A Portrait of Frank Sinatra

An artist in California named Bruni Sablan has created over 1300 paintings of legendary music stars and musicians in what she calls her Jazz Masters Series.  Born in Brazil to a Sicilian Italian father and Lebanese mother, Ms. Sablan is a fine artist who was introduced to jazz by her father, and has also done some singing herself.

Among her portrait subjects are Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole, and even Michael Jackson.  But perhaps the subject who has inspired the most portraits is Frank Sinatra.  Each portrait of F.S. is named for one of the songs he performed, like the one above, which is called Everything Happens To Me.

To see all of the Sinatra portraits along with the many other works of Bruni Sablan, visit her website, and for a performer re-creating Sinatra on stage, visit the home of an established Frank Sinatra Tribute Performer, often known as a Frank Sinatra Impersonator.

The artist, Bruni Sablan

Frank Sinatra And The Movies He Didn’t Do

Some of Frank Sinatra’s acclaimed movie roles included The Man With The Golden Arm, The Manchurian Candidate, Von Ryan’s Express, and of course, From Here To Eternity, for which he won the academy award for best supporting actor.  But there are a number of other well-known films in which he might have starred but didn’t for various reasons.

For one, he originally signed on to play the lead in Carousel in 1956 opposite Shirley Jones but he walked off the set on the first day of filming after he found out that they were going to shoot each scene twice, with two different lens sizes, and was quoted as saying “I was paid to make one movie, not two”.  He was replaced by Gordon MacRae.

In 1957, he turned down the lead in The Pajama Game, which would have teamed him up with singer Janis Paige, who played the role on Broadway.  As a result, Paige lost the part to Doris  Day, who was considered a bigger box-office draw.

Sinatra was considered for the role of Nicky Arnstein in Funny Girl in 1968.  This was said to have been vetoed by Barbra Streisand, who ended up playing opposite Omar Sharif.

According to imdb.com, Frank was the first choice to play the title role in Dirty Harry in 1971, but broke his finger before shooting started and had to bow out of the production, which launched a film series for Clint Eastwood.

Finally, Frank turned down the lead role in Death Wish in 1974.  It was given to Charles Bronson, and was the role that made him an international star.

From The Frank Sinatra Tribute Blog and FrankTribute.com

Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson

You might not think Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson had much in common other than superstardom.  But in addition to that, they both enjoyed the creative involvement of another music superstar, Quincy Jones.  The composer, arranger and producer has worked with many top stars but may be most associated with Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson and is relevant to any Michael Jackson or Frank Sinatra Tribute.

Quincy met Michael on the film The Wiz, and ended up producing the best-selling album of all time, Michael’s Thriller, and another mega success,  Bad.  For Frank Sinatra, Quincy did the charts for the album It Might As Well Be Swing with the Count Basie Orchestra, which included the hit song Fly Me To The Moon.  Quincy was also seen out front as conductor for Frank on many occasions, including at Frank’s live album Sinatra At The Sands, and a televised benefit concert that took place in St. Louis and featured Frank, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr., with Johnny Carson filling in for Joey Bishop.  At that show, which has been released on DVD, Johnny even sings, and pretty well. 

Quincy Jones

Frank Sinatra and the Paramount Theater

From the performer of a Frank Sinatra Tribute Show:  Bandleader Harry James put a young Frank Sinatra on the map by hiring him to appear with the Harry James Orchestra.  In the early 40’s, as Frank’s popularity grew, thanks to radio broadcasts and recordings, he was booked to appear at New York’s famous Paramount Theater, which was a popular spot during World War II.

Frank’s initial appearance was part of a large show including the Benny Goodman Band, a six member singing group, a comedy team and an up-and-coming singer named Peggy Lee.  Frank was introduced by comedian Jack Benny, to an unexpected outburst of screams by the young girls in the audience.

At that time, there were as many as six or seven shows a day.  And the young female fans were so infatuated with “Frankie”, they would stay in their seats to see him over and over throughout the day.  It’s said that Frank was so grateful for the fans’ support, he had someone buy sandwiches for the girls who didn’t want to give up their seats so they wouldn’t go hungry.  Frank’s one week engagement turned into two months, and the next time around, the show was all his, with his face on a huge sign on the front of the building. 

Also working at the Paramount Theater in the 40’s was a 17 year old usher named Joseph Levitch.  He later changed his name, became a comic and teamed up with a singer.  In 1951, the two of them created another wave of Paramount pandemonium as Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

Frank Sinatra’s First Professional Singing Job

Between 1937 and 1939, if you dined at a place called the Rustic Cabin in Englewood Cliffs New Jersey, you might have been entertained by a skinny young singer named Frank Sinatra of Hoboken.  He also emceed the night’s entertainment and even waited on tables.

It was Frank Sinatra’s first professional singing job, and an extra bonus for exposure was being heard on the regular radio broadcast from the Rustic Cabin over WNEW radio in New York.

It was on one of those broadcasts that band leader Harry James heard Frank singing and decided to hire him to sing with the Harry James Orchestra.  It’s not known what Frank was paid at the Rustic Cabin, but it probably wasn’t much.  At least if he was hungry, the  Rustic Cabin’s most popular dessert, a piece of chocolate layer cake, only cost 20 cents.   From a Frank Sinatra Tribute Performer in Los Angeles.

Some info about Frank Sinatra’s Hometown

A marker at the site of Frank Sinatra's birthplace

A lot of people know that Frank Sinatra started out life in Hoboken New Jersey.  But you may not know a lot about the place.  So here’s some info from WordPress and a Frank Sinatra Tribute Show.  Hoboken, a pretty small city of about 40,000 people today, is really like a part of the New York metropolitan area, located right across the Hudson River.  In Sinatra’s time, it was heavily Irish, Italian and German, and it was once known as the city with a bar on every corner.  Although the house where the Sinatras lived is no longer there, a special sidewalk marker, like a Hollywood walk of fame star, is there as a tribute, and serves as a memorial for visitors to view. 

Frank Sinatra may be the town’s most famous citizen, but there have been several other notable Hoboken residents, including baseball’s A-Rod – Alex Rodriguez, actor Joe Pantoliano of  The Sopranos, singer Pia Zadora, Watergate figure G. Gordon Liddy, and the current governor of New Jersey, Jon Corzine.

And Hoboken has some other distinctions.  For one, it is said to be the location of the first game of Baseball.   It’s believed that the first Oreo cookie was sold in Hoboken.  And Hoboken’s Automatic Hook & Eye Co. says this city can also claim the honor of being the site of the invention of the most important part of our clothing – the zipper.

Frank Sinatra and the Major Bowes Amateur Hour

Young Frank Sinatra knew early on that he wanted to sing.  One inspiration in particular was seeing Bing Crosby perform in Jersey City, NJ.  Frank’s first success as a vocalist came on a radio talent competition called The Major Bowes Amateur Hour, hosted by Edward Bowes, who would use a gong to signal it was over for a contestant that didn’t quite make it, paving the way for TV’s Gong Show many years later.

It was on The Major Bowes’ Amateur Hour that a nineteen year old Frank Sinatra scored as part of a group called  The Hoboken Four, although that wasn’t the group’s original name.  It was Major Bowes that gave this name to the group that orginally auditioned as “Frank Sinatra and the Three Flashes”. 

After winning the competition, The Hoboken Four got to tour in one of Major Bowes’ traveling shows.  Soon, Sinatra went off on his own, and started receiving the individual recognition that propelled his career, celebrated by this Frank Sinatra Tribute.

Although Major Bowes died in 1946, The Amateur Hour actually ran for many more years, with another host named Ted Mack, and the show featured many future musical stars like Pat Boone, Robert Merrill, Beverly Sills, Gladys Knight and Ann-Margret among others.

Frank Sinatra At the Beginning

As it’s well known, Frank Sinatra was a pretty skinny guy during his early years and into adulthood, so it might be surprising to know he weighed in at a whopping 13 1/2 pounds at birth.  And a difficult birth it was.  The doctor had trouble removing the baby from his mother, and it’s said he barely showed signs of life at his original debut. 

The use of forceps to assist in the difficult birth left scars on baby Frank’s head near his ear, and may have punctured an eardrum, a condition that later prevented him from military service during World War II. 

A final note:  It’s said that the new baby’s mom and dad were hoping for a girl and had already chosen the name Frances.  A quick change in spelling gave us Francis. . .Francis Albert Sinatra, who would become an international star and the focus of this Frank Sinatra Tribute.