Frank Sinatra

Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. He is among the world's best-selling music artists with an estimated 150 million record sales.

Born to Italian immigrants in Hoboken, New Jersey, Sinatra was greatly influenced by the intimate, easy-listening vocal style of Bing Crosby and began his musical career in the swing era with bandleaders Harry James and Tommy Dorsey. He found success as a solo artist after signing with Columbia Records in 1943, becoming the idol of the " bobby soxers". Sinatra released his debut album, ''The Voice of Frank Sinatra'', in 1946. When his film career stalled in the early 1950s, Sinatra turned to Las Vegas, where he became one of its best-known residency performers and part of the famous Rat Pack. His acting career was revived by the 1953 film ''From Here to Eternity'', which earned Sinatra an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Sinatra then signed with Capitol Records and released several critically lauded albums, some of which were later considered as among the first " concept albums", including '' In the Wee Small Hours'' (1955), ''Songs for Swingin' Lovers!'' (1956), '' Come Fly with Me'' (1958), ''Only the Lonely'' (1958), '' No One Cares'' (1959), and ''Nice 'n' Easy'' (1960).

Sinatra left Capitol in 1960 to start his own record label, Reprise Records and released a string of successful albums. In 1965, he recorded the retrospective album '' September of My Years'' and starred in the Emmy-winning television special '' Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music''. After releasing '' Sinatra at the Sands'', recorded at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Vegas with frequent collaborator Count Basie in early 1966, the following year he recorded one of his most famous collaborations with Tom Jobim, the album '' Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim''. It was followed by 1968's '' Francis A. & Edward K.'' with Duke Ellington. Sinatra retired for the first time in 1971, but came out of retirement two years later. He recorded several albums and resumed performing at Caesars Palace, and released " New York, New York" in 1980. Using his Las Vegas shows as a home base, he toured within the United States and internationally until shortly before his death in 1998.

Sinatra forged a highly successful career as a film actor. After winning an Academy Award for best supporting actor in ''From Here to Eternity'', he starred in ''The Man with the Golden Arm'' (1955) and '' The Manchurian Candidate'' (1962). Sinatra also appeared in musicals such as '' On the Town'' (1949), ''Guys and Dolls'' (1955), ''High Society'' (1956), and '' Pal Joey'' (1957), which won him another Golden Globe. Toward the end of his career, he frequently played detectives, including the title character in '' Tony Rome'' (1967). Sinatra received the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1971. On television, '' The Frank Sinatra Show'' began on CBS in 1950, and he continued to make appearances on television throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

While Sinatra never learned how to read music, he worked very hard from a young age to improve his abilities in all aspects of music. A perfectionist, renowned for his style and presence, Sinatra always insisted on recording live with his band. He led a colorful personal life and was involved in turbulent relationships, including his second marriage to Ava Gardner. He later married Mia Farrow in 1966 and Barbara Marx in 1976. Sinatra had several violent confrontations, often with journalists he felt had crossed him or work bosses with whom he had disagreements. He was deeply involved with politics starting in the mid-1940s and actively campaigned for presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. Sinatra was investigated by the FBI for his alleged relationship with the mafia.

Sinatra was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1985, and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997. He received eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees Award, Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Sinatra was included in ''Time'' magazine's compilation of the 20th century's 100 most influential people. American music critic Robert Christgau called him "the greatest singer of the 20th century" and he continues to be regarded as an iconic figure.

Early life

Francis Albert Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915, in an upstairs tenement at 415 Monroe Street in Hoboken, New Jersey, the only child of Italian immigrants Natalina "Dolly" Garaventa and Antonino Martino "Marty" Sinatra, who boxed under the name Marty O'Brien. Sinatra weighed at birth and had to be delivered with the aid of forceps, which caused severe scarring to his left cheek, neck, and ear, and perforated his eardrum—remaining damaged for the rest of his life. When he was in an unconscious state, his grandmother resuscitated him by running her grandson under cold water until he gasped his first breath. Due to his injuries at birth, his baptism at St. Francis Church in Hoboken was delayed until April 2, 1916. A childhood operation on his mastoid bone left major scarring on his neck, and during adolescence he suffered from cystic acne that further scarred his face and neck. Sinatra was raised in the Catholic Church.

Sinatra's mother was energetic and driven, and biographers believe that she was the dominant factor in the development of her son's personality traits and self-confidence. Sinatra's fourth wife Barbara would later claim that Dolly was abusive to him when he was a child, and "knocked him around a lot". Dolly became influential in Hoboken and in local Democratic Party circles. She worked as a midwife, earning $50 for each delivery, and according to Sinatra biographer Kitty Kelley, also ran an illegal abortion service that catered to Italian Catholic girls, for which she was nicknamed "Hatpin Dolly". She also had a gift for languages and served as a local interpreter.

Sinatra's illiterate father was a bantamweight boxer who later worked for 24 years at the Hoboken Fire Department, working his way up to captain. Sinatra spent much time at his parents' tavern in Hoboken, working on his homework and occasionally singing a song on top of the player piano for spare change. During the Great 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". Excessively thin and small as a child and young man, Sinatra's skinny frame later became a staple of jokes during stage shows.''Sinatra at the Sands'' (1966), Reprise Records

At a young age, Sinatra developed an interest in music, particularly big band jazz and listened to Gene Austin, Rudy Vallée, Russ Colombo, and Bob Eberly while idolizing Bing Crosby. For his 15th birthday, his maternal uncle, Domenico, gave him a ukulele, and with the instrument, he performed at family gatherings. Sinatra attended David E. Rue Jr. High School from 1928, and A. J. Demarest High School (since renamed as Hoboken High School) in 1931, where he arranged bands for school dances, but left without graduating after having attended only 47 days before being expelled for "general rowdiness". To please his mother, he enrolled at Drake Business School, but departed after 11 months. Dolly found her son work as a delivery boy at the ''Jersey Observer'' newspaper, where his godfather Frank Garrick worked, and after that, worked as a riveter at the Tietjen and Lang shipyard. He began performing in local Hoboken social clubs such as The Cat's Meow and The Comedy Club, and sang for free on radio stations such as WAAT in Jersey City. In New York, Sinatra found jobs singing for his supper or for cigarettes. To improve his speech, he began taking elocution lessons for a dollar each from vocal coach John Quinlan, who was one of the first people to notice his impressive vocal range.

Music career

Hoboken Four, Harry James, and Tommy Dorsey (1935–1939)

Sinatra began singing professionally as a teenager, but even though he never learned to read music, he learned music by ear. He got his first break in 1935 when his mother persuaded a local singing group called the 3 Flashes to let him join. Baritone Fred Tamburro stated that "Frank hung around us like we were gods or something", admitting that they only took him on board because he owned a car and could chauffeur the group around. Sinatra soon learned they were auditioning for the ''Major Bowes Amateur Hour'' show, and "begged" the group to let him in on the act. With Sinatra, the group became known as the Hoboken Four, and passed an audition from Edward Bowes to appear on the ''Major Bowes Amateur Hour'' show. They each earned $12.50 for the appearance, and ended up attracting 40,000 votes before winning first prize — a six-month contract to perform on stage and radio across the U.S. Sinatra quickly became the group's lead singer, and, much to the jealousy of his fellow group members, garnered most of the attention from girls. 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".

In 1938, Sinatra found employment as a singing waiter at a roadhouse called "The Rustic Cabin" in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases