Who Was Frank Sinatra?

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Who Was Frank Sinatra?

Frank Sinatra was an American singer and movie star who became popular in the late 1930s and remained very famous until his death six decades later. Sinatra was born on 12th December 1915 into an Italian immigrant family who lived in New Jersey, near New York City. His father worked as a fireman; his mother was a political and social activist with ties to the Democrat Party.

The young Frank showed great talent as a singer and, by his early twenties, he was the lead singer for the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. He began to perform on the radio. His smooth voice and bright blue eyes made him very popular, especially with women. It soon became clear that he could be very big if he could break his contract with Tommy Dorsey, his band leader, and go solo. But, Dorsey hated Sinatra (they had argued over a woman) and would not let him break contract.

Sinatra's father was Sicilian and so Frank knew many members of the Mafia, which was a Sicilian gang. Frank could not be in the Mafia because his mother was not from Sicily but northern Italy. However, Frank's godfather was a top Mafia leader and, when Frank told him about Tommy Dorsey, his godfather went to see the band leader. Dorsey refused to accept a generous cash offer to cancel Frank's contract, so one of the Mafia men took out a pistol and made him destroy the contract.

After this, Frank Sinatra became famous in the U.S. and around the world, especially during the 1940s. It was not the last time the Mafia helped Frank in his career. They helped him to get a lead part in the movie "From Here to Eternity", by threatening the producer. Frank was actually a good actor and went on to make many more movies.

In 1960, Frank was a close friend of John F. Kennedy, who was then trying to become U.S. president. Kennedy needed money for his campaign and Frank said he could get him some. He went to his Mafia godfather who gave him a lot of money for the Kennedy campaign so long as Kennedy agreed to stop the FBI looking into Mafia activities. Sinatra gave Kennedy the money but didn't tell him who it came from or what that person (Sam Giancana) expected in return.

Kennedy won the election but only just. Immediately, he ordered the FBI to begin investigating the Mafia. Giancana, the Chicago gangster, saw this as a betrayal and began to plan Kennedy’s murder. On 22nd November, 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Sinatra's mistake was not known until years later.

Sinatra was also a great ladies' man who had many famous girlfriends, including Marilyn Monroe, Ava Gardner (the real love of his life), and Mia Farrow, who he briefly married. Sinatra's special voice and style made him unique.

Perhaps his most famous song is 'My Way'. The words echo Sinatra's own way of living: right or wrong, do it "My Way". He died of a heart attack on 14th May, 1998, which caused another Frank Sinatra revival, showing that, even when dead, he could sell millions of records to all generations.