Frank Sinatra & Charles Aznavour

Date Of Birth
12 December 1915 Hoboken New Jersey USA Date Of Death
14 May 1998 Los Angeles California USA Heart & Kidney Disease Bladder Cancer Birth Name
Francis Albert Sinatra Nickname
The Voice
Chairman Of The Board Of Show Business Ol' Blue Eyes
Swoonatra
The Sultan Of Swoon
La Voz Height
5' 7" 1.70 M Mini Biography Growing Up On The Streets Of Hoboken New Jersey Made Frank Sinatra Determined To Work Hard To Get Ahead. Starting Out As A Saloon Singer In Musty Little Dives He Carried His Own P.A. System He Eventually Got Work As A Band Singer First With The Hoboken Four Then With Harry James Then Tommy Dorsey. With The Help Of George Evans Sinatra's Genius Press Agent His Image Was Shaped Into That Of A Street Thug And Punk Who Was Saved By His First Wife Nancy. In 1942 He Started His Solo Career Instantly Finding Fame As The King Of The Bobbysoxers - The Young Women And Girls Who Were His Fans - Becoming The Most Popular Singer Of The Era Among Teenage Music Fans. About That Time His Film Career Was Also Starting In Earnest Striking Box-Office Gold Early On With A Lead Role In Anchors Aweigh 1945 A Best Picture Nominee At The 1946 Academy Awards. Sinatra Was Awarded A Special Oscar For His Part In A Short Film Against Intolerance The House I Live In 1946 . His Career On A High Sinatra Went From Strength-To-Strength On Record On Stage And On Screen Peaking In 1949 Once Again With Gene Kelly In The MGM Musical On The Town 1949 And Take Me Out To The Ball Game 1949 . A Controversial Public Affair With Screen Siren Ava Gardner Broke Up His Marriage To Nancy Barbato. Record Sales Dwindled In The Early 1950s And Although Sinatra Continued To Act Now Appearing In More Dramatic Fare Such As Meet Danny Wilson 1951 A Vocal Cord Haemorrhage All But Ended His Career. He Fought Back Winning The Coveted Role Of Maggio In From Here To Eternity 1953 . He Won An Oscar For Best Supporting Actor And Followed This With A Scintillating Performance As A Deranged Assassin In Suddenly 1954 And Arguably A Career Best Performance And Academy Award Nomination For Best Actor In The Powerful Drama The Man With The Golden Arm 1955 . Known As "One-Take Charlie" For His Approach To Acting That Strove For Spontaneity And Energy Rather Than Perfection He Was An Instinctive Actor Who Was Best At Playing Parts That Mirrored His Own Personality. He Continued To Give Strong And Memorable Performances In Such Films As Guys And Dolls 1955 The Joker Is Wild 1957 And Some Came Running 1958 . In The 1960s Sinatra Became Mildly Prolific As A Producer Bringing Such Films As A Hole In The Head 1959 Sergeants 3 1963 And Robin And The 7 Hoods 1964 To The Big Screen. Lighter Roles Along Side Rat Pack Buddies Dean Martin And Sammy Davis Jr Were Lucrative Especially The Famed Ocean's 11 1960 However Sinatra Alternated Such Projects With More Stern Offerings Namely The Manchurian Candidate Arguably Sinatra's Finest Picture And His Directorial Debut None But The Brave Which Was The First Japanese/American Co-Production. That Same Year Von Ryan's Express 1965 Was A Box Office Sensation. In 1967 Sinatra Returned To Familiar Territory In Sidney J. Furie's The Naked Runner 1967 One Again Playing As Assassin In His Only Film To Be Shot In The U.K. And In Germany. That Same Year He Starred As Private Investigator Tony Rome 1967 A Role He Reprised In The Sequel Lady In Cement 1968 . He Also Starred With Lee Remick In The Detective 1968 A Film Daring For Its Time And A Major Box Office Success. After Appearing In The Comic Western Dirty Dingus Magee 1970 Sinatra Refrained From Acting For A Further Seven Years Until Producing The Made-For-TV Movie Contract On Cherry Street 1977 . Based On The Novel By William J. Rosenberg This Fable Of Vigilante Cops Turning Vigilante Against The Mob Boasted A Stellar Cast And Was A Ratings Success. Sinatra Returned To The Big Screen In The First Deadly Sin 1980 Once Again Playing A New York Detective With A Moving Understated Performance That Was A Fitting Coda To His Career As A Leading Man. He Made One More Appearance On The Big Screen With A Cameo In Cannonball Run II 1984 And A Final Acting Performance In Magnum P.I. In 1987 As A Retired Detective Seeking Vengeance On The Killers Of His Granddaughter In An Episode Entitled Laura. read less