Sinatra

by J. Randy Taraborrelli

  I also referred to Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer’s Art by Will Friedwald and Sinatra 101: The 101 Best Recordings and the Stories Behind Them by Ed O’Brien and Robert Wilson, as well as Sinatra: The Man and His Music; The Recording Artistry of Francis Albert Sinatra, 1939–1992 by Ed O’Brien and Scott P. Sayers. These three books are the best of the lot where Sinatra’s music is concerned and should most certainly be included in the library of any Sinatra enthusiast. Since any complete Sinatra discography would take a book in itself to publish, I recommend that anyone interested in such a listing refer to these three titles for an intelligent examination of the music, if not a discography. I also made use of Legend: Frank Sinatra and the American Dream, an excellent compilation of articles about Sinatra edited by Ethlie Ann Vare.

  At the Library of Congress, I reviewed tapes of the Major Bowes and His Original Amateur Hour programs with the Hoboken Four, including Sinatra’s first appearance (September 8, 1935); the Fred Allen Show (May 2, 1937); and Sinatra’s farewell appearance with Tommy Dorsey (September 9, 1942). Vital to my research was a booklet called The Music of Frank Sinatra, written by respected and thorough Sinatra historian Charles Granata. This booklet includes “Frank Sinatra: An A to Z Discography,” a listing of every song Sinatra has released commercially, in alphabetical order, with writers, producers, arrangers, and recording dates. This partial discography is not credited, but I suspect it was compiled by Granata in association with Nancy Sinatra Jr. I also utilized The Sinatrafile (Parts 1, 2 and 3; 1977, 1978, 1980) by John Ridgway.

  1940–59

  My thanks to Jess Morgan, Ava Gardner’s business manager for nearly thirty years, for his assistance and memories of Miss Gardner, which were invaluable to me. My interview with Morgan was most appreciated.

  My appreciation to Esther Williams (Sinatra’s costar in Take Me Out to the Ball Game) for her time, astute observations about Ava Gardner and Lana Turner as they related to Sinatra, and for so many years of entertainment.

  My appreciation to Joey Bishop for allowing himself to be interviewed three times and for his boundless energy and memories interspersed throughout this book, particularly in the sections about the Rat Pack.

  As the former editor in chief of Soul magazine, I had the opportunity to interview Sammy Davis Jr. on several occasions over the years, notably in 1976, 1980, 1984, and 1989. I utilized many of Davis’s memories about Sinatra in this work. I have recreated certain conversations between Davis and Sinatra, based on the former’s excellent memory, particularly from my interview with him on February 1, 1989. Mr. Davis was a kind and generous man who is deeply missed. I also referred to his autobiographies Yes I Can!, Hollywood in a Suitcase, and Why Me?

  I had the good fortune of interviewing the late Jule Styne at the Mayflower Hotel in New York in 1988 for a new edition of my book Carol Burnett: Laughing Till It Hurts, and I utilized many of his comments about Sinatra from that interview. The talented production director Joe Layton introduced me to Styne when Layton and Gary Halvorson directed A Tribute to Jule Styne at the St. James Theatre that year. Layton is also much missed.

  My thanks to Patti Demarest for the interviews she granted me regarding her early memories of Nancy Sinatra Sr. in Jersey City. Thanks also to Ted Hechtman for his assistance and his invaluable recollections and for the many hours we spent poring over his old appointment and date books.

  Thanks to certain friends and family members of Lee Mortimer, who requested anonymity because of what they feared might be reprisals against them from the Sinatras. After so many years, it is true that the Sinatras are still—and perhaps justifiably so—angry about much of what Lee Mortimer wrote about Frank in the 1950s and ’60s and whatever participation he had in the FBI’s ongoing investigation of Sinatra. It says a great deal about the public’s perception of the Sinatra family’s influence, though, that anyone would ever think they would retaliate against people who were or are associated with the Mortimers, even after all of these decades. It’s simply not true; however, I respect their concerns.

  Thanks to Betty Wilkin and Josephine Barbone for allowing me to go through photo scrapbooks and for making themselves available to answer my endless questions.

  I also had access to an oral history taped by Dick Moran, which he still one day hopes to have published. Mr. Moran allowed me to utilize many work-related papers and original drafts of press releases, which are fascinating and enlightening as to Sinatra’s relationship with George Evans in the 1940s and ’50s.

  Of all of the Sinatra biographies published over the years, two were particularly helpful to my research and are recommended for their insightful approach: Sinatra by Earl Wilson (1967) and Sinatra: Twentieth-Century Romantic by Arnold Shaw (1969).

  Many of Earl Wilson’s notes, memos, and correspondence can be found at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. I utilized a great many of them throughout my book, and I thank the staff of the library for all of their assistance throughout the years of research on this project.

  Dorothy Kilgallen’s husband, Richard Kollmar, donated seventy of his wife’s scrapbooks to the New York Library for the Performing Arts. They are filled with her articles, columns, unpublished notes, and other material that she personally accumulated over her lifetime, including her rough drafts of her exposé “The Frank Sinatra Story.” Much about Sinatra and her relationship with him can be found in her papers, and I reviewed them all thoroughly as part of my research.

  Thanks also to the staffs of the New York Public Library, the Beverly Hills Library, the Glendale Central Public Library, and the Brand Library Art and Music Center.

  I viewed every film Sinatra ever made to determine which were important to my needs and which were not. I also reviewed all of the press clippings, press kits, and other studio-related material, biographies, and other releases for each of Sinatra’s films, all of which are on file at the Margaret Herrick Library. I also viewed and culled certain quotes from Frank Sinatra: Relive the Magic, a video history of Sinatra, and viewed many episodes of The Frank Sinatra Show for background purposes, as well as episodes from other Sinatra series, television specials, and miscellaneous appearances.

  I reviewed hundreds of FBI documents that were released under the Freedom of Information Act. My thanks to Thomas DiBella for helping to make them available to me.

  Thanks to William Godfrey, Dick Moran, Ida Banks, Mack Millar, Beatrice Lowry, William Merriman, Marilyn Lewis, Shirley Jones, Terrence Gibb, Ethel Aniston, and Jeanne Carmen for interviews.

  Lucille Wellman and Mary LaSalle-Thomas are two gracious, generous women who were both friends of Ava Gardner’s. They spent hours with me, individually and together, and helped me recreate moments in the Sinatra-Gardner relationship based on what Gardner told them. They also shared with me much correspondence from Ava, sent by her when she was married to Sinatra, which practically acted as a diary of their relationship and helped to finally clear up inaccuracies that had been published in other books. I am so grateful for their help and trust, as I am for the assistance of Gardner’s friend Nancy LaPierre.

  I also referred to Ava Gardner’s autobiography, Ava: My Story, as well as Lana Turner’s The Lady, the Legend, the Truth; Lauren Bacall’s By Myself; Sammy Cahn’s I Should Care; and Tony Curtis’s Tony Curtis: The Autobiography. Also, Ava by Charles Higham; Ava Gardner by John Daniell; Kim Novak: Reluctant Goddess by Peter Harry Brown; Lana: The Public and Private Lives of Miss Turner by Joe Morella and Edward Z. Epstein; The Private Diary of My Life with Lana by Eric Root; Always, Lana by Taylor Pero and Jeff Rovin; Sinatra and His Rat Pack by Richard Gehman; Frank Sinatra: Is This Man Mafia? by George Carpozi; Frankie: The Life and Loves of Frank Sinatra by Don Dwiggins; Sinatra by Tony Sciacca; The Big Bands by George T. Simon; and For Once in My Life by Connie Haines. The Frank Sinatra Reader, edited by Steven Petkov and Leonard Mus- tazza, is an excellent compendium of Sinatra features, which I also utilized. I also referred to The Sinatra Celebrity Cookbook by Barb
ara, Frank, and Friends; Sinatra by Robin Douglas Home; B.S., I Love You by Milton Berle; The Great American Popular Singers by Henry Pleasants; The Frank Sinatra Scrapbook by Richard Peters; The Revised Compleat Sinatra by Albert I. Lonstein; Sinatra: An Exhaustive Treatise by Albert I. Lonstein; Frank Sinatra by John Howlett; Yesterdays: Popular Song in America by Charles Hamm; Music in the New World by Charles Hamm; Sinatra by Frank Alan; Tommy and Jimmy: The Dorsey Years by Herb Sanford; Dr. Burns’s Prescription for Happiness by George Burns; Kilgallen by Lee Israel; Rainbow: The Stormy Life of Judy Garland by Christopher Finch; The Other Side of the Rainbow: With Judy Garland on the Dawn Patrol by Mel Tormé; Judy by Gerold Frank; Weep No More My Lady by Mickey Deans and Ann Pinchot; Brando for Breakfast by Abba Kashfi Brando and E. P. Stein; Sammy Davis Jr.: The Candyman; His Life and Times (L.F.P., Inc., 1990); “Tips on Popular Singing” by Frank Sinatra and John Quinlan (Embassy Music Corporation, 1941); and “So Long Sammy” by Marjorie Rosen (People, May 28, 1990).

  Hedda Hopper’s personal notes and unpublished material are housed in the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I utilized many of her papers throughout this book, especially those having to do with Sinatra’s suicide attempts. Most helpful were her unpublished notes relating to her story in Photoplay, “What’s Wrong with Frankie?” (May 1947). I also reviewed her copious notes from over thirty interviews she conducted with Sinatra through the years. Any biographer would be grateful for such a find, and I must thank the Margaret Herrick Library for making all of this material available to me and the estate of Hedda Hopper for having the vision to donate it. I also referred to Hedda and Louella by George Eells.

  Access to a complete library of Photoplay and Look magazines from the 1950s, granted by a generous person who wishes to remain anonymous, was beneficial to my research, particularly the three-part series on Sinatra that Look published in the summer of 1957. Thanks also to that same benefactor, who gave me access to hundreds of notes and transcripts from Louella Parsons concerning Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, and Joey Bishop.

  I consulted the transcript of Joseph Nellis’s questioning of Frank Sinatra on March 1, 1951. I also reviewed numerous court documents related to the separation, and the October 1951 divorce, of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra.

  I interviewed the late Fred Zinnemann (who died on March 14, 1997) on the telephone in June 1995. He was gracious enough to respond in his own hand to a list of questions I sent to him regarding From Here to Eternity and his observations on Sinatra. At his direction, I also utilized his private papers in the Fred Zinnemann Collection at the Margaret Herrick Library. Of course, I also referred to The Godfather by Mario Puzo, and also his memoirs, The Godfather Papers, as well as Monty: A Biography of Montgomery Clift by Robert LaGuardia; Montgomery Clift by Patricia Bosworth; Adventures in the Screen Trade by William Goldman; and Uncle Frank: The Biography of Frank Costello by Leonard Katz.

  I utilized tapes of Cathy Griffin’s many hours of interviews with the late famed hairstylist Sydney Guilaroff for his memories of Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra. Miss Griffin was the author of Guilaroff’s memoirs, Crowning Glory.

  I also had access to Cathy Griffin’s taped interviews with the late private investigator Fred Otash for background material regarding the Wrong Door Raid as well as the Confidential magazine report in February 1957 and many court documents related to that particular case. I also reviewed notes and other unpublished material from the Los Angeles Examiner’s file on the raid and on subsequent hearings.

  I examined the Stanley Kramer Collection in the Special Collections Department of the UCLA Library, from which were culled Kramer’s comments.

  Maryanne Reed allowed me access to her complete collection of Sinatra memorabilia, most of which was culled from the files of the newspaper the Hollywood Citizen News and the Woman’s Home Companion, both of which are now defunct. This material was invaluable to me in that it provided many leads and also included the unpublished notes and interviews of reporters who were covering Sinatra for the News and Companion in the 1950s. I listened to and utilized in this work thirty-five previously unpublished taped interviews and conversations with Sinatra intimates, including George Evans, Hank Sanicola, Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne, Jack Entratter, Edie Goetz, Axel Stordahl, Sammy Davis, and Marilyn Maxwell, as well as employees of Lana Turner’s and Ava Gardner’s, all of which Ms. Reed generously had transferred from reel-to-reel format to cassette for my convenience. I am very grateful to her for her assistance. I am also grateful to Isabella Taves for her diligence in keeping such excellent notes for her stories on Sinatra in 1956.

  1960–79

  I interviewed Dean Martin at La Famiglia restaurant in Beverly Hills on June 24, 1994. His comments about Sinatra are found throughout this book.

  “Frank’s an okay guy,” Dean told me. “No one understands him because they try to figure him out. You can’t figure out Frank, so don’t bother trying to do that in your book. You just gotta accept him. He never thought about a thing he ever did. He just did it. He just lived his life, like me, like all of us. Singin’, workin’, havin’ a good time, taking our raps. He coulda been nicer, though,” Dean added thoughtfully. “We all coulda been nicer, especially to each other, and to the dames, too. Especially to the dames.”

  When in doubt, because Mr. Martin’s memory was sometimes cloudy, I independently confirmed what he told me during our two-hour conversation.

  “Don’t be so quick to jump to conclusions,” he warned me when I brought up the subject of Frank and his underworld ties. “Nothing about Frank Sinatra is what you think it is. Remember that, kid.”

  My thanks to Barry Keenan, who gave me his first interviews about the Frank Sinatra kidnapping. Mr. Keenan demonstrated by his experience that a man can turn his life around and be a success in this world no matter what crazy thing he did in his youth. His vivid memory was invaluable in reconstructing the events that led up to his kidnapping of Sinatra Jr.

  No one could write about the Rat Pack without reviewing their films Ocean’s 11, 4 for Texas, Robin and the 7 Hoods, and Sergeants 3. Again, Joey Bishop’s memories were helpful, as were Sammy Davis’s. I also listened to a number of unreleased Rat Pack concerts on audio-tape and viewed and studied an unreleased videotape of a concert by Sinatra, Davis, and Martin at the Sands Hotel in 1963.

  My thanks to Bud Gundaker, a longtime family friend who made available to me a taped interview with Paul “Skinny” D’Amato, which proved invaluable to my research. Mr. Gundaker made available a number of Sinatra interviews as well. I so appreciate his assistance.

  My thanks to Mike Santoni for allowing me to listen to his tape-recorded observations of Sam Giancana and other characters from that period. Mr. Santoni is working on a book about Giancana, and I appreciate his assistance.

  Thanks to Thomas DiBella, whom I interviewed on seventeen different occasions. His insight into Sam Giancana’s relationship with Frank Sinatra proved invaluable. He also made available to me a transcript of the federal wiretap from December 6, 1961, referred to in the text, as well as a number of transcripts involving Johnny Formosa and also many taped conversations among himself, Sam Giancana, and Johnny Roselli (which he is hoping to one day publish in book form).

  Thanks also to Nicholas D’Amato for providing information I was able to use for background purposes throughout this work concerning Lucky Luciano, Carlos Marcello, and Jimmy Hoffa.

  I interviewed two former members of the Secret Service who requested anonymity. I also interviewed four FBI agents who requested the same, one of whom kept a comprehensive scrapbook about the relationships among Sinatra, Giancana, and the Kennedys that was most helpful.

  My time at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston was well spent, and I thank its gracious staff.

  I consulted Sam Giancana’s Justice Department file, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, as well as transcripts of federal wiretaps and Justice Department files on John F.
Kennedy.

  Thomas Calabrino made available to me the Justice Department’s February 1962 report on organized crime, and other important documents relating to the department’s investigation of organized crime and how it related to Frank Sinatra, including documents dated September 27, 1962, and October 1962 having to do with Giancana and Phyllis McGuire. Calabrino also allowed me to peruse Joe Fischetti’s FBI files.

  Calabrino made available to me a copy of the Justice Department’s FBI report, “Francis Albert Sinatra a/k/a Frank Sinatra,” which I examined.

  I also referred to The Luciano Story by Sid Feder and Joachim Joeston; The Green Felt Jungle by Ovid Demaris; The Lucky Luciano Inheritance by David Hannah; Lucky Luciano: His Amazing Trial and Wild Witnesses by Hickman Powell; The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano by Martin A. Gosch and Richard Hammer; and Meyer Lansky: Mogul of the Mob by Dan Eisenberg and Meyer Lansky Landau; also, “The Last Act of Judith Exner” by Gerri Hirshey (Vanity Fair, April 1990) and “The Private Lives of Mia Farrow” by Betsy Israel (Mirabella, March 1997).

  My appreciation to Don Dandero, an AP photographer working at the Cal-Neva Lodge during the Sinatra-Monroe years, who also covered the Sinatra Jr. kidnapping in Reno. Mr. Dondero was most helpful in giving me leads and ideas; also, one of his photos appears in this book.

  My appreciation also to Darlene Hammond, who took many wonderful photos of Sinatra in the 1940s and ’50s and shared her memories (and pictures) with me. Some of her work appears in this book.

  My thanks to Charles Casillo, who helped me understand Marilyn Monroe’s psychology, and also my deep appreciation to Marilyn Monroe historian James Haspiel and to Marilyn Monroe fan club president Greg Shriner.

  I owe a debt of gratitude to Donald Spoto, the bestselling author of Marilyn Monroe: The Biography for having donated his interview tapes for that project to the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. His donation made it possible for me to obtain previously unpublished quotes from Sinatra’s attorney, Milton “Mickey” Rudin; Marilyn Monroe’s publicist, Patricia Newcomb; Peter Lawford’s close business associate Milt Ebbins; and Lawford’s longtime friend Joseph Naar.