Frank Sinatra, Ol' Blue Eyes himself, is not only a legend in the music industry but one of the 20th century's biggest cultural icons. Sinatra began his legendary musical career during the swing era. When he embarked on a solo career in the 1940s, he became the idol of the "Bobby Soxers" who were teenage girls of the 40s that were fans of pop music. Sinatra went on to also have a successful career as an actor and is also remembered for being a member of The Rat Pack. Sinatra is undoubtedly one of the entertainment industry's biggest icons but he also lived a life filled with tragedy. Here are the details.
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00:00Everyone knows that Frank Sinatra will always be a legend.
00:04Ever since his heyday in the mid-20th century,
00:06Old Blue Eyes has captured the hearts of music lovers around the world.
00:10But few people realize just how tragic his life really was.
00:15This is the real-life story of Frank Sinatra.
00:18During his birth, Francis Albert Sinatra was almost ruled dead on arrival.
00:23Born on December 12, 1915, in the kitchen of his parents' New Jersey apartment,
00:27Sinatra weighed 13.5 pounds at birth and had to be removed from the womb with forceps.
00:33Frank was originally thought to be stillborn, as he was blue and not breathing.
00:37While the doctor was treating his mother, Frank's grandmother took the seemingly dead infant,
00:42ran him under cold water, and slapped him on the back, which suddenly revived him.
00:46And the mishaps didn't end there.
00:48Frank was actually supposed to be given the first name Martin after his father,
00:52but a misunderstanding led the priest to baptize the baby after his godfather, Frank Garrick.
00:58Frank's mother, probably a little exhausted by this point,
01:01decided to leave it alone and keep the name as it was.
01:04The forceps used during Frank's birth left him with a facial scarring on the left side of his
01:08face, neck, and jawline. This led him to receive the punishing nickname of Scarface from his peers
01:14in adolescence. During his singing career, Frank would endeavor to hide his facial imperfections
01:19with heavy makeup.
01:21In spite of his talent, Frank Sinatra actually had to grapple with loneliness during his childhood.
01:26Frank was the only child of Italian immigrants who were both very active and prominent in their
01:31Hoboken neighborhood. His father, Antonio Martino, or Marty, owned a local tavern and was a part-time
01:38prizefighter. Frank's mother, Dolly, was a midwife who often helped desperate women to obtain
01:43illegal abortions. Dolly was also involved in local politics and was elected Democratic
01:48ward leader in their neighborhood. His parents' work and activities meant they were often away,
01:53so young Frank was usually left on his own, or with his grandmother.
01:58Most children in Frank's predominantly Italian neighborhood came from large families.
02:02While he grew up an only child, which was considered highly unusual at the time.
02:07In a later interview with journalist Pete Hamill, Sinatra admitted that he longed for
02:12a sibling when he was a child, saying,
02:14I used to wish I had an older brother that could help me when I needed him.
02:18I wished I had a younger sister I could protect."
02:21Sinatra didn't find it easy achieving the fame and success that he craved when he was young.
02:26His parents weren't entirely supportive of his desire to be a professional singer,
02:31viewing it only as a hobby. Instead, Marty wanted his son to attend the
02:35Stevens Institute of Technology and have a steady job. However, once Dolly Sinatra understood her
02:40son's talent and ambition, she tried to help him wherever she could, from buying him sound
02:45equipment and sheet music to using her political connections to secure singing gigs for him.
02:50Dolly's pull even landed Frank a spot with the local singing group The Hoboken Four,
02:55which started him on the path of professional recognition.
02:58It soon became obvious, however, that Sinatra was the only one of the group with genuine ambition
03:03and drive, and once The Hoboken Four broke up, Frank started to wait tables in between his
03:08singing gigs with local dance bands. After landing a solid gig with trumpeter Harry James,
03:13Frank's biggest break came in 1940, when he was discovered by renowned band leader Tommy Dorsey,
03:19who offered him a much more lucrative contract. By 1942, Sinatra's reputation even eclipsed
03:25Dorsey's, which prompted him to seek out a solo singing career.
03:29Bing Crosby was Frank Sinatra's greatest inspiration for becoming a professional singer.
03:34A huge fan of the celebrity crooner, the teenage Frank even had a picture of Crosby hanging in
03:39his bedroom. Crosby's warm, passionate, but laid-back singing technique was the foundation
03:44that Frank built on, until he could develop his own unique style. Frank even met his idol
03:49briefly in 1935 at a Newark club, but they wouldn't meet again for nearly a decade when
03:55Frank was a huge star in his own right. By the time the 1940s rolled around, Crosby was still
04:00popular, but Sinatra's fame was skyrocketing. Bing had fans, but he was never greeted by the
04:06hordes of screaming, swooning teenage Bobby Soxer girls that made up Sinatra's fan base.
04:11Crosby took Frank's rising popularity in stride, however, once saying that Sinatra was a singer
04:16that comes around once in a lifetime, and jokingly added,
04:20But why did it have to be my lifetime?
04:22After that, a media-driven rivalry was born. The two competing crooners would frequently
04:27trade barbs and insults at each other on public radio broadcasts.
04:30The rivalry was played up for media attention, but it was never really serious. Later,
04:35they would perform duets together and co-star in movies, such as 1956's High Society.
04:41Frank Sinatra didn't mind a good-natured rivalry with Bing Crosby, but he felt highly intimidated
04:47by any new singers who could potentially knock him off his pedestal. In the early 1950s,
04:52singer Eddie Fisher was on the rise, and this caused Sinatra to spiral into a deep depression,
04:57believing that his career was over.
05:00Another time Sinatra's fame came under threat was from a singer named Jimmy Roselli,
05:04who was also known as, quote, the other Sinatra. Roselli was 10 years younger than Sinatra,
05:09an Italian-American, and grew up in the same neighborhood of Hoboken.
05:13Roselli was also incredibly popular with the Italian-American crowd,
05:18even with Frank Sinatra's friends and his own mother, Dolly.
05:21Roselli's voice had an even greater range than Sinatra's, too. When Dolly Sinatra asked
05:26Jimmy Roselli to perform at a benefit but Roselli refused to sing without receiving a fee,
05:31Sinatra used this as an excuse to blackball Roselli's career.
05:35Although he always refuted it, Frank Sinatra absolutely had ties to the mob.
05:40In fact, Sinatra's FBI profile reads like a guidebook to the mafia.
05:44Sinatra was known to be good friends with the infamous Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana and his
05:49crew. He outwardly socialized with the Fischetti brothers, Joseph and Charles, who were known to
05:55conduct illegal gambling operations. He blatantly partied with Detroit mobsters Anthony and Vito
06:01Giacalone. If Sinatra ever needed to get out of a contract or was simply ticked off about a
06:06perceived insult, someone could expect to get a visit from a couple of goons, visits that might,
06:11or might not, end with violence. In return, Frank would often perform a few shows as favors
06:17for his mob buddies. For all of Sinatra's denials of his mafia ties, he didn't do much
06:21to conceal who his friends were or his participation in their preferred activities,
06:26namely gambling, women, and money.
06:29I don't do those things to have anybody follow me in doing that same thing, is what I mean.
06:34The FBI kept a close eye on Sinatra,
06:36but he was never charged criminally for his mob-related activities or associations.
06:41Sinatra's full FBI record wasn't released until after his death.
06:45Sinatra was an ardent supporter of the Democratic Party, most notably John F.
06:49Kennedy. It's unknown how the two officially met, but Kennedy's sister Pat was married to
06:54Sinatra's fellow Rat Packer Peter Lawford. Kennedy appreciated Sinatra's glamour and
06:59rule-breaking attitude, and Sinatra greatly admired the power that Kennedy represented.
07:04When JFK announced his bid for the presidency, Sinatra publicly endorsed his candidacy and
07:09avidly used his star power to generate votes. He organized donor dinners, appeared in political
07:15radio ads, and lent Kennedy aides his private jet. His hit song,
07:19High Hopes, even became the theme song of the Kennedy campaign.
07:22It has been speculated that JFK's father, Joseph Kennedy, was hoping to use Sinatra's
07:26mob connections and union ties to bring in the votes. However, the Kennedy-Sinatra friendship
07:32crumbled shortly after the election, when an FBI wiretap revealed that Sinatra was having
07:37an affair with JFK's married sister, Pat. Sinatra made it clear on the recordings that
07:42he was only using Pat to influence her brothers and steer the government away from his gangster
07:47friends' activities, but the Kennedys agreed that Sinatra had to go.
07:51Despite all that romantic crooning, Frank Sinatra was known to have an extremely short fuse.
07:57Do you think your boiling point is low?
08:02Not anymore. It used to be.
08:04Once during a show in Hong Kong, a missed light cue prompted him to destroy his dressing room
08:09in his hotel suite, breaking priceless antiques. Another time, while in a drunken rage, he drove
08:15a golf cart through a shopping mall window. J. Randy Taraborrelli's biography, Sinatra,
08:20Behind the Legend, details how the singer once threw a plate of pasta at the wall
08:25in an Italian restaurant because he deemed it too soggy.
08:29Old Blue Eyes also had a habit of bullying venue employees and less famous entertainers,
08:34and getting his mob friends to beat up people he didn't like. He seemed to have a particular
08:39dislike for stand-up comedians, probably due to his many insecurities and fears of being publicly
08:44humiliated. Comic Shecky Green once made a remark that angered Sinatra, and Green was later mobbed
08:50by a group of Sinatra's friends. Comedian Jackie Mason made a series of jokes about the much older
08:56Frank Sinatra's marriage to 21-year-old Mia Farrow, which resulted in the comic receiving
09:01anonymous death threats. When Mason refused to stop making Frank Sinatra jokes, shots were fired
09:06into his hotel room. He later had his nose and cheekbones broken by a complete stranger.
09:12Out of his three children, Frank Sinatra had one son, Frank Jr., who had ambitions to become
09:18a singer like his father. His career was already budding at the age of 19. However, Frank Jr. also
09:24started attracting more malicious attention. According to the FBI, on December 8, 1963,
09:31Sinatra Jr. was performing a gig at Harrah's Club Lodge in Lake Tahoe. He was in his dressing room
09:36with a friend when someone knocked on the door, claiming to have a package to deliver. Instead,
09:41two men entered, tied up and blindfolded the friend, and then forced the singer out a side
09:46door and into a waiting car. The friend was able to free himself and notify the police.
09:51The kidnappers contacted the elder Sinatra and demanded a ransom of $240,000 for his son's safe
09:58return. With the FBI's help, Sinatra Sr. paid the ransom and allowed the police to track down
10:03the kidnappers. After some trepidation on the part of the kidnappers, one of them eventually
10:07decided to free Sinatra Jr., whom the police found in Bel Air after he had been walking for miles.
10:14The FBI later apprehended the three kidnappers and recovered the ransom money.
10:18I was scared, I was a little bit nervous, naturally, but the only thing I could do
10:22was hope for the best."
10:23The kidnappers' defense tried to paint Sinatra Jr. as the perpetrator, claiming he masterminded
10:28his own abduction for publicity. The FBI's evidence proved contradictory to this claim,
10:33and all three kidnappers were convicted.
10:36Frank Sinatra died of a heart attack at the age of 82 on May 14, 1998, at Los Angeles'
10:42Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. His wife, Barbara Marks, and his three children were at his bedside.
10:48Sinatra's last remaining years were filled with significant health problems, such as heart and
10:53breathing problems, high blood pressure, pneumonia, and bladder cancer. He had also been diagnosed
10:59with dementia brought on by Alzheimer's. As the end approached, Sinatra seemed to recognize that
11:05his time had arrived, as his last words to his wife were,
11:08"...I'm losing."
11:10Sinatra was buried with a pack of Camel cigarettes, a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey,
11:14a Zippo lighter, and a dollar's worth of dimes.
11:17In a Rolling Stone interview, singer Bono of U2 spoke on the death of Sinatra,
11:22with whom he once performed a duet, and the loss of an iconic performer.
11:26He said,
11:27"...Frank Sinatra was the 20th century. He was modern. He was complex.
11:31He had swing and he had attitude. He was the boss, but he was always Frank Sinatra."
11:37We won't see his like again.