Frank Sinatra is one of the first all round superstars of the entertainment business. A singer, actor, director and producer par excellence.

But in Hudson County-He’s it!!    

Although Frank Sinatra died over 11 years ago, his legend, and music and escapades as an entertainer on and off the stage and screen live on. Especially in Hudson County where stories about the boy from Hoboken are passed down from parents to children. In Hudson County we love Frank Sinatra .Everyone has a Sinatra story – it really is -Six degrees of Frank Sinatra here. You hear things like “Frank was at my mother’s wedding,” or “they say he use to ride the streets of Hoboken late at night in his limo, remembering the good old days. And   there isn’t a restaurant in Hudson County that doesn’t have  some kind of photo of Frank. Yep, In Hudson County we love Frank- here is a bio on Hudson County’s favorite son.       

Francis Albert Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Frank Sinatra’s father was a firefighter and amateur boxer named Martin Anthony Sinatra while his mother, Natalie Sinatra had political aspirations. Over the next eighty years Frank Sinatra was a singer, actor, director and producer who entertained generation after generation all over the world.Maybe it was due to the fact that his father was an amateur pugilist, but Sinatra wanted to become a sportswriter when he was young. Frank Sinatra’s first job was as an office boy in the Hudson Observer. It was supposed to be his apprenticeship where he picks up the tricks of the trade. But once he heard the voice of Bing Crosby on radio, he changed his mind and decided that he would become a singer. Along with a few pals he formed the Hoboken Four.

Frank Sinatra was known as Ol’ Blue Eyes to his fans. One of the first entertainment superstars the world has known. Frank Sinatra’s songs have a timeless beauty to them. Sinatra’s hit songs include “Strangers in the Night”, “The Lady is a Tramp”, “New York, New York” and “Chicago.” He was the first ever star to have teenage girl fans scream at him in public. The word bobbysoxer was coined around this time.

Frank Sinatra, the actor refused to be typecast or slotted into any particular category. He acted in serious movies such as “The Manchurian Candidate,” “From here to Eternity” capers such as Ocean’s Eleven and outrageous musicals such as “Guys and Dolls” and “Pal Joey.” He went on to act in more than fifty films.

Frank Sinatra is a ten time Grammy award winner, two time Golden Globe winner and won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for “From Here to Eternity.” He also won an honorary Oscar for his work on “The House I Live In” which was a short film advocating racial equality and secularism. Apart from these he also won the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award and Cecil B DeMille Award. National achievements included Kennedy Center Honors Lifetime Achievement Award, Congressional Gold Medal and Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Another legacy of Frank Sinatra was the legendary Rat Pack. It comprised his close friends in the entertainment business. The Rat Pack included Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, Milton Berle and Tony Curtis.

It will be an understatement to say that Sinatra had a busy love life. At various points in time he was married to Ava Gardner, Mia Farrow and Barbara Marx. When Frank Sinatra married Mia Farrow, he was thirty years older than her. His lovers included Lauren Bacall, Juliet Prowse and Dorothy Provine. Sinatra was to be married to Bacall but he called it off when he realized that the press had heard of their engagement.

But it was not only milk and honey for Sinatra. The Frank Sinatra file in the FBI is in excess of two thousand pages. He was plagued with mob affiliations throughout his career. It is rumored that the character of Johnny Fontane in the book “Godfather” was inspired by Sinatra. Frank Sinatra lost his gambling license in Nevada after he was seen in the company of Sam Giancana. Giancana was at the time accused of ordering the killing of more than two hundred people.

Another Sinatra fan was the infamous Lucky Luciano. Frank Sinatra, Jr. was kidnapped in 1963. It was only on the payment of ransom money by his father that he was released. For his part Frank Sinatra has steadfastly denied his alleged mob links throughout his life.

Frank Sinatra’s children have all done work that keeps their illustrious father’s legacy intact. His daughter Nancy Sinatra was an actress and she wrote two books about Frank. His son Frank Sinatra Jr, was the conductor in his father’s orchestra. Frank Sinatra’s youngest daughter, Christina Sinatra produced a mini series on the life of her father.

Though Frank Sinatra announced his retirement in 1971, there was no way that his fans would let him stop. He appeared in numerous television serials and movies throughout the 1980’s. In 1993 and 1994 he released two albums called Duets I and Duets II which comprised his songs with other artists over the years. These turned out to be his highest ever selling albums. He even went on to the win the Grammy for Duets II. Frank Sinatra died on May 14, 1998.

Anish Chandy