September 2018

Frank Sinatra
Singer, Actor

Frank Sinatra was an American singer and actor. Sinatra is one of the world's best-selling music artists with an estimated 150 million record sales. His popularity is matched only by Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, The Beatles and Michael Jackson. Sinatra is 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.

Francis Albert Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915, in Hoboken, New Jersey. His parents immigrated from Italy to the United States before he was born. At a young age, Sinatra developed an interest in music, idolizing Bing Crosby in particular. He began performing at local Hoboken social clubs and sang for free on radio stations such as WAAT in Jersey City. In New York, Sinatra found low-paying singing jobs.

Sinatra never learned music, he learned it by ear. He joined a local singing group called the 3 Flashes in 1935. Along with Sinatra, the group became known as the Hoboken Four and passed an audition from Edward Bowes to appear on the show. They won first prize with a six-month contract to perform on stage and radio across the United States. Sinatra quickly became the group's lead singer.

In 1938, Sinatra found work as a singing waiter in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. It was connected to WNEW radio station in New York City and he began performing with a group live.

In March 1939, saxophonist Frank Mane arranged for her to audition and record "Our Love", her first solo studio recording. In June, Harry James signed a two-year contract. Sinatra released his first commercial record "From the Bottom of My Heart" and several other records such as "All or Nothing at All", "On a Little Street in Singapore" etc.

In November 1939, Sinatra left James, and joined the band Tommy Dorsey as lead singer, replacing Jack Leonard. Sinatra made $125 a week performing at the Palmer House in Chicago. On January 26, 1940, he made his first public appearance with the band in Rockford, Illinois, opening the show with "Stardust". In his first year with Dorsey, Sinatra recorded over forty songs. On January 19, 1942, Sinatra recorded some solo, such as "Night and Day", "The Song is You", etc.

On September 3, 1942, Sinatra left Tommy Dorsey. He signed with Columbia Records as a solo artist on June 1, 1943. By the end of 1943 he was more popular in downbeat polls than Bing Crosby. During a trip to Rome he met the Pope, who asked him if he was an operatic tenor. In 1946, Sinatra released his debut album, "The Voice of Frank Sinatra," which reached No. 1 on the Billboard charts.

In financial difficulty following his divorce in 1951, and the decline of his career, Sinatra began singing at the Riverside Hotel in Reno, Nevada. Sinatra's decline in popularity was evident in his concert appearances. He performed to a half-full house at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. At a concert at Chez Paree in Chicago, only 150 people attended in a 1,200-seat venue. By April 1952 he was performing at the Kauai County Fair in Hawaii.

On March 13, 1953, Sinatra signed a seven-year recording contract with Capitol Records. His first session for the Capitol was in Los Angeles. After spending two weeks on location in Hawaii, Sinatra returned on April 30 for his first recording session with Nelson Riddle, an established Capitol arranger and conductor who had been Nat King Cole's musical director. Sinatra's first album for Capitol, "Songs for Young Lovers", was released on January 4, 1954.

In 1955 Sinatra embarked on his first tour in Australia. On June 9, 1957, he performed a 62 Minutes concert in Seattle. In 1958 Sinatra released the album "Come Fly With Me". It reached the top of the Billboard album chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the inaugural Grammy Awards. In 1959, Sinatra released the album "Come Dance With Me" which won Grammy Awards for Album of the Year, as well as Best Vocal Performance, Male and Best Arrangement.

In 1961 and 1962 he went to Mexico to perform for Mexican charities. The album "September of My Years" was released in September 1965 and won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. One of the album's singles, "It Was a Very Good Year", won the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, Male. "A Man and His Music" is a 1965 double album, which won the 1967 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

April 12, 1966; Sinatra released single "Strangers in the Night", which won the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, as well as a Grammy Award for Best Arrangement at the 1967 Grammy Awards.

He performed several charity concerts with Count Basie at the Royal Festival Hall in London. In 1974, he began touring the United States, Europe, the Far East and Australia. In 1975, Sinatra performed in New York with Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald, and with Basie and Sarah Vaughan at the London Palladium, and at the Aryamehr Stadium in Tehran for 140 performances over 105 days. In August, he performed several concerts in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, with emerging singer John Denver.

During a Labor Day performance in 1976, Sinatra reunited with old friends and comedy partners Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis for the first time in nearly twenty years. In March, 1977, he performed in front of Princess Margaret at the Royal Albert Hall in London. In 1979 he was awarded the Grammy Trustee Award. That year, former President Gerald Ford awarded Sinatra the International Man of the Year Award. He performed in front of the pyramids in Egypt.

In 1980, he performed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 1981, Sinatra became embroiled in controversy when he performed a ten-day engagement at the Sun City Resort and Casino in South Africa. In 1982, he earned $1.3 million from Showtime television rights to his "Concert of the Americas" in the Dominican Republic, $1.6 million for a concert series at Carnegie Hall in midtown Manhattan, New York City, and $250,000 in one evening at Chicago Fest. He donated much of his earnings to charity.

His memory failed him during concerts in the early 1990s, and he collapsed on stage in Richmond, Virginia in March 1994. His final public concert was held on December 19–20, 1994 at the Fukuoka Dome in Japan. Sinatra was awarded the Legend Award at the 1994 Grammy Awards. In 1995, to mark Sinatra's 80th birthday, the Empire State Building was lit up blue. In recognition of his many years of association with Las Vegas, Sinatra was elected to the Gaming Hall of Fame in 1997.

Sinatra died at a medical center in Los Angeles, on May 14, 1998, at the age of 82. The night after Sinatra's death, the lights on the Empire State Building turned blue, the lights on the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed in his honor, and the casinos stopped spinning for a minute. Sinatra's funeral was held on May 20, 1998 at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills, California. Sinatra was buried next to his parents at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California.

In 2003, the main post office in Sinatra's hometown of Hoboken was rededicated in his honor. There is also a marker in front of the Hoboken Historical Museum, commemorating his life. On the Hudson River waterfront is Frank Sinatra Park, where a bronze plaque was installed in 1989 and a 6-foot-tall bronze statue of Sinatra was dedicated in the park in 2021.

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, New York, the Frank Sinatra International Student Center at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, dedicated in 1978, and the USC School of Cinematic Arts' Frank Sinatra Hall in Los Angeles, dedicated in 2002.

Sinatra received three honorary degrees during his lifetime. in May 1976, from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. in 1984 and 1985, from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California, and from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Songs of Frank Sinatra

* I'll Never Smile Again (1940)
* We Three (1940)
* Imagination (1940)
* Dolores (1941)
* Do I Worry (1941)
* Everything Happens to Me (1941)
* Oh Look at Me (1941)
* Stardust (1941)
* This Love of Mine (1941)
* Two in Love (1941)
* Just as Though You Were Here (1942)
* There are Such Things (1942)
* All or Nothing At All (1943)
* Close to You (1943)
* In the Blue of the Evening (1943)
* It Started All Over Again (1943)
* It's Always You (1943)
* People Will Say We're in Love (1943)
* Sunday Monday or Always (1943)
* You'll Never Know (1943)
* I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night (1944)
* Dream (1945)
* I Dream of You (1945)
* Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night in the Week) (1945)
* White Christmas (1945)
* Five Minutes More (1946)
* Oh What it Seemed to be (1946)
* Coffee Song (1946)
* Day by Day (1946)
* They Say It's Wonderful (1946)
* Mam'selle (1947)
* Everbody Loves Somebody (1948)
* Three Coins in a Fountain (1954)
* Young at Heart (1954)

* Learning the Blues (1955)

* It was a Very Good Year (1966)

* Love's been Good to Me (1969)

* My Way (1969)

My Way of Life (1968)
Pocketful of Miracles (1962)
* Rain in My Heart (1969)

* Softly as I Leave You (1964)

Something Stupid (1967)

* Somewhere in Your Heart (1965)

* Strangers In the Night (1966)

* Summer Wind (1966)

* That's Life (1966)

* The World We Knew (1967)

* When Somebody Loves You (1965)

Frank Sinatra News and Images

Frank Sinatra sitting at a table in a nightclub next to his first wife, Nancy Barbato. Their married life from 1939 to 1951.

Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner at Riverside Hotel Casino Restaurant on August 20, 1951. Sinatra told reporters 'You can safetly say we will be married'. Sinatra is completing a two week Riverside singing engagement while he establishes a Nevada residence so he can get a divorce.

Sinatra was married to Hollywood actress Ava Gardner from 1951 to 1957. He and his bride Ava Gardner pose for a wedding picture following their marriage last night at Germantown, PA., home of Lester Sachs on 7th November 1951.

Frank Sinatra in London with his bride of a month US actress Ava Gardner forming a piano and vocal duet at Washington Hotel before 'Midnight Matinee' show at the London Coliseum on 8th December 1951

Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh is chatting with Frank Sinatra and his wife Ava Gardner at London's Empress Club. London on 9th December 1951.

Frank Sinatra at a party given by the Duke of Edinburgh and held at the Empress Club, London on 29th December 1951.

Frank Sinatra attends the premier of the 'Pandora and the Flying Dutchman' with his wife Ava Gardner on January 10, 1952 in Los Angeles, California.

Meet Danny Wilson is a drama musical film starring Frank Sinatra and Shelley Winters. The movie was directed by Joseph Pevney and written by Don McGuire. The film was released on 1st April 1952.

Frank Sinatra and his wife actor Ava Gardner seated together, at the Flamingo resort on 10th July 1952.

Frank Sinatra and his wife chat with Cleveland Browns football player Otto Graham during a party for Sinatra's film, 'Meet Danny Wilson', Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, California in 1952.

Frank Sinatra, currently appearing at a local nightclub, greets his wife, Ava Gardner, on her arrival by plane at Idlewild Airport on September 12 1952.

From Here to Eternity is a drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann, and written by Daniel Taradash, based on the novel of the same name by James Jones. It stars Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, and Frank Sinatra. The film was released on 5th August 1953

Donna Reed and Frank Sinatra hold their Oscars which they won for Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor respectively in the movie 'From Here To Eternity' on March 25, 1954 in Los Angeles, California.

Frank Sinatra and actress Lauren Bacall attend the after party for the 27th Academy Awards on March 30, 1955 in Los Angeles, California.

Frank Sinatra with actress Anita Ekberg at Romanoff's Restaurant on August 1, 1955 in Los Angeles, California.

Frank Sinatra and actress Kim Novak attend the premiere of 'The Desperate Hours' on October 10, 1955 in Los Angeles, California.

Guys and Dolls is a musical film starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra and Vivian Blaine. The film was made by Samuel Goldwyn Productions and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). It was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The film was released on 3rd November 1955.

The Tender Trap is a comedy movie directed by Charles Walters and starring Frank Sinatra, Debbie Reynolds, David Wayne, and Celeste Holm. The film was released on 4th November 1955

Lauren Bacalll, US actress, in conversation with Frank Sinatra at a bar, in 1955.

Frank Sinatra, one of the stars of the film, arrives at this 'Guys and Dolls' movie premiere with Deborah Kerr on 2nd December 1955.

Frank Sinatra, nominated for best actor for his role in 'The Man With the Golden Arm,' arrives with Peggy Connelly at the 28th Annual Academy Award Presentations here March 21st 1956.

High Society is a musical comedy film directed by Charles Walters and starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra. The film was produced by Sol C. Siegel for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film was released on 17th Jun 1956.

The Pride and the Passion is a Napoleonic era war film in Technicolor and VistaVision from United Artists, produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, that stars Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra and Sophia Loren. The film co-stars Theodore Bikel and Jay Novello. The film was released on 10th July 1957

Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner attending a Hollywood party.

Frank Sinatra in a party in 1958.

Queen Elizabeth II shakes hands with Frank Sinatra as she meets the stars attending the premiere of the Danny Kaye film 'Me and the Colonel' at the Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square, London on October 28th 1958.

Some Came Running is a 1958 American drama film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Shirley MacLaine, based on the novel of the same name by James Jones. The film was released on 18th December 1958

Never So Few is a war film, directed by John Sturges and starring Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Steve McQueen, Richard Johnson, Paul Henreid, Brian Donlevy, Dean Jones, Charles Bronson, and Philip Ahn, and featuring uncredited roles by renowned Asian actors Mako, George Takei and James Hong. The film was released on 7th December 1959

Can-Can is a 1960 musical film made by Suffolk-Cummings productions and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Walter Lang, produced by Jack Cummings and Saul Chaplin. The film stars Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine, Maurice Chevalier and Louis Jourdan, and introduced Juliet Prowse in her first film role. The film was released on 9th March 1960.

Frank Sinatra and girlfriend Juliet Prowse attend the SHARE Boomtown benefit party at the Moulin Rouge on May 13, 1960 in Los Angeles, California.

Ocean's 11 is a heist film directed by Lewis Milestone and starring five of the Rat Pack: Peter Lawford, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Joey Bishop. The film was released on 3rd August 1960.

Frank Sinatra chats with actress Natalie Wood in Los Angeles, California in 1962.

Von Ryan's Express is a World War II adventure film. It stars Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard, and is based on the novel by David Westheimer. It was directed by Mark Robson. The film was released on 23rd June 1965.

Marriage on the Rocks is a 1965 comedy film starring Frank Sinatra, Deborah Kerr, and Dean Martin. The film was written by Cy Howard and directed by Jack Donohue. The film was released on 24th September 1965.

Assault on a Queen is a action-adventure film, directed by Jack Donohue, starring Frank Sinatra and Virna Lisi. Based on a 1959 novel by Jack Finney, it was adapted for the screen by Rod Serling and released by Paramount Pictures on June 15, 1966.

Tony Rome is a detective film starring Frank Sinatra and directed by Gordon Douglas, adapted from Marvin H. Albert's novel Miami Mayhem. It also stars Jill St. John, Sue Lyon and Gena Rowlands. The film was released on 10th November 1967.

Frank Sinatra enjoys a cocktail at an event with his daughter singer Nancy Sinatra in 1967.

Lady in Cement is a detective film, directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Frank Sinatra, Raquel Welch, Dan Blocker, Martin Gabel and Richard Conte. A sequel to the 1967 film Tony Rome, and based on the novel by Marvin H. Albert, Lady in Cement was released on November 20, 1968.

The Detective is a crime film in Panavision directed by Gordon Douglas, produced by Aaron Rosenberg and starring Frank Sinatra, based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Roderick Thorp. Co-stars include Lee Remick, Jacqueline Bisset, Jack Klugman, William Windom and Robert Duvall. The film was released on 28th May 1968.

Frank Sinatra attends the Dinah Shore Celebrity Golf Tournament with Barbara Marx, whom he would later marry, in October 1971

Frank Sinatra sitting at a dinner table next to his fiancee, showgirl Barbara Marx, at the American Film Institute Tribute to actor James Cagney, at the Century Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles, California on 13th March 1974.