Frank Sinatra
[14][15][c] Sinatra weighed 13.5 pounds (6.1 kg) at birth and had to be delivered with the aid of forceps, which caused severe scarring to his left cheek, neck, and ear, and perforated his eardrum—which remained damaged for the rest of his life.[36][37] At a young age, Sinatra developed an interest in music, particularly big band jazz[38] and listened to Gene Austin, Rudy Vallée, Russ Colombo, and Bob Eberly while idolizing Bing Crosby.[65] Thanks to his vocal training, Sinatra could now sing two tones higher, and developed a repertoire which included songs such as "My Buddy", "Willow Weep for Me", "It's Funny to Everyone but Me", "Here Comes the Night", "On a Little Street in Singapore", "Ciribiribin", and "Every Day of My Life".Columbia wanted new recordings of their growing star as quickly as possible, so Alec Wilder was hired as an arranger and conductor for several sessions with a vocal group called the Bobby Tucker Singers.[128] In December, he recorded "Sweet Lorraine" with the Metronome All-Stars, featuring talented jazz musicians such as Coleman Hawkins, Harry Carney and Charlie Shavers, with Nat King Cole on piano, in what Charles L. Granata describes as "one of the highlights of Sinatra's Columbia epoch".[156][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,[162] Columbia and MCA dropped him later that year.[166] Tom Santopietro notes that Sinatra began to bury himself in his work, with an "unparalleled frenetic schedule of recordings, movies and concerts", [167] in what authors Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan describe as "a new and brilliant phase.[172] After spending two weeks on location in Hawaii filming From Here to Eternity, Sinatra returned to KHJ on April 30 for his first recording session with Nelson Riddle, an established arranger and conductor at Capitol who was Nat King Cole's musical director.Look at Me Now", and "From This Moment On" revealed "powerful sexual overtones, stunningly achieved through the mounting tension and release of Sinatra's best-teasing vocal lines", while his recording of "River, Stay 'Way from My Door" in April demonstrated his "brilliance as a syncopational improviser."[222] He decided to form his own label, Reprise Records,[223] and, in an effort to assert his new direction, temporarily parted with Riddle, May and Jenkins, working with other arrangers such as Neil Hefti, Don Costa, and Quincy Jones.[235] Sinatra released Softly, as I Leave You,[236] and collaborated with Bing Crosby and Fred Waring on America, I Hear You Singing, a collection of patriotic songs recorded as a tribute to the assassinated President John F.[241] In June 1965, Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin played live in St. Louis to benefit Dismas House, a prisoner rehabilitation and training center with nationwide programs that, in particular, helped serve black Americans.& Edward K..[262] According to Granata, the recording of "Indian Summer" on the album was a favorite of Riddle's, noting the "contemplative mood [which] is heightened by a Johnny Hodges alto sax solo that will bring a tear to your eye".[350] A star-studded birthday tribute, Sinatra: 80 Years My Way, was held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, featuring performers such as Ray Charles, Little Richard, Natalie Cole and Salt-N-Pepa singing his songs.[356] Granata states that some of the most accomplished classically trained musicians soon noticed his musical understanding and remarked that Sinatra had a "sixth sense", which "demonstrated unusual proficiency when it came to detecting incorrect notes and sounds within the orchestra."[399] Fred Zinnemann's From Here to Eternity (1953) deals with the tribulations of three soldiers, played by Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, and Sinatra, stationed on Hawaii in the months leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor.[419] He starred opposite Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak in George Sidney's Pal Joey (1957), for which Sinatra won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.[422] By 1958, Sinatra was one of the ten biggest box office draws in the United States,[423] appearing with Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine in Vincente Minnelli's Some Came Running and Kings Go Forth (both 1958) with Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood.[424] "High Hopes", sung by Sinatra in the Frank Capra comedy, A Hole in the Head (1959),[425][426] won the Academy Award for Best Original Song,[427] and became a chart hit, lasting on the Hot 100 for 17 weeks.[428] Due to an obligation, he owed to 20th Century Fox for walking off the set of Henry King's Carousel (1956),[ad] Sinatra starred opposite Shirley MacLaine, Maurice Chevalier and Louis Jourdan in Can-Can (1960).[456] Starting in September 1949, the BBD&O advertising agency produced a radio series starring Sinatra for Lucky Strike called Light Up Time – some 176 15-minute shows that featured him and Dorothy Kirsten singing – which lasted through to May 1950.[461] Though an initial critical success upon its debut on October 18, 1957, it soon attracted negative reviews from Variety and The New Republic, and The Chicago Sun-Times thought that Sinatra and frequent guest Dean Martin "performed like a pair of adult delinquents", "sharing the same cigarette and leering at girls.Sinatra had previously been highly critical of Elvis Presley and rock and roll in the 1950s, describing it as a "deplorable, a rancid smelling aphrodisiac" that "fosters almost totally negative and destructive reactions in young people.[499] Sinatra was close friends with Jilly Rizzo,[500] songwriter Jimmy Van Heusen, golfer Ken Venturi, comedian Pat Henry, baseball manager Leo Durocher, and president John F. Kennedy (for whom he organized an inaugural ball with Peter Lawford).[505] Though Sinatra was critical of the church on numerous occasions[506] and had a pantheistic, Einstein-like view of God in his earlier life,[507] he was inducted into the Catholic Sovereign Military Order of Malta in 1976,[508] and he turned to Catholicism for healing after his mother died in a plane crash in 1977."[523] He received negative press for fights with Lee Mortimer in 1947, photographer Eddie Schisser in Houston in 1950, Judy Garland's publicist Jim Byron on the Sunset Strip in 1954,[522][524] and for a confrontation with Washington Post journalist Maxine Cheshire in 1973, in which he implied that she was a cheap prostitute.Kelley notes that when Lee J. Cobb nearly died from a heart attack in June 1955, Sinatra flooded him with "books, flowers, delicacies", paid his hospital bills, and visited him daily, telling him that his "finest acting" was yet to come.Sinatra built the Celebrity Room theater, which attracted his show business friends Red Skelton, Marilyn Monroe, Victor Borge, Joe E. Lewis, Lucille Ball, Lena Horne, Juliet Prowse, the McGuire Sisters, and others.[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.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 a black American stevedore.
Sinatra (disambiguation)Hoboken, New JerseyLos Angeles, CaliforniaDesert Memorial ParkAlbums and singlesfilmographyRepublicanDemocraticNancy BarbatoAva GardnerMia FarrowBarbara MarxFrank Jr.Antonino Martino SinatraNatalina GaraventaTraditional popeasy listeningbig bandRCA VictorColumbiaCapitolRepriseWarner Bros.Rat PackChairman of the Boardworld's best-selling music artistsswing eraBing CrosbyHarry JamesColumbia Recordsbobby soxersThe Voice of Frank SinatraCapitol RecordsNelson RiddleIn the Wee Small HoursSongs for Swingin' Lovers!Reprise RecordsCount BasieIt Might as Well Be SwingSeptember of My YearsSinatra at the SandsTom JobimFrancis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos JobimFrancis A. & Edward K.Duke EllingtonMy WayNew York, New YorkAcademy Award for Best Supporting ActorFrom Here to EternityThe Man with the Golden ArmThe Manchurian CandidateOn the TownGuys and DollsHigh SocietyPal JoeyGolden Globe AwardTony RomeGolden Globe Cecil B. DeMille AwardThe Frank Sinatra ShowKennedy Center HonorsPresidential Medal of FreedomCongressional Gold MedalGrammy AwardsGrammy Trustees AwardGrammy Legend AwardGrammy Lifetime Achievement AwardRobert ChristgauEarly life of Frank SinatraItalianNatalina "Dolly" GaraventaAntonino Martino "Marty" Sinatraforcepsmastoidcystic acneCatholic ChurchBarbaraDemocratic PartymidwifeKitty KelleybantamweightStevens Institute of TechnologyGreat DepressionGene AustinRudy ValléeRuss ColomboBob EberlyukuleleHoboken High SchoolThe Jersey JournalTietjen and LangelocutionFrank Sinatra discographyHoboken FourMajor Bowes' Amateur Hourlearned by ear3 FlashesBaritoneMajor Bowes Amateur HourEdward BowesHollywood CanteenEnglewood Cliffs, New JerseyOur LoveParamount TheatreAll or Nothing at AllMy BuddyWillow Weep for MeIt's Funny to Everyone but MeOn a Little Street in SingaporeCiribiribinTommy DorseyShip AhoyHank SanicolaChicagoCoronado TheatreRockford, IllinoisStardustmatinée idolfather figureBuddy RichPolka Dots and MoonbeamsImaginationBillboard chartI'll Never Smile AgainOur Love AffairOh! Look at Me NowDolores