Sinatra

by Anthony Summers

  154 “Just for mischief”: Cahn, 95. Cahn’s memoirs suggest that this occurred as early as 1942, but that cannot be correct. Sinatra did not move to Hollywood until 1944, and Mearene Jordan—who according to Ava was with her at the Sunset Towers—did not start working for the actress until 1947 or 1948 (Gardner, 123, 283); (“conceited”) Higham, Ava, 91, and see int. Mearene Jordan; (“drank quite a bit”) Gardner, 123–; (“we drank”) Gardner, 125.

  154 shooting incident: This incident is usually referred to as having occurred in late January/February 1950. Taken together, the evidence is that it occurred earlier— not least since it evidently occurred before the death, in late January 1950, of George Evans. In her 1986 Sinatra biography, author Kitty Kelley quoted Keller as saying the shooting spree occurred in Indio, California. The man who was Indio police chief in the late 1940s, Pat Cunningham, denied the incident occurred there while he was in office. The authors were unable to check the facts further with either Keller or Cunningham, since both are dead (Davidson, 5–, Kelley, 133–, and Desert Sun, Oct. 16, 1986); (Nichols Canyon) Higham, Ava, 79, Hanna, 131; (“We became lovers”) Gardner, 125.

  154–55 course of FS/Ava affair 1950: (Ava liberal) Evans tapes, Gardner, 55; (reds/Soviet consulate) Evans tapes; (broadcast) Buhle and Wagner, 437–; (jazz/African-American musicians) Evans tapes, Cannon, 35; (friends tried) unid. article by Thelma McGill, circa Jul. 1952, MHL; (Turner told Ava) Gardner, 125–; (“watch it”) int. Jean Greenberg; (Evans warned) int. Phil Evans, Sinatra, Legend, 90–, and see int. Mearene Jordan; (premiere/ party) Wilson, Sinatra, 89; (threatened photographer) LAT, Feb. 7, 1950, Gardner, 126; Flamini, 121, Bill Adler, Sinatra: The Man and the Myth, New York: NAL, 1987, 86–; (“My married life”) NYT, LAT, Los Angeles Examiner, Feb. 15, 1950; (“terribly”/press photos) Sinatra, My Father, 75; (FS troubled) Sinatra with Coplon, 22, Gardner, 125; (“The battle I had”) American Weekly, Jul. 20, 1952; (pills) Flamini, 125, Higham, Ava, 95; (jealousy/“If he looked”) Gardner, 129, 287; (“she would swear”) ibid., 287; (FS worried) ibid., 127, 154, 158.

  155–56 Shaw/Hampshire House incident: Several versions of that night’s events have surfaced over the years, differing in detail but telling the same core story. The authors have used the account offered by Artie Shaw in a 2002 interview, along with the gunshot finale as described in Ava Gardner’s 1990 book My Story, at p. 130. For other versions see Look, Jun. 11, 1957, Gehman, 204–, Dwiggins, 106, Arnold Shaw, Sinatra: The Entertainer, New York: Delilah Books, 1982, 135–, Higham, Ava, 95–, Carpozi, 104, Flamini, 123, Kelley, 147–; (Ava disliked mobsters) int. Spoli Mills, MacLaine, Lucky Stars, 85, Flamini, 123, 126; (wanted to talk about sex) int. Artie Shaw. By contrast, Earl Wilson, citing the singer Bricktop, reported Ava as having said: “It was always great in bed; the troubles were all out of bed.” Bricktop herself made no mention of this in her published memoir (Wilson, Sinatra, 114, and see Bricktop with Haskins); (Douglas) Kirk Douglas, The Ragman’s Son, New York: Pocket, 1988, 164–.

  157 Career slide 1950: (“A year from now”) Wilson, Sinatra, 84–; (Evans death) Shaw, Sinatra, 132; (“friendly parting”) LAT, Apr. 29, 1950; (Mayer & FS) O’Brien, 47–.

  157 joke: FS int. by Zion. Sinatra made the joke during a conversation about an injury Mayer incurred when falling off a horse. Sinatra quipped that the MGM boss had fallen not off the horse but off Ginny Simms. Simms, a band singer, was a Mayer girlfriend at the time; (told FS to get out) Sinatra, My Father, 87. Sinatra’s most recent movie, On the Town, had been a success, but that was not enough to change Mayer’s mind. O’Brien, 48; (“He wanted to be”/“was no good”) Kelley, 149–; (“Every single night”) Evans tapes; (no longer working) Friedwald, 184, 192, Granata, 72; (voice slurred) (Chicago) Sunday American, Sep. 25, 1966; (reached for a high note/blood) Life, Apr. 23, 1965, Hamill, 148–, and see LAT, May 2, Los Angeles Examiner, May 3, Metronome, Jun. 1950.

  158 Mario Cabré episode: (basic story) Shaw, Sinatra, 136–, Higham, Ava, 96–, Flamini, 129, Carpozi, 110–, Gardner, 136; (FS phone calls) Flamini, 131; (necklace) Shaw, Sinatra, 138–; (accusations) Flamini, 135; (“Nothing!”) Wilson, Sinatra, 93; (“The Ava thing”) int. Tony Mottola.

  158 Nancy separation: (wanted only separation) Carpozi, 113, and see NYT, Feb. 15, 1950; (judge awarded) NYT, LAT, Sep. 29, 1950.

  158–59 FS/Ava in 1951: (“slow, vaguely”) Rosemary Clooney with Barthel, 107–; (MGM pressure) unid. clip by Elsa Maxwell, unid. article by Arthur Charles, both MHL; (hate mail) Flamini, 123, 144; (“People don’t understand”) Granata, 71; (not one song) Billboard, Jan. 5, 1952; (TV/radio) entries, Where or When?, Shaw, Sinatra, 144–, Friedwald, 195; (Laine et al.) Rockwell, 102, Shaw, Sinatra, 23.

  159–60 FS gas episode: The gas incident is reported in three books, the memoirs by Sinatra’s daughters Nancy and Tina and Earl Wilson’s biography of the singer. Wilson quotes Sacks, but offers no date. Nancy dates the episode to mid-1952, while Tina seems to place it in 1950 or soon afterward. The detail in Tina’s account suggests it occurred during Eddie Fisher’s triumphant Manhattan appearances of early 1951 (Sinatra with Coplon, 22, Sinatra, Legend, 105, Wilson, Sinatra, 95; and re date of Fisher’s 1951 appearance see Eddie Fisher, My Life, My Loves, New York: Berkley, 1982, 58–, Fisher with Fisher, 42–, WP, Mar. 25, 1951); (“Fool” session) Billboard, Nov. 20, 1965, citing Ben Barton, Friedwald, 190–, Granata, 74–; (“in a voice numb”) High Fidelity, Aug. 1971; (“I am agreeing”) NYT, May 30, LAT, May 30, Jun. 2, 1951, Carpozi, 120; (Hoboken/“sweet little photos”) Gardner, 150–; (Danny Wilson) O’Brien, 58; (psychiatrists/ priest) Shelley Winters, Shelley, New York: Ballantine, 1980, 305–; (Nancy psychiatrist/Kroger) Look, Jun. 11, 1957, int. of William Kroger, 1994, courtesy of Dick Russell, NYT, Dec. 7, 1995; (“We vacillated”) Gardner, 151–; (FS in Nevada) LAT, Aug. 10, Time, Sep. 3, 1951; (“screaming”) int. Ralph Denton; (“I tried to evade”/“a single mistake”/“I told him”) Gardner, 154, 138, and see Sciacca, Sinatra, 168; (“He was drinking”) int. Brad Dexter; (Tahoe rows) Gardner, 154–.

  160–61 FS overdose: LAT, Los Angeles Examiner, New York World-Telegram, Sep. 1, WP, Sep. 2, 1951. “Sinolo” was evidently an impromptu alias, based on the name of Frank’s aide Hank Sanicola. Sanicola was present that night; (“I wanted to punch”) Gardner, 156; (“Suddenly, she got”) Look, Jun. 11, 1957; (“exhaustion”/abortion rumors) Higham, Ava, 110–, Wayne, 145; (MGM executives) Flamini, 157; (divorce decrees) Look, Jun. 11, 1957, Kelley, 169, Higham, Ava, 111.

  161 FS & Ava wedding: (“from a woman”) Gardner, 159; (“We had arranged . . .” et. seq. ) Evans tapes.

  Chapter 16: Busted

  163–64 Ava/FS early 1952: (“Bewitched”) Feb. 1952 entry, Where or When?; (fix up house) Shaw, Sinatra, 155; (housewife) Flamini, 154; (“At the last”) int. Janet Leigh; Janet Leigh, There Really Was a Hollywood, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1984, 153; (“Mrs. Sinatra”/“Mr. Gardner”) Evans tapes; (“Friends noticed”) int. Gloria Cahn Franks; (“Frank didn’t”/“He’d done”) Evans tapes—the “worst” track was the song “Castle Rock,” Friedwald, 76, and see Look, Dec. 11, 1956; (“the worst thing”) Friedwald, 76.

  164 Career decline: (excellent work/not reflected) Granata, 74–, O’Brien, 265; (MCA took space) Kelley, 176; (Ava loathed) Evans tapes, John Daniell, Ava Gardner, New York: St. Martin’s, 1982, 21–, Flamini, 239–; (railed at press) LAT, June 1, 2, 1951, Evans tapes; (“This is a private”/Mexico incident) WP, Aug. 6, 1951, Look, May 28, 1957; (L.A. incident) ibid., LAHE, Nov. 7, 1979.

  164 “Most of my troubles”: American Weekly, Jul. 20, 27, 1952. Sinatra disowned the article years later, claiming it was a fabrication. According to the columnist Earl Wilson, however, the truth was that Sinatra had a professional writer prepare the material for him—and approved it before publication. The writer he used was Irving Fine, Jack Benny’s former press agent. Sinatra, Legend, 104, Wilson, Sinatra, 83–; (“be ready in case”) Shaw, Sinatra, 159–; (Paramount) Wilson, Sinatra,99–; (Paree) ibid., 101; (“
Sinatra had had”) Carpozi, 136– (Boyar, with his wife, Jane, went on to become a biographer of Sammy Davis Jr.); (“couldn’t give away”) Granata, 72; (“one of the meanest”) Look, Jun. 11, 1957; (“Fuck him”) Granata, 76.

  164–65 “He hit some”: Kelley, 180–. It was probably this bitter experience in 1952, combined with the memory of the lukewarm reception some had given him five years earlier—on Sinatra Day 1947—that resolved Sinatra to make no more appearances in Hoboken. He would slip into town in the mid-1960s to show his daughter Tina key landmarks, but made no further public appearance until 1984. New Jersey Monthly, Feb. 1982, Freedland, 141, Sinatra with Coplon, 109, Jersey Journal, Jul. 27, 1984; (“looked like death”) Woman’s Home Companion, May 1956, Taylor, 142—which places the conversation on 48th Street, and Wilson, Sinatra, 82; (“A pigeon”) Hollywood Citizen-News, Feb. 24, 1970; (some second-rate) New Choices, Dec. 1993/Jan. 1994; (fan clubs disbanding) Kelley, 176; (female admirers) Photoplay, Nov. 1951.

  165 Marriage troubles late 1952: (“Today is our seventh”) unid. Thelma McGill article, c. June 1952, MHL; (Grimes) Cannon, 100–; (“Anything could get”) Gardner, 162–; (“cute little gestures”) Wilson, Sinatra, 104; (ring) undated Florabel Muir article, Photoplay, MHL, Flamini, 128; (“I hate”) Evans tapes.

  166 Farrow affair?: Mia Farrow, What Falls Away, New York: Bantam: 1998, 24–, 87, Higham, Ava, 126. In her 1997 memoir, citing her mother, the actress Maureen O’Sullivan, Mia Farrow referred to the affair as fact. The allegation appears to contradict a report in one Gardner biography that she disliked John Farrow. There is no reference to the affair in Gardner’s own posthumous memoir. Mia Farrow’s dating of the affair as 1953 appears to be in error—Ride Vaquero! was filmed in 1952.

  166 Palm Springs fracas: (incident) Kelley, 181–, citing interviews by Michael Thornton, Gardner, 171–, Lana Turner, 165–; (“sick rumors”) ibid., Morella and Epstein, 161, Higham, Ava, 128, Jane Ellen Wayne, Lana: The Life & Loves of Lana Turner, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995, 95, Sciacca, Sinatra, 152–, int. Tita Cahn; (FBI report) “Summary Memo on Frank Sinatra,” Mar. 1, 1955, FBI LA 100-41413.

  166–67 not credible: Gardner claimed in one of her accounts that she climbed a perimeter fence and tried to peep through a window to catch Sinatra and Turner in flagrante. This makes no sense if, as claimed, she had moments earlier spotted Sinatra outside the house cruising about in his car. There are also great problems with the chronology. Gardner said she did not think of setting out for Palm Springs until “the hours after midnight.” The trip would have taken more than two hours, yet she paints Turner as “looking lovely as ever” and Cole welcoming her and her sister and settling down for a “party,” as though that were the normal way to greet unexpected guests in the middle of the night. Turner’s version, meanwhile, has Gardner arriving in broad daylight when she and Cole were sitting sunbathing by the pool. A whole day and evening passed, according to Turner, before the dramatic nighttime arrival of the police. In an interview in 2003, Gardner’s companion Reenie Jordan said she too was present during this episode—an assertion that adds to the confusion (Gardner’s version—Kelley, 181–, citing interviews by Michael Thornton, Gardner, 171–; Turner’s version— Turner, 165–); (went to Van Heusen’s) Shaw, Sinatra, 165; (“in the bathroom”) Wilson, Sinatra, 103; (changed phone) Shaw, Sinatra, 165; (“close to a breakdown”) Wayne, Ava, 160–, Wilson, Sinatra, 104; (“You know”) Rose, 177, int. Milt Ebbins; (“Sinatra is frightening”) Lee Israel, Kilgallen, New York: Dell, 1979, 214; (FS asked/“he loves her”/Frascati’s/rally) Wilson, Sinatra, 104–, Shaw, Sinatra, 165; (visit family) Cannon, 101; (no work/taxes) LAT, Sep. 20, 1951, LAHE, Jan. 16, 1962, ints. Bob Neal, Peter Levinson; (“no money”) Evans tapes; (airfare) Flamini, 179.

  167–68 Mogambo: (“Are you married?”) (London) Daily Telegraph, Feb. 18, 2002; (biggest safari) Don Meredith, “The Last of the Great White Hunters,” salon.com, Mar. 19, 1998; Higham, Ava, 129–, Flamini, 181; (Africa fascinated) ibid.; (raged) Los Angeles Herald & Express, Oct. 15, 1953, Flamini, 182; (bottle) James Spada, Grace, London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1987, 126–; (Ava/Kelly eventually) Robert Lacey, Grace, New York: Putnam, 1994, 68; (“Ava is such”) Kelley, 190; (“treated him”) int. Eva Monley; (killed time) Dwiggins, 112; (“the figure”) Frank, 77.

  168–69 FS desire for Eternity role: (agents trying) According to Sinatra, the idea that he could play Maggio came from him, after reading the novel. Not so, according to former William Morris agent Martin Jurow. Jurow recalled that he knew Eternity director Fred Zinnemann was looking for a suitable Maggio, thought Sinatra looked right for the role when he came to him for help, and put his name forward. Jurow’s 2001 account is covered in chapter 17. For Sinatra’s version see Hollywood Citizen-News, Apr. 16, 1953; for Jurow’s account, see Martin Jurow as told to Philip Wuntch, Martin Jurow Seein’ Stars, Dallas, TX: Southern Methodist University Press, 2001, 24–; (“I knew a hundred”) FS comments, 1987 Italian tour, RAI UNO and see LAT, Jun. 20, 1958, Hollywood Citizen-News, Apr. 15, 1953; (“I can act”) Cosmopolitan, May 1956; (see Cohn) Wilson, Sinatra, 109–; (“Who in the fuck?”) James Bacon, Made in Hollywood, Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1977, 4; (cables) Fred Zinnemann, A Life in the Movies, New York: Scribner’s, 1992, 124; (Ava putting in word) Gardner, 177–, Wilson, Sinatra, 110, ints. Nick Sevano, Peggy Maley; (summoned for test) Zinnemann, 124, Flamini, 185–.

  169 Ava pregnancy/abortion: (At the time he left) Wayne, Ava, 160, Flamini, 180; (telling anyone) unid. article by Arthur Charles, c. 1950–51, unid. article by Marsha Saunders, and undat. Motion Picture article by Linda Post, MHL, Photoplay,Jun. 1951; (“At last I know”) undat. Motion Picture article by Charles Samuels, MHL; (“a dozen”) Woman’s Home Companion, Jun. 1956; (“I couldn’t go on”) Evans tapes, Gardner, 184; (“Ava hated Frank”) Higham, Ava, 134; (Ford/traveled) ibid., int. Spoli Mills, Kelley, 195–, George Carpozi, Poison Pen, Fort Lee, NJ: Barricade Books, 1991, 218.

  169 “eating lettuce”: Look, Feb. 10, 1953. Randy Taraborrelli stated in his book on Sinatra that Attwood interviewed Gardner not at the Savoy but at the “abortion clinic”—and that he was party to the “dysentery” deception. The authors have seen no evidence for these assertions (Taraborrelli, 153); (“All of my life”) Higham, Ava, 133–.

  169–70 Christmas 1952: (six other actors) LAT, Jun. 20, 1958; (rowed) Higham, Ava, 135, M/G int. of Nick Sevano; (miserable/Christmas) Meredith, salon.com, Flamini, 187–, Higham, Ava, 135, Bobby Lamb int., RTE radio, Sep. 2002; (mink/ring) Sinatra, Legend, 107, Flamini, 188, Wayne, Ava, 166; (FS promised) int. Milt Ebbins—but see Jonathan Van Meter, 107–; (Ava unimpressed)Wayne, Ava, 166, Flamini, 188; (night memorable/“She was drinking”) int. Eva Monley; (“He and Ava”) int. Lee Harragin.

  170 Second pregnancy: (“I got pregnant”/abortion) Gardner, 186–; The precise date and location of this abortion is unclear. Interviewed for her memoir, Gardner said the second procedure, like the first, was performed at a nursing home in a London suburb. Safari leader Bunny Allen has been reported having mentioned both London and Paris as the location for the abortion. Gardner was reportedly briefly in Paris with Sinatra in early 1953, and, though she placed the second procedure in London, she said he was present. She awoke to see him seated by the bed in tears.

  Available information indicates that the first abortion took place in late November 1952, after Gardner’s departure for London on the 22nd. (Sinatra had left Africa on the 14th, on his way to the Eternity test.)

  The second abortion likely occurred after Sinatra left for Boston—his shows there began on January 20, 1953—and probably in early February, when Gardner came free from location work in Africa.

  Assuming a first abortion around November 22, medical advice is that the sexual encounter resulting in the second pregnancy could have occurred as soon as early December (abortion in London/FS present—Gardner, 196; Allen on London and Paris—Bunny Allen: A Gypsy in Africa, TV documentary, produced by Mark Macauley and Peter Hort for
LVP International, London, int. Adrian Blomfield, and see Kelley, 196; Nov. 22/week after Frank left—dating is at Flamini, 187, Dwiggins, 112; Kelley, 196; re Nov. 14–22—Dwiggins, 112, Flamini, 187; FS in Boston—Jan. 20 entry, Where or When?; Ava came free—Flamini, 189; medical advice on dating—int. Theresa Swan); (went on saying) Los Angeles Herald & Express, Oct. 15, 1953; (“Pregnancy terrified”) Rooney, I.E., 142; (“thought she’d have”) int. Spoli Mills and see int. Mearene Jordan.

  170–72 Bunny Allen affair: (FS worried) int. Sonny King; (Gable/Kelly) Spada, 63–, Flamini, 184, Lacey, 126–, ints. Lee Harragin, Mark Macauley, Evans tapes, Gardner, 103; (“We stuck”) Evans tapes; (props man) int. Eva Monley; (Allen background) Meredith, salon.com, LAT, Mar. 4, 2002, (London) Daily Telegraph, Feb. 14, 18, 2002, (London) Daily Mail, Feb. 14, May 2, 2002; (managed all aspects) Flamini, 181; Higham, Ava, 131; (rhinos shoved) ibid., 132, Wayne, Ava, 166–; (“the kind of man”) LAT, Mar. 4, 2002, and see Higham, Ava, 131; (“a lovely girl”) int. Bunny Allen, A Gypsy in Africa; (“She was running”) int. Eva Monley; (“It was common”) int. Lee Harragin.

  172 “Bunny didn’t know”: int. Adrian Blomfield, and also int. Mark Macauley. If Ava had sex with another man not long before leaving for Africa—either Ride, Vaquero! director John Farrow or the unnamed man who by one report had sex with her on the night of the October furor in Palm Springs—she may even have had doubts as to who fathered the child involved in the first of the pregnancies.

  172 Eternity decision/filming: (still did not know) Hollywood Citizen-News, Apr. 16, 1953; (Adler) Sciacca, Sinatra, 157–.

  172 “The test was all right”: int. Daniel Taradash, M/G int. of Daniel Taradash, Zinnemann, 124. Eli Wallach has said he was firmly selected for the part, that it opened up as an opportunity for Sinatra only after Wallach—offered a role in a Tennessee Williams play—begged off. “That paved the way for Sinatra,” Sinatra’s publicist Lee Solters told the authors. Cohn at first opposed the notion of using Sinatra, according to Ava Gardner’s companion Reenie Jordan, saying, “I don’t have money to invest in this man. He’s a loser” (Wallach’s version—Larry King with Peter Occhiogrosso, Tell Me More, New York: Putnam, 1990, 147–; other versions—ints. Lee Solters, Mearene Jordan).