14 May 1998: Frank Sinatra died of a heart attack in Los Angeles

Frank Sinatra Tribute

Someone once said, “Trying to define Frank Sinatra is like trying to analyse electricity.”

“To some Frank Sinatra epitomises a Dead End kid never grown up, yet to others he evokes elegance and gentility. He is a perfectionist who is impatient with the process of perfecting. A compassionate friend and fierce foe. A musical genius who doesn’t really read music. A maverick who lives by rigid codes. A winner who feels connected to losers. The complexities run deep.”
— Nancy Sinatra

(click to play New York, New York)

After the shock of the death of one of music’s finest singers and actors, tributes poured in for Frank Sinatra, who died at the age of 82 in May. We cannot really do justice to such a talented and accomplished performer in such a short article as this, but we shall try to highlight some of the main points of his life and career.

He once said of that: "Throughout my career, if I have done anything, I have paid attention to every note and every word I sing — if I respect the song. If I cannot project this to a listener, I fail."

In the Movies

From his first acting role in RKO’s Higher and Higher, to the definitive musical comedy, MGM’s On the Town with Gene Kelly, Frank’s movie career skyrocketed. Anchors Aweigh, his first MGM musical with Gene Kelly was a box-office hit and showed the critics that Frank Sinatra could not only sing like an angel, he could act, as well.

Then Frank made a brief departure from musical comedy to portray himself in the powerful short film at RKO, The House I Live In. His own idea, Frank donated his time and asked the same of others in order to convey to the world the message of tolerance. It won an Oscar. All proceeds went to youth-oriented charities.

Biography

He was born December 12, 1915 an an only child of Italian parents, and they spoiled him. They dreamed often of his studying to be a Civil Engineer. But Frank’s favourite passion was actually prizefighting.

He originally wanted to be a reporter. He went to a secretarial school and enrolled in a Journalism class, studying English, typing, and shorthand. Finally, his editor made Frank a cub sports reporter. Frank covered various school games he actually played himself. He was 18 at the time.

When it came to learning how to sing, Frank did it by singing. He never read a note, and never took a lesson! He did however enjoy his summers playing a ukulele on the beach.

One of Frank’s idols was Bing Crosby. After hearing Bing sing one night in 1935, he told his date Nancy Barbato (who one day would be his wife) that he just had to be a singer. Bing’s voice would be his role model for tone and phrasing styles in his own singing later on.

To get people interested in hearing him sing, he performed in neighbourhood theatre amateur shows. He later won a prize on Major Bowes Amateur Hour, which landed him his first professional contract: $25 per week for being a singer, headwaiter, master of ceremonies, and a comedian at a country roadhouse in New Jersey, in 1938.

Harry James heard Frank sing a year later and signed him to a two-year contract as lead vocalist in James’ new band.

Then, at a musician’s benefit in Chicago (December 1939), Tommy Dorsey approached Frank and told him he was looking for a vocalist. It was at this time that Frank acquired his following of young fans, which enabled him later to branch out as a solo artist.

Then in February 1939 he married his childhood sweetheart, Nancy Barbato.

Frank always wanted to serve his country. However, on December 9, 1941, three days before his 26th birthday, he was classified as "4-F" because of a "punctured eardrum" which kept him out of the Armed Forces.

Around November 1946, Columbia Records estimated that Frank was recording an average of 24 songs per year, enabling them to issue one new Sinatra record a month. At that time, his records were selling 10 million per year.

A talent agency marketing his voice advertised it as: "The Voice That Thrilled Millions". This sweeping phrase was condensed by a weary journalist to simply, "The Voice", which stuck. Then "The House I Live In", made at the peak of Sinatra’s popularity earned him a special Academy Award in 1945.

Mafia and communist links

Frank was first linked to the Mafia in February 1947 in a gossip column report that stated he was seen in Havana with mobster Lucky Luciano.

Later, in 1949, he was tied to both the Mafia "and" the Communists. The Committee on Un-American Activities said he followed or appeased some of the Communist Party line program. However, Sinatra denied any involvement with the Communists.

On April 8, 1947, Sinatra punched Hearst gossip columnist Lee Mortimer at Ciro’s (Hollywood’s hot night spot). The Hearst papers went wild, running whole pages on this incident, and repeated stories on the Mafia/Communist charges.

Sinatra said he punched Mortimer because the columnist called him a "dago"!

Sinatra hit rock bottom

1949 was Sinatra’s "rock bottom" year. He was fired from his radio show; his New York concerts flopped, and his personal life was falling apart just as fast. He and Nancy were splitting. His affair with Ava Gardner had become an open scandal. Columbia Records wanted him out. In 1950, he was released from his MGM film contract, and his own agent, MCA, dropped him. He was a has-been at 34.

Frank was sick, broke, and reduced to borrowing from Ava Gardner. His career and personality were near shambles. Friends tried to get him to get hold of himself. As it turned out, Frank Sinatra saved Frank Sinatra!

He read James Jones’ From Here To Eternity, and knew that the part of Maggio, the tough little Italian who refused to be broken, could have been written for him. He went to see Buddy Adler (Columbia Pictures Producer) and asked to be tested for the part.

Adler had 5 other actors ahead of Sinatra to test. Frank, then went to Henry Cohn (head of Columbia pictures) to sell himself for the role. Frank sold Cohn, got the part, and the rest is as they say, history! Sinatra underwent several hours of military training every day to prepare for his role.

Frank’s comeback

Frank won an Academy Award for his portrayal as Maggio. His comeback had started! Within a few months he was back on his feet, making Guys and Dolls, The Tender Trap, and The Man With The Golden Arm. He signed a new recording contract with Capitol Records and his singing was better than ever on actual records and in personal appearances.

Three records: ("Young At Heart", "Learnin’ The Blues" and "The Tender Trap") were million copy sellers. Capitol later released Songs For Swinging Lovers and NBC offered him a multi-million dollar TV contract.

Frank’s support of then Senator JFK was well documented and filmed. However, Kennedy’s campaign advisors worried about Sinatra’s Mafia aura and expressed the hope that the singer would keep his distance from the Senator, whilst still recognising Frank’s valuable contributions to event organisation.

After JFK had won the Presidential Election (1960), and in a gesture of classic macho deference, Sinatra offered to share girlfriend Judith Exner with the President. Kennedy liked the idea and began an affair with Exner.

Sinatra’s mistake

Then Sinatra went too far; he introduced Miss Exner to Chicago Mob leader Sam Giancana. Bobby Kennedy, in the middle of a campaign to crush the Mafia, put a stop to his brother’s involvement with Exner, and ultimately, strongly reiterated the need for Jack to stay free and clear of Sinatra.

The Kennedys had been planning to stay with Sinatra in Frank’s Palm Springs compound. Sinatra had remodelled his house in anticipation of the presidential visit. At the last minute, JFK announced they stay instead with Bing Crosby. To the public, and to Frank, it was an inexplicable snub.

Sinatra married Mia Farrow in 1966. He just finished an album he called "September of My Years". At this time, Frank was 51, Mia 21. They were separated 16 months later in November of 1967 acknowledging that they spent little time together.

Retirement years

Frank’s key moment in shifting from left to right wing politics came during his retirement years. The key moment came when the House Crime Committee held a new investigation of Sinatra’s mob ties in 1972.

The main evidence against him was the testimony of a confessed hit man who said that a New England Mafia boss had boasted that Sinatra was "fronting" for him as part owner to two resort hotels. The committee called Sinatra, but later admitted that the evidence was all hearsay.

Sinatra explained his shift in political thinking in a New York Times piece he wrote right after his appearance before the committee. His old politics of "standing up for the little guy" had been altered. He now embraced the right-wing populism that defined the principal oppressor of the little guy.

Sinatra announced his retirement on March 23, 1971. At the time, he wanted to spend more time with his family and perhaps write. However, he was back in the studio on April 30, 1973 to record tracks for his Ol’ Blue Eyes Is Back LP. Obviously, he didn’t last long in retirement!

Frank Sinatra then married Barbara Marx on July 11, 1976. She was formerly married to one of the four famed "Marx Brothers", Zeppo Marx.

When Frank released Trilogy in 1980, it was heralded as his best work in 15 years. Rolling Stone stated that he was "deeper and rawer in his bass register, lighter and more inflective in the baritone range. In concert, the voice sounded impossibly big, animative, cunning, and formidable. It was as if the presence of an audience somehow impelled him to renewed levels of ingenuity and intensity."

In the early 1980’s, Sinatra performed in Rio de Janeiro before the largest audience (175,000 people) ever to attend a concert by a soloist-the event, at the time, was recorded in the Guinness Book Of World Records. As an aside note, Frank has also set box office records performing at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

At home he was always the perfect host and a great Italian cook! He let people believe he was out swinging every night of the week, when actually he was often home reading. He believed the Lennon/McCartney song "Yesterday" was one of the best songs ever written, and strongly feels that prizefighter Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest he ever saw.

Harry Connick Jr. on Frank Sinatra: "Sinatra is the total master of vocal technique. He was the first at holding phrases for such a long time, sliding from note to note. The way he can get vibrato on the high notes — it’s amazing. Then there is his breath control, the way he can hold phrases for 20 or 25 seconds. The best example is on ‘Old Man River’ from The Concert Sinatra album. He must have an extra set of lungs; I wish he kept them in my chest."

Frank Sinatra developed a unique white-blues style, supple enough to express the wide range of his own turbulent emotions. He transformed the tunes of the great writers into something personal by the sincerity of his performance; Sinatra actually seemed to "believe" the words he was singing. He will be missed by many.

Sources:
http://www.vex.net/~buff/sinatra/lists/frank-facts.html
http://www.asylum.com/sinatra/index.html

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Updated 12 March, 2003     © David King 2000-2003