223 Facts About Frank Sinatra

Francis Albert Sinatra was an American singer and actor.

Frank Sinatra is among the world's best-selling music artists with an estimated 150 million record sales.

Frank Sinatra found success as a solo artist after signing with Columbia Records in 1943, becoming the idol of the "bobby soxers".

When his film career stalled in the early 1950s, Frank Sinatra turned to Las Vegas, where he became one of its best-known residency performers and part of the famous Rat Pack.

Frank Sinatra's acting career was revived by the 1953 film From Here to Eternity, which earned Sinatra an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Frank Sinatra left Capitol in 1960 to start his own record label, Reprise Records, and released a string of successful albums.

Frank Sinatra retired for the first time in 1971, but came out of retirement two years later.

Frank Sinatra recorded several albums and resumed performing at Caesars Palace, and released "New York, New York" in 1980.

Frank Sinatra forged a highly successful career as a film actor.

Frank Sinatra appeared in musicals such as On the Town, Guys and Dolls, High Society, and Pal Joey, which won him another Golden Globe.

On television, The Frank Sinatra Show began on CBS in 1950, and he continued to make appearances on television throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

Frank Sinatra led a colorful personal life and was involved in turbulent relationships, including his second marriage to Ava Gardner.

Frank Sinatra later married Mia Farrow in 1966 and Barbara Marx in 1976.

Frank Sinatra had several violent confrontations, often with journalists he felt had crossed him or work bosses with whom he had disagreements.

Frank Sinatra was deeply involved with politics starting in the mid-1940s and actively campaigned for presidents Franklin D Roosevelt, Harry S Truman, John F Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.

Frank Sinatra was investigated by the FBI for his alleged relationship with the Mafia.

Frank Sinatra was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1985, and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997.

Frank Sinatra received eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees Award, Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Frank Sinatra was included in Time magazine's compilation of the 20th century's 100 most influential people.

Francis Albert Frank Sinatra was born on December 12,1915, in an upstairs tenement at 415 Monroe Street in Hoboken, New Jersey, the only child of Italian immigrants Natalina "Dolly" Garaventa and Antonino Martino "Marty" Frank Sinatra, who boxed under the name Marty O'Brien.

Frank Sinatra's mother was energetic and driven, and biographers believe that she was the dominant factor in the development of her son's personality traits and self-confidence.

Frank Sinatra's fourth wife Barbara would later claim that Dolly was abusive to him when he was a child, and "knocked him around a lot".

Frank Sinatra worked as a midwife, earning $50 for each delivery, and according to Sinatra biographer Kitty Kelley, ran an illegal abortion service that catered to Italian Catholic girls, for which she was nicknamed "Hatpin Dolly".

Frank Sinatra had a gift for languages and served as a local interpreter.

Frank Sinatra's illiterate father was a bantamweight boxer who later worked for 24 years at the Hoboken Fire Department, working his way up to captain.

Frank Sinatra spent much time at his parents' tavern in Hoboken, working on his homework and occasionally singing a song on top of the player piano for spare change.

At a young age, Frank Sinatra developed an interest in music, particularly big band jazz and listened to Gene Austin, Rudy Vallee, Russ Colombo, and Bob Eberly while idolizing Bing Crosby.

Dolly found her son work as a delivery boy at the Jersey Observer newspaper, where his godfather Frank Sinatra Garrick worked, and after that, worked as a riveter at the Tietjen and Lang shipyard.

Frank Sinatra began performing in local Hoboken social clubs such as The Cat's Meow and The Comedy Club, and sang for free on radio stations such as WAAT in Jersey City.

In New York, Frank Sinatra found jobs singing for his supper or for cigarettes.

Frank Sinatra began singing professionally as a teenager, but even though he never learned to read music, he learned music by ear.

Frank Sinatra got his first break in 1935 when his mother persuaded a local singing group called the 3 Flashes to let him join.

Baritone Fred Tamburro stated that "Frank Sinatra hung around us like we were gods or something", admitting that they only took him on board because he owned a car and could chauffeur the group around.

Frank Sinatra soon learned they were auditioning for the Major Bowes Amateur Hour show, and "begged" the group to let him in on the act.

In 1938, Frank Sinatra found employment as a singing waiter at a roadhouse called "The Rustic Cabin" in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, for which he was paid $15 a week.

Frank Sinatra became increasingly frustrated with the status of the Harry James band, feeling that he was not achieving the major success and acclaim he was looking for.

Frank Sinatra earned $125 a week, appearing at the Palmer House in Chicago, and James released Frank Sinatra from his contract.

Dorsey was a major influence on Frank Sinatra and became a father figure.

Frank Sinatra copied Dorsey's mannerisms and traits, becoming a demanding perfectionist like him, even adopting his hobby of toy trains.

Frank Sinatra asked Dorsey to be godfather to his daughter Nancy in June 1940.

Frank Sinatra later said that "The only two people I've ever been afraid of are my mother and Tommy Dorsey".

Later, Frank Sinatra helped Rich form his own band with a $25,000 loan and provided financial help to Rich during times of the drummer's serious illness.

Frank Sinatra first heard the recordings at the Hollywood Palladium and Hollywood Plaza and was astounded at how good he sounded.

Frank Sinatra was so excited, you almost believed he had never recorded before.

Dorsey and Frank Sinatra, who had been very close, never reconciled their differences.

When Frank Sinatra returned to the Paramount in October 1944 only 250 persons left the first show, and 35,000 fans left outside caused a near riot, known as the Columbus Day Riot, outside the venue because they were not allowed in.

Frank Sinatra initially had great success, and performed on the radio on Your Hit Parade from February 1943 until December 1944, and on stage.

Frank Sinatra did not serve in the military during World War II.

However, US Army files reported that Frank Sinatra had actually been rejected because he was "not acceptable material from a psychiatric viewpoint;" his emotional instability was hidden to avoid "undue unpleasantness for both the selectee and the induction service".

Briefly, there were rumors reported by columnist Walter Winchell that Frank Sinatra paid $40,000 to avoid military service, but the FBI found this to be without merit.

Toward the end of the war, Frank Sinatra entertained the troops during several successful overseas USO tours with comedian Phil Silvers.

Frank Sinatra worked frequently with the popular Andrews Sisters in radio in the 1940s, and many USO shows were broadcast to troops via the Armed Forces Radio Service.

William Ruhlmann of AllMusic wrote that Frank Sinatra "took the material very seriously, singing the love lyrics with utter seriousness", and that his "singing and the classically influenced settings gave the songs unusual depth of meaning".

Such was Sinatra's command at Columbia that his love of conducting was indulged with the release of the set Frank Sinatra Conducts the Music of Alec Wilder, an offering unlikely to appeal to Sinatra's core fanbase at the time, which consisted of teenage girls.

When Frank Sinatra was featured as a priest in The Miracle of the Bells, due to press negativity surrounding his alleged Mafia connections at the time, it was announced to the public that Frank Sinatra would donate his $100,000 in wages from the film to the Catholic Church.

Sinatra's last two albums with Columbia, Dedicated to You and Sing and Dance with Frank Sinatra, were released in 1950.

In financial difficulty following his divorce and career decline, Frank Sinatra was forced to borrow $200,000 from Columbia to pay his back taxes after MCA refused to front the money.

Frank Sinatra became one of Las Vegas's pioneer residency entertainers, and a prominent figure on the Vegas scene throughout the 1950s and 1960s onwards, a period described by Rojek as the "high-water mark" of Frank Sinatra's "hedonism and self absorption".

Rojek notes that the Rat Pack "provided an outlet for gregarious banter and wisecracks", but argues that it was Frank Sinatra's vehicle, possessing an "unassailable command over the other performers".

Frank Sinatra would fly to Las Vegas from Los Angeles in Van Heusen's single-engine plane.

On October 4,1953, Frank Sinatra made his first performance at the Sands Hotel and Casino, after an invitation by the manager Jack Entratter, who had previously worked at the Copa in New York.

Frank Sinatra typically performed there three times a year, and later acquired a share in the hotel.

Tom Santopietro notes that Frank Sinatra began to bury himself in his work, with an "unparalleled frenetic schedule of recordings, movies and concerts", in what authors Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan describe as "a new and brilliant phase".

On March 13,1953, Frank Sinatra met with Capitol Records vice president Alan Livingston and signed a seven-year recording contract.

That same month, Frank Sinatra released the single "Young at Heart", which reached No 2 and was awarded Song of the Year.

Frank Sinatra embarked on his first tour of Australia the same year.

Also that year, Frank Sinatra sang at the Democratic National Convention, and performed with The Dorsey Brothers for a week soon afterwards at the Paramount Theatre.

In 1958 Frank Sinatra released the concept album Come Fly with Me with Billy May, designed as a musical world tour.

Frank Sinatra was asked by 20th Century Fox to be the master of ceremonies at a luncheon attended by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev on September 19,1959.

Frank Sinatra grew discontented at Capitol, and fell into a feud with Alan Livingston, which lasted over six months.

Frank Sinatra and Count Basie collaborated for the album Frank Sinatra-Basie the same year, a popular and successful release which prompted them to rejoin two years later for the follow-up It Might as Well Be Swing, arranged by Quincy Jones.

Also in 1962, as the owner of his own record label, Sinatra was able to step on the podium as conductor again, releasing his third instrumental album Frank Sinatra Conducts Music from Pictures and Plays.

In 1963, Frank Sinatra reunited with Nelson Riddle for The Concert Frank Sinatra, an ambitious album featuring a 73-piece symphony orchestra arranged and conducted by Riddle.

Frank Sinatra increasingly became involved in charitable pursuits in this period.

The Rat Pack concert, called The Frank Sinatra Spectacular, was broadcast live via satellite to numerous movie theaters across America.

Granata considers the album to have been one of the finest of his Reprise years, "a reflective throwback to the concept records of the 1950s, and more than any of those collections, distills everything that Frank Sinatra had ever learned or experienced as a vocalist".

In 1966 Frank Sinatra released That's Life, with both the single of "That's Life" and album becoming Top Ten hits in the US on Billboards pop charts.

Frank Sinatra was backed by the Count Basie Orchestra, with Quincy Jones conducting.

Frank Sinatra pulled out from the Sands the following year, when he was driven out by its new owner Howard Hughes, after a fight.

Frank Sinatra started 1967 with a series of recording sessions with Antonio Carlos Jobim.

Writer Stan Cornyn wrote that Frank Sinatra sang so softly on the album that it was comparable to the time that he suffered from a vocal hemorrhage in 1950.

Frank Sinatra released the album The World We Knew, which features a chart-topping duet of "Somethin' Stupid" with daughter Nancy.

Frank Sinatra recorded it in one take, just after Christmas 1968.

In 1970, Frank Sinatra released Watertown, a critically acclaimed concept album, with music by Bob Gaudio and lyrics by Jake Holmes.

Frank Sinatra performed several charity concerts with Count Basie at the Royal Festival Hall in London.

On November 2,1970, Frank Sinatra recorded the last songs for Reprise Records before his self-imposed retirement, announced the following June at a concert in Hollywood to raise money for the Motion Picture and TV Relief Fund.

Frank Sinatra obliged and chose to sing "My Kind of Town" for the rally held in Chicago on October 20,1972.

In 1973, Frank Sinatra came out of his short-lived retirement with a television special and album.

The television special, Magnavox Presents Frank Sinatra, reunited Sinatra with Gene Kelly.

Frank Sinatra initially developed problems with his vocal cords during the comeback due to a prolonged period without singing.

Frank Sinatra began what Barbara Sinatra describes as a "massive comeback tour of the United States, Europe, the Far East and Australia".

In 1975, Frank Sinatra performed in concerts in New York with Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald, and at the London Palladium with Basie and Sarah Vaughan, and in Tehran at Aryamehr Stadium, giving 140 performances in 105 days.

Frank Sinatra continued to perform at Caesars Palace in the late 1970s, and was performing there in January 1977 when his mother Dolly died in a plane crash on the way to see him.

Frank Sinatra cancelled two weeks of shows and spent time recovering from the shock in Barbados.

In 1978, Sinatra filed a $1million lawsuit against a land developer for using his name in the "Frank Sinatra Drive Center" in West Los Angeles.

Also in 1981, Frank Sinatra was embroiled in controversy when he worked a ten-day engagement for $2million in Sun City, in the internationally unrecognized Bophuthatswana, breaking a cultural boycott against apartheid-era South Africa.

Santopietro stated that by the early 1980s, Frank Sinatra's voice had "coarsened, losing much of its power and flexibility, but audiences didn't care".

Kelley notes that by this period Frank Sinatra's voice had grown "darker, tougher and loamier", but he "continued to captivate audiences with his immutable magic".

Frank Sinatra added that his baritone voice "sometimes cracked, but the gliding intonations still aroused the same raptures of delight as they had at the Paramount Theater".

Frank Sinatra donated a lot of his earnings to charity.

Frank Sinatra put on a performance at the White House for the Italian prime minister, and performed at the Radio City Music Hall with Luciano Pavarotti and George Shearing.

Frank Sinatra was honored at 1983 Kennedy Center Honors, alongside Katherine Dunham, James Stewart, Elia Kazan, and Virgil Thomson.

On September 21,1983, Frank Sinatra filed a $2million court case against Kitty Kelley, suing her for punitive damages, before her unofficial biography, His Way, was even published.

Frank Sinatra was always adamant that such a book would be written on his terms, and he himself would "set the record straight" in details of his life.

Kelley says that Tina Frank Sinatra blamed her for her father's colon surgery in 1986.

Frank Sinatra was forced to drop the case on September 19,1984, with several leading newspapers expressing concerns about his views on censorship.

In 1986, Frank Sinatra collapsed on stage while performing in Atlantic City and was hospitalized for diverticulitis, which left him looking frail.

Two years later, Frank Sinatra reunited with Martin and Davis and went on the Rat Pack Reunion Tour, during which they played many large arenas.

On June 6,1988, Frank Sinatra made his last recordings with Reprise for an album which was not released.

Frank Sinatra recorded "My Foolish Heart", "Cry Me a River", and other songs.

In 1990, Frank Sinatra was awarded the second "Ella Award" by the Los Angeles-based Society of Singers, and performed for a final time with Ella Fitzgerald at the award ceremony.

Frank Sinatra maintained an active touring schedule in the early 1990s, performing 65 concerts in 1990,73 in 1991 and 84 in 1992 in seventeen different countries.

In 1993, Frank Sinatra returned to Capitol Records and the recording studio for Duets, which became his best-selling album.

The album and its sequel, Duets II, released the following year, would see Frank Sinatra remake his classic recordings with popular contemporary performers, who added their vocals to a pre-recorded tape.

Esquire reported of the show that Frank Sinatra was "clear, tough, on the money" and "in absolute control".

In recognition of his many years of association with Las Vegas, Frank Sinatra was elected to the Gaming Hall of Fame in 1997.

Frank Sinatra could follow a lead sheet during a performance by "carefully following the patterns and groupings of notes arranged on the page" and made his own notations to the music, using his ear to detect semitonal differences.

Granata states that some of the most accomplished classically trained musicians soon noticed his musical understanding, and remarked that Frank Sinatra had a "sixth sense", which "demonstrated unusual proficiency when it came to detecting incorrect notes and sounds within the orchestra".

Frank Sinatra was an aficionado of classical music, and would often request classical strains in his music, inspired by composers such as Puccini and Impressionist masters.

Frank Sinatra would insist on always recording live with the band because it gave him a "certain feeling" to perform live surrounded by musicians.

At one recording session with arranger Claus Ogerman and an orchestra, Frank Sinatra heard "a couple of little strangers" in the string section, prompting Ogerman to make corrections to what were thought to be copyist's errors.

Frank Sinatra's timing was impeccable, allowing him, according to Charles L Granata, to "toy with the rhythm of a melody, bringing tremendous excitement to his reading of a lyric".

Frank Sinatra never liked to discuss a performance afterward because he knew his voice wasn't as good as it used to be.

Arrangers such as Nelson Riddle and Anthony Fanzo found Frank Sinatra to be a perfectionist who constantly drove himself and others around him, stating that his collaborators approached him with a sense of uneasiness because of his unpredictable and often volatile temperament.

Granata comments that Frank Sinatra was almost fanatically obsessed with perfection to the point that people began wondering if he was genuinely concerned about the music or showing off his power over others.

Frank Sinatra once told Sammy Cahn, who wrote songs for Anchors Aweigh, "if you're not there Monday, I'm not there Monday".

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Frank Sinatra insisted upon direct input regarding arrangements and tempos for his recordings.

Frank Sinatra would spend weeks thinking about the songs he wanted to record, and would keep an arranger in mind for each song.

Frank Sinatra attempted to pursue an acting career in Hollywood in the early 1940s.

Frank Sinatra made his film debut performing in an uncredited sequence in Las Vegas Nights, singing "I'll Never Smile Again" with Tommy Dorsey's Pied Pipers.

Frank Sinatra had a cameo role along with Duke Ellington and Count Basie in Charles Barton's Reveille with Beverly, making a brief appearance singing "Night and Day".

Frank Sinatra briefly appeared at the end of Richard Whorf's commercially successful Till the Clouds Roll By, a Technicolor musical biopic of Jerome Kern, in which he sang "Ol' Man River".

Frank Sinatra co-starred again with Gene Kelly in the Technicolor musical Take Me Out to the Ball Game, in which Frank Sinatra and Kelly play baseball players who are part-time vaudevillians.

Frank Sinatra teamed up with Kelly for a third time in On the Town, playing a sailor on leave in New York City.

Frank Sinatra had long been desperate to find a film role which would bring him back into the spotlight, and Columbia Pictures boss Harry Cohn had been inundated by appeals from people across Hollywood to give Frank Sinatra a chance to star as "Maggio" in the film.

The Los Angeles Examiner wrote that Frank Sinatra is "simply superb, comical, pitiful, childishly brave, pathetically defiant", commenting that his death scene is "one of the best ever photographed".

Frank Sinatra starred opposite Doris Day in the musical film Young at Heart, and earned critical praise for his performance as a psychopathic killer posing as an FBI agent opposite Sterling Hayden in the film noir Suddenly.

Frank Sinatra was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor and BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his role as a heroin addict in The Man with the Golden Arm.

Frank Sinatra featured alongside Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly in High Society for MGM, earning a reported $250,000 for the picture.

Santopietro considers the scene in which Frank Sinatra sings "The Lady Is a Tramp" to Hayworth to have been the finest moment of his film career.

Frank Sinatra next portrayed comedian Joe E Lewis in The Joker Is Wild ; the song "All the Way" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Frank Sinatra personally financed the film, and paid Martin and Davis fees of $150,000 and $125,000 respectively, sums considered exorbitant for the period.

Frank Sinatra had a leading role opposite Laurence Harvey in The Manchurian Candidate, which he considered to be the role he was most excited about and the high point of his film career.

Frank Sinatra directed None but the Brave, and Von Ryan's Express was a major success.

Frank Sinatra played a similar role in The Detective.

Frank Sinatra starred opposite George Kennedy in the western Dirty Dingus Magee, an "abysmal" affair according to Santopietro, which was panned by the critics.

Santopietro said that as a troubled New York City homicide cop, Frank Sinatra gave an "extraordinarily rich", heavily layered characterization, one which "made for one terrific farewell" to his film career.

In 1942, Frank Sinatra hired arranger Axel Stordahl away from Tommy Dorsey before he began his first radio program that year, keeping Stordahl with him for all of his radio work.

Frank Sinatra appeared as a special guest in the sisters' ABC Eight-to-the-Bar Ranch series, while the trio in turn guested on his Songs by Sinatra series on CBS.

Frank Sinatra had two stints as a regular member of cast of Your Hit Parade; his first was from 1943 to 1945, and second was from 1946 to May 28,1949, during which he was paired with the then-new girl singer, Doris Day.

In October 1951, the second season of The Frank Sinatra Show began on CBS Television.

Ultimately, Frank Sinatra did not find the success on television for which he had hoped.

In 1957, Sinatra formed a three-year $3million contract with ABC to launch The Frank Sinatra Show, featuring himself and guests in 36 half-hour shows.

In return, Frank Sinatra later made numerous appearances on The Dean Martin Show and Martin's TV specials.

When Frank Sinatra came out of retirement in 1973, he released both an album and appeared in a TV special named Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back.

Frank Sinatra starred as a detective in Contract on Cherry Street, cited as his "one starring role in a dramatic television film".

Frank Sinatra had met Barbato in Long Branch, New Jersey in the summer of 1934, while working as a lifeguard.

Frank Sinatra agreed to marry her after an incident at "The Rustic Cabin" which led to his arrest.

Frank Sinatra had numerous extramarital affairs, and gossip magazines published details of affairs with women including Marilyn Maxwell, Lana Turner, and Joi Lansing.

Frank Sinatra adored the company of women and knew how to treat them.

Frank Sinatra was married to Hollywood actress Ava Gardner from 1951 to 1957.

Frank Sinatra continued to feel very strongly for her, and they remained friends for life.

Frank Sinatra was still dealing with her finances in 1976.

Frank Sinatra reportedly broke off engagements to Lauren Bacall in 1958 and Juliet Prowse in 1962.

Frank Sinatra was romantically linked to Pat Sheehan, Vikki Dougan, and Kipp Hamilton.

Frank Sinatra married Mia Farrow on July 19,1966, a short marriage that ended with divorce in Mexico in August 1968.

Frank Sinatra was married to Barbara Marx from 1976 until his death.

Frank Sinatra was close friends with Jilly Rizzo, songwriter Jimmy Van Heusen, golfer Ken Venturi, comedian Pat Henry and baseball manager Leo Durocher.

Frank Sinatra often played golf with Venturi at the course in Palm Springs, where he lived, and liked painting, reading, and building model railways.

Frank Sinatra died as a practicing Catholic and had a Catholic burial.

Frank Sinatra spent lavishly on expensive custom-tailored tuxedos and stylish pin-striped suits, which made him feel wealthy and important, and that he was giving his very best to the audience.

For Santopietro, Frank Sinatra was the personification of America in the 1950s: "cocky, eye on the main chance, optimistic, and full of the sense of possibility".

Barbara Sinatra wrote, "A big part of Frank's thrill was the sense of danger that he exuded, an underlying, ever-present tension only those closest to him knew could be defused with humor".

Cary Grant, a friend of Frank Sinatra, stated that Frank Sinatra was the "most honest person he'd ever met", who spoke "a simple truth, without artifice which scared people", and was often moved to tears by his performances.

Barbara Frank Sinatra stated that he would "snap at anyone for the slightest misdemeanor", while Van Heusen said that when Frank Sinatra got drunk it was "best to disappear".

Frank Sinatra received negative press for fights with Lee Mortimer in 1947, photographer Eddie Schisser in Houston in 1950, Judy Garland's publicist Jim Byron on the Sunset Strip in 1954, and for a confrontation with Washington Post journalist Maxine Cheshire in 1973, in which he implied that she was a cheap prostitute.

Frank Sinatra fired off an angry letter in response calling Royko a "pimp", and threatening to "punch you in the mouth" for speculating that he wore a toupee.

Frank Sinatra was known for his generosity, particularly after his comeback.

Kelley notes that when Lee J Cobb nearly died from a heart attack in June 1955, Sinatra flooded him with "books, flowers, delicacies", paid his hospital bills, and visited him daily, telling him that his "finest acting" was yet to come.

Frank Sinatra became the stereotype of the "tough working-class Italian American," something which he embraced.

Frank Sinatra said that if it had not been for his interest in music, he would have likely ended up in a life of crime.

Frank Sinatra was present at the Mafia Havana Conference in 1946, and the press learned of his being there with Lucky Luciano.

Frank Sinatra was reported to be a good friend of mobster Sam Giancana, and the two men were seen playing golf together.

Kelley quotes Jo-Carrol Silvers that Frank Sinatra "adored" Bugsy Siegel, and boasted to friends about him and how many people Siegel had killed.

The FBI documented that Sinatra was losing esteem with the Mafia as he grew closer to President Kennedy, whose younger brother Attorney General Robert F Kennedy was leading a crackdown on organized crime.

Frank Sinatra said he was not involved: "Any report that I fraternized with goons or racketeers is a vicious lie".

Frank Sinatra's mother, Dolly Sinatra, was a Democratic Party ward leader, and after meeting President Franklin D Roosevelt in 1944, he subsequently heavily campaigned for the Democrats in the 1944 presidential election.

Frank Sinatra was outspoken against racism, particularly toward black people and Italians, from a young age.

In November 1945 Frank Sinatra was invited by the mayor of Gary, Indiana, to try to settle a strike by white students of Froebel High School against the "Pro-Negro" policies of the new principal.

Frank Sinatra's comments, while praised by liberal publications, led to accusations by some that he was a Communist, which he said were not true.

Frank Sinatra often invited Kennedy to Hollywood and Las Vegas, and the two would womanize and enjoy parties together.

In 1962, Frank Sinatra was snubbed by the President as, during his visit to his Palm Springs, Kennedy stayed with the Republican Bing Crosby instead of Frank Sinatra, citing FBI concerns about the latter's alleged connections to organized crime.

Frank Sinatra had spared no expense upgrading the facilities at his home in anticipation of the President's visit, fitting it with a heliport, which he smashed with a sledgehammer after the rejection.

Frank Sinatra officially changed allegiance in July 1972 when he supported Richard Nixon for re-election in the 1972 presidential election.

Frank Sinatra arranged Reagan's Presidential gala, as he had done for Kennedy 20 years previously.

Santopietro notes that Frank Sinatra was a "lifelong sympathizer with Jewish causes".

Frank Sinatra was awarded the Hollzer Memorial Award by the Los Angeles Jewish Community in 1949.

Frank Sinatra gave a series of concerts in Israel in 1962, and donated his entire $50,000 fee for appearing in a cameo role in Cast a Giant Shadow to the Youth Center in Jerusalem.

Frank Sinatra owned a Jewish skullcap, known as a kippah or yarmulkah, which was sold as part of his wife's estate many years after his death.

From his youth, Frank Sinatra displayed sympathy for African Americans and worked both publicly and privately all his life to help the struggle for equal rights.

Frank Sinatra blamed racial prejudice on the parents of children.

Frank Sinatra played a major role in the desegregation of Nevada hotels and casinos in the 1950s and 1960s.

At the Sands in 1955, Frank Sinatra went against policy by inviting Nat King Cole into the dining room, and in 1961, after an incident where an African-American couple entered the lobby of the hotel and were blocked by the security guard, Frank Sinatra and Davis forced the hotel management to begin hiring black waiters and busboys.

On January 27,1961, Frank Sinatra played a benefit show at Carnegie Hall for Martin Luther King Jr.

When he changed his political affiliations in 1970, Frank Sinatra became less outspoken on racial issues.

Frank Sinatra died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on May 14,1998, aged 82, with his wife at his side after suffering two heart attacks.

Frank Sinatra was in ill health during the last few years of his life, and was frequently hospitalized for heart and breathing problems, high blood pressure, pneumonia and bladder cancer.

Frank Sinatra suffered from dementia-like symptoms due to his usage of antidepressants.

Frank Sinatra had made no public appearances following a heart attack in February 1997.

Frank Sinatra's funeral was held at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills, California, on May 20,1998, with 400 mourners in attendance and thousands of fans outside.

Frank Sinatra's gravestone was changed as of 2021 to read "Sleep Warm Poppa", under mysterious circumstances according to the magazine Palm Springs Life.

Frank Sinatra's popularity is matched only by Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Michael Jackson.

George Roberts, a trombonist in Frank Sinatra's band, remarked that Frank Sinatra had a "charisma, or whatever it is about him, that no one else had".

Biographer Arnold Shaw considered that "If Las Vegas had not existed, Frank Sinatra could have invented it".

Frank Sinatra quoted reporter James Bacon in saying that Sinatra was the "swinging image on which the town is built", adding that no other entertainer quite "embodied the glamour" associated with Las Vegas as him.

Frank Sinatra continues to be seen as one of the icons of the 20th century, and has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in film and music.

Frank Sinatra Drive runs parallel to the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway.

Wynn Resorts' Encore Las Vegas resort features a restaurant dedicated to Frank Sinatra which opened in 2008.

Frank Sinatra has been portrayed on numerous occasions in film and television.

Frank Sinatra was written by Abby Mann and Philip Mastrosimone, and produced by Frank Sinatra's daughter, Tina.

Frank Sinatra has subsequently been portrayed on screen by Ray Liotta, James Russo, Dennis Hopper, and Robert Knepper, and spoofed by Joe Piscopo and Phil Hartman on Saturday Night Live.

Frank Sinatra was convinced that Johnny Fontane, a mob-associated singer in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather, was based on his life.

Puzo wrote in 1972 that when the author and singer met in Chasen's, Frank Sinatra "started to shout abuse", calling Puzo a "pimp" and threatening physical violence.