VINTAGE WIRELESS - FRANK SINATRA

Born in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1915 to Italian immigrants, Francis Albert’s parents thought he was stillborn until his grandmother revived the baby with cold water. As a youngster, Sinatra idolized Bing Crosby. In 1933, the young Sinatra attended one of Bing’s performances and decided right then that he wanted to be a singer. At the tender age of 15, he dropped out of high school to pursue his singing career. In 1939 he sang with Harry James’ orchestra. Of Sinatra, James reportedly said, “He considers himself the greatest vocalist in the business. Get that! No one's ever heard of him! He's never had a hit record, and he looks like a wet rag, but he says he's the greatest.”

He quit the James’ band after 7 months to join
Tommy Dorsey’s swing orchestra. After a short
time he bought out his contract to go solo.
In 1942, Sinatra became the idol of the bobby
soxers. In the 1950s, tragedy struck when
Sinatra’s vocal cords hemorrhaged. It was a
painful and low point in his career. In the late 50s
however, he made comeback and was better
than ever. He created his own record label,
Reprise Records, in the 1960s. This was also
the time that he was known as the leader of the
“Rat Pack,” which included such characters as
Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford,
Joey Bishop, and honorary members such as
Milton Berle, Shirley MacLaine and Tony Curtis.
Sinatra always wanted the entourage to be
known as “The Summit.” They did many Vegas
performances and movies together. The Chairman of the Board continued to sing until his heart attack death at age 82. At an earlier time in his life, he reportedly said, “You've got to be livin', baby, because dyin' is a pain in the ass.”

Sinatra had a colorful love life. It all began when he married his high school sweetheart. Their fairytale marriage ended when Frank’s affair with Ava Gardner made front-page headlines. In 1951, 6 days after his divorce, he married Ava. He and Ava never got along well, quarreling from the moment they woke up. Their separation and eventual divorce hit him hard. In the 1960s, at age 50, he shocked his friends and fans in his marriage to Mia Farrow, a 20 year old no-name actress. At the time, Dean Martin was quoted to say, “I've got scotch older than Mia Farrow.” Even Mia’s mother, actress Maureen O'Sullivan, said, “Never mind Mia. He should be marrying me.” They later divorced. Sinatra then married Barbara Marx, widow of Zeppo Marx. However, he did remain friends with his many former wives. When Mia found out that her lover, Woody Allen, was having an affair with her adopted daughter, Sinatra asked Mia if she would like for him to arrange to have Woody’s legs broken.

Sinatra was known for his colorful character, sometimes tough, but always loved. He says that he never took voice lessons and could barely read music. He also claims that he built up his enormous lung capacity (helpful for belting out those long phrases that he was known for) through swimming. Old Blue Eyes was known for his quotes, such as “I’m for anything that gets you through the night, be it prayer, tranquilizers, or a bottle of Jack Daniels,” or “You can be the most artistically perfect performer in the world, but an audience is like a broad – if you’re indifferent, Endsville,” or “May you live to be 100 and may the last voice you hear be mine.” He was well-known for his style from women to liquor to clothing. According to the author of the Sinatra biography The Way You Wear Your Hat, Bill Zehme, “He never wore brown after dark. For instance, men who wore brown would be ... taken aside. [Sinatra] would say, ‘What are you doing? You wear black or dark gray or maybe navy, but that's it.’”