Frank Sinatra

Born: December 12th 1915
Where:Hoboken, New Jersey
Died: May 14th, 1998

Possessing the most imitated, most listened to, most recognised voice of the second half of the twentieth century, Frank Sinatra parlayed his one-of-a-kind phrasing and immaculate sense of timing into a colossal singing career spanning six decades.

His appearance as one of the Hoboken Four on radio's Major Bowes' Amateur Hour prompted 40,000 listeners to call in, then the largest vote in the show's history.

Sinatra toured with Harry James' struggling band for six months before Tommy Dorsey lured him away to front his orchestra.

Inspired by Dorsey's trombone playing, Frank began swimming under water, thinking song lyrics to himself as he held his breath, and over time developed and perfected his distinct method of long phraseology.

Although Billboard had voted him as Best Male Vocalist of 1941, Sinatra saw his popularity really soar when he left Dorsey and embarked on a solo career the following year.

Idolised by millions of bobby-soxers, he inadvertently sparked what became known as the Columbus Day Riot, when audience members refusing to leave his first show caused the frustrated crowd outside to go berserk. 200 police, 421 police reserves, 20 radio cars and two emergency trucks were necessary to control the rampaging, mostly teenaged girls.

Slightly built, but with undeniably magnetic charm, Sinatra made his first acting appearance in 1943 and soon became hot property in movies, where he generally played the boyish innocent, unaware of his allure to women.

His best features amidst this light, breezy fare were two musicals that teamed him with Gene Kelly as sailor pals, Anchors Aweigh in 1945 and On the Town 4 years later.

Near the end of the decade, his career, his marriage (to first wife Nancy Sinatra Sr.) and his voice showed visible signs of cracking under the pressure of his momentum.

Feature flops like Double Dynamite in 1951 and Danny Wilson the following year, coupled with haemorrhaged vocal chords, delivered the knockout blow in 1952.

By now, he had married and was on the verge of separating from wife number two, actress Ava Gardner.

Undaunted, Sinatra regrouped, picked himself up off the canvass and not only signed a one-year contract with Capitol Records with six one-year options and a five-percent royalty but also agreed to play the tough but unfortunate Maggio in From Here To Eternity in 1953.

The results saved his career as Maggio would win him an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor.

Oscar in hand, Sinatra became a full-fledged movie icon; his most notable role coming in 1955 as a heroin addict in the controversial The Man With the Golden Arm, for which he earned a Best Actor nomination.

From the moment From Here to Eternity was released, Sinatra's records began to sell again.

By 1954, his partnership with arranger Nelson Riddle had produced his first hit single in seven years, Young at Heart, which went to Number 2 in the charts.

Sinatra's social life also grabbed plenty of headlines, and sometimes business and pleasure went hand in hand as in the movies he made with fellow Rat Pack members Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford.

Lawford, married to John F Kennedy's sister Patricia, introduced him to Kennedy, who enjoyed carousing with Sinatra's star-studded cronies.

He rooted hard for Kennedy during the 1960 presidential campaign, travelled on the President's private plane, cruised with the President on the Honey Fitz and escorted Jacqueline Kennedy to the inaugural which he had organised.

Sinatra maintained his Rat Pack friendships with Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr, touring with the two in the late 80s (until Liza Minnelli replaced a sick Martin), and was instrumental in healing the riff between Martin and former partner Jerry Lewis.

Following his 50s comeback, Sinatra laid the groundwork for a business empire, acquiring nine percent of the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, which he turned almost single-handedly into an entertainment Mecca.

His movie stardom continued unabated throughout the 60s as he alternated between light fare (i.e., Oceans Eleven 1960; Come Blow Your Horn 1963; Robin and the Seven Hoods 1964) and drama (i.e. Von Ryan's Express 1965; Tony Rome 1967 and its sequel Lady in Cement 1968).

After starring in Dirty Dingus Magee in 1970, Sinatra was off-screen for nearly a decade.

He resumed his film career starring opposite Faye Dunaway in The First Deadly Sin, one of his better serious vehicles, but subsequent film appearances were limited to cameos (Cannonball Run II 1983) or documentaries (Listen Up 1990).

What followed, though, was the inevitable decline. After his success with Capitol records, Sinatra formed his own label, Reprise Records, but its output together with Capitol's new albums (made from unreleased recordings) clogged-up the market.

He did have a few brief moments of singles glory in the 60s but popular music had gone the way of rock.

Sinatra's crossover attempts covering Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder and the Beatles were abysmal.

He retired briefly in 1971 but was back working by 1973, and if he wasn't generating hit singles, he was selling out live performances.

People flocked to see the legend as he reached out to a new audience with his two multi-platinum "Duets" albums, singing with contemporary pop stars like Barbra Streisand, Jimmy Buffet and Bono, and earning a Grammy Award at the age of 80.

Frank Sinatra's legacy is his survival in all aspects of his life. He survived a dominating mother's excessive expectations and ultimately accepted that nothing he could ever do would be enough for her.

He persevered in a business renowned for short-lived success, making sure that a second comeback would never be necessary after he had survived the initial threat to his career.

And a history of stormy relationships finally led to a stable marriage of more than twenty years to third wife Barbara.

The key to Sinatra's rise was the honest emotion he rendered in songs that represented the highest achievement of American popular music. While no man is immortal, Sinatra's recorded voice and celluloid image might beg to differ.