EARLY LIFE
Francis Albert Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915, in an upstairs tenement at 415 Monroe Street in Hoboken, New Jersey.
He was the only child of Italian immigrants. His father Antonino Martino "Marty" Sinatra was a firefighter and his mother Natalina "Dolly" Garaventa, a Democratic ward boss.
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| Sinatra in 1957's Pal Joey |
At Francis's birth, the doctor thought he was a stillborn. Blue and not breathing, the doctor laid him on the counter while he attended to Sinatra’s mother. It was only when his grandmother picked up the newborn, ran him under cold water and slapped his back that Sinatra started breathing.
He weighed 13 pounds and 7oz when he was born in 1915 — almost double the average of a newborn. Francis was so big he suffered scars to his ear and the side of his face from the forceps used to help deliver him.
Francis' mom also served as the neighborhood's midwife/abortionist. She ran her illegal abortion business from her home.
Though well-loved, Francis was a terror in school. He attended David E. Rue Jr. High School from 1928, and A. J. Demarest High School (since renamed as Hoboken High School) in 1931. He was expelled from the latter 47 days later for "general rowdiness". Sinatra's school principal wrote that he "showed no real talent for anything."
At the age of 17 Francis decided to become a singer after seeing Bing Crosby perform, a decision which got him thrown out of home. However, his mother soon relented, helping him to get local gigs with a group called the 3 Flashes, later renamed the Hoboken Four.
Frank Sinatra and The Hoboken Four, performed in blackface in a short film aired at Radio City Music Hall.
After gaining his job as a singing waiter at a nearby resort, Frank Sinatra boasted that he would "become so big that no one could ever touch him".
When Frank Sinatra was just starting out as a singer, he carried his own P.A. system to the dives in which he typically performed.
Frank Sinatra got his big break when bandleader Harry James' wife heard him sing as a waiter and recommended him to her husband.
Frank Sinatra made his first commercial recording on July 13, 1939 — "From The Bottom Of My Heart" and "Melancholy Mood" with Harry James and his Orchestra for the Brunswick label. No more than 8,000 copies of the record were sold.
It was only when bandleader Tommy Dorsey bought out Sinatra's contract with James that he became the most popular big-band vocalist in the land, but the singer became upset that his allowance from Dorsey didn't match his fame, so he lit out for a solo stint on Columbia.
Sinatra copied Trombone player Tommy Dorsey's breathing style to hold notes for longer. He also took up jogging to improve his lung capacity.
In 1942 Sinatra became the first band singer to go solo after breaking his contract with Tommy Dorsey. This move led to other singers to try to establish themselves as individual performers rather than being tied to a particular bandleader.
When Sinatra made his solo nightclub debut at New York's Riobamba the following year, he sang two songs "with trembling lips" and brought the house down.
When Frank Sinatra opened at New York's Paramount Theatre on December 30, 1942, he was dubbed "The Sultan of Swoon," as teen girls screamed and cried.
Frank Sinatra’s publicist auditioned and paid girls $5 to scream at his early performances to get the crowd excited.
Frank Sinatra became the idol of "bobbysoxer" teenage fans everywhere, culminating in the "Columbus Day Riot" of 1944, when 35,000 teenage girls mobbed the New York Paramount to see him sing.
At first, Sinatra was mostly known as a crooner, a singer of love songs and his professional career had stalled by the early 1950s. He turned to Las Vegas, where he became one of its best known residency performers.
Sinatra's career was reborn when he released several critically lauded albums featuring jazz and swing numbers, as well as love songs. They included In the Wee Small Hours (1955), Songs for Swingin' Lovers! (1956), Come Fly with Me (1958), Only the Lonely (1958) and Nice 'n' Easy (1960).
Frank Sinatra recorded concept records years before rock groups had the same idea. For a decade, he had pushed to make a cohesive LP at a time when no one in the record business was thinking beyond singles. Finally, his break-up with Ava Gardner provided the perfect catalyst. The 16 ballads he recorded for In The Wee Small Hours, a brooding cycle of torch songs, was arguably pop music’s first concept album.
He continued to release themed LPs. In 1965's September of My Years, a newly-50 Sinatra wrestles poignantly with mortality. Five years later, he released Watertown, a song cycle about a down and out divorcee in upstate New York, pondering his broken life in the Big Apple.
Frank Sinatra hated Rock and Roll, calling it, "the most brutal, ugly, desperate, vicious form of expression it has been my misfortune to hear." He later formed a great friendship with Elvis Presley after the two performed a jazzy duet on one of Sinatra's shows.
Sinatra was also an actor. He was in movies such as The Manchurian Candidate, High Society, From Here to Eternity, and The Man With The Golden Arm. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in From Here To Eternity.
Frank Sinatra ad-libbed the "Dooby dooby doo" closing scat part of "Strangers In the Night" as he disliked the lyrics. Iwao Takamoto, the animator who created the cartoon dog Scooby-Doo, said that he got the inspiration to name his character from Sinatra’s ad-lib.
Sinatra despised "Strangers In The Night", calling it "a piece of s----." Even though it was his biggest hit of the decade, the singer never included this number in any of his late 1960s specials.
Sinatra is the "father" half of the only father-daughter duet to ever hit #1, "Something Stupid" (which he sang with Nancy) topped the charts in 1967 in both the US and UK.
"My Way" originated as French song called "Comme D'habitude" (translation: "As Usual") by Claude Francois. Paul Anka discovered this song while visiting France, and re-wrote the lyrics as "My Way." Upon returning to the US, he gave it to Frank Sinatra, and it became one of his signature songs.
Frank Sinatra briefly retired in 1971, but returned to the entertainment industry less than two years later, with his comeback album Ol' Blue Eyes is Back.
During a 1974 tour of Australia, Frank Sinatra insulted the media, especially female media. The stagehands union refused to work his show until he apologized. Sinatra threatened to cancel his shows. The transport union refused to prepare his airplane for departure.
In 1985 "New York, New York" became the official anthem of the Big Apple. The announcement was made by then New York mayor, Ed Koch.
Francis' mom also served as the neighborhood's midwife/abortionist. She ran her illegal abortion business from her home.
Though well-loved, Francis was a terror in school. He attended David E. Rue Jr. High School from 1928, and A. J. Demarest High School (since renamed as Hoboken High School) in 1931. He was expelled from the latter 47 days later for "general rowdiness". Sinatra's school principal wrote that he "showed no real talent for anything."
At the age of 17 Francis decided to become a singer after seeing Bing Crosby perform, a decision which got him thrown out of home. However, his mother soon relented, helping him to get local gigs with a group called the 3 Flashes, later renamed the Hoboken Four.
 |
| Sinatra (far right) with the Hoboken Four on Major Bowes' Amateur Hour in 1935 |
Frank Sinatra and The Hoboken Four, performed in blackface in a short film aired at Radio City Music Hall.
CAREER
After gaining his job as a singing waiter at a nearby resort, Frank Sinatra boasted that he would "become so big that no one could ever touch him".
When Frank Sinatra was just starting out as a singer, he carried his own P.A. system to the dives in which he typically performed.
Frank Sinatra got his big break when bandleader Harry James' wife heard him sing as a waiter and recommended him to her husband.
It was only when bandleader Tommy Dorsey bought out Sinatra's contract with James that he became the most popular big-band vocalist in the land, but the singer became upset that his allowance from Dorsey didn't match his fame, so he lit out for a solo stint on Columbia.
Sinatra copied Trombone player Tommy Dorsey's breathing style to hold notes for longer. He also took up jogging to improve his lung capacity.
In 1942 Sinatra became the first band singer to go solo after breaking his contract with Tommy Dorsey. This move led to other singers to try to establish themselves as individual performers rather than being tied to a particular bandleader.
When Sinatra made his solo nightclub debut at New York's Riobamba the following year, he sang two songs "with trembling lips" and brought the house down.
When Frank Sinatra opened at New York's Paramount Theatre on December 30, 1942, he was dubbed "The Sultan of Swoon," as teen girls screamed and cried.
Frank Sinatra’s publicist auditioned and paid girls $5 to scream at his early performances to get the crowd excited.
Frank Sinatra became the idol of "bobbysoxer" teenage fans everywhere, culminating in the "Columbus Day Riot" of 1944, when 35,000 teenage girls mobbed the New York Paramount to see him sing.
At first, Sinatra was mostly known as a crooner, a singer of love songs and his professional career had stalled by the early 1950s. He turned to Las Vegas, where he became one of its best known residency performers.
 |
| Sinatra in November 1950 |
Sinatra's career was reborn when he released several critically lauded albums featuring jazz and swing numbers, as well as love songs. They included In the Wee Small Hours (1955), Songs for Swingin' Lovers! (1956), Come Fly with Me (1958), Only the Lonely (1958) and Nice 'n' Easy (1960).
Frank Sinatra recorded concept records years before rock groups had the same idea. For a decade, he had pushed to make a cohesive LP at a time when no one in the record business was thinking beyond singles. Finally, his break-up with Ava Gardner provided the perfect catalyst. The 16 ballads he recorded for In The Wee Small Hours, a brooding cycle of torch songs, was arguably pop music’s first concept album.
He continued to release themed LPs. In 1965's September of My Years, a newly-50 Sinatra wrestles poignantly with mortality. Five years later, he released Watertown, a song cycle about a down and out divorcee in upstate New York, pondering his broken life in the Big Apple.
Frank Sinatra hated Rock and Roll, calling it, "the most brutal, ugly, desperate, vicious form of expression it has been my misfortune to hear." He later formed a great friendship with Elvis Presley after the two performed a jazzy duet on one of Sinatra's shows.
Sinatra was also an actor. He was in movies such as The Manchurian Candidate, High Society, From Here to Eternity, and The Man With The Golden Arm. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in From Here To Eternity.
 |
| Sinatra and Grace Kelly on the set of High Society (1956) |
Frank Sinatra ad-libbed the "Dooby dooby doo" closing scat part of "Strangers In the Night" as he disliked the lyrics. Iwao Takamoto, the animator who created the cartoon dog Scooby-Doo, said that he got the inspiration to name his character from Sinatra’s ad-lib.
Sinatra despised "Strangers In The Night", calling it "a piece of s----." Even though it was his biggest hit of the decade, the singer never included this number in any of his late 1960s specials.
Sinatra is the "father" half of the only father-daughter duet to ever hit #1, "Something Stupid" (which he sang with Nancy) topped the charts in 1967 in both the US and UK.
"My Way" originated as French song called "Comme D'habitude" (translation: "As Usual") by Claude Francois. Paul Anka discovered this song while visiting France, and re-wrote the lyrics as "My Way." Upon returning to the US, he gave it to Frank Sinatra, and it became one of his signature songs.
Frank Sinatra briefly retired in 1971, but returned to the entertainment industry less than two years later, with his comeback album Ol' Blue Eyes is Back.
During a 1974 tour of Australia, Frank Sinatra insulted the media, especially female media. The stagehands union refused to work his show until he apologized. Sinatra threatened to cancel his shows. The transport union refused to prepare his airplane for departure.
In 1985 "New York, New York" became the official anthem of the Big Apple. The announcement was made by then New York mayor, Ed Koch.
Frank Sinatra was an avid supporter of civil rights. He was a generous financial supporter of Martin Luther King Jr, and was recruited by him to join the civil rights marches in the south. He would go on to receive a lifetime award from the NAACP.
In 1985, Ronald 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."
175,000 people assembled at the Maracaña Stadium in Rio de Janeiro to listen to Frank Sinatra perform on January 26, 1980. At the time, this set a Guinness World Record for the largest paying audience for a solo performer.
Sinatra was married 4 times. He was married to Nancy Barbato from 1939 to 1951, to Ava Gardner from 1951 to 1957, to Mia Farrow from 1966 to 1968, and to Barbara Marx from 1976 until his death.
When the 50-year-old Frank Sinatra married the 20-year-old actress Mia Farrow in New York in 1966, it caused a predictable media event. Their marriage lasted just two years.
Sinatra's son, Frank Sinatra, Jr., was kidnapped in 1963, but was eventually released unharmed. During his son's kidnapping, Frank Sinatra Sr spoke with the kidnappers via payphone often. Worried that he wouldn't have enough change for the call he started to carry 10 dimes wherever he went. He continued to do this for the rest of his life, and was even buried with 10 dimes in his pocket.
Sinatra was also part of the Rat Pack, a group of entertainers (musicians and actors), in the 1950s and 1960s. Other members included Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford. The name was informal, and the group was not an official organization of any sort, but a group of friends, who also referred to themselves as The Summit.
Frank Sinatra often visited the barber shop in the basement of the Hollywood Plaza Hotel to play gin rummy with the barber.
Sinatra owned an orange Lamborghini Miura in the 60s and famously said : "you buy a Ferrari when you want to be somebody. You buy a Lamborghini when you are somebody."
Kris Kristofferson got the idea for "Help Me Make It Though The Night" after reading an Esquire interview with Frank Sinatra. When asked what he believed in, Frank replied, "Booze, broads, or a bible... whatever helps me make it through the night."
Frank Sinatra played his final full concert at the Fukuoka dome baseball stadium in Japan on December 20, 1994. He forgot his lyrics several times and repeatedly introduced his conductor and son, Frank Jr.
The last song Sinatra ever performed live was "The Best Is Yet to Come." On February 25, 1995, Frank sang this number for a group of 1200 people on the last night of a golf tournament named for him.
Frank Sinatra died at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles on May 14, 1998 at 10.50pm aged 82, after suffering a heart attack. His wife Barbara was at his side.
Sinatra had been seriously ill for some time and had lived as a recluse in his final years.
The lights on the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed - and the roulette wheels stopped spinning for a minute - to mark the passing of Ol' Blue Eyes.
The words "The best is yet to come" are written on his tombstone.
Source Mental Floss
In 1985, Ronald 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."
 |
| Sinatra is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan |
175,000 people assembled at the Maracaña Stadium in Rio de Janeiro to listen to Frank Sinatra perform on January 26, 1980. At the time, this set a Guinness World Record for the largest paying audience for a solo performer.
PRIVATE LIFE
Sinatra was married 4 times. He was married to Nancy Barbato from 1939 to 1951, to Ava Gardner from 1951 to 1957, to Mia Farrow from 1966 to 1968, and to Barbara Marx from 1976 until his death.
When the 50-year-old Frank Sinatra married the 20-year-old actress Mia Farrow in New York in 1966, it caused a predictable media event. Their marriage lasted just two years.
Sinatra's son, Frank Sinatra, Jr., was kidnapped in 1963, but was eventually released unharmed. During his son's kidnapping, Frank Sinatra Sr spoke with the kidnappers via payphone often. Worried that he wouldn't have enough change for the call he started to carry 10 dimes wherever he went. He continued to do this for the rest of his life, and was even buried with 10 dimes in his pocket.
Sinatra was also part of the Rat Pack, a group of entertainers (musicians and actors), in the 1950s and 1960s. Other members included Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford. The name was informal, and the group was not an official organization of any sort, but a group of friends, who also referred to themselves as The Summit.
Frank Sinatra often visited the barber shop in the basement of the Hollywood Plaza Hotel to play gin rummy with the barber.
 |
| Sinatra in 1957 |
Sinatra owned an orange Lamborghini Miura in the 60s and famously said : "you buy a Ferrari when you want to be somebody. You buy a Lamborghini when you are somebody."
Kris Kristofferson got the idea for "Help Me Make It Though The Night" after reading an Esquire interview with Frank Sinatra. When asked what he believed in, Frank replied, "Booze, broads, or a bible... whatever helps me make it through the night."
LAST YEARS AND DEATH
Frank Sinatra played his final full concert at the Fukuoka dome baseball stadium in Japan on December 20, 1994. He forgot his lyrics several times and repeatedly introduced his conductor and son, Frank Jr.
The last song Sinatra ever performed live was "The Best Is Yet to Come." On February 25, 1995, Frank sang this number for a group of 1200 people on the last night of a golf tournament named for him.
Frank Sinatra died at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles on May 14, 1998 at 10.50pm aged 82, after suffering a heart attack. His wife Barbara was at his side.
Sinatra had been seriously ill for some time and had lived as a recluse in his final years.
The lights on the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed - and the roulette wheels stopped spinning for a minute - to mark the passing of Ol' Blue Eyes.
The words "The best is yet to come" are written on his tombstone.
Source Mental Floss
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