Sinatra

by J. Randy Taraborrelli

  After Frank’s death in 1998, Tina would publish My Father’s Daughter: A Memoir. Like her sister, Tina has also made it her mission to be as honest as possible. Anyone expecting a superficial work by her would likely be surprised by Tina’s unflinching account of her family’s battles with Barbara. Slowly and methodically, she built a case against Barbara as a woman who only married Frank for his money and lifestyle, and then did anything she could think of to drive a wedge between him and his children—and anyone else he held dear. Tina even claimed that Barbara had small video cameras surreptitiously placed in Frank’s den and bedroom so that she could secretly monitor his conversations. “I thought about the talks I’d had with Dad, the private moments between father and daughter,” Tina wrote. “Now I realized that they may not have been so private after all.” It felt authentic, fair-minded, and convincing, especially coming from Tina, who was known previously to default to diplomacy where Barbara was concerned. It was only when she felt pushed up against a wall that Tina would retaliate.

  In 2012, twelve years after Tina’s book, Barbara Sinatra would offer her own memoir, Lady Blue Eyes. Her account of her life with Frank is very different from Tina’s, filled with lovely reminiscences of fun times and glamorous excess. She glosses over any sort of family feud.

  In reading some of the same stories previously told by Tina but now from Barbara’s viewpoint—with the Sinatra children carefully excised from each memory—one was reminded of Tina’s recollection that framed photos of her and her siblings that once had an honored place on the grand piano in Sinatra’s home disappeared soon after he married Barbara. “It was as though Dad had no children,” Tina wrote. “Out of sight . . .”

  While about half of Tina Sinatra’s book was devoted to Frank’s marriage to Barbara and the trouble it caused her and her family, Barbara took a very different approach to the story. In a stunning statement all her own, she didn’t mention that Frank even had daughters: Tina’s and Nancy’s names are nowhere to be found in Barbara’s four-hundred-page book.

  In fact, Barbara and the Sinatras would have very little, if any, contact with each other after his funeral. “Peace will never happen with my stepmother,” Tina would later say. “There’s no point. There was nothing untruthful in the book [that she would later publish], so there’s not much she can do. I don’t harbor any animosity or resentment,” she clarifies, “it’s really gone now, and that all comes through the cathartic experience of writing the book. It’s like I vomited it up, spewed it up,” she says. “But I can tell you a very brief funny story. I went to some of the bookstores in Beverly Hills for signings that the publisher had set up, and one store said: ‘This is our fifteenth shipment of your book; everybody you know has bought it.’ And I said: ‘Oh, really? Like who?’ And they said, ‘Predominantly, your stepmother’s friends.’ ”

  For years, Barbara worked for her husband’s causes, and she was—and still is—active in the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, which treats young victims of child abuse. Frank was never allowed to spend time at the center, however, despite his contributions to it in excess of a million dollars. Molesting fathers often came in for treatment, and Barbara was afraid of her husband’s reaction to them. “My husband’s from a totally different school,” she admitted in 1988. “He wants to break their legs. He wants to round up all the men and break their legs. He said, ‘You can talk to them all you want, but let me teach them and they’ll never do it again. If you put them in a hospital for a year, when they come out, they’re not going to do that.’ So he’s not allowed in there.”

  * * *

  As earlier stated in this book’s author’s note, I returned to many of the original tapes of interviews conducted for the first edition of this book to mine new material, which has been threaded throughout this text. I also referenced research involving Frank Sinatra for books I wrote since the original edition of this one was published in 1997, and those include Jackie, Ethel, Joan; Once upon a Time; Elizabeth; and After Camelot.

  Moreover, I interviewed Frank Sinatra’s valet George Jacobs on three separate occasions in January 1999. Since those interviews took place after the original publication of this book, material from them is now published for the first time in this edition. I also referenced Mr. Jacobs’s book, Mr. S: My Life with Frank Sinatra, which was published in 2009. Sadly, George Jacobs died at the age of eighty-six in December 2013. He was a true gentleman’s gentleman. I also reinterviewed Ted Hechtman, Thomas DiBella, Jimmy Silvani, Dick Moran, and Lucy Wellman for the paperback edition of this book, which was never published. Their additional stories appear in this edition for the first time. I also interviewed Jeffrey Hayden and Allan B. Ecker for the unreleased paperback edition of this work, their stories regarding Mia Farrow and Frank Sinatra, respectively, told here for the first time. I also interviewed George Schlatter for that unreleased edition.

  The comments by Lester Sacks’s daughter, Adrienne Ellis, about the wedding of Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra were culled from the feature “Frank & Ava: An Unforgettable Day” by Rose DeWolf (Philadelphia Daily News, May 18, 1998).

  After Barry Keenan was interviewed for the first edition of this book—his first interview ever about the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr.—there was great national interest in his story. Six months after the book was released, Keenan gave an interview to reporter Peter Gilstrap for an article called “Snatching Sinatra,” which was published in New Times Los Angeles magazine. His story was then offered to Hollywood as a movie and eventually sold to Showtime. The movie, Stealing Sinatra, aired on Showtime in 2003, starring David Arquette as Barry Keenan, with James Russo as Frank Sinatra and Thomas Ian Nicholas as Frank Sinatra Jr. William H. Macy, who portrayed John Irwin, was nominated for an Emmy.

  For this volume, I also reinterviewed Tom Gianetti (January 30, 2014); Eileen Faith (March 14 and March 16, 2014); Doris Sevanto (March 17, 2014); and Tina Donato (March 18, 2014). My source Joey D’Orazio—quoted liberally in the first edition of this book and now in this edition based on new material gleaned from his original interviews—died in 2006. I interviewed his son, Tony D’Orazio (March 18, 2014), to corroborate some of his father’s earlier stories. I also spoke to Nancy Venturi’s daughter, Angela (June 12, 2014), to corroborate some of her mother’s memories found in the first edition.

  I referenced the following books: Under My Skin by Julie Sinatra; Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations by Peter Evans and Ava Gardner; Living with Miss G by Mearene Jordan; Memories Are Made of This by Deana Martin with Wendy Holden; That’s Amore by Christopher Smith and Ricci Martin; My Way by Paul Anka and David Dalton; and By Myself and Then Some by Lauren Bacall.

  2015 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I am so happy to have had the opportunity to revisit Sinatra, a favorite subject of mine, with the rerelease of this now revised book. I would like to thank my publisher, Jamie Raab, for shepherding this project, and also my editor, Gretchen Young, for another terrific job. The Hiltons: A Family Dynasty was a collaborative effort on many levels, from inception to publication. Here I would like to acknowledge those who assisted me in this endeavor. I would like to also thank Jamie’s capable assistant, Deb Withey.

  It’s been my great honor for the last sixteen years to call Grand Central Publishing my home, and I am deeply indebted to Jamie Raab for creating such a nurturing environment. As always, I would like to thank my managing editor, Bob Castillo, for his invaluable contributions. Special thanks to Anne Twomey for her excellent cover design. I would also like to thank Claire Brown in art, Sara Weiss in editorial, and Tom Whatley and Giraud Lorber in production. A special thanks to my copy editor, Roland Ottewell.

  I would like to thank John Pelosi and the staff of Pelosi Wolf Effron & Spates for their legal review of this work, which, as always, was thorough and much appreciated.

  I would like to acknowledge my domestic agent, Mitch Douglas, for sixteen years of excellent representation.

  I w
ould also like to acknowledge my foreign agent, Dorie Simmonds of the Dorie Simmonds Agency in London, who has been with me for almost twenty years.

  I am fortunate to have been associated with the same private investigator and chief researcher for more than twenty years, and that is Cathy Griffin. I owe her a great debt of gratitude for her work on this book. Thanks also to my personal copy editor, James Pinkston, who spent many hours with Sinatra back in the 1990s.

  I would also like to thank Maryanne Reed for helping me organize all of the tape-recorded interviews and transcripts that were pivotal to the research behind this book.

  My thanks also to Jonathan Hahn, my personal publicist and good friend.

  Thanks also to all of those from “Team JRT”: attorney James M. Leonard; CPA Michael Horowitz, of Horowitz, McMahon and Zarem in Southern California, Inc.; and also Felinda deYoung, of Horowitz et al.

  Thanks to Andy Steinlen; George Solomon; Jeff Hare; Andy Hirsch; Samuel Munoz; Bruce Rheins and Dawn Westlake; Richard Tyler Jordan; and all of my good friends, too many to list here but they know who they are.

  I have always been so blessed to have a family as supportive as mine. My thanks and love go out to Roslyn and Bill Barnett and Jessica and Zachary, Rocco and Rosemaria Taraborrelli and Rocco and Vincent, and Arnold Taraborrelli. Special thanks to my father, Rocco. A big smile, also, for Spencer.

  Picture Acknowledgments

  All images © mptvimages.com with the exception of:

  The Christaldi Collection / mptvimages.com: here; here; here; here; here

  © Mel Traxel / mptvimages.com: here

  © Sid Avery / mptvimages.com: here; here; here

  © David Sutton / mptvimages.com: here; here and here; here

  Photo by Ken Veeder / © Capitol Records / mptvimages.com: here

  © Bob Willoughby / mptvimages.com: here

  © Bernie Abramson / mptvimages.com: here

  © Gene Trindl / mptvimages.com: here

  © Ted Allan / mptvimages.com: here; here; here and here

  John Enstead / mptvimages.com: here

  © Martin Mills / mptvimages.com: here; here

  © Ed Trasher / mptvimages.com: here and here; here and here

  INDEX

  ABC-TV Sinatra Timex specials, ref1

  Academy Awards, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6

  Accardo, Tony, ref1

  Adler, Buddy, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Adonis, Joe, ref1

  Agnew, Spiro T., ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9

  AIDS Project Los Angeles, ref1

  Algren, Nelson, ref1

  All Alone (album), ref1

  Allen, Woody, ref1

  Allenberg, Burt, ref1

  “All of Me,” ref1

  “All or Nothing at All,” ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7

  “All the Way,” ref1

  Allyson, June, ref1

  Altman, Alan, ref1

  America I Hear You Singing (album), ref1

  Americana Hotel, NY, ref1

  American Federation of Radio Artists, ref1

  American Mercury magazine, ref1

  Amsler, James, ref1

  Amsler, Joseph Clyde, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7

  Anastasia, Albert, ref1

  Anchors Aweigh (film), ref1

  Andreotti, Giulio, ref1

  “Angel Eyes,” ref1, ref2, ref3

  Aniston, Ethel, ref1, ref2

  Anka, Paul, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Annenberg, Walter, ref1

  Arden, Harold, ref1, ref2

  Armstrong, Louis, ref1

  Astaire, Fred, ref1

  “As Time Goes By,” ref1

  Babes in Arms (Broadway musical), ref1

  Bacall, Lauren, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8

  Baker, Anita, ref1

  “Bali Ha’i,” ref1, ref2

  Ball, Lucille, ref1, ref2

  Bantam Books, ref1

  Barbato, Mike, ref1

  Barefoot Contessa, The (film), ref1

  Barrett, Rona, ref1, ref2

  Barton, Ben, ref1

  Barton, Eileen, ref1

  Barzie, Tino, ref1

  Basie, Count, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6

  Beatles, ref1

  Beau, Heinie, ref1

  “Be Careful, It’s My Heart,” ref1

  Bennett, Tony, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Benny, Jack, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Berle, Milton, ref1

  Berlin, Irving, ref1, ref2

  Bernstein, Leonard, ref1, ref2

  Berrigan, Bunny, ref1

  “Best Is Yet to Come, The,” ref1, ref2

  Billboard; ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5

  Bishop, Joey, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8

  Blackwell, Richard, ref1

  “Blue Skies,” ref1

  Bobby Tucker Singers, ref1

  Bogart, Humphrey, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Bonanno, Joe “Bananas,” ref1

  Bono, ref1

  Bonucelli, Dorothy (Alora Gooding), ref1, ref2, ref3

  Boots Enterprises Inc., ref1

  Borgnine, Ernest, ref1, ref2

  Bowen, Jimmy, ref1, ref2

  Bowes, Major, ref1, ref2

  Boys’ Town of Italy, ref1

  Bradlee, Benjamin, ref1

  Brando, Marlon, ref1, ref2

  Brazil, Rio Palace shows, ref1

  Brisson, Frederick “Freddie,” ref1, ref2

  Britt, Mai, ref1

  Brown, Edmund “Jerry,” Jr., ref1

  Brunswick record label, ref1, ref2

  Bunker, Richard, ref1

  Burke, Sonny, ref1

  Burns, Lillian, ref1

  Bushkin, Joey, ref1

  “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” ref1

  Cabré, Mario, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4; Sinatra and daughter act, ref1; Waterman incident, ref1, ref2

  Cagney, Jimmy, ref1

  Cahn, Sammy, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10, ref11

  Cain, Marilyn, ref1

  Callas, Charlie, ref1

  Cal-Neva Lodge, Lake Tahoe, ref1, ref2, ref3; Marilyn Monroe and Sinatra at, ref1; Sam Giancana incident, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4; Sinatra investment in, ref1; Sinatra sells share of, ref1; Sinatra’s suicide attempt and, ref1

  Can-Can (film), ref1

  Candullo, Joe, ref1

  Candy Store, Beverly Hills, ref1, ref2

  Capiello, Steve, ref1, ref2

  Capitol Records, ref1n, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5n, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9; 1953 recording sessions, ref1, ref2; 1993 recording sessions, ref1; “I’ll Never Smile Again” recorded, ref1n; Sinatra’s earnings and, ref1

  Capitol Theater, NYC, ref1, ref2

  Capone, Al, ref1

  Capra, Frank, ref1

  Carbone, Anna, ref1

  Carnegie Hall, NYC, ref1

  Carousel (Broadway Musical), ref1

  Carpozi, George, ref1

  Carson, Johnny, ref1

  Casnoff, Philip, ref1

  Cassavetes, John, ref1

  Cast a Giant Shadow (film), ref1

  Castellano, Paul, ref1

  Castle, William, ref1

  “Castle Rock,” ref1

  Cattaneo, Hank, ref1

  CBS-TV, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Chase, Barrie, ref1

  Chasen, David, ref1

  Chasen’s Restaurant, ref1

  Cheshire, Maxine, ref1

  Chester, Bob, ref1

  Chez Paree, Chicago, ref1, ref2

  Chicago Theatre, ref1

  “Ciribiribin,” ref1

  Ciro’s, Hollywood, ref1

  Clemens, Paul, ref1

  Clift, Montgomery, ref1, ref2

  Clinton, Bill, ref1

  Clooney, Rosemary, ref1, ref2

  Cobb, Lee J., ref1, ref2

  “Cockeyed Optimist, A,” ref1

  Cohen, Carl, ref1, ref2, r
ef3

  Cohen, Mickey, ref1

  Cohn, Harry, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6n

  Cohn, Joan, ref1

  Cohn, Mickey, ref1

  Cohn, Roy, ref1

  Colbert, Claudette, ref1

  Cole, Nat King, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4

  Coleman, Cy, ref1

  Collins, Victor LeCroix, ref1, ref2

  Colombo, Russ, ref1

  Columbia Pictures, ref1, ref2

  Columbia Records, ref1, ref2, ref3n, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9; drops Sinatra, ref1, ref2; Sinatra records “Why Try to Change Me Now,” ref1; Sinatra’s earnings and, ref1

  Come Blow Your Horn (film), ref1

  Come Dance With Me (album), ref1

  “Come Fly with Me,” ref1

  Come Fly With Me (album), ref1

  “Come Rain or Come Shine,” ref1

  Come Swing With Me (album), ref1n

  Como, Perry, ref1, ref2, ref3

  Concert Sinatra, The (album), ref1

  Condon, Richard, ref1

  Confidential magazine, ref1

  Congressional Gold Medal, ref1

  Conte, John, ref1

  Conversations with Kennedy (Bradlee), ref1

  Copacabana, NYC, ref1, ref2, ref3; 1950 engagement at, ref1, ref2, ref3; 1957 engagement at, ref1; Monroe sees Sinatra at, ref1

  Corrado, Doris, ref1

  Cosell, Howard, ref1

  Cosgrove, Ruth, ref1

  Cossette, Pierre, ref1

  Costa, Don, ref1, ref2, ref3, ref4, ref5, ref6

  Costello, Frank, ref1

  Costra Nostra (Mafia or “the Mob”): cancellation of JFK’s visit to Sinatra’s home and, ref1; Cronkite interview and, ref1; end of an era, ref1; Havana, Cuba meeting, ref1; in Hoboken, ref1, ref2; Justice Department report, ref1; Kennedy’s war on, ref1; New Jersey investigation of, ref1; Sinatra and, ref1, ref2, ref3n, ref4, ref5, ref6, ref7, ref8, ref9, ref10; Sinatra’s gambling license and, ref1, ref2