Sinatra

by Anthony Summers

  9 Francesco: (could not read) response in passenger manifest for S.S. Spartan Prince, Jul. 6, 1900, Ellis Island Foundation; (shoemaker) ibid., corr. Nicolò Sangiorgio, citing civil birth records of Isidor and Salvatore Sinatra, int. Rose Paldino, and see Sinatra, My Father, 2—Francesco’s son Marty (FS’s father) was nicknamed “Tony the Shoemaker”; (two sons) baptismal records for Isidor and Salvatore Sinatra, corr. Nicolò Sangiorgio.

  9 desperate times: (going hungry) Monroe, 107, 121–; (riots/crime) Sterling, 47, 133, Monroe, 123.

  9 Mafia’s power: (western Sicily) Monroe, 141, Barzini, Italians, 254, Nicholas Gage, The Mafia Is Not an Equal Opportunity Employer, New York: Dell, 1972, 34, Sterling, 44; (Don Vito [Vito Cascioferro]) Barzini, Italians, 263, Sterling, 48, Peterson, The Mob, 482–, Life, Mar. 1985—but see Richard Gambino, Blood of My Blood, New York: Anchor Books, 1974, 277; (Don Carlo [Calogero Vizzini]) Barzini, Italians, 268, Sterling, 52, 63; (Accardo) William Roemer, Accardo, New York: Donald Fine, 1995, 17; (Gambino) Ed Reid, The Grim Reapers, New York: Bantam, 1969, 287–; (Giancana) William Brashler, The Don, New York: Ballantine, 1977, 12–; (Trafficante) File Update, “Santo Trafficante, Jr.,” Case 1-139, Aug. 24, 1977, Dade County Public Safety Department, Organized Crime Division.

  9 Palermo move: “Last Residence” entry in S.S. Spartan Prince manifest.

  9 two sons born—die in cholera epidemic?: A registry in the parish church in Brancaccio, Palermo, records the birth and baptism in 1889 of a boy named Giuseppe. Civil records show that another son, Antonino, was born in 1892. There is no record of his having been baptized, an indication that he may have died at birth or very soon thereafter. The authors located no further record of either of these children. The genealogist who specializes in Sicily states that it was customary, when a child bearing a traditional family name died, to give the next child the same name. This is almost certainly why Sinatra’s father, born in 1894, was also named Antonino.

  Study of the family genealogy establishes that the Sinatras’ first child had been a daughter, Dorotea, born in Lercara Friddi in 1881. It seems that, like the two boys who died in Palermo, she, too, did not survive. The Sinatras also named their last child, a daughter, Dorotea, at her birth in 1899 (Giuseppe—baptism certificate, Dec. 8, 1889, Parrochia S.S. Salvatore, Palermo; Antonino—entry, civil birth records, Palermo, FHL 135000814, Genealogical Society of Utah, corr. Kathy Kirkpatrick; Dorotea—civil birth records, Dorotea Sinatra, Oct. 13, 1881, Lercara Friddi, Palermo, Italia, FHL 1965252, Genealogical Society of Utah; cholera epidemic—int. Fr. Alerio Montalbano [priest], Parrochia S.S. Salvatore, Brancaccio, Palermo, a plaque on church commemorates cholera epidemic of early 1890s).

  9 emigration: (exodus) Finley et al., 202, Nick Tosches, Dino, Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams, New York: Delta, 1992, 6.

  9 Francesco journey/arrival: S.S. Spartan Prince manifest.

  9 surviving Sinatra children: At the time of his emigration to America, Francesco Sinatra and his wife, Rosa, had five living children. The eldest, Isidor, had been born in 1884, followed by Salvatore in 1887, Antonino (FS’s father) in 1894, Angelina in 1896, and Dorotea in 1899 (baptism records for Isidor [Feb. 6, 1884] and Salvatore [Jan. 19, 1887], Libro dei Battesimi; immigration records for Antonino, Angelina, and Dorotea, passenger manifest, Citta di Milano, arriving Dec. 21, 1903, Ellis Island Foundation, which list ages at time of arrival in the United States).

  9 Isidor joined Francesco: The authors did not locate a record of Isidor’s arrival at Ellis Island, but he did join the family in the United States at some point. The Hoboken city directory for 1915 lists an Isidor Sinatra living at Francesco’s address. According to Francesco’s granddaughter Rose Paldino, he died young from diabetes.

  9 Salvatore/Rosa/children: passenger manifests, S.S. Marco Minghetti, arriving Ellis Island on Jun. 2, 1902, and for Citta di Milano, Ellis Island Foundation, ints. Rose Sinatra Paldino, Hoboken city directories 1909–1930.

  9 Statue smiled: FS address, 100th Birthday Tribute to the Statue of Liberty, Jul. 3, 1986, videotape in authors’ collection.

  10 hostility: (dirty) David Evanier, Making the Wiseguys Weep, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998, 19; (criminal) Donald Clarke, All or Nothing at All, New York: Fromm, 2000, 3; (epithets) Evanier, 23, Pete Hamill, Why Sinatra Matters, Boston: Little, Brown, 1998, 38; (“not even white”/Sicily especially) “Italians in America” (TV documentary), Greystones Communications for A&E, on History Channel, 1998, Gambino, 84–; (Klan) ibid., and New Yorker, Nov. 9, 1946; (churches) Michael Freedland, All the Way, London: Orion, 1998, 6.

  10 criminality: (fugitives) Sterling, 49–; (Don Vito) ibid., and passenger manifest, S.S. Champagne, for arrival on Sep. 30, 1901; (protection) Sterling, 50, Barzini, Italians, 272–, John Cummings and Ernest Volkman, Goombata, Boston: Little, Brown, 1990, 23–, Gage, 44; (Alo) Miami Herald, Apr. 8, 2001.

  10 Luciano arrived: The Lucania family’s date of arrival has previously been reported variously as having been in either 1904, 1906, or 1907. U.S. Census data indicate that, like the Sinatras, they arrived in several stages. Lucanio’s father arrived in 1906 and his wife and two of his children—including his son Salvatore, today remembered as “Lucky”—the following year (U.S. Census, 1920).

  10 “We was surrounded”: Martin Gosch and Richard Hammer, The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano, Boston: Little, Brown, 1975, 8, and see Tony Sciacca, Luciano, New York: Pinnacle Books, 1975, 16.

  10 Francesco/Rosa jobs: (shoemakers) Hamill, 40; (boilermaker/factory/gro cery) Sinatra, Legend, 15—Francesco is listed in the 1920 U.S. Census as grocery “proprietor.”

  10 $11/$200 today: Modern equivalents for dollar sums at earlier dates have been calculated according to data provided by Professor Robert Sahr of the Oregon State University Political Science Department and available on the Columbia Journalism Review website, www.cjr.org/tools/inflation.

  10–11 Hoboken: (resort) Clarke, 4, “The Abridged History of Hoboken,” hobokenmuseum.org; (grubby industrial town) Arnold Shaw, Sinatra, Twentieth CenturyRomantic, New York: Holt, Rhinehart and Winston, 1968, 9; (Irish ran) Freedland, 8; (Italian territory) Barzini, Italians, 272–, Chapman, 151; (attack) FS int. in Sinatra: An American Original, CBS News special, 1965; (battle) NYT, May 6, 1909.

  11 Isidor/grocery: Hoboken city directory, 1915, 1918.

  11 Salvatore/baker: int. daughter, Rose Paldino.

  11–12 Marty: (dropped out) FS int. by Sidney Zion at seminar, Yale University, Apr. 15, 1986, videotape in authors’ collection; (illiterate) ibid., Sinatra, Legend, 22, Tina Sinatra with Jeff Coplon, My Father’s Daughter, New York: Simon and Schuster, 2000, 63, int. Rose Paldino; (“mushroom”) Kitty Kelley, His Way, New York: Bantam, 1986, 96; (tattoos) ibid., 9, Esquire, Apr. 1966; (asthma) Sinatra, My Father, 6, Look, May 14, 1957; (gentle) Sinatra, My Father, 3, 5; (silences) Hamill, 71, and see Freedland, 16–; (explosive temper) Earl Wilson, Sinatra: An Unauthorized Biography, New York: Signet, 1977, 17; (drink) Robin Douglas-Home, Sinatra, London: Michael Joseph, 1962, 51; (shoemaker) Sinatra, My Father, 2; (“chauffeur”) FS birth certificate, Dec. 17, 1915, New Jersey Bureau of Vital Statistics; (accident) Jersey Journal, May 8, 1918; (stolen goods) Kelley, 1; (boxer) Sinatra, Legend, 15; (Italian boxers) Hickman Powell, Lucky Luciano, Secaucus, NJ: Arno, 1975, 70fn; (sponsor) FS int. by Zion.

  12 Natalina “Dolly” Garaventa: birth certificate, Natalina Garaventa, Dec. 26, 1896, Comune di Lumarzo, Genoa, Oggi, Jul. 1987, ints. Julianna Casagranda, nephew Frank Monaco. As cited on her birth certificate, Dolly’s full name was Natalina Maria Vittoria Garaventa. Her maiden name has been rendered variously over the years. On two official documents Dolly spelled it Garavanti. Her granddaughter Nancy used Garavente in her books about her father. The authors have used the spelling on Dolly’s Italian birth certificate, Garaventa (FS birth certificate, pictured at Sinatra, Legend, 17, Natalie Sinatra, Social Security application, 151-32-9978, Nov. 1958).

  12 father a peasant: data supplied by mayo
r’s office, Comune di Lumarzo, Dec. 2002. Dolly’s father has previously been referred to as having been a lithographer or a stonecutter for a lithographer before leaving Italy. The authors used the information supplied in Italy (int. Frank Monaco, Sinatra, Legend, 15, [Rochester, NY] Democrat & Chronicle, Jan. 8, 1977, Wilson, 16).

  12 Garaventa brothers: (Dominick) Jersey Journal, Apr. 15, 1931, and see Bill Davidson to Asst. Dir. Louis Nichols, and Jones to Nichols, Jan. 23, 1957, FSFBI rereviewed for authors, 2004, int. Rose Paldino; (Lawrence) Jersey Journal, Apr. 15, 1931, Aug. 17, 19, 1946, Dec. 14, 1948, Jan. 15, 1949, Jersey Observer, Mar. 13, 1919, NYT, Feb. 1, 3, 4, 1922, ints. Frank Monaco, Anthony Petrozelli, James Petrozelli Jr., Rose Paldino, Nick Sevano, and see Kelley, 15, citing Jersey Observer; (Gustavo) Kelley, 527, 222, 1.

  12 Dolly described: (eyes and hair) M/G int. of Nick Sevano, Ed Shirak, Our Way, Hoboken, NJ: Lepore’s Publishing, 1995, 102, Shaw, 8, Tony Sciacca, Sinatra, New York: Pinnacle, 1976, 94; (height) Sinatra, Legend, 16; (dressed as boy) ibid., 15, Congressional Record, Jun. 30, 1971, 22893; (talked tough) ints. Rose Paldino, Frank Monaco; (never forgot) Shaw, 10; (English/dialects) Hamill, 78; (good organizer) FS in New York Daily News, Jan. 17, 1982; (singing) Sciacca, Sinatra, 103, Chicago’s American, Sep. 25, 1966; (Clam Broth House) Shirak, 102.

  12–13 Marty and Dolly: (met) Hamill, 57; (serenading) “Frank Sinatra’s Own Hit Parade,” unpub. FS int. by Dorothy O’Leary, Mar. 24, 1948, MHL; (brainier/bossy) ints. Rose Paldino, Phyllis McGuire, Brad Dexter, Kelley, 24, Sound Track, undated c. 1976; (ran away) Sinatra, Legend, 15; (Charlie) int. Rose Paldino; (slum?) Motion Picture, Jun. 16, 1947, American Weekly, Jul. 20, 1952, int. Rose Paldino, Freedland, 7, Sciacca, Sinatra, 92; (house described) int. Rose Paldino; (Dominick) Sciacca, Sinatra, 92.

  13 Victrolas: Hamill, 52, and “Recording Industry History,” http://acusd.edu/gen/ recording/notes.

  Chapter 3: The Only Child

  14 “We were married”: Look, May 28, 1957.

  14–15 birth: (wintry) FS in CBS News special; (snow) NYT, Dec. 12, 1915; (table/ninety pounds) FS in CBS News special; (birth) ibid., Sinatra, Legend, 16, Look, May 28, 1957, Wilson, 14; (women) int. Frank Monaco, Shirak, 103— neighbor was Margaret Fiore; (“I don’t think”) Sciacca, Sinatra, 93; (unable to bear more children) FS int. by Zion, Goldmine, Mar. 22, 1991; (scars) Sinatra, Legend, 17, ints. Peggy Connelly, Tony Oppedisano; (makeup) Look, May 14, 1957, ints. Peter Levinson, George Jacobs and William Stadiem, Mr. S: My Life with Frank Sinatra, New York: Harper, 2003, 56; (gratitude) FS in CBS News special; (tried to attack) Sinatra, My Father, 282, J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: A Complete Life, New York: Birch Lane, 1997, 12; (“They weren’t thinking”) int. Peggy Connelly.

  15 birth certificate/“Francis A.”: Sinatra, Legend, 17. Nancy Sinatra’s book Legend states flatly that Frank Sinatra was named after his godfather, Frank Garrick. Other sources suggest he was named Frank purely by accident, his parents having decided to call the baby Martin. Far more likely is that the name was selected to honor his paternal grandfather, Francesco, as was the Italian custom.

  The invitations to Sinatra’s first wedding include the middle initial “A.,” as does his 1943 draft card and a reregistration of his birth filed in 1945. In 1976, in yet another reregistration, it was formally specified that the singer’s second name was Albert. Sinatra himself reportedly said as late as 1947 that he had no middle name (Garrick—Sinatra, Legend, 16; by accident—Taraborrelli, 7; custom—corr. Kathy Kirkpatrick, int. cousin Rose Paldino, whose eldest brother was also named Frank in honor of their grandfather Sinatra; middle name—Sinatra, Legend,17, Freedland, 5, Don Dwiggins, Frankie, New York: Paperback Library, 1961, 92, “Frank Albert Sinatra,” Selective Service registration card, #2615).

  15 “God loves you”: Wilson, 14–.

  15 baby photographs: Sinatra, Legend, 16—not available for use in this book.

  15 Josie: Sciacca, Sinatra, 93.

  15 “I didn’t care”/Francesco/grandmother: Look, May 28, Jun. 11, 1957, Photoplay,Sep. 1956.

  15 “bit of a sissy”: Kelley, 20, citing Kathryn Buhan.

  15 draft: Draft Registration Records, Hoboken, NJ, 1917–18, microfilms 1712108/09/10.

  15–16 Dolly: (volunteered) Star, citing Hoboken Library FS exhibit, undat., 1986, and see The Worker, Nov. 25, 1945; (chained) Sinatra with Coplon, 11; (“I was asked”) Look, May 28, 1957, Photoplay, Sep. 1956; (influence) Freedland, 11–, Time, Aug. 25, 1965, Gerry Romero, Sinatra’s Women, New York: Manor, 1976, 22, Woman’s Home Companion, May 1956, Sciacca, Sinatra, 94, int. Nick Sevano; (“godmother”) int. Anthony Petrozelli.

  16 Dolly and politicians/mayors: Hoboken Historical Museum Newsletter, Mar./Apr. 1987, Hoboken History, iss. 17, 1997, Warren Strickle, New Jersey Democracy and the Urban Coalition, 1919–1932, Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University, unpub. doc. diss., May 1971, eds. Edward Foster and Geoffrey Clark, Hoboken, New York: Irvington, 1976, 63–, “General Crime Survey: Newark Field Division,” May 13, 1944, FBI 62-75147-31-2. The mayors were Bernard McFeeley (Hoboken) and Frank Hague (Jersey City); (“buying votes”) Sinatra with Coplon, 11; (“Marty wasn’t smart enough”) int. Rose Paldino; (tease) Sinatra, Legend, 18.

  16 FS carrying placards: Chicago’s American, Sep. 25, 1966, and Seymour Hersh, The Dark Side of Camelot, Boston: Little, Brown, 1997, 139. Though Tina Sinatra said her father carried placards for the Democrats before he could read the words on them, FS himself said his first campaigning was when he took part in a parade for Al Smith at the age of twelve. That would have been in 1928, when Smith, having been four times elected governor of New York, ran for the presidency. Given Dolly Sinatra’s affiliation to corrupt local politicians, and the Sinatra links to Lucky Luciano, it is interesting that Smith reportedly solicited Luciano’s help during the campaign. According to Luciano’s associate Frank Costello, Smith again met with Luciano during the 1932 presidential contest. If the adult Sinatra became aware of such contacts as the years passed, the Kennedy involvement with the Mafia years later—in which Sinatra played go-between—may not have seemed out of the ordinary (“I marched”—Sinatra, Legend, 149, and see Chicago’s American, Sep. 25, 1966; Smith/Luciano—Gosch and Hammer, 98–, Wolf with DiMona, 97–, Sciacca, Luciano, 108–).

  16 Dolly midwife: (directory) Hoboken city directory, 1925–26, 126; (Kelley) Kelley, 25–, 32; (arrested) Jones to Nichols, Jan. 23, 1957, and Bill Davidson to Lou Nichols, Jan. 23, 1957, FSFBI, Taraborrelli, 26–, and see family acknowledgment at Friedwald, 62; (“Hatpin Dolly”) Star, undat. 1986; (FS barred) Clarke, 19, Friedwald, 62; (other memories) ints. Anthony Petrozelli, Nick Sevano, James and Angela Petrozelli, Ed Shirak, Joe Spaccavento, Rose Ellman Sinatra, Al Certo, cited in Evanier, 47.

  16–17 farmed out: Sinatra, Legend, 17–, Sinatra, My Father, 4, George Carpozi, Frank Sinatra: Is This Man Mafia? New York: Manor, 1979, 10.

  17 Mrs. Golden: Look, May 28, 1957, Woman’s Home Companion, May 1956, Good Housekeeping, Jun. 1964, Wilson, 17, 360. Mrs. Golden’s name is also variously rendered as Goldman and Goldberg, but Golden predominates; (Rose) Sciacca, Sinatra, 94, 97, Clarke, 17.

  17 FS and Yiddish/Italian: Friedwald, 61–, 62n1. Two Italian-American friends, entertainer Sonny King and singer Dean Martin, have commented on Sinatra’s grasp of the language. King said he picked up a few words in childhood, and occasionally came out with an Italian catchphrase. Dean Martin recalled speaking Italian with Sinatra, Vic Damone, and Nick Conte, “’cause we didn’t want others to listen to what we were talking about.” Sinatra told an audience: “I don’t know enough Italian to speak to you in Italian.” Though he had little Italian, it is not accurate to say that he “never spoke a word” of the language, as Ava Gardner was to suggest (int. Sonny King, Dean Martin cited in Oriana Fallaci, The Egotists, Chicago: Regnery, 1968, 163, FS commentary on 1987 Italian tour, RAI UNO, Ava Gardner, My Story, New York: Bantam, 1990, 151).

  17 Dolly/material things: (bikes) Time, Aug. 19, 1955; (toys/Catskills) LAHE, Sc
iacca, Sinatra, 98, Carpozi, 10, Alan Frank, Sinatra, New York: Leon Amiel, 1978, 13; (clothes) ibid., Freedland, 13, int. Nick Sevano; (“velvet pants”) Sinatra, My Father, 5; (Geismar’s) New Jersey Monthly, Feb. 1982; (Tredy) Sinatra, My Father, 7; (solitary figure) Kelley, 16, Clarke, 11.

  17 ashtray/cleanliness: (Dolly) Woman’s Home Companion, May 1956; (FS) Look, May 14, 1957; (“Lady Macbeth”) Shaw, 10; (“fanatic”) int. Tony Oppedisano; (money/“I can’t”) Look, May 14, 1957, draft for Movieland, Jun. 11, 1945, MHL; (glasses) int. Peter Levinson.

  17 “We were on the beach”: draft for Movieland, Oct. 1945, MHL.

  17 “always expected”: Nancy Barbato Sinatra, cited in “Sinatra’s Song,” Sinatra Music Society, 2000, www.sinatra-ms.com.

  18 “Dad took it out”: Photoplay, Aug. 1945. This beating by his father was apparently an exception. Elsewhere, FS said his father never laid a hand on him (Sinatra, My Father, 5).

  18 Dolly beatings: (grown stout) photo in Sinatra, Legend, 18; (falling down stairs) Sinatra, My Father, 4; (Tina’s version) Sinatra with Coplon, 54; (“She used to beat”) ints. Rose Paldino, Rose Ellman Sinatra; (“give me a rap”) Hamill, 84; (“When she came close”) “The Two Sinatras,” usnews.com, May 25, 1998.