[Nancy]

NANCY SR. ON THE NIGHT TINA WAS BORN: We were at the house in Toluca Lake, playing charades. I said to Jule Styne's wife, Ethel, "I don't feel good, I think I'd better go upstairs." We kept timing the pains. I said, "You know, this is going to be very fast, I think." Frank kept coming up to see how I was doing. Finally I said, "I think I have to go in." It was about two in the morning. He drove me to the hospital. He went through red lights and he had a good time.

We had a lovely birthday dinner for Tina last night. She looked beautiful as always.

[Gregory]

Originally Posted by Nancy

We had a lovely birthday dinner for Tina last night. She looked beautiful as always.

I bet it was a nice dinner.

(From the Guestbook page and the online book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend by Nancy Sinatra )

JUNE 13–26, 1980: Frank played two solid weeks at Carnegie Hall... [See June 13th]

JUNE 22–JULY 3, 1979: One-nighters in upstate New York, Long Island, New Jersey and Michigan.

JUNE 15–25, 1978: Another midwestern road tour... [See June 15th]

JUNE 19–JULY 2, 1975: Frank went on to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

JUNE 4–22, 1973: In four sessions, Sinatra... [See June 4th]

JUNE 16–SEPTEMBER 8, 1942: Frank and the [Dorsey] band were booked by CBS... [See June 16th]

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

(From the Guestbook page and the online book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend by Nancy Sinatra )

JUNE 23, 1984: A planned seven-day engagement began at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas with Willie Nelson, but Frank became ill and canceled after one night.

JUNE 13–26, 1980: Frank played two solid weeks at Carnegie Hall... [See June 13th]

JUNE 22–JULY 3, 1979: One-nighters in upstate New York, Long Island, New Jersey and Michigan.

JUNE 15–25, 1978: Another midwestern road tour... [See June 15th]

JUNE 19–JULY 2, 1975: Frank went on to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

JUNE 23, 1973: Dad was among the dignitaries who attended a dinner at the western White House for Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev.

JUNE 23, 1965: Dad played an American Army colonel imprisoned in an Italian POW camp during World War II in 20th Century-Fox's exciting Von Ryan's Express, which premiered at Loew's State in New York. The colonel and his British counterpart, played by Trevor Howard, led a group of prisoners in a daring escape over the Swiss border that concluded with a heartstopping sequence as the men commandeered a German train.

In the final scene, Fox president Richard Zanuck and his father, Darryl, wanted an ending in which Colonel Ryan would get away safely to Switzerland along with the other prisoners, but since Ryan had been forced to kill a young woman in the course of his escape, Dad felt strongly that letting him live would be tantamount to letting him off the hook for that killing. They wanted Ryan to return in a sequel, but Dad won the argument, and he was right. As the train leaves the station at the end, Ryan is running desperately to catch up with it. Trevor Howard's character, Major Fincham, reaches out to grab his hand and pull him aboard. Shots ring out, and Ryan lies dying on the tracks as the train pulls away to freedom without him. It's the perfect ending to a fine movie, and it opened to boffo box office, fueling talk of another Oscar for Frank Sinatra.

DICK ZANUCK ON SINATRA: Despite his complexities, he is, more than anything, real. I've honestly never met anyone quite so real, and in this respect he is a totally unique personality, living in an all-too-real world inhabited for the most part by unreal people who are afraid to face the truth about their problems, about their lives and particularly about themselves as individuals. The great difference between Frank and the rest of us is that he is able to see himself, judge himself and others, judge life as it really is, and not as we would like it to be. And it is obvious that in doing so he becomes his own toughest critic. These are, perhaps, parts of his persistent problems with the lower orders of the press. He has a tendency to tell the truth and yet to be sensitive to the feelings of others, to keep it light and yet to be basically serious, and he must have naively expected this from others, including those with cameras, microphones and recorders. As his own critic, he doesn't need cheap shots. There have been countless words written about Frank in the past and surely a lot more will come—but whatever they say about him, the thing I know about him is that he's a real, complex, perplexing, loyal and generous man, and if he is in fact a son of a bitch, he's a true one and not a pretender.

Photographed at our Palm Springs house by Yul Brynner. Brynner was once introduced on an opening night by Sinatra as one of three Oscar winners in the audience (with Burt Lancaster and Rod Steiger). Yul signalled frantically to Frank, holding up four fingers, but Dad only looked puzzled. After the show he asked Yul what all the signalling was about. "There were not three Oscar winners in the room," said Brynner, "But four." "No," said Sinatra, saddened that he had failed to introduce someone. "Who else?" "You."

\

As busy as he was, my father was always there for us: my 25th birthday (left)
and Tina's graduation from high school (right).

JUNE 16–SEPTEMBER 8, 1942: Frank and the [Dorsey] band were booked by CBS... [See June 16th]

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

[Lourdes]

Von Ryan's Express is one of my favorites films, but I always cry when I see the final scene and I think he should win an Oscar for that film.

[Amy L]

Me too Lourdes...Even though I have seen it many many times I still hope that he will jump aboard that train just in time...It is a very good movie and Frank was so good in it.

[Ace917]

< to keep it light and yet to be basically serious >

I tend to be lighthearted in the tougher times... it's my defense, I suppose... and I'm sure people think I must be insensitive. But it helps my perspective and keeps me grounded. There are worse things, after all.

The photo of Nancy at her 25th birthday party is one of my favorites of her.

[Stnwy18]

Welcome back Bobby!

(From the Guestbook page and the online book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend by Nancy Sinatra )

JUNE 13–26, 1980: Frank played two solid weeks at Carnegie Hall... [See June 13th]

JUNE 22–JULY 3, 1979: One-nighters in upstate New York, Long Island, New Jersey and Michigan.

JUNE 15–25, 1978: Another midwestern road tour... [See June 15th]

JUNE 19–JULY 2, 1975: Frank went on to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

JUNE 24, 1965: Dad traveled to Israel to begin filming United Artists' Cast a Giant Shadow, a saga about the founding of the Jewish state with Kirk Douglas as David "Mickey" Marcus, Israel's first general and a hero of the 1948 war. Playing a three-day cameo as a valiant bomber pilot, Dad took time out to renew his acquaintance with Israeli activist Teddy Kollek, who had become director-general of the prime minister's office and in charge, among other things, of promoting tourism.

JUNE 24, 1961: He performed at a benefit for the County Sheriff's Rodeo at L.A.'s Memorial Coliseum.

[1961] A family portrait by the late
Hollywood photographer John Engsted.

JUNE 16–SEPTEMBER 8, 1942: Frank and the [Dorsey] band were booked by CBS... [See June 16th]

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

(From the Guestbook page and the online book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend by Nancy Sinatra )

JUNE 13–26, 1980: Frank played two solid weeks at Carnegie Hall... [See June 13th]

JUNE 22–JULY 3, 1979: One-nighters in upstate New York, Long Island, New Jersey and Michigan.

JUNE 15–25, 1978: Another midwestern road tour... [See June 15th]

JUNE 19–JULY 2, 1975: Frank went on to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

JUNE 16–SEPTEMBER 8, 1942: Frank and the [Dorsey] band were booked by CBS... [See June 16th]

JUNE 25, 1940: NBC booked the band to fill in for Bob Hope on a summer replacement variety show.

SONGWRITER SAMMY CAHN ON MEETING SINATRA: My earliest recollections of Frank go back to the days when I was being called to supply "special material" for Tommy Dorsey. My first impression of him was that he was even thinner than all the jokes I'd heard about him—including the one about how he used to moonlight in an olive factory filling the olives with pimento—from the inside! My second impression was that I'd never heard a popular singer with such fluidity and style. Or one with his incredible breath control. Frank could hold a phrase until it took him into a sort of paroxysm: He actually gasped, and his whole being seemed to explode, to release itself. I'd never seen or heard anything like it.

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

(From the Guestbook page and the online book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend by Nancy Sinatra )

JUNE 26, 1982: He received a special award at a National Multiple Sclerosis Society meeting in Houston, still serving as its national campaign chairman.

JUNE 13–26, 1980: Frank played two solid weeks at Carnegie Hall... [See June 13th]

JUNE 22–JULY 3, 1979: One-nighters in upstate New York, Long Island, New Jersey and Michigan.

JUNE 19–JULY 2, 1975: Frank went on to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

JUNE 26, 1970: On WWDB in Philadelphia, DJ Sid Mark topped KGIL [June 5th] with 61 straight hours of Sinatra music, never repeating a single song.

JUNE 16–SEPTEMBER 8, 1942: Frank and the [Dorsey] band were booked by CBS... [See June 16th]

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

(From the Guestbook page and the online book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend by Nancy Sinatra )

JUNE 22–JULY 3, 1979: One-nighters in upstate New York, Long Island, New Jersey and Michigan.

JUNE 19–JULY 2, 1975: Frank went on to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

JUNE 27, 1964: Warner Bros. released Robin and the 7 Hoods, the fourth and final movie by The Summit. Journalist John McClain wrote: "They are insanely generous and public-spirited ... a crazy and wonderful part of America." Robin also gave birth to the tune that became Chicago's anthem: "My Kind of Town," arranged by Nelson Riddle, with music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Sammy Cahn. Dad's hard-driving, hard-swinging rendition of this song in the film's final sequence, followed by his commercial recording and concert performances, made "My Kind of Town" an international hit.

JUNE 27, 1947: FS performed in a Stars in the Spotlight show on the Armed Forces Radio Service.

JUNE 27, 1944: Frank Sinatra's first on-screen kiss (to blond bombshell Gloria DeHaven) was immortalized for RKO in Step Lively, a remake of the Marx Brothers classic Room Service, in which he played a country bumpkin who dreamed of becoming a playwright. Still the teenage heartthrob, he sang four songs, including "As Long as There's Music."

Dad was pursued by an older woman
in Step Lively, but he instead fell for
a much younger Gloria DeHaven—and
gave and received his first screen kiss.

GENE KELLY ON SINATRA'S APPEAL TO WOMEN: During those days of the forties, Francis Albert was the idol of American womanhood—not just the young girls, but the old as well. I got pushed into many of the frenzied mob scenes where the crowds went berserk just to be near him and, if possible, touch him. Well, being his partner, I often had to pay the price and get my clothes torn, and flee with him to limousines with motors running to help us escape whole of limb. I always ribbed Frank about his strange effect on the female sex. Then one night at my house, my infant daughter started to bawl blue murder. My wife, Jeannie, tried to quiet her, but to no avail. Frank, as a last resort, reached out and took her in his arms and started to sing to her. Her face turned from rage to wonderment—she opened her big eyes and stared at him, and smiled, and smiled—and at the end of a chorus and a half, she was blissfully sleep. I never kidded Frank again about his effect on women.

"Isn't she feeling well, or is that Frank
Sinatra?"

JUNE 16–SEPTEMBER 8, 1942: Frank and the [Dorsey] band were booked by CBS... [See June 16th]

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

[ARIES3032]

I loved it. I can picture that wee one listening to that wonderful voice so soothing to her ears.

(From the Guestbook page and the online book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend by Nancy Sinatra )

JUNE 22–JULY 3, 1979: One-nighters in upstate New York, Long Island, New Jersey and Michigan.

JUNE 28, 1978: He attended the wedding of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier's daughter Caroline in Monaco.

JUNE 19–JULY 2, 1975: Frank went on to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

JUNE 28, 1964: Dad guested on The Ed Sullivan Show on CBS television.

JUNE 28, 1950: In New York, Dad recorded "Goodnight Irene," backed with "Dear Little Boy of Mine." Side one rose to Number Five on the charts. [See also August 1950]

JUNE 16–SEPTEMBER 8, 1942: Frank and the [Dorsey] band were booked by CBS... [See June 16th]

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

[SYLMML]

Every time I hear the song "Good Night Irene" I think of my father singing it to my Uncle Tommy (my Mom's brother) when he walked into our house. It was his ex-wife's name, you had to be there. My Uncle always got a kick out of it.

(From the Guestbook page and the online book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend by Nancy Sinatra )

JUNE 22–JULY 3, 1979: One-nighters in upstate New York, Long Island, New Jersey and Michigan.

JUNE 19–JULY 2, 1975: Frank went on to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

JUNE 29–JULY 5, 1962: Dad was a big drawing card as the headliner at his Cal-Neva Lodge, which he had remodeled and expanded.

Drawing of Cal-Neva Lodge from Sinatra
family collection, artist rendering by
David Jacobson Jr.

JUNE 29, 1955: Dad's twice-weekly radio show, sponsored by Bobbi Home Permanent, went off the air. It was to be his last series on radio.

JUNE 16–SEPTEMBER 8, 1942: Frank and the [Dorsey] band were booked by CBS... [See June 16th]

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

(From the Guestbook page and the online book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend by Nancy Sinatra )

JUNE 22–JULY 3, 1979: One-nighters in upstate New York, Long Island, New Jersey and Michigan.

JUNE 30–JULY 7, 1978: FS vacationed with friends on the East Coast aboard the yacht Blackhawk.

JUNE 19–JULY 2, 1975: Frank went on to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

JUNE 30, 1971: California Senator John Tunney entered a tribute to his friend Frank Sinatra into the Congressional Record. Several other senators also read eloquently beautiful testimonials to the work and the legacy of my father.

TRIBUTES TO FRANK SINATRA
Entered into the Congressional Record

SENATOR JOHN TUNNEY: The man is a master of the performing arts. But there is more to Frank Sinatra than just a voice or a fleeting image on television or in the movies. The essence of Frank Sinatra is Sinatra the man, a man of deep feeling, a man who in a thousand silent acts has worked to better the lives of those around him. Whether it is helping children in America or in Europe or in Mexico or in Israel, whether it is building a hospital or a community service center, Frank Sinatra has always been there helping and doing so without fanfare.

SENATOR JACOB JAVITS: I know of no person more able to express the joys and the happiness of the day-to-day life of Americans than Frank Sinatra.

SENATOR ALAN CRANSTON: Frank Sinatra will always be remembered with warmth and affection as long as people like entertainment and entertainers. Unlike old soldiers, great entertainers never fade away. Their music goes on forever. The music of Frank Sinatra will go on forever. Some may say that Frank Sinatra is all voice. Those who know him well know that he is really all heart. They also know that he is all guts.

SENATOR HUBERT HUMPHREY: Frank Sinatra gave and continues to give, and will continue to give for years to come, far more than the abilities with which he was blessed. His talent was a magical instrument with the power to help the unfortunate and the infirm as well as to mark the memorable milestones in the international world of entertainment.

JUNE 29–JULY 5, 1962: Dad was the headliner at his Cal-Neva Lodge... [See June 29th]

JUNE 16–SEPTEMBER 8, 1942: Frank and the [Dorsey] band were booked by CBS... [See June 16th]

JUNE 30, 1939: Harry James wanted to call him "Frankie Satin," but my father had had it with name-changing and said he would take his chances as Sinatra from then on. Appearing with the band on their first tour stop at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, he sang "Wishing" and "My Love for You." They spent most of the summer touring the East and playing at the Roseland Ballroom in midtown Manhattan, where a one-line review in Metronome by George Simon complimented "the very pleasing vocals of Frank Sinatra, whose easy phrasing is especially commendable."

Frank Sinatra received his first important
reviews in the summer of 1939—his first year
with the James band—when they played at
Manhattan's legendary Roseland Ballroom.

[1938] FRANKIE TRENT: The Rustic Cabin bandleader was Harold Arden (formerly Harold Munchhausen or something of the sort). Bill Henri (formerly Harry Jacobs) replaced him. Frank Sinatra had considered the name Fred Trenton in honor of his late cousin Fred Tredy, who had been a singer.

"I tried the name Frankie Trent for a while. That lasted about two weeks. We had fliers made and distributed them. And then my mother saw one. 'What's this?' she said. 'Get ridda' that. Don't you change your name. Your father finds out, he's gonna kick your ass!' About that time I was also starting to see Nancy and she said, 'That's silly.' And so did my cousin Ray, who worked in the NBC house orchestra. 'Are you kiddin'?' he said, 'Sinatra's the most beautiful name in the world—it's so musical.' OK, so I kept it."

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

(From the Guestbook page and the online book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend by Nancy Sinatra )

JULY 1989: Frank planned to introduce in the spring of 1990 a line of his own pasta sauces. "Over the years I've received some nice compliments about my cooking," Dad said at the company launch party, which was held at Morton's restaurant in Beverly Hills. "A few years ago, we made some pasta sauce for our friends during the holiday season, and it's become a tradition. I think it's terrific that the sauces and other items will be available to the public." The sauces were distributed by Armanino Foods of Distinction.

JULY 1983: Dad flew to Tucson for one day to film a cameo role in Burt Reynolds's movie Cannonball Run II. He spent one night and worked for only four hours. He would have done more if they had asked him to. Sammy had asked him if he would do a bit part in the film because, after years of searching, nobody had come up with a story for another Summit movie. Cannonball II would unite them on film again, sadly, for the last time.

JULY 1982: Frank Sinatra was the first to perform in the newly enclosed Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles. "A Legendary Evening with Frank Sinatra" lived up to its billing when a host of Hollywood legends turned out for Dad's benefit performance at the amphitheater. Cary Grant, Charlton Heston, Dorothy Lamour and Jimmy Stewart joined Ernest Borgnine and Angie Dickinson in raising more than $1 million for a variety of charities. Dressing backstage before the performance, my father asked Jilly Rizzo, "What's it look like?" "SRO," Jilly replied. "I mean Dodgers and Atlanta," Dad said, ever the baseball fan.

JUNE 22–JULY 3, 1979: One-nighters in upstate New York, Long Island, New Jersey and Michigan.

JUNE 30–JULY 7, 1978: FS vacationed with friends... [See June 30th]

JUNE 19–JULY 2, 1975: Frank went on to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

MID-SUMMER 1973: In Watergate testimony before Congress, former White House attorney John Dean alleged that Nixon attempted to obtain tax favors for a list of prominent personal friends in the entertainment industry: Ronald Reagan, Jerry Lewis, Fred MacMurray, Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, Peter Lawford and Sammy Davis Jr. Said Mickey Rudin: "There has never been a tax evasion charge against your father. There have been numerous investigations, each of which ended as just that, investigations." Business Manager Nathan Golden: "Nixon didn't do tax favors for anybody. There were a lot of people who gave more money than the law allowed by making donations in more than one state. When they called us on it, we hired an attorney, went to court and we paid a penalty."

JULY 1972: Though retired and still a registered Democrat, Sinatra followed more strongly than ever his practice of voting for the man, the candidate, not the party. Richard Nixon's announced policies made more sense to him than McGovern's, so it followed that Nixon was his man in 1972. He was drawn to Mr. Nixon because in the early sixties, President Kennedy had advocated recognition of China in his book Strategy of Peace. For years FS had felt that the United Nations was remiss in its stand on the issue. He supported the Republican president's decision to recognize the People's Republic of China.

FRANK ON ADMITTING CHINA TO THE UNITED NATIONS: I don't happen to think you can kick 800 million Chinese under the rug and simply pretend that they don't exist, because they do. If the U.N. is to be truly representative, then it must accept all the nations of the world. If it doesn't represent the united nations of the world, then what the hell have you got? Not democracy—and certainly not world government.

JUNE 29–JULY 5, 1962: Dad was the headliner at his Cal-Neva Lodge... [See June 29th]

SUMMER 1962: Back in the States on an auto trip to Las Vegas from Palm Springs with Hank Sanicola, Hank worried aloud about Sam Giancana, who had been visiting Phyllis McGuire at Cal-Neva despite the fact that the Nevada Gaming Control Board had forbidden Giancana not only from having an association with a licensed casino, but also from even setting foot in the state of Nevada. His mere presence might threaten the lodge's gaming license and thus jeopardize Hank's own $300,000 investment in the resort. My father told him not to worry, since Giancana only visited Tahoe to see his girlfriend, who performed periodically at the lodge with the McGuire Sisters. When Hank wouldn't accept such assurances, and because he was already upset that the profits from Park Lake's movies were being eaten up by the losses at Cal-Neva, Dad insisted on buying him out of the lodge and all other partnerships. Strapped for cash, he gave Hank sole ownership of his five music publishing companies: Sands, Saga, Marivale, Tamarisk and Barton, with a collective inventory worth well over $1 million. Sanicola ordered the driver to stop, then he took his suitcases out of the trunk and stood on the highway shoulder, watching my father drive out of his life forever.

SUMMER 1962: Frank had been friends with Jilly Rizzo for many years. Jilly's Broadway restaurant featured live music and great Chinese food; it became Dad's favorite New York City night spot. After the departure of Hank Sanicola, Jilly's friendship with my father blossomed, and he became Dad's right-hand man.

JULY 1960: By earning $4 million a year, Frank Sinatra was, according to Richard Gehman in Good Housekeeping, the "greatest single male drawing card in the entertainment business." But Gehman went on to say that Dad was "not merely an entertainer and a personality, but an immensely powerful force—a law unto himself. He could spend the rest of his life making all the films offered to him in a single month." My father's influence in the recording industry was equally impressive: As the "acknowledged king" at Capitol Records, his new recordings were automatically played on radio from coast to coast. He had earned the right to pick his tunes and accompanists, dictate a midnight work schedule that required heavy overtime for musicians and engineers, even orchestrate the careers of other recording artists. "What all this means to you," concluded Gehman grandiosely, "is that Francis Albert Sinatra exercises a most powerful control over much of what you enjoy (or don't enjoy) in films, on television, on records, on the radio, in nightclubs—indeed, in every medium of entertainment except newspapers and magazines. His influence as a pacesetter is unparalleled in Hollywood." Gehman, like many other writers of the day, seemed overly impressed. He was either awestruck or misinformed because no one performer or producer had that kind of power. Case in point: the Maltz incident.

MID-1960: FS wanted to produce and direct the film version of William Bradford Huie's book The Execution of Private Slovik, the story of the only U.S. soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion. It became a political cause célèbre when he hired a blacklisted screenwriter named Albert Maltz—who had written the screenplay for the Oscar-winning 1945 short, The House I Live In—to write it.

THE "EXECUTION" OF ALBERT MALTZ: Screenwriter Albert Maltz eagerly agreed when my father offered him the job of writing a screenplay for The Execution of Private Slovik, based on the classic book. Among the blacklisted "Hollywood Ten," Maltz had gone to prison for refusing to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee and been denied industry employment for over a decade. "Frank's call was enormously exciting," recalled Maltz. "He said that if anyone tried to interfere with his hiring me, they were going to run into a buzz saw." But a New York Times report on March 21, 1960, on Maltz's involvement set off a firestorm of protest. Hearst columnists raked up all the old accusations against Frank Sinatra and demanded that he fire Maltz immediately. "What kind of thinking motivates Frank Sinatra in hiring an unrepentant enemy of this country who has never done anything to remove himself from the Communist camp?" sneered the New York Daily Mirror.

My father responded with a full-page ad in Variety defending his choice of Maltz, and while hundreds of clergymen excoriated him from pulpits around the country, he continued to stand firm. When General Motors, which was sponsoring three upcoming Sinatra television specials, threatened to cancel the shows, he told his business partners, "There will be other specials." Because of Sinatra's connection with the Kennedy campaign, however, JFK's political enemies soon linked him to Maltz. Cardinal Spellman of New York told Joseph Kennedy that "consorting with Communists" could kill his son's chance to win the presidency. When New Hampshire Governor Wesley Powell accused JFK of "softness towards communism," the ambassador called Frank to say, "It's either us or Maltz."

We were supportive as a family, but my brother, sister and I had problems at school, and my Dad didn't like the fact that his kids were being confronted and accused. After considerable inner torment, Frank issued a statement: "In view of the reaction of my family, my friends and the American public, I have instructed my attorneys to make a settlement with Albert Maltz. I had thought that the major consideration was whether or not the script would be in the best interests of the United States. My conversations with Maltz indicated that he has an affirmative, pro-American approach to the story. But the American public has indicated it feels the morality of hiring Maltz is the more crucial matter, and I will accept this majority opinion."

Ironically, had Maltz written the screenplay under an assumed name—as did Dalton Trumbo for Roman Holiday and The Brave One, both of which won Oscars—there would have been no uproar. This was one of the last vestiges of the chaos that followed Senator Joseph McCarthy's failed crusade. Dad paid Maltz in full for the screenplay but abandoned plans to direct or produce the film. It became a television milestone in the 1970s starring Martin Sheen, with a script by Richard Levinson and William Link.

JULY 1959: Co-starring with Steve McQueen, Gina Lollobrigida and Peter Lawford, FS played an embattled U.S. Army captain leading a guerrilla force during World War II in MGM's Never So Few. Newsweek's Betty Voight caught up with Dad long enough to ask about his acting. "I wish I had some formal dramatic training, but I never have enough time. I have my own technique that I've evolved from discussing acting with some of my chums, like Spencer Tracy and Bogie, when he was still alive. Before starting to shoot a picture, I read the script half a hundred times. I pick it up and read maybe two or three pages one night and two days later I pick it up again and read halfway through it. By the time I start working I have a good idea of the dialogue and the story and the character I'm playing. Once we've begun shooting, I rarely open the script. I feel that you don't have to go by the script verbatim. If two good actors in a scene listen intently to what the other is saying, they'll answer each other intelligently. Actors who go only by the lines never seem to be listening to the other actor, so the scene comes out on the screen as if you can see the wheels going around in their heads." While he was filming a battle scene on location in the Philippines, the cornea of his left eye was scorched by muzzle blast from gunfire too close to his head. Temporarily blinded, he was led from the set by Lawford. A studio doctor said it was a close call and Dad was lucky not to have lost an eye.

SUMMER 1956: FS appeared in a cameo role in the Dan Dailey-Cyd Charisse musical comedy, MGM's Meet Me in Las Vegas, filmed at the Sands Hotel.

JULY 1952: Hearst's American Weekly magazine, a Sunday newspaper supplement, ran a two-part series, "bylined" by my father, explaining his breakup from my mother and his relationship with Ava, and apologizing for previous disagreements with the press and refuting accusations about his supposed "pinko" political attitudes and "links" to the Mafia. When I recently asked Dad whether he wrote it, he said succinctly, "It's C-R-A-P. They made the whole thing up." I knew Dad would never have discussed his personal life in print. Never!

SUMMER 1952: On a second peacemaking pilgrimage to Hoboken, Ava visited mother-in-law Dolly Sinatra, and heads turned as they strolled the streets arm-in-arm. But the conflicts between Dad and Ava were too deep to heal, and later this year another painful split-up with Ava brought him to the brink of suicide, this time for real. At Manie Sacks' apartment in New York, Dad was revived after inhaling gas from the kitchen stove. He credited Jackie Gleason, Manie Sacks and Jimmy Van Heusen with getting him through those dark days.

Jackie Gleason and Frank Sinatra were friends since the forties when they drove Toots Shor nuts signing his name to tabs, adding tips as big as endowments. Later, they did bits on each other's TV shows, "rehearsing" by phone, working from a few cues. Gleason once saw Sinatra in the shower and told him he looked like a "tuning fork."

JULY 1944: Trying to spend more time at home, Dad canceled a scheduled appearance at Manhattan's Rio Bamba. Daily Mirror columnist Lee Mortimer wrote that "In Sinatra's singing spot is a chap by the name of Dean Martin, who sounds like him, uses the same arrangements of the same songs and almost looks like him—only healthier."

SUMMER 1944: When he learned that the Lakeside Country Club near our new home had a membership policy excluding Jews, Dad became the second gentile member of the Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles. The first: Darryl Zanuck.

JULY–AUGUST 1942: Between their weekly radio shows, Dad and the [Dorsey] band rolled through the Midwest and the East with a series of standing-room-only (SRO) appearances in Detroit, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington and Akron. It was his last tour with the band.

FS and Dorsey promoting their latest
release with radio host Paul Brenner
on New Jersey's WAAT radio.

JUNE 16–SEPTEMBER 8, 1942: Frank and the [Dorsey] band were booked by CBS... [See June 16th]

This shot of my father shows that
his early fashion savvy made him cool
before anybody knew what cool was!

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

[Nancy]

SUMMER 1944: When he learned that the Lakeside Country Club near our new home had a membership policy excluding Jews, Dad became the second gentile member of the Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles. The first: Darryl Zanuck.

When I found out that Farrah's wake was being held at a venue with a reputation that includes antisemitism I didn't go. I can't believe this kind of crap continues today and I will not support it in any way, including the funeral of a friend. I'm sick of it.

I hate everybody.