Barry Keenan (1940 – November 13, 2022) was an American businessman, best known as the mastermind behind the 1963 kidnapping of

Frank Sinatra Jr. Francis Wayne Sinatra Group note. (; January 10, 1944 – March 16, 2016), professionally known as Frank Sinatra Jr., was an American singer, songwriter, and conductor. He was the son of singer and actor Frank Sinatra and his first wife, Nancy ...

At the age of 21, Keenan was already successful in the business world, as well as being the youngest member of the

Los Angeles Stock Exchange The Los Angeles Oil Exchange was a regional stock exchange in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1899, in 1900 the name was changed to the Los Angeles Stock Exchange. In 1956, it merged into the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange. History The Los Ange ...

. Following a car accident, Keenan became penniless and addicted to painkillers, and he eventually hatched the kidnap-for-ransom scheme and enlisted others to help. Keenan, along with Johnny Irwin and Joe Amsler, conspired to kidnap Frank Sinatra, Jr. Keenan had a

psychiatric condition A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

in which he heard voices, and felt that his plan was blessed by God; since he intended to eventually pay the money back, he did not think the kidnapping was immoral. After successfully abducting Sinatra Jr. from the Harrah's Lodge at South Lake Tahoe, Keenan made contact with Frank Sinatra Sr. to make

ransom Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or the sum of money involved in such a practice. When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ''rançon'' from Latin ''red ...

arrangements. Sinatra initially offered one million dollars, but Keenan demanded significantly less instead: $240,000. (In 2022 terms, the demand paid would be the equivalent of $2.32 million, and the amount Sinatra offered would be equivalent to $9.68 million.) Despite the nature of the crime, Keenan felt that he was bringing the Sinatra family closer together and assisting the Sinatras in other intangible ways. Sinatra paid the ransom, and the three men released his son. Within days, all three conspirators were apprehended by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

. Keenan was sentenced to life plus seventy-five years in prison for his crimes, but only served four and a half years before he was released, on the grounds that he was legally insane at the time of the crime. After his release, Keenan became successful as a

real estate developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. R ...

. The kidnapping was the basis for ''

Stealing Sinatra ''Stealing Sinatra'' is a 2003 American television film directed by Ron Underwood and starring David Arquette and William H. Macy. Macy was nominated for an Emmy Award for his performance. The film tells the story of the idiosyncratic kidnapping ...

'', a Showtime movie released in 2003 starring

David Arquette David Arquette (born September 8, 1971) is an American actor and former professional wrestler. He is best known for his role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film franchise ''Scream'', for which he won a Teen Choice Award and two Blockbuster Enter ...

and

William H. Macy William Hall Macy Jr. (born March 13, 1950) is an American actor. His film career has been built on appearances in small, independent films, though he has also appeared in mainstream films. Some of his best known starring roles include those i ...

. In March 2020, it was announced that Keenan will be played by

Grant Gustin Thomas Grant Gustin (born January 14, 1990) is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his roles as Barry Allen (Arrowverse), Barry Allen / The Flash on The CW series ''The Flash (2014 TV series), The Flash'' as part of the Arrowver ...

in ''Operation Blue Eyes,'' a biopic about his kidnapping of Frank Sinatra, Jr. The film will be directed by

Joe Mantegna Joseph Anthony Mantegna (, ; born November 13, 1947) is an American actor. Mantegna began his career on stage in 1969 in the Chicago production of the musical ''Hair''. He earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Joseph Jeffe ...

. Keenan was interviewed about the affair by

Ira Glass Ira Jeffrey Glass (; born March 3, 1959) is an American public radio personality. He is the host and producer of the radio and television series ''This American Life'' and has participated in other NPR programs, including ''Morning Edition'', ...

in a February 2002 episode of the

WBEZ WBEZ (91.5 FM) – branded ''WBEZ 91.5'' – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois, and primarily serving the Chicago metropolitan area. Financed by corporate underwriting, government funding and lis ...

radio show ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internation ...

'', and by Mike Lanchin in a January 2014 episode of the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

series ''Witness''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keenan, Barry 1940 births Living people American businesspeople American kidnappers American businesspeople convicted of crimes