Frank Sinatra
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Frank Sinatra
Background information
Birth name Francis Albert Sinatra
Born December 12, 1915
Hoboken, New Jersey, USA
Died May 14, 1998
Los Angeles, California, USA
Genre(s) Vocal Jazz
Pop
Big Band
Swing
Traditional Pop
Years active 1935 – 1995
Label(s) Columbia
Capitol
Reprise
Website www.franksinatra.com
Francis Albert Sinatra (December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and Academy Award-winning actor who many consider to be one of the finest male popular song vocalists of all time. Renowned for his impeccable phrasing and timing, critics place him alongside such artists as Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and The Beatles as one of the most important, popular and influential musical figures of the 20th century. He has sold over 250 million records worldwide.

Sinatra, over a seven-decade career in show business, became an American icon. His brash, sometimes swaggering attitude was perhaps best embodied by his signature songs "My Way," and "New York, New York," and more generally by his frequently gutsy cinematic performances. He also garnered considerable attention due to his alleged connections with the Mafia.

8 Further reading
9 External links

Early life
Francis Albert Sinatra was born in a Paterson, New Jersey hospital to a family living at 415 Monroe St., Hoboken, New Jersey. He was the only child of a quiet Sicilian fireman, Anthony Martin Sinatra (1894-1969). Anthony had emigrated to the United States in 1895. His mother, Natalie Dolly Garaventa (1896-1977), was a talented, tempestuous Ligurian, who worked as a midwife, Democratic party ward boss, and part-time abortionist. Known as "Hatpin Dolly," she emigrated in 1897. Although it is part of the Sinatra folklore that Frank had an impoverished childhood, he was actually brought up in a middle-class environment, due to his father's secure job as a fireman and his mother's strong political ties to the Democratic Party in Hoboken. More exactly, the home he was raised in, especially after the age of 5, was comfortably middle-class even as the surrounding neighborhood tipped toward lower middle class.

Following his teen years in New Jersey, Sinatra was interested in serving his country during World War II. But on December 9, 1941, close to his 26th birthday, Sinatra was classified as 4-F at Newark Induction Center, due to a punctured eardrum he suffered from a difficult forceps delivery. This allowed Sinatra to pursue entertainment, rather than being enlisted in the Army Air Corps.