They Can't Take That Away From Me

Well, Gentle Readers today is the birthday of one of the coolest cats to ever hit the stage, screen and recording studio. Steve McQueen may have defined cool, but Frank Sinatra created it. Frank is one of my all time favourites. There will never be, can never be, another Frank Sinatra and my one regret in life is that I never got to see him perform live.

Francis Albert Sinatra was born in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1915. The Sinatra image of a tough guy, street punk was fostered early in his career by his agent, George Evans. Sinatra began his career as a saloon singer in small dives before joining a band, The Hoboken Four, as a vocalist. Afterward he joined Harry James’ band and then Tommy Dorsey’s. In 1942 he embarked on a solo career and was an almost immediate hit with young women and girls. In 1943, Sinatra was cast as one of the leads in Higher and Higher, a musical comedy. Step Lively (1944) and Anchors Aweigh (1945) soon followed increasing his exposure. Sinatra was shrewd enough to take roles that closely matched his personality. Sinatra became known as “One-Take Charlie”, preferring spontaneity and being "in the moment" rather than trying to achieve perfection through take after take.

His first marriage ended following a very public and controversial affair with Ava Gardiner (On the Beach) and tragedy further struck when his career was all but ended following complications from a vocal hemorrhage. This was not enough to extinguish the Sinatra fire however, and he beat out many high profile actors for the coveted role of Maggio in From Here to Eternity (1953). He was, however, not well accepted in some Hollywood circles, despite winning a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Maggio. Perhaps in spite of this, Sinatra continued to give strong, solid and memorable performances in movies such as Suddenly (1954) [a personal favourite of mine], The Man With The Golden Arm (1955), and perhaps his best performance in The Manchurian Candidate (1962).

For the majority of the 1960s, Sinatra concentrated on taking lighter, comedic roles or playing hard-nosed detectives. He performed in Las Vegas with his Rat Pack pals, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop and had a hell of a good time appearing in some Rat Pack movies as well. His most notable movies from this period were Ocean’s Eleven (1960) and The Detective (1968). His last lead role was in The First Deadly Sin (1980) playing, in true Sinatra style, an aging detective, in a very moving performance.

Of course, there was also the music. Almost constantly recording and performing, Sinatra never seemed to get old or go out of style. His music continued and continues to be used in movies and television and even advertising. Late in his career, when other performers are looking toward (usually forced) retirement, Sinatra recorded two “Duets” albums attracting such names as Bono, who took an opportunity to sing with the legendary Chairman of the Board. He could be tough, outspoken, opinionated, scrappy, generous, trustworthy, and tender, sometimes all at the same time, he loved, he brawled, he could sing (a gross understatement), he could act and he was always Frank and he did it all his way and God damn he did it all in style. Frank Sinatra succumbed to complications due to cancer on 14 May, 1998.

So, here I sit on what would have been Frank’s 97^th birthday, I have a glass of Jack on ice, the Frank Sinatra Christmas Album turned up loud, wearing my pork-pie hat and making a toast, “To Frank, baby. Ring-a-ding-ding.”