Francis Albert Sinatra(English) Francis Albert Sinatra Born: December 12, 1915, Hoboken, New Jersey - May 14, 1998, Los Angeles) - American actor, singer (crooner) and showman. Nine times he became the winner of the Grammy Award. He was famous for the romantic style of singing songs and the "velvet" timbre of his voice.
In the 20th century, Sinatra became a legend not only in the musical world, but in every aspect of American culture. When he died, some journalists wrote: “To hell with the calendar. The day Frank Sinatra died - the end of the 20th century. Sinatra's singing career started back in the 1940s, and by the end of his life he was considered the standard of musical style and taste. The songs performed by him entered the classics of pop and swing style, became the most striking examples of the pop-jazz manner of singing "crooning", several generations of Americans were brought up on them. In his younger years, he had the nickname Frankie (eng. Frankie) and the Voice (eng. The Voice), in later years - Mr. Blue Eyes (eng. Ol Blue Eyes), and then - Chairman (eng. Chairman). Over 50 years of active creative work, he recorded about 100 invariably popular single discs, performed all the most famous songs of the largest US composers - George Gershwin, Col Porter and Irving Berlin.
In addition to his musical triumph, Sinatra was also a successful film actor, whose highest point on the career ladder was the Oscar, awarded to him in 1954 for Best Supporting Actor. His “piggy bank” contains many film awards: from the Golden Globes to the US Screen Actors Guild Award. Over the course of his life, Sinatra starred in more than 60 films, the most famous of which were "Firing to the City", "From Here to Eternity", "The Man with the Golden Arm", "High Society", "Pride and Passion", " Ocean's Eleven and The Manchurian Candidate.
Frank Sinatra was awarded the Golden Globe, the US Screen Actors Guild and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for life achievements, and a year before his death he was awarded the highest US award - the Congressional Gold Medal.
Biography
Youth
Francis Albert Sinatra was born on the second floor of an apartment building on Monroe Street in Hoboken on December 12, 1915. His mother, nurse Dolly Garavante, spent a horrendous few hours giving birth to a boy. On top of all that, he developed frightening lifelong scars from the forceps used by the doctor. The reason for such a difficult birth could be the extraordinary weight of the baby - almost six kilograms.Frank's father was Martin Sinatra, a shipyard worker and boilermaker, and Dolly's mother was the local chairman of the Democratic Party in Hoboken. Both immigrated to the US from Italy: Martin from Sicily, and Dolly from the north, from Genoa. After the birth of his son, Martin struggled to find a permanent job at the docks, so he began to participate in boxing fights, where he quickly became a local favorite. As for Dolly, it was she who was the head of the family: a gloomy, dynamic woman who loved the family, but focused more on social and political work than family work. Due to various obligations at work, she often left Frank with her grandmother for long periods of time.
In the spring of 1917, America entered the war. Martin was too old to be recruited, so he continued his regular jobs at the docks, bar, ringside, and, later, the Hoboken Fire Department. After the end of the war, Dolly came to grips with the Hoboken immigrants, and left the boy to his grandmother and aunt. Unlike his peers, two-year-old curly-haired boy Frank grew slowly and less progressively.
From an early age he was interested in music, and from the age of 13 he worked with the help of a ukulele, a small musical installation, and a megaphone, in the bars of his city. In 1931, Sinatra was expelled from school for "disgraceful behavior." As a result, he never received any education, including music: Sinatra sang by ear, never having learned the notes.
From 1932, Sinatra had small radio appearances; since he saw his idol Bing Crosby at a concert in Jersey City in 1933, he chose the profession of a singer. In addition, he also worked as a sports journalist for a local newspaper during the Great Depression in the 1930s, after he left college without a degree. Cinema aroused great interest in him; his favorite actor was Edward G. Robinson, who then starred primarily in gangster films.
Path to fame[edit | edit wiki text]
With the group "The Hoboken Four" Sinatra won in 1935 the competition of young talents of the then popular radio show "Major Bowes Amateur Hour" ("Amateur Big Bowes Hour") and some time later went with them on his first national tour. After that, he worked for 18 months from 1937 as a showman in a New Jersey music restaurant, which was also visited by stars such as Col Porter, and, along with radio appearances, laid the foundation for his professional career.
In 1938, Sinatra was arrested for having an affair with a married woman (in America in the 1930s, this was considered a criminal offense). A career hung in the balance. He miraculously escapes criminal punishment.
The impetus for Sinatra's career was given by work in the famous swing jazz orchestras of trumpeter Harry James and trombonist Tommy Dorsey in 1939-1942. He signs a lifetime contract with Dorsey. Subsequently, the big mafia Sam Giancana helps the young singer to terminate it. This episode will later be described in the novel "The Godfather" - it is believed that one of the characters - singer Johnny Fontaine - was written off from Sinatra.
In February 1939, Sinatra married his first love, Nancy Barbato. In this marriage in 1940, Nancy Sinatra was born, who later became a famous singer. She was followed in 1944 by Frank Sinatra Jr. (in 1988-1995 the leader of the Sinatra Orchestra) and in 1948 Tina Sinatra, who works as a film producer.
In 1942, the singer was invited to perform at a Christmas concert in New York at the Paramount cinema, where he was seen by agent George Evans, who made Frank a star, a favorite of American teenage girls, in two weeks of performances.
In 1944, Sinatra was declared unfit for military service due to an eardrum damaged at birth. Many years later, Sinatra beats up a journalist who wrote that Sinatra paid off his military service using his connections.
In the late 1940s, Sinatra began a creative crisis in the genre, coinciding in time with a stormy romance with actress Ava Gardner.
1949 was the hardest year in Sinatra's career: he was fired from the radio, and six months later plans to hold concerts in New York were grossly violated, Nancy filed for divorce, and the affair with Gardner turned into a loud scandal, Columbia Records refused him studio time.
In 1950, his contract with MGM was terminated, and a new agent from MCA Records also turned his back on Sinatra. At the age of 34, Frank became a "man of the past."
In 1951, Sinatra married Ava Gardner, whom he divorced six years later. In the same year, Sinatra lost his voice after a severe cold. The misfortune was so unexpected and difficult that the singer was about to commit suicide.
Return to action and the Oscars
The voice problems were temporary, and when he recovered, Sinatra started all over again. Sinatra's 1952 concerts at the Las Vegas casinos are sold out.Hollywood producers invite Sinatra to try his hand at the screen. In 1953, he starred in From Here to Eternity, winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
He has a successful career as a radio presenter - he hosts a show on NBS Radio, which gathers a large audience of listeners.
He was invited to various film projects, the most successful of which were The Man With the Golden Arm (1955), Ocean's Eleven (1960), The Manchurian Candidate ( 1960), "Detective" ("The Detective", 1968).
Sinatra's hit High Hopes in 1959 stays on the national chart for 17 weeks - longer than any other song by the singer.
From the late 1950s, Sinatra performed in Las Vegas with pop stars such as Sammy Davis, Dean Martin, Joe Bishop and Peter Lawford. Their company, known as the "Rat Pack", worked with John F. Kennedy during his 1960 presidential campaign. Recordings and performances with the big bands of Count Basie, Quincy Jones, Billy May, Nelson Riddle's studio swing orchestras and others were very successful, earning Sinatra the fame of one of the masters of swing.
In 1966, Sinatra married actress Mia Farrow. He was 51 and she was 21. They separated the following year.
Ten years later, Sinatra married for the fourth time - to Barbara Marks, with whom he lived until the end of his life.
Departure from the stage, final years and death[edit | edit wiki text]
In 1971, at a charity concert in Hollywood, Sinatra announced the end of his stage career, but since 1974 he continued his concert activity.
In 1979, Sinatra recorded one of his masterpieces - "New York, New York", becoming the only singer in history who managed to regain popularity and love of the public after fifty years.
In 1988-1989, the "Together Again Tour" was held (after the departure of Dean Martin, it was renamed "The Ultimate Event").
In 1993, Sinatra recorded his last album, Duets.
Frank Sinatra's last appearance on stage was on February 25, 1995, when he played at a golf tournament in Palm Springs.
On May 14, 1998, Frank Sinatra died of a heart attack at the age of 82. The funeral was conducted by Cardinal Roger Mahoney. A funeral service was held at the Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills.
Sinatra is buried next to his father and mother at Desert Memorial Park Cemetery in Cathedral City, California. The inscription on the singer's tombstone reads: "The best is ahead" (Eng. The Best Is Yet to Come).
Memory
On May 13, 2008, a new postage stamp with a portrait of Sinatra went on sale in New York, Las Vegas and New Jersey. The issue of the brand is dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the death of the great singer. The graduation ceremony in Manhattan was attended by Frank Sinatra's children, his friends, relatives and admirers of his work.Most famous songs
"My way""Blue Moon"
"Jingle Bells"
"Let It Snow"
Strangers in the Night
"New York, New York"
"It Was a Very Good Year"
"Moon River"
"The World We Knew (Over And Over)"
"Fly Me to the Moon"
"Something Stupid"
"I Won't Dance"
"I've Got You Under My Skin"
"America the Beautiful"
"You Make Me Feel So Young"
Moonlight in Vermont
"My Kind of Town"
"Love and Marriage"
"That's Life"
"I Get a Kick out of You"
"Summerwind"
Albums
(albums, live recordings and compilations released by record labels with which Sinatra has collaborated)1946 - The Voice Of Frank Sinatra
1948 - Christmas Songs By Sinatra
1949 - Frankly Sentimental
1950 - Songs By Sinatra
1951 - Swing And Dance With Frank Sinatra
1954 - Songs For Young Lovers
1954 - Swing Easy!
1955 - In The Wee Small Hours
1956 - Songs for Swingin' Lovers!
1956 - This Is Sinatra!
1957 - A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra
1957 - A Swingin' Affair!
1957 - Close To You And More
1957 - Where Are You
1958 - Come Fly With Me
1958 - Sings For Only The Lonely (Only The Lonely)
1958 - This Is Sinatra Volume 2
1959 - Come Dance With Me!
1959 - Look To Your Heart
1959 - No One Cares
1960 - Nice "N" Easy
1961 - All The Way
1961 - Come Swing With Me!
1961 - I Remember Tommy
1961 - Ring-A-Ding-Ding!
1961 - Sinatra Swings (Swing Along With Me)
1961 - Sinatra's Swingin "Session !!! And More
1962 - All Alone
1962 - Point Of No Return
1962 - Sinatra And Strings
1962 - Sinatra And Swingin" Brass
1962 - Sinatra Sings Great Songs From Great Britain
1962 - Sinatra Sings Of Love And Things
1962 - Sinatra-Basie An Historic Musical First (feat. Count Basie)
1963 - Sinatra's Sinatra
1963 - The Concert Sinatra
1964 - America I Hear You Singing (feat. Bing Crosby & Fred Waring)
1964 - Days Of Wine And Roses Moon River And Other Academy Award Winners
1964 - It Might As Well Be Swing (feat. Count Basie)
1964 - Softly As I Leave You
1965 - A Man And His Music
1965 - My Kind Of Broadway
1965 - September Of My Years
1965 - Sinatra"65 The Singer Today
1966 - Moonlight Sinatra
1966 - Sinatra At The Sands (feat. Count Basie)
1966 - Strangers In The Night
1966 - That's Life
1967 - Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim (feat. Antonio Carlos Jobim)
1967 - The World We Knew
1968 - Cycles
1968 - Francis A & Edward K (feat. Duke Ellington)
1968 - The Sinatra Family Wish You A Merry Christmas
1969 - A Man Alone The Words And Music Of McKuen
1969 - My Way
1970 - Watertown
1971 - Sinatra & Company (feat. Antonio Carlos Jobim)
1973 - Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back
1974 - Some Nice Things I've Missed
1974 - The Main Event Live
1980 - Trilogy Past Present Future
1981 - She Shot Me Down
1984 - L.A. Is My Lady
1993 - Duets
1994 - Duets II
1994 - Sinatra & Sextet Live In Paris
1994 - The Song Is You
1995 - Sinatra 80th Live In Concert
1997 - With The Red Norvo Quintet Live In Australia 1959
1999 - "57 In Concert"
2002 - Classic Duets
2003 - Duets With The Dames
2003 - The Real Complete Columbia Years V-Discs
2005 - Live From Las Vegas
2006 - Sinatra Vegas
2008 - Nothing But the Best
2011 - Sinatra: Best of the Best
Filmography
1941 Las Vegas Nights1945 - Anchors Aweigh
1946 - While the clouds are floating / Till Clouds Roll By
1949 - Dismissal to the city / On the town
1951 - Double Dynamite / Double Dynamite
1953 - From Here to Eternity / From Here to Eternity - Private Angelo Maggio (received an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor)
1954 - Unexpected / Suddenly - John Baron
1955 - The Man With the Golden Arm
1956 - High Society / High Society - Mike Connor
1956 - Around the world in 80 days / pianist in a saloon
1957 - Pride and Passion / The Pride and the Passion - Miguel
1958 - And they ran up / Some Came Running - Dave Hirsch
1960 - Ocean's Eleven / Ocean's Eleven - Danny Ocean
1962 - The Manchurian Candidate - Captain/Major Bennett Marco
1963 - List of Adrian Messenger / List of Adrian Messenger, The - cameo
1963 - Four from Texas / 4 for Texas - Zach Thomas
1964 - Robin and the 7 gangsters / Robin and the 7 Hoods - gangster Robbie
1965 - Von Ryan's Train / Von Ryan's Express - Colonel Ryan
1980 - The First Deadly Sin / The First Deadly Sin - Edward Delaney
Frank Sinatra has so long and invincibly topped the lists of the most-most (songs, artists, voices, and so on) that it is more like some kind of artistic deity than a living person. His name really comes to mind first when it comes to those people-symbols who in the mass consciousness undividedly embody American musical culture. Behind all the abundance of records published by Sinatra, for ... Read all
Frank Sinatra has so long and invincibly topped the lists of the most-most (songs, artists, voices, and so on) that it is more like some kind of artistic deity than a living person. His name really comes to mind first when it comes to those people-symbols who in the mass consciousness undividedly embody American musical culture. Behind all the abundance of records published by Sinatra, behind his almost dimensionless catalog, which continues to swell year by year, not for long and miss the very essence of his talent. Meanwhile, Sinatra is not just a minion of fate and a well-promoted showman, but, first of all, a fantastic interpreter, receptive to the trends of the times and able to preserve the best examples of American pop music for several generations of music lovers of all races and nationalities.
Francis Albert Sinatra was born in Hoboken, New Jersey on December 12, 1915. He was the only child of Dolly and Anthony Martin Sinatra. His father worked as a firefighter, and the family of the future American superstar had nothing to do with music. Frank started working as a teenager. He dreamed of becoming a journalist, and at first he got a job as a loader in the editorial office of the Jersey Observer newspaper, then he retrained as a copyist. But even the duties of a reporter were still not trusted to him. Then Frank entered the school of secretaries, studied typing and shorthand. Finally, his reporting on minor sporting events began to get into print. One day, 19-year-old Frank, who occasionally sang for his own pleasure, entered a popular local radio talent competition. Along with three other contestants, the promoters sent him on a test tour, naming the newly formed vocal quartet the Hoboken Four.
After the tour, Sinatra signed his first professional contract. They paid him $25 a week. For this relatively generous reward, he had to not only sing in the roadside bar "The Rustic Cabin" in a provincial town, but also to perform the duties of a waiter, master of ceremonies and comic actor. With more or less firm ground under his feet, Frank was finally able to marry his childhood love, Nancy Barbato. In the 1940s, they had three children: Nancy Sandra, Frankie Wayne and Christina.
In 1939, one of Sinatra's recordings was heard on the radio by trumpeter Harry James, who had recently left Benny Goodman and was forming his own big band. Sinatra suited him just fine. In July 1939, 23-year-old Frank Sinatra made his first professional studio recording. Thus began his ascent to the heights of the world song Olympus. In the ensemble of Harry James, he lasted six months, and in January 1940 he accepted a much more tempting offer from Tommy Dorsey (Tommy Dorsey). To the accompaniment of the Dorsey big band, Sinatra recorded a whole clip of extremely popular songs, 16 of which were in the top ten hits within two years. The most significant milestone of this period is the composition "I'll Never Smile Again", then a hit # 1, and in the future - a member of the Grammy Hall of Fame. According to the artist's confession, his vocal style was born from the imitation of Tommy Dorsey's trombone. One way or another, but the singer knew how to impress. Sinatra becomes the star of numerous radio shows, and at the same time makes his debut on the big screen, so far only as the soloist of the ensemble. In 1941, he starred in the film "Las Vegas Nights", a year later he appeared in the film "Ship Ahoy".
In January 1942, a new chapter in Sinatra's biography opens: he holds the first independent session in the studio and records four solo numbers, one of which - "Night and Day" by Cole Porter (Cole Porter) - is noted in the charts. Frank left Dorsey, but for some time he was not allowed to record in the studio. But he got his own show on the radio "Songs By Sinatra" and a lot of offers to perform. On New Year's Eve, he played the first act at a Benny Goodman concert at New York's Paramount Theatre. It was the last straw that overflowed the cup: Frank Sinatra, who fused jazz, blues and swing so charmingly, in the eyes of young people embodied the ideal image of a real pop idol, who has yet to cause incredible excitement for many decades. The companies that owned the rights to his early recordings are releasing Sinatra's records in batches. For two years, his songs hit the charts one after another, two of them, created with Dorsey, become number one hits: "There Are Such Thing" and "In the Blue of the Evening".
Finally, the management of Columbia Records offers Frank Sinatra a solo contract and harnesses him to work, recording his voice a cappella or accompanied by one choir. With all the minimalism of the arrangements, Sinatra's charm is so deadly that in a year he gives out five hits that finish in the Top 10.
In 1943, the artist became a regular participant in the popular radio cycle Your Hit Parade, sang in productions on Broadway for four months, and hosted his own program Songs by Sinatra on the radio. Then his full-fledged film career starts. In the film "Reveille With Beverly" he performs the song "Night and Day", and in the film "Higher and Higher" he gets a small role - he plays himself. He showed his acting skills to the fullest in the 1944 film Step Lively.
The taboo on audio recording that operated during the Second World War somewhat slowed down Sinatra's singing career, but in November 1944 the ban was lifted, and, already lured by the MGM label, the singer plunges into work with pleasure. To no less pleasure of the listeners, his songs are still pleasing to the ear and are always popular. During 1945 alone, eight new singles crossed the border of the American Top 10. These were compositions by various authors, including themes from musicals: "If I Loved You", "You'll Never Walk Alone", "Dream", "Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week)" and so on.
The artist has a special sympathy for the author's tandem of Jules Styne and Sammy Cahn, who, at the insistence of Sinatra, are invited to work on his first musical "Anchors Aweigh". During his half-century career, Sinatra will record more songs by Kahn (a poet who worked with various composers) than any other author. The musical film "Anchors Aweigh", released in the summer of 1945, became the leader of the box office of the year.
The next year finds the artist in the same intense pursuits: his own show on the radio, constant recordings in the studio, live concerts. He had to act in only one film (“Till the Clouds Roll By”), but the songs were jamb. Among the compositions that finished at the top of the charts were Irving Berlin's "They Say It's Wonderful" and "The Girl That I Marry", Stine and Kahn's "Five Minutes More". The collection of songs "The Voice of Frank Sinatra" famously conquered the pop chart.
By 1947, Frank Sinatra embodied the image of America's greatest pop star. But, like a true workaholic, he did not slow down the pace of work. Radio broadcast cycles, five significant film roles, including in the big-budget musical "On the Town", regular targeted assaults on the song charts. Number one hit "Mam'selle" plus a dozen more Top 10 finalists. Two solid albums "Songs by Sinatra" (1947) and "Christmas Songs by Sinatra" (1948).
By the end of the 1940s, his popularity began to show the first signs of decline. However, he is still a welcome guest on the radio (where he hosts his own show "Meet Frank Sinatra"), and with the advent of television - and a rising TV star. In 1950, the singer opens a cycle of entertainment musical television programs "The Frank Sinatra Show", which lasted two years. The filmography is replenished with an interesting role in the drama "Meet Danny Wilson" (1952), in which three songs were performed by him: "That Old Black Magic", "I've Got a Crush on You" by Garshwin and "How Deep Is the Ocean ? Berlin.
The singer's relationship with Columbia's bosses was never smooth, and in the early 50s there was a serious conflict with music director Mitch Miller (Mitch Miller), who recognized the only recipe for success: completely new material and ingenious, catchy arrangements. It is clear that Sinatra hated this pursuit of fashion. Before finally leaving the label, he managed to release four hit singles, including an unusual version of the folk standard "Goodnight Irene".
Having broken with Columbia 12 years after the start of his solo career and having managed to rise to unthinkable heights of popularity during this time, Frank Sinatra is left with nothing: no contract with a label or film company, no agreements with radio or television channels. The concerts stopped, the agent left him. Moreover, in 1949, after his affair with actress Ava Gardner (Ava Gardner) received scandalous publicity, he divorced Nancy. (In 1951, Gardner became his wife, but after a couple of years they separated, and in 1957 they officially divorced.)
It was necessary to start all over again and agree to virtually any conditions. Sinatra agreed to cooperate with Capitol Records, which offered him a very tough contract. After a one and a half year break (during this time the singer lost his voice and, according to rumors, even attempted suicide), in the summer of 1953 his name appeared again in the Top 10 with the new single "I'm Walking Behind You". The next important milestone was the filming of the feature film "From Here to Eternity", which tells about the events of the Second World War. Acting art of Sinatra was highly appreciated by professionals. So high that in March 54, the artist left the Oscars with an award for best supporting role. In addition to the renewed musical entertainment radio show, the artist also participated in the radio play "Rocky Fortune", in which he got the role of a detective.
Sinatra's new creative partner is arranger and conductor Nelson Riddle. In tandem with him, the singer recorded a number of his best works and experienced a new rise in popularity. The first #1 hit since 1947, "Young-at-Heart", soon became a pop classic. The film of 1955 had the same name, in which the actor was entrusted with the main role. The Riddle-produced album Songs for Young Lovers, Sinatra's first concept work, included classics by Cole Porter, Gershwins, Rodgers and Hart with modern arrangements. The heartfelt performance of Sinatra, the intonation richness of his interpretation made romantic melodies and graceful lyrics play with new colors. This album, as well as Swing Easy! published in its footsteps, climbed into the top five hits.
By the mid-1950s, Frank Sinatra had successfully revived his waning status as a pop star and established actor. In many ways, he enjoyed even more respect and popularity than in the mid-40s. His new single "Learnin' the Blues" topped the charts in 1955, along with the ballad collection Wee Small Hours, which was subsequently inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The 1956 film "The Tender Trap" gave him not only another interesting role, but also a recent hit "(Love Is) The Tender Trap", written by Kahn and his new collaborator, composer James Van Heusen.
In the 50s, the artist recorded with equal vigor both slow ballads and love songs, and energetic compositions arranged for the dance floor. One of the pinnacles of this trend remains the predominantly dance album 1956 Songs for Swingin' Lovers!, which was only one step away from topping the charts. It was the first gold disc in the catalog of the singer, who so brilliantly reincarnated as a self-confident macho.
In the late 50s, Frank Sinatra, the consummate idol of the youth, had to face stiff competition from the emerging rock and roll. Rival number one was, of course, Elvis Presley. It was impossible for a 40-year-old musician to compete with much younger and such defiantly talented artists in the fight for the hearts of teenagers. Nevertheless, it was still too early to write him off. If things weren’t perfect for him with unambiguously killer hits, then his name appeared regularly in the album rating. The compilation of singles "This Is Sinatra!", released by him for the Capitol label, was noted in the top ten and received a gold certificate.
Arrangements atypical for him - a string quartet - the musician used while recording the long-play "Close to You". The album was released at the start of an eventful 1957. In the summer, his fans were already snapping up the new record "A Swingin' Affair!", and in the fall they were hunting for the collection of ballads "Where Are You?". By the end of the year, the artist had thrown in two more releases: the soundtrack to the film "Pal Joey", based on the musical by Rogers and Hart, and the Christmas present "A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra". It may seem incredible, but all of these five long plays during 1957, one after another, rose to the US Top 5. And the collection of Christmas standards over time sold a million copies.
With the same high bar, Frank Sinatra began the next year, 1958. The leaders of the sales rating were two records - "Come Fly with Me", dedicated to travel, and "Only the Lonely", a collection of ballads awarded "gold". Two more LPs from 1958 did well on the charts: This Is Sinatra, Volume Two and The Frank Sinatra Story.
At the same time, Sinatra laid the foundation for a collection of prestigious music awards. True, he received the first Grammy not for the content, but for the design of the album “Only the Lonely”. The jury noted the design and graphics of the envelope. But the trouble is the beginning. The next Grammy distribution ceremony was doubly successful for the singer: his new studio attempt "Come Dance With Me!" was awarded the title of the best album of the year, and Sinatra himself was crowned with laurels as the best pop vocalist.
Number two, number eight, and again number two - the 1959 albums "Come Dance With Me!", "Look to Your Heart" and "No One Cares" overcame such a bar in the sales ranking. Sinatra becomes the personification of creative stability and the consistently high quality of material, performance and arrangements. The next eight releases from 1960-61 consistently feature in the US top ten. The accuracy of his hitting right on target with the fertility that only a few could afford is like science fiction. Damn charm, mesmerizing artistry and outstanding talent as an interpreter were combined with a well-thought-out market strategy. Romantic, slow collections of songs alternated with selections of energetic tracks capable of rousing even pensioners to their feet.
In the second half of the 50s, Sinatra, although he acted quite actively, sang in his films not so often. He had the opportunity to combine two things he loved in the film version of Cole Porter's musical Can-Can, whose soundtrack was another successful addition to his collection of hits.
By this time, the singer was no longer satisfied with the relationship with Capitol Records. In December 1960, he created his own recording company, Reprise Records, where he spends at least half of his studio time. Hence such an abundance of releases in the early 60s (including a record six discs in 1962). Sinatra's first single, released by the Reprise label, "The Second Time Around", was named the best record of the year by the organizers of the Grammy ceremony.
By the mid-60s, Sinatra began to be pretty squeezed not only by Elvis Presley (in the singles chart), but also by the victorious Beatles (in the album rating), which no one could compete with. Sinatra, of course, had his own regular audience, and quite a large one. Yes, and his talent still acted hypnotically. 1965-66 - the time of another rise in popularity, the third peak in his half-century career. During these two years, the singer received the Grammy Award five times, which crowned two triumphal albums "September of My Years" and "A Man and His Music" (a review of his creative career), as well as two singles: "It Was a Very Good Year" and "Strangers in the Night" - the immortal classic of the song genre - for the best pop vocal. The album "September of My Years", a symbiosis of vocal jazz, traditional and modern pop music, famously topped the sales chart and reached platinum status.
No less rapidly than creativity, his personal life flows. The 50-year-old artist is experiencing another heartfelt passion and in 66 he marries actress Mia Farrow (Mia Farrow). A 30-year age difference is not the best soil for a happy marriage. They divorced a year later.
Until the end of the 60s, Sinatra continued to launch sound releases into the musical orbit, none of which was ignored by the public. And although in the second half of the 60s, representatives of a young galaxy of rock musicians were already breathing with might and main in his back, the 50-year-old performer had a large margin of safety. Compilation of the best tracks "Greatest Hits!" (1968) became platinum, and the new album "Cycles", representing the songs of contemporary authors - Joni Mitchell (Joni Mitchell), Jimmy Webb (Jimmy Webb) and others, sold 500,000 copies. Another "gold" was awarded to the collection of songs "My Way", specially written for Sinatra by another icon of the 60s - Paul Anka (Paul Anka).
So, heroically fighting with time, age and passing fashion, the musician celebrated his 55th birthday and in 1971 announced his retirement from the stage. But after such a rich working biography, it was beyond his strength to indulge in idleness for a long time. Two years later, he returned to the studio and at the same time on television. The new album and the new TV special were called the same - "Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back" ("Blue Eyes" is the common nickname for the blue-eyed singer, which became his second "I"). Thus began the last chapter of his career, which ended shortly before his death. During these more than two decades, he appeared in the studio much less often, acted less in films and on television, but performed much more actively, since the vast catalog provided almost inexhaustible resources for compiling any concert programs. The favorite stop of his concert routes is Las Vegas, but the inhabitants of dozens of other cities and many countries of the world also had a high probability of seeing and hearing a living legend of the 20th century.
His fourth and last wife was Barbara Marks, whom they married in 1976. After the album "Some Nice Things I've Missed" (1973), for seven years Sinatra preferred live performances to studio work, and only in 1980 broke the silence with a collection of songs on three discs "Trilogy: Past, Present, Future". The highlight of this imposing canvas was "Theme From New York, New York," the title theme from the hit 1977 film "New York, New York." Sinatra's performance turned this composition into a famous pop standard. Thus, Frank Sinatra was the only singer in the history of the 20th century whose first and last hit single was separated by half a century.
Unbound by obligations, Sinatra had the luxury of recording as much as he saw fit. In the 1980s, he saw fit to limit himself to two reservedly received releases. In 1990, the two companies that owned the rights to the artist's catalog, Capitol and Reprise, released two box sets for his 75th anniversary. Each of the releases, "The Capitol Years" and "The Reprise Collection", on three and four discs respectively, sold half a million copies, although they were released at the same time.
Frank Sinatra interrupted the protracted pause only in 1993, signing a contract with Capitol Records and preparing the long-play "Duets" - old favorites of the public, recorded with new (and already eminent) heroes of the scene, from Tony Bennett (Tony Bennett) and Barbara Streisand ( Barbara Streisand to Bono. Although this album did not add anything new to the already existing achievements of the musician, it was competently presented to the public, which had been waiting ten years for new recordings of their idol. Nostalgia proved to be a hot commodity: "Duets" became the most popular CD of Sintara's career and was certified platinum three times. A year later, a collection of selected duets, Duets II, brought the author another Grammy Award for the best performance of traditional pop music. Otherwise, it was impossible to evaluate this titanic work, which brought together Streisand and Bono, Julio Iglesias and Aretha Franklin and a dozen other stars.
In 1994 - almost 60 years after the first professional tour - 78-year-old Sinatra played his last concert. Only after celebrating his 80th birthday, in 1995, Frank Sinatra finally officially and completely retired. He did not have long to enjoy the retirement idyll. In May 1998, in Los Angeles, the life of an 82-year-old artist was cut short.
A man has left whose contribution to the musical history of the last 60 years far exceeds the scale of a single individual. The greatness of the entire array of his work is comparable only to the revolutionary whirlwind raised by the Beatles and Elvis Presley. According to this velvety, devilishly charming voice, which millions of people adored, with which they lived, under which they cried and loved, future historians will be able to restore the soul of a native of the 20th century, sentimental and, in spite of everything, believing in a fairy tale.
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Biography, life story of Frank Sinatra (Frank Sinatra)
Frank Sinatra is an American singer, showman, film and television actor.
Introduction
Frank Sinatra has so long and invincibly topped the lists of the most-most (songs, artists, voices, and so on) that it is more like some kind of artistic deity than a living person. His name really comes to mind first when it comes to those people-symbols who in the mass consciousness undividedly embody American musical culture. Behind all the abundance of records published by Sinatra, behind his almost dimensionless catalog, which continues to swell year by year, not for long and miss the very essence of his talent. Meanwhile, Sinatra is not just a minion of fate and a well-promoted showman, but, first of all, a fantastic interpreter, receptive to the trends of the times and able to preserve the best examples of American pop music for several generations of music lovers of all races and nationalities.
Childhood and youth
Francis Albert Sinatra was born in Hoboken, New Jersey on December 12, 1915. He was the only child of Dolly and Anthony Martin Sinatra. Her father worked as a boilermaker and a shipyard worker, her mother was a nurse by education, but after the birth of her son, she took the post of chairman of the Democratic Party in Hoboken. The family of the future American superstar had nothing to do with music.
Frank got life, as they say, with a fight. The child was very large - as much as six kilograms. The birth was long and very difficult. Until the end of his days, Frank was reminded of the hard-won right to life by the numerous scars from the tongs with which the doctor helped him leave his mother's womb.
After the baby was born, the Sinatra family had a hard time. Money was sorely lacking. The head of the family had to take up boxing so that the family had a steady income. However, Martin felt confident in the ring, and the public quickly fell in love with him.
CONTINUED BELOW
Frank was raised by his grandmother and aunt. That is, almost no one followed him. The boy was fond of music, already at the age of thirteen he independently learned to play the ukulele. But with education, things were much worse - he was expelled from school, he did not graduate from the institute.
Frank started working as a teenager. He dreamed of becoming a journalist, and at first he got a job as a loader in the editorial office of the Jersey Observer newspaper, then he retrained as a copyist. But even the duties of a reporter were still not trusted to him. Then Frank entered the school of secretaries, studied typing and shorthand. Finally, his reporting on minor sporting events began to get into print. One day, 19-year-old Frank, who occasionally sang for his own pleasure, entered a popular local radio talent competition. Along with three other contestants, the promoters sent him on a test tour, naming the newly formed vocal quartet the Hoboken Four.
Life path. Career and personal life
After the tour, Sinatra signed his first professional contract. They paid him $25 a week. For this relatively generous reward, he had to not only sing at the roadside bar The Rustic Cabin in a provincial town, but also perform the duties of a waiter, master of ceremonies and comic actor. With more or less firm ground under his feet, Frank was finally able to marry his childhood love, Nancy Barbato. In the 40s, they had three children: Nancy Sandra, Frankie Wayne and Christina.
In 1939, one of Sinatra's recordings was heard on the radio by trumpeter Harry James, who had recently left Benny Goodman and was forming his own big band. Sinatra suited him just fine. In July 1939, 23-year-old Frank Sinatra made his first professional studio recording. Thus began his ascent to the heights of the world song Olympus. In the ensemble of Harry James, he lasted six months, and in January 1940 he accepted a much more tempting offer from Tommy Dorsey (Tommy Dorsey). To the accompaniment of the Dorsey big band, Sinatra recorded a whole clip of extremely popular songs, 16 of which were in the top ten hits within two years. The most significant milestone of this period is the composition I "ll Never Smile Again, then hit No. 1, and in the future - a member of the Grammy Hall of Fame. According to the artist's confession, his vocal style was born from the imitation of Tommy Dorsey's trombone. One way or another, but the singer Sinatra became the star of numerous radio shows, and at the same time made his debut on the big screen, so far only as the soloist of the ensemble.In 1941, he starred in the film Las Vegas Nights, a year later he appeared in the film Ship Ahoy.
In January 1942, a new chapter in Sinatra's biography opens: he holds the first independent session in the studio and records four solo numbers, one of which - Night and Day by Cole Porter (Cole Porter) - is noted in the charts. Frank left Dorsey, but for some time he was not allowed to record in the studio. But he got his own radio show Songs By Sinatra and a lot of offers to perform. On New Year's Eve, he played the first act at a Benny Goodman concert at New York's Paramount Theatre. It was the last straw that overflowed the cup: Frank Sinatra, who fused jazz, blues and swing so charmingly, in the eyes of young people embodied the ideal image of a real pop idol, who has yet to cause incredible excitement for many decades. The companies that owned the rights to his early recordings are releasing Sinatra's records in batches. For two years, his songs hit the charts one after another, two of them, created with Dorsey, become number one hits - There Are Such Thing and In the Blue of the Evening.
Finally, the management of Columbia Records offers Frank Sinatra a solo contract and harnesses him to work, recording his voice a cappella or accompanied by one choir. With all the minimalism of the arrangements, Sinatra's charm is so deadly that in a year he gives out five hits that finish in the Top 10.
In 1943, the artist became a regular participant in the popular radio cycle Your Hit Parade, sang in productions on Broadway for four months, and hosted his own program Songs by Sinatra on the radio. Then his full-fledged film career starts. In the film Reveille With Beverly, he sings the song Night and Day, and in the film Higher and Higher he gets a small role - he plays himself. He showed his acting skills to the fullest in the 1944 film Step Lively.
The taboo on audio recording that operated during the Second World War somewhat slowed down Sinatra's singing career, but in November 1944 the ban was lifted, and the singer, already lured by the MGM label, plunges into work with pleasure. To no less pleasure of the listeners, his songs are still pleasing to the ear and are always popular. During 1945 alone, eight new singles crossed the border of the American Top 10. These were compositions by various authors, including themes from musicals: If I Loved You, You "ll Never Walk Alone, Dream, Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week) and so on.
The artist has a special sympathy for the author's tandem Jules Styne (Jule Styne) and Sammy Cahn (Sammy Cahn), who, at the insistence of Sinatra, are invited to work on his first musical Anchors Aweigh. During his half-century career, Sinatra will record more songs by Kahn (a poet who worked with various composers) than any other author. The musical film Anchors Aweigh, released in the summer of 1945, became the box office leader of the year.
The next year finds the artist in the same intense pursuits: his own show on the radio, constant recordings in the studio, live concerts. He had to act in only one film (Till the Clouds Roll By), but the songs were jamb. Among the songs that finished on the first lines of the charts are the works of Irving Berlin (Irving Berlin) They Say it "s Wonderful and The Girl That I Marry, Stein and Kahn Five Minutes More. The Voice of Frank Sinatra song collection famously conquered the pop chart .
By 1947, Frank Sinatra embodied the image of America's greatest pop star. But, like a true workaholic, he did not slow down the pace of work. Radio broadcast cycles, five significant film roles, including the big-budget musical On the Town, regular targeted assaults on the song charts. Hit number one Mam "selle plus a dozen more Top 10 finalists. Two strong albums Songs by Sinatra (1947) and Christmas Songs by Sinatra (1948).
By the end of the 1940s, his popularity began to show the first signs of decline. However, he is still a welcome guest on radio (where he hosts his own show, Meet Frank Sinatra), and, with the advent of television, a rising TV star. In 1950, the singer opened The Frank Sinatra Show, a series of entertaining musical television programs that lasted two years. The filmography is replenished with an interesting role in the drama Meet Danny Wilson (1952), in which three songs were performed by him - That Old Black Magic, I "ve Got a Crush on You by Gershwin and How Deep Is the Ocean? Berlin.
The singer's relationship with Columbia's bosses was never smooth, and in the early 50s there was a serious conflict with music director Mitch Miller (Mitch Miller), who recognized the only recipe for success: completely new material and ingenious, catchy arrangements. It is clear that Sinatra hated this pursuit of fashion. Before finally leaving the label, he managed to release four hit singles, including an unusual version of the folk standard Goodnight, Irene.
Having broken with Columbia 12 years after the start of his solo career and having managed to rise to unthinkable heights of popularity during this time, Frank Sinatra is left with nothing: no contract with a label or film company, no agreements with radio or television channels. The concerts stopped, the agent left him. Moreover, in 1949, after his affair with actress Ava Gardner (Ava Gardner) received scandalous publicity, he divorced Nancy. In 1951, Gardner became his wife, but after a couple of years they separated, and in 1957 they officially divorced.
It was necessary to start all over again and agree to virtually any conditions. Sinatra agreed to cooperate with Capitol Records, which offered him a very tough contract. After a year and a half break (during this time the singer lost his voice and, according to rumors, even attempted suicide), in the summer of 1953 his name appeared again in the Top 10 with the new single I "m Walking Behind You. The next important milestone was shooting in the feature film From Here to Eternity, which tells about the events of the Second World War, Sinatra's acting art received very high praise from professionals, so much so that in March 54 the artist walked out of the Oscars with an award for best supporting actor. and in the radio play Rocky Fortune, in which he got the role of a detective.
Sinatra's new creative partner is arranger and conductor Nelson Riddle. In tandem with him, the singer recorded a number of his best works and experienced a new rise in popularity. The first No. 1 hit since 1947, Young-at-Heart soon became a pop classic. The film of 1955 had the same name, in which the actor was entrusted with the main role. The Riddle-produced Songs for Young Lovers, Sinatra's first concept work, featured classics by Cole Porter, Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart with modern arrangements. The heartfelt performance of Sinatra, the intonation richness of his interpretation made romantic melodies and graceful lyrics play with new colors. This album, as well as Swing Easy! published in its footsteps, rose to the top five hits.
By the mid-1950s, Frank Sinatra had successfully revived his waning status as a pop star and established actor. In many ways, he enjoyed even more respect and popularity than in the mid-40s. His new single Learnin "the Blues topped the sales chart in 1955, along with the ballad collection In the Wee Small Hours, which was subsequently inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The 1956 film The Tender Trap gave him not only another interesting role, but also a fresh hit Love Is The Tender Trap, written by Kahn and his new collaborator, composer James Van Heusen.
In the 50s, the artist recorded with equal vigor both slow ballads and love songs, and energetic compositions arranged for the dance floor. One of the pinnacles of this trend remains the predominantly dance album 1956 Songs for Swingin "Lovers!"
In the late 50s, Frank Sinatra, the consummate idol of the youth, had to face stiff competition from the emerging rock and roll. Rival number one was, of course,. It was impossible for a 40-year-old musician to compete with much younger and such defiantly talented artists in the fight for the hearts of teenagers. Nevertheless, it was still too early to write him off. If things weren’t perfect for him with unambiguously killer hits, then his name appeared regularly in the album rating. The compilation of singles This Is Sinatra!, released by him for the Capitol label, was noted in the top ten and received a gold certificate.
Arrangements atypical for him - a string quartet - the musician used during the recording of the LP Close to You. The album was released at the start of an eventful 1957. In the summer, his fans were already snapping up the new record A Swingin "Affair !, and in the fall they were hunting for the collection of ballads Where Are You? Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra Incredible as it may seem, all five of these LPs made it to the US Top 5 one after the other during 1957. And over time, the Christmas standards collection sold millions of copies.
With the same high bar, Frank Sinatra began the next year, 1958. Two records topped the sales chart - Come Fly with Me, dedicated to travel, and Only the Lonely, a collection of ballads awarded "gold". Two more LPs from 1958, This Is Sinatra, Volume Two, and The Frank Sinatra Story, did well on the charts.
At the same time, Sinatra laid the foundation for a collection of prestigious music awards. True, he received the first Grammy not for the content, but for the design of the Only the Lonely album. The jury noted the design and graphics of the envelope. But the trouble is the beginning. The next Grammy distribution ceremony was doubly successful for the singer: his new studio attempt Come Dance With Me! was awarded the title of the best album of the year, and Sinatra himself was crowned with laurels as the best pop vocalist.
Number two, number eight, and again number two, the 1959 albums Come Dance With Me!, Look to Your Heart, and No One Cares surpassed that bar in the sales chart. Sinatra becomes the personification of creative stability and the consistently high quality of material, performance and arrangements. The next eight releases from 1960-61 consistently feature in the US top ten. The accuracy of his hitting right on target with the fertility that only a few could afford is like science fiction. Damn charm, mesmerizing artistry and outstanding talent as an interpreter were combined with a well-thought-out market strategy. Romantic, slow collections of songs alternated with selections of energetic tracks capable of rousing even pensioners to their feet.
In the second half of the 50s, Sinatra, although he acted quite actively, sang in his films not so often. The opportunity to combine two things he loves came in the film version of Cole Porter's musical Can-Can, the soundtrack of which was another successful exhibit in the collection of his hits.
By this time, the singer was no longer satisfied with the relationship with Capitol Records. In December 1960, he created his own recording company, Reprise Records, where he spends at least half of his studio time. Hence such an abundance of releases in the early 60s (including a record six discs in 1962). Sinatra's first single, released by the Reprise label, The Second Time Around, was named the best record of the year by the organizers of the Grammy ceremony.
By the mid-60s, Sinatra began to be pretty squeezed not only (in the singles chart), but also victorious (in the album rating), which no one could compete with. Sinatra, of course, had his own regular audience, and quite a large one. Yes, and his talent still acted hypnotically. 1965-66 - the time of another rise in popularity, the third peak in his half-century career. During these two years, the singer received the Grammy award five times, which crowned two triumphal albums September of My Years and A Man and His Music (a review of his creative career), as well as two singles - It Was a Very Good Year and Strangers in the Night - immortal classics of the song genre - for the best pop vocal. The album September of My Years, a symbiosis of vocal jazz, traditional and modern pop music, famously topped the sales chart and reached platinum status.
No less rapidly than creativity, his personal life flows. The 50-year-old artist is experiencing another heartfelt passion and in 66 he marries actress Mia Farrow (Mia Farrow). A 30-year age difference is not the best soil for a happy marriage. They divorced a year later.
Until the end of the 60s, Sinatra continued to launch sound releases into the musical orbit, none of which was ignored by the public. And although in the second half of the 60s, representatives of a young galaxy of rock musicians were already breathing with might and main in his back, the 50-year-old performer had a large margin of safety. Compilation of the best tracks Greatest Hits! (1968) went platinum, and the new album Cycles, which featured songs by contemporary authors Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Webb and others, sold 500,000 copies. Another "gold" was awarded to the collection of songs My Way, specially written for Sinatra by another icon of the 60s - Paul Anka (Paul Anka).
So, heroically fighting with time, age and passing fashion, the musician celebrated his 55th birthday and in 1971 announced his retirement from the stage. But after such a rich working biography, it was beyond his strength to indulge in idleness for a long time. Two years later, he returned to the studio and at the same time on television. The fresh album and the new special TV show were called the same - Ol "Blue Eyes Is Back (Blue Eyes is the common nickname for the blue-eyed singer, which became his second "I"). Thus began the last chapter of his career, which ended shortly before his death. For these for more than two decades, he appeared in the studio much less often, acted less in films and on television, but performed much more actively, fortunately, the vast catalog provided almost inexhaustible resources for compiling any concert programs. the inhabitants of dozens of other cities and many countries of the world had a chance to see and hear a living legend of the 20th century.
His fourth and last wife was Barbara Marks, whom they married in 1976. After the album Some Nice Things I "ve Missed (1973), for seven years Sinatra preferred live performances to studio work, and only in 1980 he broke his silence with a collection of songs on three discs Trilogy: Past, Present, Future. The brightest touch on this impressive canvas turned out to be Theme From New York, New York, the title theme from the popular 1977 film New York, New York. Sinatra's performance turned this composition into a famous pop standard. Thus, Frank Sinatra was the only singer in the history of the twentieth century, the first and last a hit single which was separated by half a century.
Unbound by obligations, Sinatra had the luxury of recording as much as he saw fit. In the 1980s, he saw fit to limit himself to two reservedly received releases. In 1990, the two companies that owned the rights to the artist's catalog, Capitol and Reprise, released two box sets for his 75th anniversary. Each of the releases, The Capitol Years and The Reprise Collection, on three and four discs respectively, sold half a million copies, even though they came out at the same time.
Frank Sinatra interrupted the protracted pause only in 1993, signing a contract with Capitol Records and preparing the long-play Duets - old favorites of the public, recorded with new (and already eminent) heroes of the scene - from Tony Bennett (Tony Bennett) and Barbara Streisand (Barbara Streisand ) to Bono. Although this album did not add anything new to the already existing achievements of the musician, it was competently presented to the public, which had been waiting ten years for new recordings of their idol. Nostalgia proved to be a hot commodity: Duets became Sintara's most popular record and was certified platinum three times. The collection of selected duets Duets II, published a year later, brought the author another Grammy award for the best performance of traditional pop music. Otherwise, it was impossible to evaluate this titanic work, which brought together Streisand and Bono, Julio Iglesias and Aretha Franklin, and a dozen other stars.
Career decline. Death
In 1994 - almost 60 years after the first professional tour - 78-year-old Sinatra played his last concert. Only after celebrating his 80th birthday, in 1995, Frank Sinatra finally officially and completely retired. He did not have long to enjoy the retirement idyll. In May 1998, in Los Angeles, the life of an 82-year-old artist was cut short.
A man has left whose contribution to musical history far exceeds the scale of a single individual. The greatness of the entire array of his work is comparable only to the revolutionary whirlwind raised by
Frank Sinatra, whose biography is of interest to many, thanks to his artistic talent, has become a real symbol of the United States and the brightest star of this country for many years. His vocal career began in the 1940s and reached such heights by its decline that even during his lifetime the singer was recognized as a real classic of American musical culture. He was considered the standard of style and taste. His exciting voice sounded from all the radios of a vast country. That is why, after the death of the great artist, his songs entered the history of the United States and the world music industry as a whole. About this great man and will be discussed in this article.
Childhood
Frank Sinatra, whose biography is full of interesting details, was born into a family of emigrants from Italy. Mom and dad of the artist moved to the United States in his youth. Together with their simple belongings, they settled on the east coast of America and began a new life. Frank's father - Martin - was from the city and tried a lot of professions in his life - he was a bartender, a fireman, a loader at shipyards, and even played in the ring as a boxer for some time.
But the mother of the future artist - Dolly - came from Genoa. She was distinguished by a gloomy and decisive character, she herself made all the important decisions in the family. This woman was more involved in social and political work than housekeeping, and often left Frank with her grandmother. After raising her son, Dolly decided to build her own career and took the post of leader of the city cell of the Democratic Party.
Frank Sinatra, whose brief biography is discussed in this article, led a very ordinary life in early childhood. He did not experience poverty and did not bathe in luxury. In early childhood, he even lagged behind in development from his peers. And at the age of sixteen he was expelled for ugly behavior from school. Frank never received any education, but this did not prevent him from becoming famous all over the world.
Career development
The biggest passion in the life of our hero has always been music. Already at the age of thirteen, Frank Sinatra sang in drinking establishments of his native city. The biography of the great singer after some time was marked by successful recordings on the radio. After he attended a concert in Jersey City in 1933 and saw the performance of his idol Crosby Bing, he finally chose his future profession and decided to become a performer.
Later, in the mid-1930s, the artist, in company with his friends, created the Hoboken Four musical group, with whom he appeared at the Big Bowes Amateur Hour competition for young performers. This performance turned out to be very successful, and after a while the group went on tour around the cities of the United States. Then Frank Sinatra began to work in a music cafe, and, as before, to perform on the radio. Interestingly, the young man had no musical education at all. He sang by ear, not knowing the notes at all.
Real Success
But real success came to our hero only at the very beginning of the 1940s. Then he often performed with the jazz orchestras of Tommy Dorsey and Harry James. During this period, he managed to attract the attention of famous figures of American culture. They began to sponsor the young talent, and in 1946 Frank Sinatra, whose biography contains many bright events, recorded his debut album called The Voice Of Frank Sinatra. A year later, he released a new disc - "Christmas Songs By Sinatra". With Dorsey, the singer signed a life contract and this could determine his artistic fate for many years. The famous Sam Giancana helped him get out of a difficult situation. This episode was later described in detail in the novel The Godfather. It is believed that one of his heroes - Johnny Fontaine - was written off from Frank Sinatra.
A crisis
The artist's affairs were going very well, but at some point his career began to crumble. The fact is that Frank's marital relationship with longtime lover Nancy Barbato broke up because of his affair with actress Ava Gardner. This romance with a Hollywood star very soon also turned into a massive scandal. Because of him, the performer's concerts in the most famous - New York were canceled. After that, Frank fell into a long depression, which caused him to leave the radio. On top of all the troubles, in 1951, the performer suddenly lost his voice due to a protracted cold. Exhausted by problems, the great musician began to think about suicide ...
New role
But Frank Sinatra will not dare to take this fatal step. The artist's biography was soon adorned with a new fateful event - having lost his voice, the performer turned his attention to cinema and in 1953 played one of the roles in the film "From Here to Eternity". For this work, Sinatra won an Oscar and was recognized as the best supporting actor.
From this event, the life of our hero began to return to its former track. The voice eventually reappeared, Sinatra again began to work in the studio. The artist's musical albums began to come out one after another. And after a while, fans of the talent of an outstanding singer got the opportunity to regularly follow his game on the screen. For eleven years (from 1954 to 1980), Frank Sinatra starred in six dozen films. Biography, photos of this outstanding person became the property of the most prestigious glossy publications. He became a recognized hero of his time.
Filmography
He remained in the history of American culture not only as an outstanding singer, but also as a wonderful actor Frank Sinatra. The biography of this artist is marked by participation in the following films: "Las Vegas Nights", "While the Clouds Float", "Double Dynamite", "From Here to Eternity", "High Society", "Unexpected", "Raise the Anchors", " Pride and Passion", "Firing to the City", "Ocean's Eleven", "The Man with the Golden Arm", "They Came Running", "Around the World in 80 Days", "The Manchurian Candidate", "Four from Texas", " Adrian Messenger's List", "Von Ryan Train", "Robin and the 7 Gangsters". In his last film, The First Deadly Sin, the actor starred when he was already 65 years old. The above are only the most successful projects in which the actor was involved. They made him truly famous.
last years of life
Sinatra Frank (the biography of this artist still occupies the minds of various researchers) continued his stellar journey as an actor and singer until the end of the 1970s. At the end of his career, he recorded the famous composition "New York, New York" and with this iconic song he said goodbye to the American scene. After that, Sinatra performed several more times before the public, but this was the exception rather than the rule. Not having lived just two years before the onset of the second millennium, in 1998, the great artist died of a heart attack in his own home in East Hollywood. This day was marked in America with national mourning.
Personal life
Frank Sinatra, whose personal life was the subject of constant discussion in the press, was married four times. His first wife was a childhood friend - Barbato Nancy. In this marriage, Nancy, the daughter of Frank Sinatra, was born. Today, this woman has become a famous performer in America. In addition, after some time, the artist had two more children - daughter Tina and son Frank Sinatra Jr.
In the late 1940s, Sinatra had an affair with an artist that provoked a break in marital relations. In 1951, Frank and Ava got married, but after 6 years after a continuous series of scandals, they divorced.
In 1966, the great singer decided for the third time to tie himself up in marriage. His new chosen one was the actress Farrow Mia. But the marriage with this woman did not last long - the couple divorced a year later. Frank Sinatra, whose biography, whose personal life is not a secret to anyone, spent the last years with his fourth wife, Barbara Marx.
Memory
On May 13, 2008, a Frank Sinatra postage stamp was released for sale in Las Vegas, New Jersey and New York. This event was timed to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the death of an outstanding performer. The singer's children, his relatives, friends and fans were at the solemn event on the occasion of the release of the stamp in Manhattan.
Conclusion
Every celebrity has an official, normal biography. Frank Sinatra is no exception. But in the life of this man there were many secrets over which biographers are still racking their brains. By virtue of his origin, he was associated with and even sometimes used her services. In order to learn about the details of the artist's life, you need to familiarize yourself with the materials of that time, delve into the essence of the events taking place, and feel the atmosphere of the era. Therefore, we advise everyone who is interested in the fate and work of this outstanding person to read his detailed biography.
He was unique. There never was and never will be again. A superstar who had the talent that made him famous and the power that came with fame. He was a singer, an actor, a showman, a politician, a sex symbol - what can I say, he was just Frank Sinatra. He was called Mr. Blue Eyes, the Patriarch, the Italian King of America and, finally, simply - The Voice. A voice that has sung to generations of Americans who will never stop listening...
Although his fate was unique, its beginning was very banal. The only son of Italian emigrants, whom their parents brought to the new “promised land” as children, Sinatra was born in the town of Hoboken in the state of New Jersey: not such a remote province, just across the Hudson from the great New York, but it was more offensive to live forever on the other side. Frank Anthony's father Martin Sinatra, a native of Sicily, worked as a shoemaker in his youth, but earned most of his money in the ring, where he performed under the name of Marty O'Brien (Italians were allowed into professional fights with great reluctance). However, Tony Sinatra was a very mediocre boxer, and besides, he could neither read nor write and suffered from asthma. Despite all this, he managed to charm one of the most beautiful and smart girls in the area - Natalie Della Garaventa, nicknamed Dolly, that is, "doll". On Valentine's Day 1914, the lovers secretly married in Jersey City, as Dolly's parents were categorically against the union of their daughter with an illiterate boxer. The only son of Tony and Dolly Sinatra, named Francis Albert, was born December 12, 1915. They say that the child was so large that they had to apply forceps, which left a noticeable mark on the boy's face. Frank would later refer to this scar as "God's Kiss".
After thirty professional matches, Tony had to quit the sport due to injuries, and he began working at the docks, and when he was fired from there due to asthma, Dolly helped him get a job with the local fire brigade. Over time, he rose to the rank of captain, and immortalized his boxing past by opening a tavern called Marty O'Brien's with his wife. Dolly, an educated girl with a strong character, enjoyed considerable prestige in the district and even headed the local branch of the Democratic Party, and earned a living by doing clandestine abortions at home, for which she was arrested more than once and even tried twice. This peculiar paradox of life - for money you can do what is forbidden by religion and the state - greatly influenced the young Frankie, who forever clarified a simple idea: he who has money has the right to do everything.
Frankie grew up as an ordinary boy from the Italian colony, that is, a bully and a tomboy who knows no other authority than his adored - and adoring - mother. Fights, petty theft and other dangerous pranks filled the days, leaving no time for school lessons: however, Frankie was very careful and always tried to protect the clothes bought by his mother - no one else in the area had such beautiful suits. Frankie hadn't been in high school for more than fifty days when he was expelled for bad behavior, and at that he considered his education completed. Dolly managed to get her son a job as a courier for a local newspaper. The Jersey Observer- The editorial work impressed the boy so much that he dreamed of becoming a reporter. However, the editor lucidly explained to Frankie that he, to put it mildly, lacks education. He was not offended - and immediately entered the school of secretaries, where he learned typing and shorthand. Soon the dream came true: his sports reports - and Frankie, the faithful son of his father, was an avid visitor to boxing matches - began to appear on the pages of the newspaper.
However, Frank had another passion: he loved to sing since childhood. From the age of thirteen, he performed in local bars with popular songs, accompanying himself on the ukulele - a small ukulele. The boy was a success - even among the naturally vociferous Italians, Frank stood out for some unusual penetration and softness of singing. After attending a Bing Crosby concert, Frank finally decided that he would become a singer. Already at the age of seventeen he was invited to perform on the radio, and then - not without the help of Dolly - Frankie was taken as a vocalist in a local trio The Three Flashes, which is now called The Hoboken Four. At first, Sinatra was seen as a burden; however, soon the quartet - largely due to his voice and charm - won the radio competition for young talents Major Bowes Amateur Hour, the award in which was a six-month tour of the country and appearances on the radio. The tour was an unexpected success, but as soon as the tour ended, Frank said goodbye to the group and returned to Hoboken.
Dolly landed a radio show star at an expensive restaurant in New Jersey, where Frankie sang for $15 a week, entertained the audience with talk and comedy skits, and also worked as a waiter. Although the work was hard, it forged a true professional from Frank: now he could sing in any audience and in any condition, he knew how to keep the audience between songs and was not afraid of anything. He had enough money to start an independent life.
In February 1939, he married a Jersey girl named Nancy Barbato, who was his first love, though by no means his first woman. Still, the life of a real Italian, even in America, must be full of wine, entertainment and women from an early age, and Frank was no exception. In March, he made his first recording in the studio - a song with a romantic title our love, dedicated to Nancy.
Already in June 1940, the couple had a daughter named Nancy Sandra. Four years later, son Frank Sinatra Jr. was born, and in 1948, the youngest daughter, Tina. Frank was never an exemplary family man: he was rarely at home, almost did not communicate with children, and besides, he was sincerely convinced that if the fans themselves jump into his bed, this should definitely be used.
And he had more and more fans. In the summer of 1939, producer and jazz trumpeter Harry James, who was building his own jazz band, heard Sinatra offer Frank a one-year contract for $75 a week, and he happily accepted. With James Sinatra made his first commercial recording From the bottom of my heart eight thousand copies were sold, and now the circulation is a bibliographic rarity. Sinatra's name wasn't even on the cover; a few years later, when he became truly famous, the disc was re-released under his name and was very popular.
In November of the same year, at one of the concerts, Sinatra met Tommy Dorsey, who also leads a jazz ensemble, but is much more famous. His vocalist had just decided to start a solo career, and Dorsey invited Sinatra to take the place. Sinatra accepted the offer; although the contract with Harry James has not yet expired, he decided to let the singer go. For this, Sinatra was grateful to him for the rest of his life: “He is the person who made all this possible,” he will say many years later, referring to his deafening career.
Participation in the Dorsey ensemble was the springboard that quickly led Sinatra to fame. He performed for the first time with the ensemble in January 1940, and just a couple of months later, his name began to be written on the posters as the first number - a sign of special recognition. They say that joining the team did not go smoothly for the young Italian, who was not used to obeying anyone: he constantly quarreled with his colleagues and even once broke a glass decanter on the drummer's head - however, then they got drunk together and became lifelong friends. Frank, not without difficulty, resigned himself to the fact that he had to work hard at rehearsals with almost no rest, but already in the summer one of his songs topped the American charts for three months. The sincere manner of performance, charming velvety voice and repertoire, consisting of beautiful romantic songs, came in handy for pre-war America. Sinatra soon became a real idol: while most of the singers worked for a mature audience, Frank was mostly listened to by young people. Young girls - the so-called "bobby sockers", who wore short skirts and rolled up socks - literally besieged Sinatra: each dreamed of touching him, and his clothes were simply torn to pieces - shreds of the fan were taken apart as a keepsake. "Five thousand girls fought for the opportunity to even look at Frank Sinatra!" newspapers wrote. After each concert, the singer was bombarded with love notes, and the most desperate ones simply made their way to his room and went to bed. He never refused them - why offend the fans?
Frank littered with money, seduced girls and conquered one peak after another. He gave concerts, constantly participated in radio shows and recorded songs - about a hundred in all. In 1941, he was invited to Hollywood to shoot in the musical "Las Vegas Nights" - so far just to sing a song. They say that Frank lived in the room of a young actress Elora Gooding, and on the wall of his dressing room there was a list of the most sexy movie beauties: Frank conquered them one by one, and then crossed them off the list.
In 1941, Sinatra was recognized as the singer of the year: he removed his idol Bing Crosby from the podium and held this title for several years in a row. Success intoxicated him: he decided to leave Dorsey and start a solo career. However, under the contract that the naive Sinatra signed with Dorsey, he was entitled - for life - a third of all income from Sinatra's work. These onerous conditions severely damaged their relationship. They say that in order to break the contract, Sinatra needed the help of the mafia leaders, with whom he already began to communicate at that time: an Italian will always help an Italian. In fact, Sinatra's contract was bought out - for huge money at that time - by the studio ISA. Sinatra himself was promised truly golden mountains in the amount of 60 thousand dollars a year and George Evans himself as an agent - and this was the man who promoted Dean Martin and Duke Ellington. Evans hired clackers, gave away free tickets, paid for advertising - but in no time took Sinatra from celebrity to superstar. Sinatra got his own show on the radio, where he sang and talked to the audience, and on December 31, 1942, he worked an entire department in New York The Paramount Theater one of the most prestigious venues in the country. In just a year, 250 fan clubs sprang up across the country, and Sinatra's solo recordings, which he made at the studios ISA with the best musicians, diverged in huge circulations. He bought a luxurious house in California and moved his family there - but since then, as evil tongues said, he has almost ceased to appear there.
Frank Sinatra with wife Nancy and daughter Nancy, 1943
Even the strike of recording studios that began in mid-1942 did not stop Sinatra's triumphal march on the charts: although he did not make a single new recording, the studio Columbia, with whom he signed a new solo contract, re-released all his old works - and they broke all records of popularity. Only military service could stop his upward movement: Sinatra was called up at the end of 1943, but was dismissed due to a damaged eardrum - the consequences of all the same obstetric forceps. However, the press, which frankly disliked Sinatra for non-contact and rude behavior with journalists, did not miss the opportunity to spread rumors that the singer paid off the army for a tidy sum. Then Frank himself went to Italy to speak to the active troops - and even received an audience with the Pope. Nevertheless, the episode with the draft will be remembered for more than one decade - but even the FBI, which had a plump case against the singer, could not find any evidence that Sinatra was declared unfit for service for a bribe.
One of the soldiers who attended Sinatra's military concerts recalled that Frank "was the most hated man at the time - he was hated even more than Hitler." Still - he returned to his homeland, where he earned a lot of money, and besides, he was constantly surrounded by beautiful girls. However, there was only a grain of truth in this phrase - Sinatra's recordings were no less popular among the soldiers than among their girlfriends who remained in the United States. He embodied everything that they dreamed of, and for this he could be forgiven a lot. The fall of 1944 was his high point: in September, President Roosevelt invited Frank Sinatra to a cup of tea at the White House, an honor an Italian boy from New Jersey could not even dream of. And in October, when Sinatra sang again in Paramount, His 35,000 fans blocked traffic in Times Square and Broadway, trying to break into the building, breaking several shop windows and trampling - thank God, not to death - several especially fragile girls.
Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra in Raise Anchors, 1945
The following year, he co-starred with Gene Kelly in the musical film Raise the Anchors, the first of a series of such films in which this brilliant duo took part. The film became the leader of the box office, Kelly received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor, and Sinatra for the song. I Fall In Love Too Easily. In the same year, he starred in the anti-racist short film The House I Live In, which won an honorary Oscar and a Golden Globe. And in 1946, Frank's first solo album was released, modestly titled The Voice Of Frank Sinatra, which very immodestly occupied the first line of the hit parade for two whole months. Some researchers call this record the first concept album - and although this point of view is quite controversial, still Sinatra's huge influence on recording culture cannot be disputed. The Time wrote about him:
He certainly looks like the standard 1929 gangster standard. At his bright, furious eyes, in his movements you guess springy steel; he speaks through his teeth. He dresses in George Raft's super-trendy brilliance - wearing rich dark shirts and white-patterned ties ... According to the latest reports, he had cufflinks worth about $ 30,000 ... He hates to be photographed or appear in public without a hat or other headgear to hide receding hairline.
In the mid-forties, Sinatra was, without a doubt, the most popular man in the country. Radio shows and Broadway musicals, movie roles and concert tours, millions of CDs sold, millions of fans, millions in income - all for a simple Italian guy who only with the help of special teachers was able to get rid of the Italian accent. No wonder Sinatra's head was spinning.
According to his recollections, he spent thousands of dollars on drinks and friendly drinking parties, on which he always paid for everyone, bought everything that fell on his eye, loved several women a day, carried only hundred dollar bills in his pockets and tipped so much that the waiters lost the gift of speech. “I want to experience everything in life while I'm still young and strong,” Frank told his friends. “So that later I don’t have to regret that I didn’t have time, I didn’t try it ...”
At the same time, Sinatra acquired very risky acquaintances - he himself later said that he was friends with them solely because they were also natives of Italy, but the secret services claimed that they were mafia leaders - Sam Giancana, Bugsy Siegel, Salvatore Luciano, nicknamed Lucky and even the nephew of the famous Al Capone Joe Fisheti. Sinatra sang at their parties and drank with them at the same table, accepted services from them and gave them gifts (it is known, for example, that Luciano, at one time the largest pimp in New York and the founder of the Big Seven bootleggers, released in 1942 from prison for cooperation, carried a cigarette case with the inscription "To my friend Lucky from Frank Sinatra" - however, Luciano was no longer officially considered a gangster). Newspapers were full of rumors about his mafia connections - but they did not provide any evidence, except for a few random photographs that could have been taken under completely innocent circumstances. No wonder Sinatra hated journalists, or rather, what they write about him. At every press conference, he made a scandal, swearing like an Italian shoemaker and threatening to beat the unwanted. He beat many - at first he himself, and later "unknowns" always coped with this. Sinatra, a true knight, never touched women, limiting himself to verbal insults.
And by the end of the forties, fame began to deflate like an old balloon. The days of sugary romantic songs, swing and jazz are over, the days of country and rock and roll are coming. Sinatra was losing line by line in the ratings, at his concerts a full stalls were barely going (balconies, from which people had almost fallen from crowding, remained half empty), discs were sold out worse and worse. On the poster for the new film with Gene Kelly "In the city" for the first time his name was written second - the film collected an excellent box office, but Frank was crushed. And although he still constantly flashed on the radio, and even began to invite him to television, everyone understood that Sinatra's time was coming to an end. And Frank himself, instead of regaining the lost positions with new songs, did not find anything better than falling in love.
He first saw the beautiful Ava Gardner, a sultry, cat-eyed brunette, in 1945, but she was then married to Artie Shaw, a famous clarinetist and jazz bandleader. He met her again in 1949 and was blown away. “As soon as we were together, I just lost my head,” Sinatra recalled admiringly. “It’s like she poured something into my glass…”
Together they came to the premiere of the musical "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes", then there were dates in restaurants, walks along the beach and even a short vacation in Mexico. As soon as they returned to America, the lovers were at the epicenter of the scandal: reporters pursued them so persistently that Frank was repeatedly forced to use his fists, and Ava had to heal her nerves in the clinic. But the affair was too high-profile and too scandalous to leave them alone. After two unsuccessful marriages, Ava's reputation was nowhere worse: "Hollywood's sexiest animal," as she was called, was famous for her free behavior, and Frank, although he was fond of the opposite sex, was still married.
It was a time of unconditional family values, at least in words, and the entire American press took up arms against Ava and Frank: she was called a whore, a destroyer of families and an indecent girl, Catholic societies demanded that her films be banned, and those who still stood in lines to movie theaters, pelted with rotten tomatoes. Even worse epithets rained down on Sinatra - after all, he insulted journalists with impunity for several years, and now he was paying for it. But if Ava had a sexual scandal only at hand - she starred in the role of a sexual aggressor and a femme fatale, and such stories only supported her on-screen image - then for Frank it turned into a tragedy. The record company terminated his contract, the studios refused to record him, the agents refused to deal with him. To top it off, due to an untreated cold, he began to have problems with his voice on a nervous basis. On April 26, 1950, he performed at the famous New York club copacabana, however, as soon as he opened his mouth, and from there, in his own words, "only a cloud of dust flew out." Sinatra was so desperate that he even tried to commit suicide. Ava remained the only meaning of his life. Frank, about whom actress Lana Turner once said that "this son of a bitch does not know how to love," fell in love in earnest. They said that he had a whole collection of Ava's photographs in his office - on the table, on the walls, on the shelves ...
They really were very suitable for each other - both temperamental, independent, passionate, loving life here and now. Both loved Italian food, sex, whiskey, boxing fights and no commitment. There were legends about their escapades - either the two of them rushed around in an open car through the night streets, alternating shots at shop windows with kisses and drinks, then they got into a fight in a bar - while Frank scratched his fists about some guy who dared to look wryly at Ava, she also twisted the jaw of some onlooker.
Ava was in no way similar to Frank's former women - she was not submissive, she was not obedient, she did not beg him for love, but on the contrary, she could drive Sinatra himself - the dream of every American woman, if she didn’t like something. She demanded that he not get involved with the mafia, quarreled with his agent, who demanded to leave Frank, and gave Sinatra wild scenes of jealousy when it seemed to her that he was flirting with fans or just girls in a bar.
But even he could not relax for a minute - after all, she was Ava Gardner, and any man wanted her, including Howard Hughes himself - the richest American in the film business. On the set in Madrid, where the film studio sent her away from sin mgm, she had an affair with the bullfighter Mario Cabré - advertising agents immediately seized on this news and began to paint in all the newspapers how beautifully Cabre was courting Miss Gardner - let them see that Ava no longer has affairs with married people! Frank immediately dropped everything and rushed to Spain, where he handed Ava a luxurious necklace of diamonds and emeralds - just right for her eyes - and made a frenzied scene that ended in an equally frenzied reconciliation. A couple of weeks later in London, they were already presented together to the Queen of England. Returning to the US, Frank immediately announced that he intended to divorce Nancy and marry Ava.
Many years later, his daughter Tina recalled: “I never perceived Ava as a woman who deprived us of a father. I first saw her when I was four years old, and it seemed to me that she really likes to communicate with us, because she did not have her own children. Now I understand that he and his father were made for each other.
At first, Nancy was sure that this was just another affair - it would take a little time, Frank would come to his senses and, as before, would return to her again. However, she soon realized that she was wrong. In addition, the press, which had previously been entirely on her side, was gradually imbued with sympathy for the lovers, who proved their feelings for each other. Nancy gave in: on October 31, 1951, their marriage to Sinatra was finally annulled.
Frank and Ava's wedding was scheduled in a week - he wanted it immediately, but even he had to follow the formalities. The day before, they almost quarreled: Ava was jealous of Frank for some girl in a restaurant and threw a six-carat diamond engagement ring in his face, and later he, having come to her house to apologize, in the heat of an explanation, threw a gold bracelet presented to Ava out of the window Howard Hughes. Friends hardly managed to reconcile them; finally, on November 7 in Philadelphia, they nevertheless became husband and wife. The civil ceremony was quite modest; journalists predominated among the guests. As a wedding gift, Frank gave Ava a mink stole with sapphire clasps, and she gave him a gold medallion with her photograph. In a hurry to get rid of the journalists, the newlyweds left so quickly that they even forgot their luggage. They were waiting for him in Miami, walking along the deserted beaches at this time of the year - and there was no happier couple than them ...
Wedding of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner, November 1951
However, their family life was not calm: quarrels and reconciliations followed one after another, scenes of jealousy were replaced by passionate declarations of love. “We were fine in bed, but the problems started already on the way to the shower,” Ava later admitted. The main reason for the quarrels - albeit implicit - was that Ava was at the height of fame and received fabulous fees, while Frank himself had only what was left of his fortune after the divorce. For a real Italian, who Frank always considered himself to be, it was unbearable that his wife earns more than him - and he tried, as best he could, at least in his own house to keep her up. He forbade her to meet with other men, to leave the house in clothes that were too revealing, in his opinion, and besides, he was very disapproving of her participation in the filming. When Ava was offered a role in The Snows of Kilimanjaro - she was supposed to shoot in Kenya with Gregory Peck - he was ready to lock her at home, and he was hardly persuaded to let Ava go to shoot. They say he harassed her with telegrams and even hired a private detective to look after the windy Ava.
The wedding anniversary was celebrated in Kenya, where Frank flew on a film company plane: he presented his wife with a luxurious diamond ring (which he secretly paid with Ava’s credit card), and she joyfully joked to reporters: “I have already been married twice, but it never lasted a whole year” . New Year's Eve was celebrated in Uganda, where Ava starred with Clark Gable and Grace Kelly in Mogambo. Frank brought turkeys and champagne and gave the entire crew an impromptu concert. When the couple was introduced to the British governor of the country, director John Ford said: "Ava, explain to the governor what you found in this half-ass weighing only eighty pounds?" To which Ava, without hesitation, replied: "Twenty pounds of a man and sixty pounds of manhood!"
Frank told his wife that he dreams of getting a role in Fred Zinnemann's "From Here to Eternity": the role of the Italian soldier Angelo Maggio was as if specially written for him! He begged the director to call him at least for an audition, saying that he agreed to act almost for free, but it was all in vain. According to the recollection, Ava called Harry Cohn, the boss Columbia Pictures, and told him: "You must give this role to Frankie, otherwise he will kill himself." Cohn didn't dare say no to Ava Gardner.
The film "From Here to Eternity", which tells about the difficult military service on the eve of the raid on Pearl Harbor, was a resounding success. Critics especially praised Sinatra for his performance as Maggio, a recalcitrant soldier beaten to death in prison by his superiors. "Many may be amazed at this proof of Sinatra's versatility," the magazine wrote. The Variety- but it didn't come as a surprise to those who remember the few times he had the chance to show he could do more than just be a crooner." The New York Post noted that Sinatra "proved that he is a real actor, playing the unfortunate Maggio with some kind of doomed fun, sincerely and immensely touching", and The Newsweek added: "Frank Sinatra, who has long since turned from a crooner into an actor, knew what he was doing." Perhaps in the role of Maggio, Sinatra expressed himself - all the pain, disappointment and fear that he experienced over the past few years.
In addition to numerous other awards, the film won eight of the thirteen Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Sinatra received an Academy Award for his performance in a supporting role. Ava Gardner, nominated the same year for her role in Mogambo, lost to young Audrey Hepburn.
The return of Sinatra to show business was truly triumphant. His career took off again - he not only returned, but returned as a winner. He was able to sing again - and now his voice has become more mature, deep and courageous. He was constantly invited to perform, act in film, make records - and he succeeded in everything. He was busy in the detective radio series Rocky Fortune - the weekly show was a huge success for six months, and at the end of each episode, Sinatra inserted the phrase "From Here to Eternity" in memory of his starring role. He signed a contract with the studio Capitol Records and released several excellent albums together with the best musicians, for which he was named "best singer" by three prestigious music publications at once. His album Young at Heart became the album of the year, and the record Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely topped the charts for 120 weeks. Magazine The Time called him "one of the most remarkable, powerful, dramatic, sad and sometimes downright frightening personalities in the public eye", a The New York Times wrote that "with the possible exception of Hugh Hefner, the founder of playboy, no one could embody the male ideal of the 50s in such a way. Sinatra starred in a series of excellent films, where he showed himself to be a great dramatic actor with a subtle feeling and rare persuasiveness. Sinatra himself especially appreciated his role as drug addict Frankie in the 1955 film The Man with the Golden Arm.
Having established himself in his career, Sinatra returned to his old habits again: he began to throw parties at which there was a lot of whiskey and crowds of women, from chorus girls to Marilyn Monroe herself, who was recovering from a difficult divorce from Joe DiMaggio in Sinatra's house. Newspapers were happy to write about his spree, regularly publishing photos of Frank in the company of another beauty.
Ava endured all this with great difficulty. She was offended, offended, crushed ... In response to her reproaches, Frank exploded, shouted that it was all a lie, then asked for forgiveness for a long time. “For his excuses, he could have been nominated for an Oscar,” she said, but forgave. After another reconciliation, Ava became pregnant, and after another quarrel, she had a miscarriage. However, many years later she admitted: “We could not even take care of ourselves. How could we take care of a child?”
The rampant lifestyle of Frank, who, nevertheless, did not want to leave her alone, putting detectives on her and constantly arranging scenes of jealousy, pissed her off. She more and more willingly agreed to act as far away from him as possible, and although both still loved each other madly, it was clear to everyone that they could no longer live together. “Probably if I could share Frank with other women, we would really be happier,” Ava admitted. When she left for Rome, where the filming of The Barefoot Countess began, Sinatra was on the verge of suicide. After she left he wrote a song I'm a Fool to Want You - during the recording, he was able to sing it only once, and then burst into tears and ran out of the studio ... Later, he asked for a statue of Ava, made for the filming of The Countess, as a keepsake, and installed it in his garden.
A friend once remarked: “Ava taught Frank how to sing sentimental songs about unrequited love. She was the greatest love of his life, and he lost her." For a few more years they lived parallel lives, not bothering to officially divorce - Ava lived either in Spain or in Italy, where she had affairs with bullfighters and dancers, occasionally filmed and pretended to be happy.
Having lost her, Frank seemed to have broken loose: they say that Marilyn Monroe, Anita Ekberg, Grace Kelly, Judy Garland, Kim Novak, the wives of politicians and numerous starlets suspiciously similar to Ava were in his arms. “Frank simply doesn’t have access to the original, so he settles for pale copies,” she quipped. He proposed to Lauren Bacall, and she immediately agreed (“I should have hesitated for at least thirty seconds,” she later said), but Frank pretended that he was just joking. Bacall, who had already ordered business cards in the name of Mrs. Sinatra, could not forgive him for a long time.
He tried to forget Ava, and he usually succeeded. But sometimes Sinatra dropped everything and flew to her. And although both understood that nothing was holding them together, only in the middle of 1957 did they finally decide to dissolve the marriage. They remember that after the official procedure, Frank threw a party at which he tore apart his favorite photo of Ava - but after a few minutes he was crawling on the floor, collecting scraps and crying because he could not find one piece. The messenger who accidentally discovered the lost fragment was rewarded with a gold watch.
In the late 1950s, Sinatra often performed in a Las Vegas casino. The Sands-"Sands", of which he owned a share. "Sands" were truly gold-bearing: the singer's profits were calculated in numbers with many zeros. He and his friends, who performed with him on the same show - singers and actors Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis and Joe Bishop - felt like real kings of the world: after all, they had everything you could dream of at their service. Legends of their entertainment, which included the best alcohol and the best women - but never drugs - passed from mouth to mouth with delight, and tickets for their concerts were sold out for months in advance. They called themselves the "clan" and they were called the "rat pack" - by analogy with the club of playboys that had arisen in Hollywood a decade earlier, which included Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Judy Garland, Cary Grant, Mickey Rooney and others. In Las Vegas, the "flock" was the main attraction that attracted tourists, and at the same time a real force: it was thanks to the "flock" in the casino that many restrictions on blacks that existed at that time throughout the country were lifted (after all, Sammy Davis was a mulatto), and later segregation was completely abolished.
In 1960, the film “Ocean’s Eleven” was released - a kind of friendly skit, capturing the whole company for history, including “rat talismans”, as they called the “flocked” women – Shirley MacLaine and Angie Dickinson. All of them filmed without ceasing to perform in the show, sometimes running out to the film site in between numbers. The story of the robbery of five casinos (one of which was the same "Sands") has become incredibly popular - together with the recent remake of Steven Soderbergh's "Ocean's Eleven" is considered the best film about Las Vegas of all time.
The "flock" had everything: money, power - it was not for nothing that so many enthusiastic rumors circulated about their friendship with the mafia - and even connections in high circles. In 1954, Lawford, the son of an English lord, married the daughter of the famous Joe Kennedy, Patricia. They say that at the wedding he made a toast: “What could be worse than a daughter married to an actor? The daughter is married to an English actor!” - however, he fully contributed to the son-in-law's career, demanding, however, reciprocal services. When Joe's son, Democratic Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was about to conquer the White House, the entire "flock" supported him. Kennedy even sang along with the Pack on the Sands stage. The Rats and John F. Kennedy were very similar - everyone loved life, entertainment, women, and yet they did not forget about their work. Not surprisingly, when Kennedy was elected president, they all felt involved in high politics. Sinatra was even invited to hold a banquet in honor of the inauguration, he already dreamed of being appointed ambassador to Italy, but these dreams were not destined to come true.
It is known that for the success of his election campaign, Kennedy did not disdain to use mafia connections - for example, in Chicago, he won only thanks to Sam Giancana. More piquant circumstances connected him with him - they both loved the same woman, Judy Campbell. However, having settled in the White House, Kennedy realized that such connections could be very dangerous. His brother Robert, who became Attorney General, vowed to exterminate the Mafia in the bud and set to work with zeal, unpleasant for many. He quickly explained to John that he should not deal with mafia bosses or those who might be suspected of having connections with them, and John obeyed. In March 1962, President Kennedy was scheduled to spend a weekend at Sinatra's home in Palm Springs: the flattered singer renovated and rebuilt the house and even equipped a helicopter landing pad, spending about five million dollars on everything. However, at the last moment, Kennedy changed his mind and decided to stay next door, with Bint Crosby, who did not stain himself with connections to the mafiosi.
The Rat Pack is in full force.
The news of this to Sinatra was conveyed by Peter Lawford. Frank was furious. Sinatra would never speak to Lawford again; never again would Lawford be a member of the "rat pack".
In the same year, another scandal broke out: the press found out that part of the shares of the resort owned by Sinatra Cal Neva Lodge owned by mafia bosses.
The resort, located on Lake Tahoe, was exactly on the border between the states of California and Nevada: the border line ran right through the territory, dividing the basin into two halves. The beauty was that gambling was allowed on the Nevada side, and it was actively used by vacationers, among whom there were many who belonged to organized crime. It is known that in Cal Neva Lodge Marilyn Monroe arrived a week before her death, and from there, in a coma, she was taken straight to the hospital. They say that the night Marilyn died, a Sinatra record was playing on her record player ... Anyway, it was hardly the FBI could prove that Sam Giancana, the head of the Chicago Syndicate, was a co-owner Cal Neva Lodge, an incredible storm arose.
As Sinatra himself said, 1963 was a terrible year. His license was revoked Cal Neva Lodge, and he had to sell his stake in the Sands. In November, John F. Kennedy died - for Sinatra, who continued to count himself among the people close to him, at least in spirit, it was a monstrous blow. In December of the same year, unknown persons kidnapped his son, Frank Sinatra Jr., and demanded a quarter of a million dollars for his life. Surprisingly, on the same day, Sinatra was promised help by both Attorney General Robert Kennedy and Sam Giancana. The kidnappers received their ransom and were immediately detained. Even Jacqueline Kennedy, who forbade Sinatra from appearing in the White House except at concerts (after all, it was he who introduced her husband to Marilyn Monroe, and she knew it very well) sent him a postcard with words of sympathy.
All these events almost finished off Sinatra. He was frightened - if people who are at the top of power, at the top of life, can so easily lose this life - what to say about him? He felt old and sick, from such a state he knew only one cure - love. In July 1966, he married the young Mia Farrow - he was fifty and she was twenty-one. The Sinatra family reacted very disapprovingly to this union: after all, their newly-made stepmother was younger than two of Frank's three children. The eldest, Nancy, remarked to reporters: "If my father marries this girl, I will never talk to her again." But Frank was in love and didn't want to know anything. Mia was a fragile, big-eyed blonde with short hair - they say when Ava saw their wedding photo in the newspaper, she only remarked: "I always knew that Frank would end up in bed with a boy."
Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow wedding, July 1966
Frank again tried to insist on his rights as the head of the family: he did not want his wife to act in films - it was enough that she was Mrs. Sinatra. At his request, Mia left the Peyton Place series, where she successfully played one of the main roles, and had to stay at home while Frank, as usual, had fun in the men's company. When she agreed to play a role in Rosemary's Baby, Sinatra insisted that she star with him in The Detective instead. Mia firmly refused: she had long realized that she did not like being Mrs. Sinatra. Sinatra brought the divorce papers straight to the set. Their marriage lasted only a year and four months ...
Frank returned to his former life: records, filming, awards, parties, swearing with journalists and admiration of fans. He was forced to sell the "Sands" to Howard Hughes, which is why he stopped performing there, but instead signed an even more lucrative contract with the casino Caesar's Palace. Elvis Presley stepped on his heels and The Beatles, but Sinatra was still on top: he even recorded an album of modern songs cycles, sold half a million copies. In 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, who were going to the moon, demanded that they listen to Sinatra's song. Fly Me To The Moon("Send me to the moon"). From that moment on, he became not just the most popular Italian on the planet, but a real symbol of this world.
His daughter Nancy said of him: "He was not happy, but would not want to change with anyone, even in order to be happy." In 1971, celebrating his fifty-fifth birthday, Sinatra announced his retirement from the stage.
Coppola said, however, that Sinatra dreamed of playing Don Vito Corleone himself, but the director saw only Marlon Brando in this role and did not want to hear about anyone else. The vindictive Sinatra did not forgive either Coppola or Brando, with whom he was once friendly and even starred together. After all, this was the third time that Brando had landed the role that Frank dreamed of: first he played in the film On the Waterfront, then in the film Guys and Dolls, Marlon got the role that Sinatra wanted to play (and he had to be content with a supporting role), and now - Vito Corleone. Sinatra called Brando "the most overrated actor in the world" - he believed that he had every right to such an opinion ...
He spent the rest of his years relatively calmly: he rarely released albums (for all the eighties - only three collections, but one of them contained the famous New York, New York - one of the biggest American hits of all time), was rarely filmed and performed extensively. And although Sinatra always preferred Las Vegas, he traveled all over the world on tour, and more than once. He took up philanthropy, donating generously to hospitals, cancer funds, and committees to help the poor. It is estimated that he donated about a billion dollars in total! He sang at Reagan's inauguration in 1981 and at a concert in honor of the arrival of Queen Elizabeth II in 1983. And the following year he was awarded the highest award of the country - the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Age, as before, was not a hindrance to heart hobbies. In 1975, Sinatra, who was already sixty, was carried away by the famous Pamela Churchill Hayward, the former daughter-in-law of Winston Churchill, the sexiest Englishwoman of the twentieth century, and almost married her, but at the last moment he was frightened of her scandalous fame. Instead of Pamela, in June 1976, he married Barbara Marx, the former wife of the famous comedian Zeppo Marx, a former variety show dancer. They say Dolly Sinatra was vehemently opposed, but when was the last time Frank listened to his mother? The wedding was attended by Ronald Reagan, Kirk Douglas, Gregory Peck and several other celebrities, but none of the Sinatra family: his children never recognized her. Barbara was spoiled and stupid, but she perfectly understood what happiness it was to become Sinatra's wife. She knew how to be understanding and affectionate, endured all his antics, comforted when Dolly died six months later (she flew to her son’s performance, and the plane crashed; Frank was crushed and could not calmly go on stage for a long time), forgave all his sprees and rudeness. However, her grip was truly iron: in 1978, he even married her, having previously achieved a church divorce from Nancy. The newspapers were ironic: "Maybe Frank made an offer that the Vatican could not refuse?" Barbara limited his contact with children and friends, took all the photos of Ava out of the house and even ordered her statue, which had stood in the garden for twenty years, to be removed. She wanted to be the only woman in Sinatra's life.
Frank and Barbara Sinatra, late 1970s
Or at least the last one. But she never managed to get rid of Ava: although she had already lived in London for a long time, having fenced herself off from the whole world, Frank never stopped communicating with her: he constantly called and periodically flew to visit. She was seriously ill - Frank paid all the bills, resignedly laying out hundreds of thousands of dollars, and was just happy that she did not kick him out, as before. Ava Gardner died in January 1990: according to Sinatra's daughter, when the news announced her death, Frank fell to the floor and burst into tears. Sinatra organized the funeral, but he never showed up for them himself - they said that he could not get out of the limousine, which stood for several hours in front of the entrance to the cemetery: he was choked with tears, his heart ached ... On the wreath that he sent to her coffin was written: "With all my love, Francis."
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