Frank Sinatra Biography

The Frank Sinatra biography is the story of an entertainment icon. In a career that spanned more than five decades, Sinatra won accolades for film and music and became one of the most recognizable entertainers around the world.

Francis Albert Sinatra was born December 12, 1915, in Hoboken, New Jersey. The controversy that swirled around him all his life surrounded his family during his younger years. His mother ran an illegal abortion clinic out of their house and was arrested several times for her work.

Sinatra himself was expelled from high school after only 47 days because of his bad behavior. As a teenager, he was arrested for having an affair with a married woman, which was a crime at the time. He worked odd jobs after leaving high school, including delivering papers for the Jersey Observer and as a riveter at a local shipyard.

In the early 1930s, Sinatra began to dip his toes into music. His first big break was performing as part of the Hoboken Four and winning a six month touring contract from the Major Bowes Amateur Hour radio show. After leaving the Hoboken Four and briefly working as a singing waiter, band leader Harry James invited him to join the group. He released one successful single with James, until he was courted away by Tommy Dorsey.

Though James had Sinatra under contract, he allowed him out of it when Dorsey invited Sinatra to join his group, as Dorsey’s group was extremely popular. Dorsey’s business dealings with Sinatra proved to be far less benevolent. He signed a naïve Sinatra to a contract awarding Dorsey 50% of all of Sinatra’s future earnings for life. Sinatra got a shot at recording a solo album in 1942, and rumors persist that the mob had some role in convincing Dorsey to release Sinatra from this restrictive contract (a story that was written into the movie The Godfather). The real story is that RCA Records bought Dorsey out, but the story – and stories of Sinatra’s connections with the mafia – persisted throughout his life.

In the 1940s, Sinatra arguably became the first teenybopper success story and the first star of popular music. He spent much of the first part the decade topping the Billboard Charts, propelled mainly by his popularity with teenage girls.

Towards the end of the decade, Sinatra’s music star began to decline, although he did have his first successful turn in a movie with Anchors Away and then again in Take Me Out to The Ballgame. By 1952, Sinatra had been dropped by his record label. His luck began to change after winning an Academy Award for appearing in From Here to Eternity. He signed a new deal with Capital Records and released a series of successful swing music albums.

As the 1950s became the 1960s, Sinatra saw his stardom begin to wane again. He started his own record label – Reprise Records – and reclaimed his celebrity status. Some of his biggest successes came during the 1960s, primarily doing swing music and lounge music with his fellow Rat Packers and became a regular on the performance circuit, especially in Las Vegas.

In 1970, Sinatra released the song with which he is most associated, the Paul Anka penned My Way. Shortly afterwards, at a concert in 1971, Sinatra announced that he was retiring from music. By 1973, he was back again with a new album. This decade was marked by a series of shows cementing Sinatra’s status as music industry royalty. He performed a nationally televised concert from Madison Square Garden, an Australian concert that was nationally televised in that country and in 1979, he performed a concert for Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in front of the pyramids in Gaza.

Through the 1980s and until his death in 1998, Sinatra’s career consisted of high profile performances and releasing occasional recordings. He continued to be one of the highest drawing performers on the live circuit until his death.

Sinatra married four times and had three children. Rumors of links to the mafia persisted throughout his career. He was investigated for communist activities during the 1950s but later in life declared himself to be a Republican. He struggled with manic depression for most of his life.

On 2008, the U.S. Postal Service issued a Sinatra commemorative stamp.

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