Sinatra

  359–60 “with a diamond”: Sinatra with Coplon, 153–, Sinatra, Legend, 244—the reference in Tina Sinatra’s book to “1975” should evidently read “1976”; (“I don’t want”) Kelley, 435, 437, Sinatra with Coplon, 152; (FS sent attorney) ibid., 155, Kelley, 437; (marriage/“before a black”/guests/gifts) LAT, Jul. 12, 16, Canyon Crier, Jul. 26, Ladies’ Home Journal, Oct. 1976, John Cooney, The Annenbergs, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982, 387; (Bea Korshak) Hollywood Reporter, Jun. 23, 1976, and see reference to Sidney Korshak at chapter 24, p. 260, supra.; (daughters attended/not Frank Jr.) LAT, July 16, 1976, Kelley, 438; (pen) Sinatra with Coplon, 158, 197; (Barbara balked) ibid., 156; (ex-wife Nancy at Tahoe) LAHE, Oct. 22, 1974; (“take vacation”/“last romantic”) Sinatra with Coplon, 153–; (reconcile) ibid., 156; (Ava in NY apartment) Hamill, 176, int. Pete Hamill; (FS “would ring”) int. Spoli Mills; (“called her several times”) Gardner, 287, int. Mearene Jordan, and see Cannon, 134; (“Darling”) Ava Gardner to Spoli Mills—original letter shown to the authors by the late Spoli Mills, in 2004; (“kind of wonderful”) TV Guide, Apr. 16, 1977.

  360 work in late 1970s: (ninety-two concerts) Where or When?— from wedding, Jul. 11, 1976, to Apr. 12, 1977; (more than a thousand) ibid.—from wedding to Dec. 31, 1989; (“I’m sixty-one”) TV Guide, Apr. 16, 1977; (“I just cannot”) FS int. by Arlene Francis, Oct. 1, 1977, WOR (NY); (albums on charts/only one a success) Sayers and O’Brien, 261, Rednour, 250.

  360–61 “New York” background: O’Brien with Wilson, 159, Friedwald, 481, Granata, 195. When released in 1980 as a single, “New York, New York” went to number thirty-two on the Billboard chart. “My Way,” eleven years earlier, had gone to number twenty-seven. The three albums containing new material were the three-album set Trilogy (1980)—which included “New York, New York”—She Shot Me Down (1981), and L.A. Is My Lady (1984). Trilogy, with an album each for the themes “Past,” “Present,” and “Future”—with accompanying cumbersome subtitles—was too clever by far for the wider public. The New Yorker dismissed it as “the silliest venture the singer has ever got himself into.” Jonathan Schwartz, a Sinatra enthusiast and a radio host at Metromedia, said of the “Future” album that “one must avert one’s eyes when one hears it. . . . The ideas are so trite and clichéd.” Such blasphemy led to Schwartz being temporarily suspended from his job, apparently because Sinatra complained to Metromedia chairman John Kluge. Schwartz has claimed, too, that Sinatra made bloodcurdling threats against him over the phone. Not all critics, however, damned Trilogy. The Philadelphia Inquirer reviewer thought the collection an “ambitious, flawed gem, but a gem nevertheless.” The She Shot Me Down album was a collection of songs about lost love. It received decent reviews but failed to get major attention. L.A. Is My Lady also misfired, suffering not least from the fact that the title track— planned as an anthem for Los Angeles as “Chicago” and “New York, New York” had been for those cities—did not take off. Sinatra reportedly feared the album would not work commercially, and it did rise only to number fifty-eight in the Billboard charts. The Atlantic Monthly critic Stephen Holden damned it as “probably the worst of Sinatra’s career . . . slopped together.” Others differed. Other Sinatra albums released between 1977 and 1990 were compilations of songs recorded years earlier (New York, New York—Rednour, 71, Sayers and O’Brien, 266; “silliest venture”—New Yorker, Oct. 4, 1982; “one must avert”—People, May 5, 1980; suspended—Schwartz, 248–; threats—Vanity Fair, Jul. 1998, but see Schwartz, 248; “ambitious”—Philadelphia Inquirer, Dec. 19, 1980; Shot—Rockwell, 221, Friedwald, 358; Lady misfired/title track—Friedwald, 494; FS feared— Granata, 200; No. 58—Sayers and O’Brien, 261; “probably worst”/ differed—USA Today, Dec. 12, 1984, Rockwell, 222; compilations—Rednour, 250, 259, 264; “disappointingly subpar”—Friedwald, 268).

  361 “erupted”: San Diego Union Leader, Apr. 24, 1987; (London/Francis Albert Hall) Sinatra, Legend, 256; (Egypt) LAHE, Sep. 28, Time, Oct. 3, 1979.

  361 Rio de Janeiro: Estimates of the numbers attending ranged from 150,000 to 180,000. Paul McCartney bettered the Sinatra figures somewhat, the Guinness record-keepers believed, when he performed at the same stadium in 1990 (estimates—LAHE, Jan. 28, Variety, Jan. 31, Manchete, Feb. 2, 1980; McCartney 1990—www.guinnessworldrecords.com); (venues) Where or When?

  361 “Barbara”/“disappointingly”: Friedwald, 268. Sinatra recorded “Barbara” in 1977 for Here’s to the Ladies, an album that was never released. The song did not surface until 1995, when it appeared on a Reprise CD. Sinatra first sang it live, however, as early as 1979. From late 1987, after a long apparent gap, he sang it regularly (Rednour, 16, Where or When?).

  362 Marriage to Barbara: (“the sunshine”) “All Star Party for Frank Sinatra,” Variety Clubs International benefit, Nov. 20, 1983, videotape in authors’ collection; (Brynner) int. Rock Brynner, and see Kirk Douglas, Climbing the Mountain, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1997, 206; (Rizzo persona non grata) Philadelphia Daily News, Apr. 4, 1984, Jan. 23, 1985, Sinatra with Coplon, 179; (Barbara remodeled/“Most of those”/renamed) Architectural Digest, Dec. 1998, Buffalo News, May 15, 1983, LAT, Mar. 27, 1983, Nov. 25, 1998, Sinatra, Legend, 322, FS int. on Suzy Visits; (“All she wants”) Ladies’ Home Journal, Oct. 1979; (moderateddrinking/sleeping better) LAT, Feb. 28, 1988, Deutsch, 237, Shaw, Entertainer,116; (“He seemed”) int. Charles Higham; (“Barbara began sorting”) int. Leonora Hornblow; (“Can you picture”) King with Occhiogrosso, 144; (Griffin and lighter) Matthau, 234–; (planning adoption) Sinatra, My Father, 260, Us magazine undat. late 2000.

  362–63 FS got annulment: Variety, Nov. 5, LAHE, Nov. 9, 24, Star, Nov. 27, 1979. The Roman Catholic Church had in the past permitted few annulments—usually only on proof of one partner’s mental illness, failure to consummate, or refusal to have children. By the time Sinatra got his annulment, however, the Church had become more lenient. Grounds now included immaturity at the time of the wedding or unwillingness to take on the responsibilities of a spouse. It is not clear what evidence Sinatra could have presented to justify annulment of his lengthy marriage to Nancy Barbato (New York Post, Jun. 11, 1971, Newsweek, Mar. 13, 1975, Garry Wills, Structures of Deceit, New York: Doubleday, 2000, 170–); (first they knew) int. Tina Sinatra for 60 Minutes, CBS News, Oct. 8, 2000; (Nancy “betrayed”) Sinatra with Coplon, 173.

  363 FS and Barbara marry in church: According to the National Catholic News Service,Sinatra and Barbara exchanged vows in a private ceremony at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. People magazine, however, later reported that the ceremony took place in Palm Springs (NYC? —Variety, Nov. 5, 1979; Palm Springs?—People, Sep. 22, 1986); (problems/separation) Star, Jul. 5, 1983, LAHE, Jul. 11, New York Post, Jul. 12, 1985, LAT, Feb. 28, 1988, Kelley, 495, Sinatra with Coplon, 174–; (“Dad’s legacy”) ibid., 186.

  363 Dolly’s jet smashed: (Long Beach, CA) Press Telegram, Jan. 9, NYT, WP, Jan. 10, 1977. News reports at the time, and even her granddaughter Nancy’s book Legend,erroneously gave Dolly Sinatra’s age at death as eighty-two. Official records in the United States and Italy, however, indicate that she was eighty. She was born on December 26, 1896, as cited in chapter 2 (WP, Jan. 10, 1977, Sinatra, Legend, 248); (FS grief-stricken) Ladies’ Home Journal, Oct. 1979, Family Weekly, Jun. 17, 1984; (“They’d fought”) Sinatra, My Father, 257–; (“He was a different”) int. Sonny King.

  Chapter 34: The Photograph

  364 “He dials”: ints. senior hotel employee. Concerned about the many Sinatra associates who still live in his area, the employee asked that his name be withheld here. He was interviewed in person by Anthony Summers.

  364 Westchester Theater: (FS performed) corr. Ric Ross, not as in Apr. 1–11 and Sep. 24–Oct. 2, 1976, May 16–29, 1977, entries, Where or When?; (Theater folded/Mafia operation/investigation) New York Post, Nov. 15, 1978, New York Daily News, Jan. 11, 1981, int. Nathaniel Akerman, int. Nathaniel Akerman for PITV; (eleven jailed/paid fines) int. and corr. Nathaniel Akerman, Demaris, Last Mafioso, 43
2, NYT, Mar. 30, Facts on File, Jun. 19, 1981, AP, Mar. 14, 1984, LAT, Feb. 1, 1985.

  364 FS and theater: (Rizzo skim/“tape recorded”/Rudin) New York Daily News, Jan. 11, 1981; (secretary/“knowledgeable”) ibid., Dec. 27, 1978, Carpozi, Sinatra,342—the secretary was identified by the FBI agents only as “Dorothy.”

  364–655 “accomplice witness”: Chicago Sun-Times, Apr. 15, 1980—attorney Akerman identified the witness to the authors as Jimmy Fratianno.

  365 Weisman & DePalma jailed: Demaris, Last Mafioso, 432. Weisman was to work for Sinatra far into the future and be one of two executors of Sinatra’s will (manager—NYT, Oct. 31, 1993, Sinatra with Coplon, 208; executor—Last Will and Testament of Francis Albert Sinatra, Los Angeles Superior Court, Case no. BP.051249); (“You should’ve seen”) ibid., 383; (Exhibit 181) New York Daily News, Dec. 27, 1978; (photograph) see second illustration section; (Castellano) Sifakis, 133, int. Nathaniel Akerman for PITV; (Gambino’s nephew) New York Daily News, Jan. 11, 1981; (Fratianno background) Look, Sep. 23, 1969, Sifakis, 126; (Fratianno informant) Demaris, Last Mafioso, refs.; (Spatola) New York Daily News, Dec. 27, 1978, NYT, May 24, 1987, Jan. 28, 1989, (NY) Newsday, May 11, 1993; (Fusco) Demaris, Last Mafioso, 304, 432; (DePalma) ibid., 441, ( Westchester County, NY) Journal News, May 6, Jun. 12, 1999; (three in photo defendants) New York Daily News, Dec. 27, 1978—the three were DePalma, Fusco, and Marson; (photographer “scared shitless”) int. Nathaniel Akerman; (FS no comment) (Hudson/Bergen Counties, NJ) Monday Dispatch, Nov. 13, 1978; (“I didn’t hear”/“I can’t say”) New York Daily News, Dec. 27, 1978; (“Would you take”/“I was asked”/didn’t know backgrounds) FS testimony, Nevada State Gaming Control Board, Feb. 11, 1981, on Giuliano audiotape; (FS never met Gambino) FS testimony, Nevada State Gaming Control Board, Feb. 11, 1981; (knew Marson/met “Jimmy”) ibid.; (unaware of crooked goings-on) ibid.; (FS welcomed “with a kiss”) Demaris, Last Mafioso, 341; (Gambino’s son-in-law/board of league) Life, Sep. 8, 1967, NYT, Oct. 16, 1976, Di Lorenzo to President Johnson, Aug. 30, 1967, Frank Sinatra File, Box 320, White House Central Files, Lyndon B. Johnson Library.

  366 Fratianno said had seen more of FS: Demaris, Last Mafioso, 63, 312, 324–, 341, 343–, 349–, 354–. Fratianno made these statements not to the prosecutors but to the author Ovid Demaris, who wrote a book about him later. Demaris found Fratianno a credible source, as did U.S. Attorney Akerman. Fratianno’s claims aside, it is likely that Frank had known who Fratianno was well before meeting him with Marson. By a bizarre coincidence, Barbara’s former husband Zeppo Marx had earlier been involved with Fratianno’s wife—an involvement that culminated in an unpleasant lawsuit. Jean Fratianno had filed a suit against Marx alleging he had assaulted her. Marx claimed there had been merely a pushing incident as she tried to leave his Palm Springs house with his front-door key and company credit card. The case was tried in the late 1970s, and Marx was ordered to pay Mrs. Fratianno $20,690 in damages (Fratianno credible—Demaris, Last Mafioso, refs., int. Nathaniel Akerman; Zeppo Marx— Demaris, Last Mafioso, 258).

  366–67 DePalma and FS substantive conversations: Demaris, Last Mafioso, 383; (Pacella background) New York Post, Nov. 19, 1978, Demaris, Last Mafioso, 445, Mickey Rudin testimony, Nevada State Gaming Commission, Feb. 19, 1981; (Pacella jailed) NYT, Jan. 11, 1981; (“involvement” of FS) Wall Street Journal, Jan. 16, 1981, int. Nathaniel Akerman for PITV; (refused to answer re FS/contempt) ibid., NYT, Jan. 11, Wall Street Journal, Jan. 16, 1981; (FS admitted) FS testimony, Nevada State Gaming Control Board, Feb. 11, 1981; (“You will find”) Wall Street Journal, Jan. 16, 1981; (Pacella capo) NYT, Jan. 11, Wall Street Journal, Jan. 16, 1981; (heroin dealer) Kelley, 450, and see int. Nathaniel Akerman for PITV.

  367 “After Sam Giancana”: “Investigation on 9/6–8/89,” Mar. 27, 1990, FBI 183B-Z132-Sub. 2. Leonetti was an underboss in the Philadelphia mob, a nephew of mafioso Nicodemus “Nicky” Scarfo. Having agreed to cooperate with the FBI in 1989 following his conviction on a murder charge, he was held in protective custody and released after serving only five years. Leonetti’s testimony resulted in the convictions of numerous top mobsters, and was used in the trial of John Gotti (“Illinois Police and Sheriff’s News,” at www.ispn.org, George Anastasia, Blood and Honor, New York: William Morrow, 1991, 339–, 347).

  367–68 FS and Reagan: (“We’ve heard those”) Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan. 17, 1981; (asked FS to stage) LAHE, Nov. 20, 1980; (Reagan at wedding) LAT, Feb. 9, 1981; (at Dolly’s funeral) LAHE, Jan. 13, 1977; (“tooth fairy”/“Mickey Mouse”) Kelley, 455; (large sums) Newsweek, Jan. 19, Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan. 15, 20, 1981, Sep. 30, 1980, entry, Where or When?; (“It isn’t every candidate”) Newsweek, Jan. 19, 1981; (“jubilant”) LAHE, Nov. 20, 1980; (“trashy Las Vegas show”) unid. Rex Reed column, Jan. 20, 1981, and see undat. Mike Royko column, Jan. 1981, Chicago Daily News; (“Grecian Formula”) undat. Rex Winston article, Jan. 1981, New York Daily News; ($5.5 million) LAHE, Jan. 27, 1981; (cigaretteboxes) Hollywood Reporter, Jan. 28, 1981; (applied for license) Wall Street Journal, Jan. 16, 1981; (“the burden of proof”) comments of Chairman Bunker, Nevada State Gaming Control Board, Feb. 11, 1981, 2; (given easiest ride) see transcripts, hearings of Nevada State Gaming Control Board, Feb. 11, 1981, and State Gaming Commission, Feb. 19, 1981; (Peck & Douglas) statements of Gregory Peck and Kirk Douglas, Nevada State Gaming Control Board, Feb. 11, 1981, 53–; (Board member “satisfied”) ibid., comments of Mr. Askew, 181; (some “change”) ibid., 184; (“in the gaming business”) ibid., 188; (“naively superficial”/“awe”) NYT, Feb. 15, 1981; (French Smith at party/“totally unaware”) Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan. 8, Newsweek, Jan. 19, 1981; (Reagan referee)Chicago Sun-Times, LAHE, Jun. 18, 1980; (no more significance) NYT, Jan. 2, 1981; (“an honorable”) NYT, Dallas Times-Herald, Feb. 19, 1981; (Reaganshot/comfort Nancy) LAT, Mar. 31, 1981, Sinatra, My Father, xx; (bronco/“To the American”) LAT, Jun. 4, 1981.

  368 Second inaugural: Jersey Journal, Jan. 18, 1985. Reagan also had Frank sing at a state occasion at the White House, and organize a show for Britain’s Queen Elizabeth when she visited California in 1983. He and Sinatra appeared together in Hoboken, the singer’s birthplace, when Reagan ran for a second term (state occasion—LAHE, Mar. 26, 1982; Queen Elizabeth—ibid., Jan. 9, 1983, Kitty Kelley, Nancy Reagan, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1991, 385; Hoboken—Jersey Observer, Jul. 7, 1984); (Medal of Freedom/“one of our most”) LAT, Apr. 9, 1985, LAHE, Sep. 29, 1986.

  368–69 65th birthday party: LAHE, Philadelphia Daily News, Dec. 15, 1980; (64th birthday/40th anniversary) LAHE, Dec. 13, 1979, Dec. 12, 1979, entry, Where or When?

  369 Kitty Kelley book: (working on autobiography) TV Guide, Apr. 16, 1977; (“forced to write”) FS interview by William B. Williams, WNEW (NY), Dec. 6, 1983, audiotape in authors’ collection; (Kelley digging) LAHE, Oct. 16, 1983; press release, Washington Independent Writers, Oct. 7, 1983, MHL; (Kelley had written FS/except to sue/“presuming to write”) Kelley, ix, and see Frank Sinatra and Camden Enterprises v. Kitty Kelley, Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles, No. WEC082657, Sep. 21, 1983; (suit came to nothing) Variety, Sep. 20, 1984; (“so terrified”) Kelley, Nancy Reagan, 3; (eight hundred others) Kelley, xi; (bestseller) Columbia Journalism Review, Aug. 1991, Kitty Kelley entry, Du Plain International Speakers Bureau, www.duplain.com; (“I never read”) New York Daily News, Dec. 23, 1986; (“pimps and prostitutes”/“parasites”/“crap”) Larry King int. of FS, May 19, 1998 (rerun), King with Occhiogrosso, 145–; (name taboo/“nearly strangled”) LAHE, Oct. 29, 1986, Sinatra, Legend, 302–; (“the big C-word”) (London) Observer, Oct. 3, 2004; (book made FS ill?) TV Guide, Nov. 7, 1992, Ladies’ Home Journal, Dec. 1993.

  370 FS health: (throat) FS interview by William B. Williams, WNEW (NY), Dec. 6, 1983, transcript provided to authors by Ed O’Brien, Sinatra, Legend, 259, 261; (polyps) Time, Jul. 7, 1986; (cut back on cigarettes/drink) Friedwald, 488, Sinatra, My Father, 276, McCall’s, Aug. 1989, King with Occhiogrosso, 144; (lapses) Taraborrelli, 443,
ints. Tony Posk, Ann Barak, Tita Cahn, Kelley, 495–, Brownstein, 363–; (severe pain) Larry King int. of FS, May 19, 1998 (rerun); (surgery & colostomy) LAT, Nov. 9, 1986, Variety, Nov. 25, 1986, NYT, Jan. 15, 1987, Woman’s Day, Apr. 13, 1987, Sinatra, Legend, 304, Sinatra with Coplon, 188; (“If I hadn’t”) Larry King int. of FS, May 19, 1998 (rerun); (within two weeks) Sinatra, Legend, 304.

  370–71 “Together Again” tour: (press conference/“As if replaying”) LAT, Dec. 2, 1987; (Martin alcohol/painkillers) Tosches, 256, 392, 403, 420–, 425, 427, Deana Martin with Wendy Holden, 210–; (ulcers/kidney trouble) ibid., 433; (son’s death) Martin with Smith, 208–; (Davis alcohol/drugs/liver/hip operation) Haygood, 443, 451, 455, 459, 463, 467, 470, Davis, Boyar, and Boyar, Why Me, 349–, LAT, Mar. 15, 1988; (began tour/14,500/“String”/“Ipanema”/“Every time”) ibid., Variety, Mar. 16, 1988; (FS cajole Martin) Martin with Smith, 226, Tosches, 435; (Martin had fallen) int. Tony Posk; (flicked cigarette/FS berated) LAT, Mar. 15, 1988, Haygood, 467; (FS wanted to party) Martin with Smith, People,Jun. 1, 1998; (“They weren’t in shape”) People, Jun. 1, 1998.

  371 harassed/flew back/sick/“He loved”: (shouts) Kupcinet, 212; Martin with Smith, 227. Martin’s agent, the late Mort Viner, was still maintaining as late as 2002 that there were no confrontations in Chicago, that his client really did get sick. Martin’s daughter Deana has said he felt unwell and fed up. His son Ricci’s book, and interviews with musicians Ann Barak, Tony Posk, and Sol Schlinger suggest illness was a pretext. There was also the announcement soon afterward that Martin was about to go back to work—on his own. (Viner—int. of Mort Viner; unwell—Deana Martin with Wendy Holden, 226–; musicians—ints. Ann Barak, Tony Posk, Sol Schlinger; announcement—LAHE, Apr. 15, 1988.)

  371 Deaths: (Davis “scratchy throat”/refused surgery) Haygood, 468–, 472–, Davis with Barclay, 202–; (Van Heusen) LAT, Feb. 8, 1990; (“in little pieces”) People, Dec. 17, 1990; (visited/sobbed) Davis with Barclay, 218–; (gold watch) Haygood, 480.