Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra was married four times. He had three children with his first wife Nancy Barbato to whom he was married from 1939 to 1951.

His second marriage was to actress Ava Gardner from 1951 to 1957. Then he was briefly married to Mia Farrow for two years from 1966 to 1968.

His final marriage was to Barbara Marx in 1976. The couple remained together until his death.

He was born as Francis Albert Sinatra to Antonino Martino Sinatra and Natalina Garaventa, Italian immigrants to New Jersey. He was the only child of his parents. His father was a fire-fighter and his mother was an amateur singer.

He did not attend high school for long. He was a rowdy teenager and was expelled from school.

He always loved music and knew that he wanted to be a singer. He became a professional singer when he was just in his teens.

He started performing in night clubs after leaving school and joined a local band called The Three Flashes in 1935 which was renamed The Hoboken Four upon his joining. They appeared in Edward Bowes’s show ‘Major Bowes Amateur Hour’.

During the late 1930s he joined Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra which gave a big boost to his career. Soon Sinatra became a very popular singer because of his association with Dorsey though the relationship between the two men soured. He left the band in 1942.

In 1946, he released his first studio album, ‘The Voice of Frank Sinatra’ which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard chart and retained its position for the next seven weeks!

Over the next few years he released ‘Songs by Sinatra’ (1947), ‘Christmas Songs by Sinatra’ (1948), ‘Frankly Sentimental’ (1949) and ‘Dedicated to You’ (1950). However, none of these albums was as successful as the first one.

He ventured into Hollywood as an actor during 1940s and in 1953 the film ‘From Here to Eternity’ was released. The story revolved around three soldiers stationed on Hawaii in the months leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was a super hit.

His solo debut album, ‘The Voice of Frank Sinatra’ was a major hit which established him in his solo career. This album consisted of eight songs and reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard chart.

The album ‘Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely’ released in 1958 was the one Sinatra considered his personal favorite. A collection of torch songs, it peaked at No. 1 position in the US and was accredited gold.