[306] That year, as part of the Concert of the Americas, he performed in the Maracan Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which broke records for the "largest live paid audience ever recorded for a solo performer". [130] Frankly Sentimental (1949) was panned by DownBeat, who commented that "for all his talent, it seldom comes to life". [253] According to Santopietro the album "consists of an extraordinarily effective blend of bossa nova and slightly swinging jazz vocals, and succeeds in creating an unbroken mood of romance and regret". 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. [126] When Sinatra was featured as a priest in The Miracle of the Bells, due to press negativity surrounding his alleged Mafia connections at the time,[q] it was announced to the public that Sinatra would donate his $100,000 in wages from the film to the Catholic Church. They each earned $12.50 for the appearance,[48] 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.[49] 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. [545] His comments, while praised by liberal publications, led to accusations by some that he was a Communist, which he said were not true. Perfectly simple: It was the war years and there was a great loneliness, and I was the boy in every corner drugstore, the boy who'd gone off drafted to the war. Unlike her siblings, Tina never wished to be a singer like their father. 5 in the UK,[261] but it remained in the UK charts for 122 weeks, including 75 non-consecutive weeks in the Top 40, between April 1969 and September 1971, which was still a record in 2015. ",[169] and after listening to the playbacks, he could not hide his enthusiasm, exclaiming, "I'm back, baby, I'm back! His pianist and close friend Hank Sanicola persuaded him to stay with the group,[63] but in November 1939 he left James to replace Jack Leonard[k] as the lead singer of the Tommy Dorsey band. was named Album of the Year by Billboard, and he was also named "Favorite Male Vocalist" by Billboard, DownBeat, and Metronome that year. [606][607], Sinatra has also been portrayed on numerous occasions in film and television. "[341][342], In 1995, to mark Sinatra's 80th birthday, the Empire State Building glowed blue. The singer married four times over the years, and had three children, all with his first wife, Nancy Barbato: The first born is Nancy Sinatra, now 81; then came Frank Sinatra Jr., who died in 2016 at 72; and the youngest is Tina Sinatra, who's 73. It was sad. [232][233] Sinatra increasingly became involved in charitable pursuits in this period. [300][301] That year, the Friars Club selected him as the "Top Box Office Name of the Century", and he was given the Scopus Award by the American Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Nevada. [566] On January 27, 1961, Sinatra played a benefit show at Carnegie Hall for Martin Luther King Jr. and led his fellow Rat Pack members and Reprise label mates in boycotting hotels and casinos that refused entry to black patrons and performers. She helped to fill the ballots for the corrupt democrats who ruled the local politics. [456], Sinatra's fourth and final Timex TV special, Welcome Home Elvis, was broadcast in March 1960, earning massive viewing figures. There are stars on east and west sides of the 1600 block of Vine Street respectively, and one on the south side of the 6500 block of Hollywood Boulevard for his work in television. Anthony Martin Sinatra - father of Frank . He was so excited, you almost believed he had never recorded before. The younger Sinatra was technically not a "junior" (his father's middle name was Albert) but was nonetheless known as Frank . [98] He initially had great success,[99] and performed on the radio on Your Hit Parade from February 1943 until December 1944,[100] and on stage. Zeitlinger, Ron (December 9, 2021). Nancy had two daughters, and the oldest went into the family business. Frank Sinatra was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian immigrants Natalina Della (Garaventa), from Northern Italy, and Saverio Antonino Martino Sinatra, a Sicilian boxer, fireman, and bar owner. [69], "He'd always been critical of his voice, and that only intensified as he got older. [151][s] Though several notable recordings were made during this time period, such as "If I Could Write a Book" in January 1952, which Granata sees as a "turning point", forecasting his later work with its sensitivity,[157] Columbia and MCA dropped him later that year. [373], In the 1950s, Sinatra's career was facilitated by developments in technology. [242], In 1966 Sinatra released That's Life, with both the single of "That's Life" and album becoming Top Ten hits in the US on Billboard's pop charts. [208] Cuts from this LP, such as "Angel Eyes" and "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)", would remain staples of the "saloon song" segments of Sinatra's concerts. [27], Sinatra's illiterate father was a bantamweight boxer [28] who later worked for 24 years at the Hoboken Fire Department, working his way up to captain. He led a colorful personal life and was involved in turbulent relationships, including his second marriage to Ava Gardner. [285] He began what Barbara Sinatra describes as a "massive comeback tour of the United States, Europe, the Far East and Australia". When Martin dropped out of the tour early on, a rift developed between them and the two never spoke again. [370] Recording sessions would typically last three hours, though Sinatra would always prepare for them by spending at least an hour by the piano beforehand to vocalize, followed by a short rehearsal with the orchestra to ensure the balance of sound. Well, I was constantly showered with gifts, but no matter what temptations Frank may have had while I wasn't around, he made me feel so safe and loved that I never became paranoid about losing him. Riddle was ill at the time, and died that October, before they had a chance to record. He once told Sammy Cahn, who wrote songs for Anchors Aweigh, "if you're not there Monday, I'm not there Monday". [216], Sinatra grew discontented at Capitol, and fell into a feud with Alan Livingston, which lasted over six months. Once he found ones that he liked, he actively sought to work with them as often as he could, and made friends with many of them. Sinatra said: "The reason I wanted to leave Tommy's band was that Crosby was Number One, way up on top of the pile. Kennedy. Dad always. . I Dream of You (More Than You Dream I Do), Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week), Frank Sinatra Conducts the Music of Alec Wilder, Frank Sinatra Conducts Tone Poems of Color, One for My Baby (and One More for the Road), Frank Sinatra Conducts Music from Pictures and Plays, Francis Albert Sinatra & Antnio Carlos Jobim, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor Motion Picture, BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, List of awards and nominations received by Frank Sinatra, Outstanding Individual Achievement in Directing for a Miniseries or a Special, Sinatra Sings Great Songs from Great Britain, Sinatra Sings Days of Wine and Roses, Moon River, and Other Academy Award Winners, The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas, "Blue Eyes Frank Sinatra ia coming back to west end in new musical", "Frank Sinatra's dwindling tourist turf in Hoboken", "Top Ten Things That Make Frank Sinatra Cool", "The Columbus Day riot: Frank Sinatra is pop's first star", "Getting a Kick Out of Sinatra, Live in Concert in 1957", "Cap Captures Honors at Disc Jockey Poll", "To Play and Play Again: How Frank Sinatra's Thirst for Creative Freedom Led to Some of Classic Rock's Greatest Records", "Label Retrospective: Sinatra forms Reprise Records on this day in 1960 | Rhino", "Around The World, Retail Demand Is High For Sinatra's Recordings", "Ex-Casino Executive Carl Cohen; Noted for Punching Frank Sinatra", "Rewinding the Charts: In 1967, Frank & Nancy Sinatra Shared a No. I'm not going to mess with him, are you? (1956), Come Fly with Me (1958), Only the Lonely (1958), No One Cares (1959), and Nice 'n' Easy (1960). [20] 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". Lahr comments that the new Sinatra was "not the gentle boy balladeer of the forties. [535] Sinatra's gambling license was temporarily stripped by the Nevada Gaming Control Board in 1963 after Giancana was spotted on the premises. According to his son, Frank Jr., King sat weeping in the audience at one of his father's concerts in 1963 as Sinatra sang "Ol' Man River", a song from the musical Show Boat that is sung by an African-American stevedore. [50][h] 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". [36] For his 15th birthday, his maternal uncle, Domenico, gave him a ukulele, and with the instrument, he performed at family gatherings. Sinatra received the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1971. The Cahn-Styne partnership lasted from 1942 until 1954, when Van Heusen succeeded him as Sinatra's main composer. [508] Throughout his life, Sinatra had mood swings and bouts of mild to severe depression,[509] stating to an interviewer in the 1950s that "I have an over-acute capacity for sadness as well as elation". [334] The album and its sequel, Duets II, released the following year,[335] would see Sinatra remake his classic recordings with popular contemporary performers, who added their vocals to a pre-recorded tape. In Frank Sinatra Park, a 6-foot (1.80-meter) tall bronze statue honoring Sinatra was erected in the year 2021 on December 12. He donated a lot of his earnings to charity. [442] By the end of 1942, he was named the "Most Popular Male Vocalist on Radio" in a DownBeat poll. Santopietro said that as a troubled New York City homicide cop, Sinatra gave an "extraordinarily rich", heavily layered characterization, one which "made for one terrific farewell" to his film career. The TV special was highlighted by a dramatic reading of "Send in the Clowns" and a song-and-dance sequence with former co-star Gene Kelly. [614] A 1998 episode of the BBC documentary series Arena, The Voice of the Century, focused on Sinatra. [124], Sinatra's third album, Christmas Songs by Sinatra, was originally released in 1948 as a 78rpm album set,[125] and a 10" LP record was released two years later. Sinatra left Capitol in 1960 to start his own record label, Reprise Records, and released a string of successful albums. Robert Christgau referred to Sinatra as "the greatest singer of the 20th century". [529] She also states that Sinatra and Hank Sanicola were financial partners with Mickey Cohen in the gossip magazine Hollywood Night Life.