Sinatra

by Anthony Summers

  137–38 later FS meetings with Luciano: (familiar figure) John Davis, Mafia Dynasty, New York: HarperTorch, 1993, 120–, Wells and Bogdanovich, 312; (bosses consulted) Luciano reports summary, 28–, 45, 74, 83–, 87, Rizzo to Williams, May 4, 1948, and “Memorandum to District Supervisors,” Aug. 15, 1949, LLBN, Henry Zeiger, The Jersey Mob, New York: Signet, 1975, 158–; (remained power/drugs) Cook, 125, 330, 346, 349–, True, Nov. 1952, and see Vizzini with Fraley and Smith, 154; (Durante/Raft) Luciano reports summary, 53–, Cusack to Anslinger, Mar. 2, 1961, LLBN.

  138 “close personal friends”: Cusack to Anslinger, Mar. 2, 1961, LLBN. Others named in Narcotics Bureau reports as having been in touch with Luciano were film director Roberto Rossellini, Ingrid Bergman’s husband, actor Marc Lawrence, and actresses Lois Andrews and Ella Logan (Luciano reports summary, 57, 71, 51, 52, 63.

  138 FS carried money 1950/60?: Memo to Mr. Boardman, Feb. 28, 1955, FSFBI, “File Review and Summary Check,” Mar. 9, 1962, FBI LA 100-41413.

  138 expected in 1952: Siragusa to Anslinger, Jan. 19, 1952, LLBN; (following spring) Siragusa to Anslinger, Jan. 5, 1954, but see Cusack to Anslinger, Apr. 7, 1961, LLBN; (FS tour) “Where or When?” Gardner, 189; (new sorties) Luciano reports summary, 63, 69, 72, 85, LLBN, Memo to Mr. Boardman, Feb. 28, 1955, FSFBI—report related to 1951, Legal Attaché Havana to Director, Mar. 26, 1954, FBI 88-3277-2256; (nine times) Boston American, Jan. 31, 1956; (Mafia conclaves) Memo to Mr. Boardman, Feb. 28, 1955, FSFBI; (“We used to meet”) Russo, 227, and see Cook, 349; (“present in 1951”) Memo to Mr. Boardman, Feb. 28, 1955, FSFBI; (“We walked into the suite”) Jacobs, who traveled the world with Sinatra for years, was no longer sure of the exact date of this encounter. He was clear, however, that it occurred in Rome—probably in the late 1950s—and Sinatra did visit Rome in 1958 (ints. George Jacobs, Jacobs and Stadiem, 191, Hanna, Ava, New York: Putnam, 1960, 221–).

  138–39 FS and Luciano in Havana at Christmas 1958?: Chico Scimone, the Sicilian American who said he played piano at a mob “audition” of Sinatra in the late thirties, told the authors he heard from mob sources that both Luciano and Sinatra were in Havana at New Year’s 1958, when Fidel Castro overthrew the Batista regime. Reports discussed earlier in this chapter indicate that the mobster made covert trips back from exile at various times, and, four years after imposing strict travel restrictions on Luciano, the Italian authorities had returned the mobster’s passport to him on December 13.

  It seems possible that Sinatra was in Havana at New Year’s 1958. The authors located no indication of his precise whereabouts between December 29 and January 14. Shooting of final scenes for A Hole in the Head, meanwhile, was taking place in the first week of 1959 in the Miami area, a short airplane trip away from Havana. It was common, in those pre-Castro days, for pleasure-seeking Americans to make the trip for a couple of days or even less. A reference in Nancy Sinatra’s book Legend, which places Sinatra in a recording studio in Los Angeles on January 2, appears to be inaccurate. Other sources indicate the recording sessions in question took place between October 13 and 15, 1958.

  Sinatra’s involvement in a Cuban casino deal features in an FBI report citing records of National City Bank. According to the report, he and six others were putting up $10 million to build the Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino—in association with a partner of Meyer Lansky. Lansky himself was in Havana on New Year’s Eve 1958 (Luciano fretting—Fred Cook, The Secret Rulers, New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1966, 349–, Gosch and Hammer, 378–, 408–; Scimone—int. Chico Scimone; restrictions/passport—Gosch and Hammer, 408–, and see L’Europeo magazine, Jan. 11, 18, 25, 1959; FS whereabouts Dec. 29–Jan. 14—“Where or When?”; Hole shoot—O’Brien, 116, LAT magazine, May 24, 1959; in LA?—Sinatra, Legend, 140, but see Dec.–Jan., 1959, entries Where or When? Sayers and O’Brien, 240–; Monte Carlo casino—“Correlation Summary,” Jun. 8, 1964, FSFBI, Wall Street Journal, Jan. 16, 1981; Lansky—Lacey, Little Man, 249–).

  139–40 “The crowd from from Hole”: Location shooting in Florida for Hole in the Head occurred between November 1958 and January 1959. The word “kadiddlehopper” refers to the type of hat worn by the comedian Red Skelton when portraying “Clem Kadiddlehopper,” a character he created (ints. Bill Woodfield, 2001, and see This Week, May 24, 1959, O’Brien, 116–, Hersh, 142fn.); (“There are some people”/“He told it”) int. Peggy Connelly; (FS “scared off”) Cusack to Anslinger, Mar. 2, 1961, LLBN; (FS corresponded) Siragusa to Anslinger, May 20, 1961, LLBN; (“Sinatra was a very close”) int. Adriana Rizzo.

  Chapter 14: Courting Disaster

  141 “one of the dumbest”: Hamill, 145.

  141 Nancy/abortion: (“Will you be”) Modern Screen, May 1947; (abortion) Sinatra with Coplon, 18–.

  141–42 Mortimer attack: (basic incident) Request for Investigation, Apr. 10, Investigator’s Report, Apr. 14, 1947, and related docs., District Attorney, County of Los Angeles, courtesy of Gavin MacFadyen, Hedda Hopper int. of FS, Chicago Tribune–NY News syndicate, undat. 1947 draft, MHL int. Louanne Hogan Wilson, New York Daily News, Apr. 9, 15, (NY) Daily Mirror, Apr. 9, 11, 13, New York World-Telegram, Apr. 9, New York Post, Apr. 9, 11, (LA) Daily News, Apr. 9, Daily Worker, Apr. 9, AP, Apr. 9, UP, Apr. 9, 14, INS, Apr. 9, Washington News, Apr. 10, LAT, Apr. 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, NYT, Apr. 10, unid. article by Grace Robinson, probably New York News, Robert Ruark Papers, New York Journal-American, Apr. 12, 13, Time, Apr. 21, 1947; (license withdrawn) ( NY) Daily Mirror, Apr. 15, 1947, Chicago Herald-American, Apr. 14, 1947, Carpozi, 93.

  142 song plugger Sam Weiss: Weiss first met Sinatra on New York’s 52nd Street, where he worked in the clubs. Sinatra was close to both him and his brother Irving “Sarge” Weiss, who was also present on the night of the Mortimer episode and became a key aide. (Weiss brothers background in int. and corr. Ric Ross, Sinatra with Coplon, 80, Sinatra, My Father, 58, int. Shirley Ballard; Irving present in Request for Investigation, Apr. 10, Investigator’s Report, Apr. 14, 1947, and related docs., District Attorney, County of Los Angeles, courtesy of Gavin MacFadyen); (“He called me”) Time, Apr. 21, 1947. The word “sonofabitch” was deleted in many press reports and appears in the official record as “bastard.” The account Harrison Carroll gave investigators and the text of his published report are also in the file; (concocted) Kelley, 125–, citing taped comments of Jack Keller.

  142–43 Mortimer background/sequel: (“squealing . . . juve delinqs”) Shaw, Sinatra, 79, 92, 93; (“until hostilities”) (NY) Sunday Mirror, Jul. 15, 1945; (“class struggle”) New Republic, Mar. 31, 1986; (“much of his time”) Los AngelesExaminer, Apr. 10, 1947; (“(Lucky)”) (NY) Daily Mirror, Mar. 14, 1947; (“belt”) New York Post, Apr. 10, 1947, and see Kelley, 124; (“stick his head”) int. Sonny King, M/G int. of Sonny King, and see Wilson, Sinatra, 72; (“I’ll kill you”) Investigator’s Report; (investigators concluded) New York Journal-American,Apr. 13, 1947; (never to trial) LAT, (LA) Daily News, Washington Times-Herald, Jun. 4, 1947, DA Investigator’s and Sheriff’s Dept. Supplemental Reports, Jun. 5, 13, 1947; (U.S.A. Confidential) Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer, U.S.A. Confidential, New York: Crown, 1952, 21, and see Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer, Washington Confidential, New York: Crown, 1951, Bergen (NJ) Record, Jun. 21, 2000; (beaten unconscious) Washington Times-Herald, (NY) Daily Mirror, May 18, 1950; (FBI 1960) log of conv., Apr. 5, 1960, vol. 9, Misc. ELSUR Refs., HSCA Subject Files, Frank Sinatra, JFK, Zeiger, 200, and see (NY) Daily Mirror, Apr. 5, 1960; (“Frank and I”) int. Brad Dexter.

  144–45 Hearst papers & FS: (Hearst on FDR & “Reds”) W. A. Swanberg, Citizen Hearst, New York: Scribner’s, 1961, 567, Vaughn, 41; (“wipe out”) New York World-Telegram, Apr. 2, 1947; (“almost fit”) Time, Apr. 21, 1947; (Jefferson Award) New York Daily News, Apr. 10, INS, Apr. 14, 1947, Carpozi, 91; (Mortimerdigging) int. of George Evans by Charles Siragusa, Apr. 12, 1948, LLBN, “Memo for Mr. Tolson,” May 12, Tolson to Director, May 13, 15, 1947, and “Summary Memorandum,” Sep. 29, 1950, FSFBI; (collate information) Mortimer to Pegler, Sep. 26, 1947, a
nd undat. letter, Box 73, Pegler Papers; (“hosstrade”) Ruark to Pegler, Mar. 14, 1947, Box 72, Pegler Papers; (Pegler columns) New York Journal-American, Sep. 10, 11, 12, 16, Oct. 1, 4, 1947, WashingtonTimes-Herald, Nov. 14, 1947; (“Posing”) undat. column, Mar. 1947, Robert Ruark Papers; (“I don’t know”) Photoplay, Nov. 1951; (“very contrite”/received) Kelley, 127–, int. of George Evans by Charles Siragusa, Apr. 12, 1948, LLBN.

  145 FS status/working methods: (Old Gold) UP, Apr. 24, 1947, Chicago’s American, Sep. 25, 1966.

  145–46 Capitol audiences: Shaw, Sinatra, 115, Wilson, Sinatra, 76, (NY) Daily Mirror, Nov. 28, 1947. A favorable review of the appearance by one of the big Hearst papers, it was said later, had been rewritten to read like dire criticism; (ABC poll) Shaw, Sinatra, 114; (work in studio) Granata, 35–, WP, Oct. 31, 1947; (Quinlan) Metronome, Oct. 1948; (“It drives me”) int. of FS by Arlene Francis, Sep. 25, 1981, WOR (NY) radio; (“It was stunningly”) Clooney with Barthel, 46, 8; (“He put a period”) Lees, 161; (Who’s Who ) LAT, Feb. 24, 1948; (“His voice”) int. Al Viola; (“darker hues”) Granata, 39; (“The songs that I sing”) New York Daily News, Jan. 23, 1978; (“felt”) Sinatra, My Father, 372.

  146 Sinatra Day: (appearance) New Jersey Monthly, Feb. 1982, Frank, 61, int. Frank Monaco; (squabbling) ibid. and Gardner, 149–, int. Mearene Jordan; (Francesco died) NYT, Apr. 9, 1948, giving wrong age; (FS “spit”) LAT, Feb. 4, 1998.

  146–47 FS family life: (fond memories) Sinatra, My Father, 56–, 72, Family Weekly, Jun. 17, 1984; (“as traditional”) unid. article by Marva Peterson, Jul. 21, 1947, MHL; (got away to Palm Springs) int. Gloria Cahn, Sinatra, My Father, 58, 108; (decided to build) Davidson, 36–, “Twin Palms,” www.locationsunlimited.com, American Weekly, Nov. 26, 1950; (happy memories/As they drove) Sinatra, My Father, 58–; (baby) Los Angeles Examiner, Nov. 10, 1947, Movieland, Sep. 7, 1948.

  147 Evans laboring: Los Angeles Examiner, Oct. 6, 1947, Sinatra, Legend, 77, 90, int. of George Evans by Charles Siragusa, Apr. 12, 1948, LLBN, notes of int. of George Evans, Sep. 10, 1947, Box 72, Pegler Papers.

  147 Mob contacts: (Fischettis) “Summary Memorandum,” Sep. 29, 1950, FSFBI, Chicago Sun, Jan. 16, 1948; (“financial interest”) “Summary Memorandum,” Sept. 29, 1950, FSFBI.

  147 Moretti “associated”/“kicked in”: “Summary Memorandum,” Sep. 29, 1950, FSFBI. Columnist Lee Mortimer would report—and it has been widely repeated—that Sinatra sang at the wedding of one of Moretti’s daughters. Moretti’s daughter Angela told the authors, however, that he sang neither at her wedding nor at those of her two sisters. Mortimer report in New American Mercury,Aug. 1951, and see, e.g., Kelley, 172; and re Moretti daughters’ weddings, int. Angela Marrocco, Newark (NJ) Evening News, Jun. 9, 1947, and Paterson ( NJ ) Call, Sep. 22, 1947, and see Dwiggins, 101.

  147 Cohen: (sordid story) Los Angeles Examiner, Oct. 6, 1947, notes of int. George Evans, Sep. 10, 1947, Box 72, Pegler Papers.

  147–48 Cohen/boxing/criminal: “Summary Memo,” Mar. 1, 1955, FBI LA 100-41413, “Correlation Summary,” Jun. 8, 1964, FSFBI, Chicago’s American, Sep. 27, 1966, Robinson to Olney, Sep. 15, 1950, and Polski to McGill, Aug. 24, 1951, Alpha Names Files, “Sinatra, Frank,” Kefauver Committee Files, NA, Peterson, Mob, 330–. The criminal in question was Jimmy Tarantino, who ran a scandal sheet FS apparently helped finance—as did Willie Moretti; (FS had known the crook) transcript, Joseph Nellis interrogation of FS for Kefauver Committee, Mar. 1, 1951, published in Gallery, Sep. 1978; (address book) “Summary Memorandum,” Sep. 29, 1950, and Rosen to Director, Feb. 26, 1947, FSFBI, “Summary Memo,” Mar. 1, 1955, FBI LA 100-41713; (“Why, he’s a friend”) Davidson, 20.

  148 Palm Springs and mob: (Stables) “Summary Memo,” Mar. 1, 1955; FBI LA 100-41413, Pegler to Lloyd Felmly, Oct. 17, 1947, Box 72, Pegler Papers; Chicago’s American, Sep. 28, 1966; (“favorite rendez-vous”) “The Special Crime Study Commission on Organized Crime,” Final Report, Sacramento, CA: State of Calif., May 11, 1953, 21–, Sacramento Bee, Mar. 8, 1977; (Smiley) ibid., 35, 28; (Smiley/FS) int. Luellen Smiley, “Summary Memo,” Mar. 1, 1955, LA 100-41413, “Summary Memorandum,” Sep. 29, 1950, FSFBI; (“I’ve known these people”) Sinatra, Legend, 174.

  148–49 Hollywood status 1949: (MGM had paid) Shaw, Sinatra, 124, Dwiggins, 104; (pushed the patience) Sinatra, Legend, 78, Sinatra, My Father, 16, Kelley, 127, O’Brien, 5–; (FS behaved badly) O’Brien, 29–, 51, 49–; (Miracle premiere) ibid., 38, Davidson, 38; (movies lost money) O’Brien, 31, 33, 38, 52; (Down Beat poll) Down Beat polls, Jan. 1, 1944–Dec. 30, 1949; (“decadent”) Billboard, Nov. 20, 1965; (“Is Sinatra Finished?”) Modern Television & Radio, Dec. 1948; (did feel finished) Nancy Sinatra, Legend, 87; (“When we had guests”/locked) (LA) Daily News, Sep. 2, 1950.

  Chapter 15: Lovers, Eternally

  150–51 MGM photograph: John Springer Collection, Corbis photos—according to MGM’s archivist, the picture was taken on Feb. 10, 1949, Gardner, 122; Ava background: (as child) Doris Cannon, Grabtown Girl, Asheboro, NC: Down Home Press, 2001, 12–, 31, undat. Ava int. by Charles Samuels, Motion Picture, MHL; (barefoot as adult) Roland Flamini, Ava, New York: Coward, McCann, 1983, 81; (smoking at eight) ibid., 28; (beauty) Cannon, 45, 54, 65; (nails) ibid., 52; (could not afford) Gardner, 18; (acted/at ease) Cannon, 35, 50–; (movies) taped 1988 interviews of Ava Gardner by Peter Evans, Gardner, 13, 24; (dreamed) Cannon, 43, 66; (talked of singing) Gardner, 29; (wind up a secretary)Evans tapes, Cannon, 63, Look, Dec. 11, 1956; (local boy) ibid., 51; (demure shots) ibid., 69–, undat. Ava int. by Charles Samuels; (actress-in-waiting) Evans tapes, Flamini, 21, 38–, Charles Higham, Ava, New York: Delacorte, 1974, 15–; (“I’ve never cared”) undat. Ava int. by Charles Samuels, Gardner, 188.

  151–52 Ava early lovelife: (strictly) Look, Nov. 27, 1956; (shy/“I played”) Evans tapes, Cannon, 46; (“the biggest”) Higham, Ava, 12; (Rooney background) Flamini, 44–, Mickey Rooney, I.E.: An Autobiography, New York: Putnam, 1965, refs., Mickey Rooney, Life Is Too Short, New York: Villard, 1991, refs., Cannon, 73–; (far from L.A.) Rooney, Too Short, 187; (“damn near”) Flamini, 53; (“Once he gets”) Higham, Ava, 24; (“I found evidence”) Evans tapes; (Rooney said) Rooney, Too Short, 192–; (played field) Higham, Ava, 41–; (Hughes/breasts/ “wet decks”) Higham, Ava, 46, Gardner, 67; (never shared) Gardner, 69, 127; (believe otherwise) e.g., Higham, Ava, 45–, 48—Charles Higham also wrote Howard Hughes: The Secret Life, London: Pan Books, 1994; (Hughes pursues Ava) Higham, Ava, 152, Gardner, 78–, 154, 158, Jane Ellen Wayne, Ava’s Men, New York: St. Martin’s, 1990, 185–; (jitterbug) Cannon, 58, (Shaw “dysfunction”) Flamini, 75–; (four wives) Wayne, 81; (psychoanalysis) int. Artie Shaw, Higham, Ava, 57; (“the first intelligent”/“most perfect”) Gardner, 88–; (living together) Flamini, 80–; (“improve”/Interpretation/introduced) Gardner, 90–; (shut up) ibid., 94; (quarreling/divorced) Higham, Ava, 58–; (Tormé) Tormé, Velvet, 89–; (Duff) Gardner, 106–, Higham, Ava, 72–; (Taylor) ibid., 117–; (Mitchum) Lee Server, Robert Mitchum: “Baby, I Don’t Care,” New York: Faber and Faber, 2001, 251—but see Gardner, 119.

  152–53 Ava’s problems: (Peter Evans) Evans, a leading show-business writer, kindly permitted the authors to quote from the unpublished tapes of his interview with Gardner, for which he holds the copyright. Ava Gardner’s memoir My Story, apparently drawn from subsequent taping sessions, was published after her death in 1990; (“revise”) int. Peter Evans; (“a tremendous capacity”) Rooney, Too Short, 184; (“like Coca-Cola”/Scotch and beer/“I got the blender”) Higham, Ava, 64, 61, 73; (“how much we drank”) Evans tapes; (“desperately insecure”) Higham, Ava, 89; (“could change”) Gardner, 284; (“When I lose”) Richard Hack, Hughes, Beverly Hills, CA: New Millennium, 2001, 139; (“taken a kitchen knife”) Rooney, Too Short, 195; (knocked out Hughes) Higham, Ava, 49, and see 73; (“The quality”) Rooney, I.E., 137; (puritan) Gardner, 49; (brothels) Evans tapes, Gardner, 106–, Ted Quillin to authors, Apr. 18, 2002, Higham, Ava, 136, 154–; (“I think fucking’s”) Messick, Show Business,
187; (“I want to be”) unid. article by Elsa Maxwell, MHL; (never wanted) Rooney, I.E., 143; (used contraception) Flamini, 95; (“I don’t think”) Evans tapes; (“operatedon”) Higham, Ava, 76–. Author Charles Higham told the authors that he obtained the abortion account from the woman friend, whom he found credible.

  153 Tormé/Toxton party: Tormé, Velvet, 64–.

  153 hit someone: LAT, Mar. 22, 23, 1949, Look, May 14, 1957; (bottle) Carpozi, 99.

  153 FS & Ava early affair: (speeding car/“flirt”) Evans tapes, Gardner, 122.

  153–54 Palladium: Evans tapes, undat. Ava Gardner interview by Thelma McGill, MHL, Gardner, 122. Other authors have dated Sinatra’s first meeting with Gardner as 1945. She twice said, however, that it occurred earlier, during her marriage to Rooney and Frank’s Dorsey period. She was divorced from Rooney in 1943, and Frank had left Dorsey by fall 1942. Re 1945 see Sinatra, Legend, 67, Freedland, 116; (“had eyes”) int. Artie Shaw; (bat girl) Kelley, 91, Sinatra, Legend, 81–; (exchanged partners) LAT, Oct. 24, 1946, Wilson, Sinatra, 88.