“Forgotten Hollywood”- Hometown Honors Sinatra…

Posted on December 12, 2015 by raideoman1 | No Comments

Manny P. here…

Frank Sinatra   The man from Hoboken celebrates his 100th birthday today. Francis Albert Sinatra was born on December 12th, 1915, in the Hudson River waterfront city that was home to German, Irish, and Italian immigrants. Some young-at-heart residents might be raising a glass, or two, to the award-winning singer and actor.

   The high school dropout delivered the Jersey Observer newspaper, and worked at a local shipyard. As part of the Hoboken Four, they won first prize on a national radio program for amateur entertainers in 1935. He became a singing waiter at The Rustic Cabin in Englewood Cliffs, where he met songwriter Cole Porter, and forgot the words to Porter’s hit, Night and Day.

   After immense popularity as a crooner, and a movie star in a series of films with Gene Kelly, Frank hit a rough patch, and made one of the greatest comebacks in Hollywood history, culminating in winning an Oscar for his performance in From Here to Eternity. He had famed marriages to Ava Gardner and Mia Farrow. He often performed on-stage in Las Vegas, and in movies with Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Peter Lawford. Together, they were known as The Rat Pack. He was the balladeer that bridged the bobby-soxer fame between Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley; and his career spanned seven decades.

Sinatra was inducted in the first class of New Jersey’s Hall of Fame in 2008. A park and Hoboken’s main post office bear his name. People left flowers near the plaque where Sinatra’s first home once stood when he died in 1998 at age 82 and the city held a memorial Mass at St. Francis Roman Catholic Church, where their favorite son was baptized. Whatever real or imagined slights felt by residents are long forgotten. The United States Postal Service in 2008 issued a 42-cent stamp with his image, taking the rare step of holding three ceremonies in Hoboken, New York and Las Vegas.

SINATRA

   But for a saloon singer who usually had a drink on stage, Frank Sinatra’s ultimate honor came from Jack Daniel’s, which introduced Sinatra Select whiskey in 2003. To honor the 100th anniversary of his birth, Jack Daniel’s has produced 100 barrels of 100-proof Sinatra Century, which retails for $499.99, and includes an unreleased Sinatra recording.

    So, drink up… all you people…

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 12th, 2015 at 9:55 am and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.


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