunk it was "best to disappear".

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. According to Rojek he was "capable of deeply offensive behavior that smacked of a persecution complex". He received negative press for fights with Lee Mortimer in 1947, photographer Eddie Schisser in Houston in 1950, Judy Garland's publicist Jim Byron on the Sunset Strip in 1954, and for a confrontation with Washington Post journalist Maxine Cheshire in 1973, in which he implied that she was a cheap prostitute. His feud with then-Chicago Sun Times columnist Mike Royko began when Royko wrote a column questioning why Chicago police offered free protection to Sinatra when the singer had his own security. Sinatra fired off an angry letter in response calling Royko a "pimp", and threatening to "punch you in the mouth" for speculating that he wore a toupée.

Sinatra was also known for his generosity, particularly after his comeback. Kelley notes that when Lee 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.

Alleged organized-crime links and Cal Neva Lodge

Mobster Lucky Luciano

Sinatra became the stereotype of the "tough working-class Italian American," something which he embraced. He said that if it had not been for his interest in music, he would have likely ended up in a life of crime. Willie Moretti was Sinatra's godfather and the notorious underboss of the Genovese 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. Sinatra was present at the Mafia Havana Conference in 1946, and the press learned of his being there with Lucky Luciano. One newspaper published the headline "Shame, Sinatra". He was reported to be a good friend of mobster Sam Giancana, Kelley quotes Jo-Carrol Silvers that Sinatra "adored" Bugsy Siegel, and boasted to friends about him and how many people Siegel had killed. Kelley says that Sinatra and mobster Joseph Fischetti had been good friends from 1938 onward, and acted like "Sicilian brothers". She also states that Sinatra and Hank Sanicola were financial partners with Mickey Cohen in the gossip magazine Hollywood Night Life.

The FBI kept records amounting to 2,403 pages on Sinatra, who was a natural target with his alleged Mafia ties, his ardent New Deal politics, and his friendship with John F. Kennedy. 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. The FBI documented that Sinatra was losing esteem with the Mafia as he grew closer to President Kennedy, whose younger brother Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy was leading a crackdown on organized crime. Sinatra said he was not involved: "Any report that I fraternized with goons or racketeers is a vicious lie".

In 1960, Sinatra bought a share in the Cal Neva Lodge & Casino, a casino hotel on the shore of Lake Tahoe. Sinatra built the Celebrity Room Theater which attracted his show business friends Red Skelton, Marilyn Monroe, Victor Borge, Joe E. Lewis, Lucille Ball, Lena Horne, Juliet Prowse, the McGuire Sisters, and others. By 1962, he reportedly held a 50-percent share in the hotel. Sinatra's gambling license was temporarily stripped by the Nevada Gaming Control Board in 1963 after Giancana was spotted on the premises. Due to ongoing pressure from the FBI and Nevada Gaming Commission on mobster control of casinos, Sinatra agreed to give up his share in Cal Neva and the Sands. That year, his son Frank Jr. was kidnapped but was eventually released unharmed. Sinatra's gambling license was restored in February 1981, following support from Ronald Reagan.

Political views and activism

Sinatra held varied political views throughout his life. His mother Dolly was a Democratic Party ward leader, and after meeting President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944, he subsequently heavily campaigned for the Democrats in the 1944 presidential election. 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 quoting Henry Wallace". He 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. In November 1945 Sinatra was invited by the mayor of Gary, Indiana, to try to settle a strike by white students of Froebel High School against the "Pro-Negro" policies of the new principal. His comments, while praised by liberal publications, led to accusations by some that he was a Communist, which he said were not true. In the 1948 presidential election, Sinatra actively campaigned for President Harry S. Truman. In 1952 and 1956, he campaigned for Adlai Stevenson.

Of all the U.S. presidents he associated with during his career, he was closest to John F. Kennedy. Sinatra often invited Kennedy to Hollywood and Las Vegas, and the two would womanize and enjoy parties together. In January 1961, Sinatra and Peter Lawford organized the Inaugural Gala in Washington, D.C., held on the evening before President Kennedy was sworn into office. After taking office, Kennedy distanced himself from Sinatra, due in part to the singer's ties with the Mafia. In 1962, Sinatra was snubbed by the President as, during his visit to his Palm Springs, Kennedy stayed with the Republican Bing Crosby instead of Sinatra, citing FBI concerns about the latter's alleged connections to organized crime. 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. Despite the snub, when he learned of Kennedy's assassination he reportedly sobbed in his bedroom for three days. Sinatra worked with Hubert H. Humphrey in 1968, and remained a supporter of the Democratic Party until the early 1970s. Although still a registered Democrat, Sinatra endorsed Republican Ronald Reagan for a second term as Governor of California in 1970. He officially changed allegiance in July 1972 when he supported Richard Nixon for re-election in the 1972 presidential election.

In the 1980 presidential election, Sinatra supported Ronald Reagan and donated $4 million to Reagan's campaign. Sinatra arranged Reagan's Presidential gala, as he had done for Kennedy 20 years previously. In 1985, Reagan presented Sinatra with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, remarking, "His love of country, his generosity for those less fortunate ... make him one of our most remarkable and distinguished Americans."

Santopietro notes that Sinatra was a "lifelong sympathizer with Jewish causes". He was awarded the Hollzer Memorial Award by the Los Angeles Jewish Community in 1949. He gave a series of concerts in Israel in 1962, and donated his entire $50,000 fee for appearing in a cameo role in Cast a Giant Shadow (1966) to the Youth Center in Jerusalem. On November 1, 1972, he raised $6.5 million in bond pledges for Israel, and was given the Medallion of Valor for his efforts. The Frank Sinatra Student Center at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was dedicated in his name in 1978.

From his youth, Sinatra displayed sympathy for African 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. Sinatra played a major role in the desegregation of Nevada hotels and casinos in the 1950s and 1960s. On January 27, 1961, Sinatra played a benefit show at Carnegie Hall for Martin 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 musical Show Boat that is sung by an African-American stevedore. When he changed his political affiliations in 1970, Sinatra became less outspoken on racial issues. Though he did much towards civil rights causes, it did not stop the occasional racial jibe from him and the other Rat Pack members toward Davis at concerts.

Death and funeral

Sinatra died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, on May 14, 1998, aged 82, after two heart attacks. Sinatra was in ill health during the last years of his life, and was frequently hospitalized for heart and breathing problems, high blood pressure, pneumonia and bladder cancer. He also suffered from dementia-like symptoms due to his antidepressant use. He made no public appearances following a heart attack in February 1997. Sinatra's wife encouraged him to "fight" while attempts were made to stabilize him, and reported that his final words were, "I'm losing." Sinatra's 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 widow alone at her husband's side." The night after Sinatra's death, the lights on the Empire State Building were turned blue, the lights at the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed in his honor, and the casinos stopped spinning for one minute.

Sinatra's funeral was held at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills, California, on May 20, 1998, with 400 mourners in attendance and thousands of fans outside. Gregory Peck, Tony Bennett, and Sinatra's son, Frank Jr., addressed the mourners, who included many people from film and entertainment. Sinatra was buried in a blue business suit; his grave, adorned with mementos from family members, was next to his parents in Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California. The phrases "The Best Is Yet to Come", and "Beloved Husband & Father" were placed on Sinatra's modest grave marker. Sinatra's gravestone was changed as of 2021 to read "Sleep Warm Poppa", under mysterious circumstances according to the magazine Palm Springs Life.

Significant increases in recording sales worldwide were reported by Billboard in the month of his death.

Legacy and honors

Robert Christgau referred to Sinatra as "the greatest singer of the 20th century". His popularity is matched only by Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Michael Jackson. For Santopietro, Sinatra was the "greatest male pop singer in the history of America", 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 Sinatra created his own world, which he was able to dominate—his career was centered around power, perfecting the ability to capture an audience.

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. 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". Biographer Arnold Shaw considered that "If Las Vegas had not existed, Sinatra could have invented it". He quoted reporter James 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 as him. Sinatra continues to be seen as one of the icons of the 20th century, and has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in film and music.

In Sinatra's native Hoboken, he was awarded the Key to the City of by Mayor Fred M. De Sapio on October 30, 1947. In 2003 the city's main post office was rededicated in his honor. A bronze plaque, place two years before Sinatra's death in 1998, marks the site of the house where he was born. There is also a marker in front of Hoboken Historical Museum, which has artifacts from his life and conducts Sinatra walking tours through the city. Frank Sinatra Drive runs parallel to the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway. On the waterfront is Frank Sinatra Park, where a bronze plaque was placed in 1989 upon its opening. In the Frank Sinatra Park, a 6-foot (1.8 m) tall bronze statue of Sinatra was dedicated in 2021 on December 12, the date of Sinatra's birthday in 1915. A residence hall at Montclair State University in New Jersey was named in his honor. Other buildings named for Sinatra include the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, Queens, the Frank Sinatra International Student Center at Israel's Hebrew University in Jerusalem dedicated in 1978, and the Frank Sinatra Hall at the USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles, California, dedicated in 2002. Wynn Resorts' Encore Las Vegas resort features a restaurant dedicated to Sinatra which opened in 2008. There are several streets and roads named in honor of Frank Sinatra in several states of the U.S.

Various items of memorabilia from Sinatra's life and career, such as Frank Sinatra's awards, gold records, and various personal items are displayed at USC's Frank Sinatra Hall in Los Angeles and also at Wynn Resort's Sinatra restaurant in Las Vegas.

 

 

The United States Postal Service issued a 42-cent postage stamp in honor of Sinatra in May 2008, commemorating the tenth anniversary of his death. The United States Congress passed a resolution on May 20, 2008, designating May 13 as Frank Sinatra Day.

Sinatra received three Honorary Degrees during his lifetime. In May 1976, he was invited to speak at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) graduation commencement held at Sam Boyd Stadium. It was at this commencement that he was bestowed an Honorary Doctorate litterarum humanarum by the university. 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". In 1984 and 1985, Sinatra received an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Loyola Marymount University and an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology.

Tribute albums to Sinatra

A Jazz Portrait of Frank Sinatra by Oscar Peterson (1959)

Very Sinatra by Ruby Braff (1981)

Perfectly Frank by Tony Bennett (1992)

Voices in Standard by The Four Freshmen (1994)

As I Remember It by Frank Sinatra, Jr. (1996)

Manilow Sings Sinatra by Barry Manilow (1998)

Sinatraland by Patrick Williams and His Big Band (1998)

Blue Eyes Plays Ol' Blue Eyes by Si Zentner & Orchestra (1998)

Keely Sings Sinatra by Keely Smith (2001)

Michael Andrew Pays Tribute to Frank Sinatra by Michael Andrew (2002)

Steve Lawrence Sings Sinatra by Steve Lawrence (2003)

Plays Sinatra His Way by Joey DeFrancesco (2004)

Allow Us to Be Frank by Westlife (2004)

Songs of Sinatra by Steve Tyrell (2005)

Blue Eyes Meets Bed-Stuy The Notorious B.I.G. & Frank Sinatra by Jon Moskowitz and Dj Cappel & Smitty (2005)

L'allieva by Mina (2005)

Bolton Swings Sinatra by Michael Bolton (2006)

Dear Mr. Sinatra by John Pizzarelli (2006)

Ray Stevens Sings Sinatra...Say What?? by Ray Stevens (2008)

His Way, Our Way by various artists (2009)

Cauby Sings Sinatra by Cauby Peixoto (2010)

Sin-Atra a heavy metal tribute by various artists (2011)

Let's Be Frank by Trisha Yearwood (2018)

Film and television portrayals

Sinatra has also been portrayed on numerous occasions in film and television. A television miniseries based on Sinatra's life, titled Sinatra, was aired by CBS in 1992. The series was directed by James Steven Sadwith, who won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Directing for a Miniseries or a Special, and starred Philip Casnoff as Sinatra. Sinatra was written by Abby Mann and Philip Mastrosimone, and produced by Sinatra's daughter, Tina.

Sinatra has subsequently been portrayed on screen by Ray Liotta (The Rat Pack, 1998), James Russo (Stealing Sinatra, 2003), Dennis Hopper (The Night We Called It a Day, 2003), and Robert Knepper (My Way, 2012), and spoofed by Joe Piscopo and Phil Hartman on Saturday Night Live. A biographical film directed by Martin Scorsese has long been planned. A 1998 episode of the BBC documentary series Arena, The Voice of the Century, focused on Sinatra. Alex Gibney directed a four-part biographical series on Sinatra, All or Nothing at All, for HBO in 2015. A musical tribute was aired on CBS television in December 2015 to mark Sinatra's centenary. Sinatra was also portrayed by Rico Simonini in the 2018 feature film Frank & Ava, which is based on a play by Willard Manus. Creed singer Scott Stapp will portray Sinatra in Reagan, a biopic of U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

Sinatra was convinced that Johnny Fontane, a mob-associated singer in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather (1969), was based on his life. Puzo wrote in 1972 that when the author and singer met in Chasen's, Sinatra "started to shout abuse", calling Puzo a "pimp" and threatening physical violence. Francis Ford Coppola, director of the film adaptation, said in the audio commentary that "Obviously Johnny Fontane was inspired by a kind of Frank Sinatra character".

Discography

The Voice of Frank Sinatra (1946)

Songs by Sinatra (1947)

Christmas Songs by Sinatra (1948)

Frankly Sentimental (1949)

Dedicated to You (1950)

Sing and Dance with Frank Sinatra (1950)

Songs for Young Lovers (1954)

Swing Easy! (1954)

In the Wee Small Hours (1955)

Songs for Swingin' Lovers! (1956)

Close to You (1957)

A Swingin' Affair! (1957)

Where Are You? (1957)

A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra (1957)

Come Fly with Me (1958)

Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely (1958)

Come Dance with Me! (1959)

No One Cares (1959)

Nice 'n' Easy (1960)

Sinatra's Swingin' Session!!! (1961)

Ring-a-Ding-Ding! (1961)

Come Swing with Me! (1961)

Swing Along With Me (1961)

I Remember Tommy (1961)

Sinatra and Strings (1962)

Point of No Return (1962)

Sinatra and Swingin' Brass (1962)

All Alone (1962)

Sinatra Sings Great Songs from Great Britain (1962)

Sinatra–Basie: An Historic Musical First with Count Basie (1962)

The Concert Sinatra (1963)

Sinatra's Sinatra (1963)

Sinatra Sings Days of Wine and Roses, Moon River, and Other Academy Award Winners (1964)

America, I Hear You Singing with Bing Crosby and Fred Waring (1964)

It Might as Well Be Swing with Count Basie (1964)

12 Songs of Christmas with Bing Crosby and Fred Waring (1964)

Softly, as I Leave You (1964)

September of My Years (1965)

Sentimental Journey (1965)

My Kind of Broadway (1965)

A Man and His Music (1965)

Moonlight Sinatra (1966)

Strangers in the Night (1966)

That's Life (1966)

Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim with Antonio Carlos Jobim (1967)

The World We Knew (1967)

Francis A. & Edward K. with Duke Ellington (1968)

The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas with Frank Sinatra Jr., Nancy Sinatra and Tina Sinatra (1968)

Cycles (1968)

My Way (1969)

A Man Alone (1969)

Watertown (1970)

Sinatra & Company with Antonio Carlos Jobim (1971)

Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back (1973)

Some Nice Things I've Missed (1974)

Trilogy: Past Present Future (1980)

She Shot Me Down (1981)

L.A. Is My Lady (1984)

Duets (1993)

Duets II (1994)

See also

Frank Sinatra bibliography

Frank Sinatra's recorded legacy

The Frank Sinatra Show (radio program)

Notes

 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".

 The house at 415 Monroe Street burned down and no longer exists. The site is marked by a brick archway with a bronze plaque on the sidewalk that reads, "Francis Albert Sinatra: The Voice". The building at 417 Monroe Street has a "From Here to Eternity", sign with images of an Oscar statue. It was opened as a museum by Ed Shirak in 2001, but closed after five years due to maintenance issues.

 Other sources incorrectly say Catania.

 Dolly was reportedly arrested six or seven times and convicted twice for providing illegal abortions, the first of which was in 1937.

 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.

 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."

 Nancy Sinatra notes that he owned a Chrysler and people would show amazement that such a young kid could afford it.

 The jealousy exhibited by the group members often led to brawls in which they would beat up the small, skinny young Sinatra.

 Only one copy of this recording was made, a 78 rpm 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.

 The only sticking point was that James wanted Sinatra to change his name to Frankie Satin, as he thought that Sinatra sounded too Italian. 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.

 the vocalist, not to be confused with the comedian Jack 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."

 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 the Astor 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 the Golden Gate Theater in San Francisco, Rich reportedly attempted to ram Sinatra against the wall with his high F cymbal.

 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 (with Jimmy Dorsey) was a fabulous vocalist. Mr. Como (with Ted 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".

 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 that 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 that Frank had signed with when he left the Dorsey band." However, during a 1979 concert at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, Sinatra said that it took him years to escape the contract, and that Dorsey had cost him 7 million dollars.

 The incident started rumors of Sinatra's involvement with the Mafia, and was fictionalized in the book and film The Godfather.

 Sinatra was spotted in Havana in 1946 with mobster Lucky Luciano, which started a series of negative press articles, implicating Sinatra with the Mafia. In 1947 he was involved in a violent incident with journalist Lee 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.

 Sinatra bought a two percent share in the hotel for $54,000. At one point the share reached nine percent. He was reportedly ordered to sell his interest in the Sands in 1963, due to his association with mobster Sam Giancana.

 Miller tried to offset Sinatra's declining record sales by introducing "gimmicky novel tunes" into the singer's repertoire such as "Mama Will Bark" to appeal to younger audiences. "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 the singer's "great records" weren't selling. Initially, Sinatra went along with this approach, but eventually he came to resent Miller for the poor quality of material he was being offered.

 Sinatra was not very enthusiastic about the song initially. His friend, Jimmy Van Heusen, convinced him that the song would be a success. 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, the Young at Heart soundtrack album contains all the songs heard in the film but the title Young at Heart. Sinatra's hit recording is heard at the beginning and end of the film.

 Granata noted that Riddle himself believed that the album came across as darker and more introspective than normal due to the due of his own mother who had recently died earlier in the month that it was recorded.

 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.

 Hughes still resented Sinatra for marrying Ava Gardner, the subject of his own affections. After Hughes saw to it that the hotel imposed restrictions on what he could gamble in the casino, Sinatra began what The Los Angeles Times describes as a "weekend-long tirade" against the "hotel's management, employees and security forces", culminating in a punch from executive Carl Cohen that knocked the caps off Sinatra's front teeth. He began performing at Caesars Palace.

 Sinatra was playing a high stakes baccarat 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. 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 but not prosecuted.

 Horne developed vocal problems and Sinatra, committed to other engagements, could not wait to record.

 Mitch Miller played English horn and oboe on the Sinatra-led recordings.

 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. 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 album In the Wee Small Hours.

 Sinatra successfully later sued a BBC interviewer who said that he'd used his Mafia connections to get the part.

 Sinatra later remarked that he had always considered his performance in The 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.

 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 with Gordon MacRae. Fox agreed to drop the claim on condition that he appears in another picture of theirs.

 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.

 Producer Irving 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.

 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."

 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 Barbato, 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. Sinatra married Barbato that year, and Nancy Sinatra was born the following year.

 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".

 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".

 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.

 Kennedy was strongly advised by Henry Petersen, a senior official of the Justice Department, to avoid staying with Sinatra.

 When Sinatra learned that Kennedy's killer Lee Harvey Oswald had watched Suddenly just days before the assassination, he withdrew it from circulation, and it only became distributed again in the late 1980s.