Ol’ Blue Eyes
No Introduction Needed
“The big lesson in life, baby, is never be scared of anyone or anything” Frank Sinatra
December 12, 1915, in the kitchen of a tenement home at 415 Monroe Street in Hoboken, New Jersey, thirteen-pound Martin’s lifeless and blue body was laid on the kitchen counter by the doctor as he turned to treat his grieving mother. His grandmother picked up the stillborn baby and slapped his back as she ran cold water over his unconscious body. He started breathing, then screaming and crying, letting out the first sounds by who would someday become one of the greatest singers and performers of the 20th Century. Little Martin was born! At least his name was Martin (his father’s name, and chosen by his mother) until the priest accidentally named him Frank after his Godfather at his Catholic baptismal. His parents just went with it. Some might believe because of the mishap, Frank Sinatra was named by God. One thing is for sure, though: a BIG star was born. And 27 years later, on another day in December, he proved his fame at the Paramount Theater on Broadway, where he performed for hundreds of bobby-soxer teens screaming so loud it blew Jack Benny away. Benny remembers, “I introduced Sinatra, and I thought the goddamned building was going to cave in. I never heard such a commotion with people running down to the stage, screaming and nearly knocking me off the ramp. All this for a fellow I never heard of.”
“Ol’ Blue Eyes” was born!
New Year’s Eve 1942 faded into 1943, and Frank Sinatra appeared again on the first day of the year at The Paramount. Then again, and again, and again. Then, month after month after month, his stellar show continuously played 6- to 7 shows a day up to Columbus Day, October 12, 1944, when a dozen “fan girls” were hired by George Evans, Sinatra’s clever press agent, who sought out the best-screaming voices through auditions. Five dollars an hour in 1944 was enough to attract some loud voices. Evan strategically placed them in the audience as cheerleaders to cheer up the thousands of teenage girls. The raucous mass of teens erupted in ethereal hysteria when Frank entered the stage, causing Bruce Bliven of The New Republic to comment, "a phenomenon of mass hysteria that is only seen two or three times in a century. You need to go back not merely to Lindbergh [Charles Lindbergh's first flight] and Valentino to understand it, but to the dance madness that overtook some German villages in the Middle Ages, or to the Children's Crusade." I'm not sure who invented the use of “plants” by cultivating the audience with loud boisterous fans causing the entire audience to erupt in standing ovations, but its always been a popular showman technique to boost an entertainer's popularity. It’s my understanding Siegfried and Roy employed a few of these. It seems one lady sat in the front row every night, causing the audience to break out in loud applause and leading the audience to their feet for a considerable standing O. I always wondered if she was hired or just an obsessive fan. I say that because The Pendragons had repeatedly driven fans to watch our shows. This was particularly true when we performed at residencies like Universal Studios, headlining our show for the summer. Audience members with season passes would watch every one of our shows every day. You got to know these people, but I could never have an ordinary friendship with them because they idolized us. Some performers bask in it, and although I love and appreciate these people for their devotion to my work, as I'm always honored by their dedication, I’m more introverted and private. Sinatra’s publicist, Evans, likely didn’t have to hire these gals because the teens were already in hysterics anticipating Sinatra’s appearance on stage.
The night turned to magic as “Sinatramania” cast its spell on American teens.
An entertainer wants to bring their new power to the stage that establishes their unique identity, setting them apart from the rest of their peers. For us, The Pendragons, it was our unique swashbuckling style, highlighting our athleticism through sexiness and authenticity and creating sensational magic through our fast-paced illusions that appeared “real” to the audience. And we were a couple, and at a time, a few women were elevated to magician status. Being a couple with equal billing was new, refreshing, and later heavily copied. What was new for Sinatra was the power he held on stage. He didn't need magic props to show the dominance he held over a mass of screaming teenagers, mostly girls. Sinatra was the father of the music idol, heralded by teenage idealism and to be repeated later by rock stars like Elvis and The Beatles. The enthusiasm surrounding him reminded him of the influence of young women and the power they exude in popular culture even to this day. Sinatra—the first modern pop star- was born in the cradle of his screaming female fans years before pop-style music became part of the mainstream music landscape. Bobby-soxer girls wearing dresses with Sinatra’s photo pinned to them could be heard yelling, "Oh! Oh! Frankie!” lining up sometimes at 4:00 AM to see and hear this “crooner” sing.
Coincidentally, the Columbus Day riots, a term coined by the media to describe Sinatra’s Columbus Day show, serendipitously occurred alongside the new teenage market when in September 1944, a month before Sinatra’s famous Columbus Day performance where 30,000 excited bobbysoxers infested Times Square; Madison Avenue successfully launched teenage magazine Seventeen focusing on the new purchasing power of this age group. It struck a chord with the teens and helped identify their own generation. In it, Frank’s blue eyes gazed into their eyes from the pages of this popular publication. Sinatramania extended to even in 1975 with an issue featuring Sinatra’s favorite hot dog, The Frank Sinatra Sandwich, a hot dog jazzed up Italian style with mozzarella cheese, pizza sauce, mushrooms, and peppers. I can say this about Frank: he was an excellent surfer who rode out a wave and caught the next one. Wave after wave, he found a way to connect with future audiences. And he did it “My Way”.
His wave of being a teen idol stalled in the late 40s, and by the early 50s, Sinatra rebranded himself and turned to the remote gambling desert oasis of Las Vegas to ride another wave and reinvent his career. He stayed in Vegas until he passed away in 1998. Like Steve Perry, who took over the music group Journey, Frank took over Las Vegas. It became his town, where he earned the title “Chairman of the Board” because of his prominent presence and leadership among the performers. Head of the emerging Rat Pack, Sinatra rode the Vegas wave as he surfed the desert winds, creating the first celebrity squad and pulling up on stage members of his Rat Pack Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop long before Taylor Swift caused a stir by bringing up her supermodel best friends to join her. The Rat Pack ruled Las Vegas’s Strip in the ’50s and part of the ’60s and performed on stage at their home base— The iconic Copa Room at the Sands, where they would play their music for celebrity-filled audiences followed by a long night of drinking and partying, surrounded by their mascots who were female stars like Marilyn Monroe, Juliet Prowse Edye Gormé and Shirley McClain. Where you found The Rat Pack, you found beautiful women, and their presence emphasized the Rat Pack’s alpha maleness. They were not like the androgynous pop stars seen today. By their own definition, they were real men headlining in a town booming from post-war growth, establishing them as the top-draw entertainment on this short stretch of Highway 91. Later, Steve Wynn, a buddy of Franks’s, said after they met in Palm Springs, “It’s hard to explain what seeing the Rat Pack was like. They were Kings of the Universe. The secret was that not only did they have so much talent, but they were also real buddies. They had a gorgeous intimacy with each other. Sammy was the court jester, Dean was Mr. Cool, and Frank was the boss. Frank leaned over to me at one point that night and said, ‘How do you like the seats, kid?’ That was the night I decided to stay in Las Vegas.”
Before Sinatra left the Sands for Ceasar’s Palace across the street, his temper allegedly got the better of his mind. His Jekyll and Hyde disposition caused him to break out the front of Sands windows. He drove a golf cart through them after the new owner, Howard Hughes, bought the property and immediately cut off Sinatra’s casino credit line, causing his relationship with his home to end. Ceasar’s Palace welcomed him, and Sinatra flourished there, where he went from being a star to an entire luminary institution. The first Superstar. Buttons were given to casino guests named Sinatra as “The noblest Roman of them all,” and when Sinatra was headlining, the Caesars Palace marquee sometimes read “Guess Who?” or “He’s Here.” But the rest of the Rat Pack didn't follow Frank to Caesar’s, and following JFK’s assassination, the FBI began tracking their whereabouts since they were linked with the Mafia by being their top entertainment in their Vegas casinos.
Frank Sinatra at Caesar’s Palace with a backstage glance
Frank had become close friends with Kennedy, and during a stay in Palm Springs, California, Frank arranged for him to stay at his home. But the FBI warned JFK to stay away from Sinatra, and JFK didn't stay at Frank’s. The assassination of JFK ended the gang's carefree party and broke up the group. Sinatra became good friends with President John F Kennedy through fellow Ratpacker Peter Lawson (who married JFK’s younger sister Patricia). Lawford politically supported Kennedy and campaigned for him and the rest of the Rat Pack. So Kennedy was going to Palm Springs to campaign, and Lawford had arranged for JFK to stay with Sinatra at his Palm Springs home. Sinatra went through hoops to welcome JFK to his home by building a helipad on the grounds of his property. However, at the last minute, JFK pulled out, having been advised and warned about Sinatra's well-publicized associations with the Mob, and that would severely damage his campaign. Kennedy opted to stay with Bing Crosby instead, and Sinatra was pissed off. In one of his well-known tantrums, he destroyed the helipad in anger, blamed Lawford entirely, and kicked him out of the Rat Pack, refusing to talk to him again. That was the beginning of the end, and following President Kennedy's assassination in 1963, the group lost their power of magic to a new idol. The Beatles became the latest "It" icon, and the events of the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement exerted a sobering influence on the nation. A new era began, and Frank fought to remain relevant. From Caesars, he eventually moved to Bally’s Grand when in October 1987 through 1990, he joined old friends Martin and Davis as well as Dean’s friend Jerry Lewis in the rotation during his successful days at Bally’s when I performed next door to him in Jubilee!, and my dressing room was across from his. The light booth was off the dressing rooms, so I often dashed in to watch the star who needed no introduction. The show would start, and Frank would walk on stage to the roaring applaud of the audience. Legends never die, and watching from the light booth, I saw crowds of well-dressed young adults paying $50 each to watch the King of Vegas. My boss Richard Sturm noted: “As much as people have said Las Vegas was the burial ground (for entertainers), I disagree,” says Sturm, the MGM Grand’s vice president of entertainment and marketing, who booked the Bally’s showroom in those days. “There was certainly a new audience watching Sinatra. You could see tons of younger people really standing up and getting into it.” That’s what I saw. The legend was riding another wave.
The Best Things In Life Are Free"
The moon belongs to everyone,
The best things in life are free.
The stars belong to everyone,
They gleam there for you and me.
The flowers in spring, the robins that sing,
The moonbeams that shine, they're yours, they're mine.
And love can come to everyone,
The best things in life are free.
Frank Sinatra
Brilliant biography Charlotte and an interesting look at the iconic Sinatra. Did you get the feeling he was a hard man, and cruel? I’ve read that he could be violent, even towards his greatest fans. I’m always torn between appreciation for that voice and horror at the ego-fuelled personality.
Wow, Charlotte!! This was so informative for me. I really had no idea he was THAT big of a deal! And all those paid fans- really goes to show how long the marketing manipulation has been occuring for. Fascinating!!
In your opinion, why do you think he was so angry? My sense is that he was a man solely governed by the outside and he somewhere along the way lost connection with his inner compass.