December 12
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD DAY
Francis Albert Sinatra came into this world this day in 1915, in Hoboken, NJ, without making a sound or opening his eyes. In fact, he didn’t even sing a note until his grandmother held him under some cold running water. Then, for 82 years, he, with the blue eyes so famous that he was often referred to as Ol’ Blue Eyes, never stopped singing. The Voice sang his way through weddings, local Union functions and made his commercial media debut singing the hits on radio’s The Lucky Strike Hit Parade. He then made his own hits, recording over 1500 songs, including the favorites: All or Nothing at All (Frank’s first), I’ll Never Smile Again, In the Blue of the Evening, I’ll be Seeing You, Five Minutes More, The Loneliest Night of the Week, I’m a Fool to Want You, I’ve Got the World on a String, I’ve Got You Under My Skin, You Make Me Feel So Young, Strangers in the Night, Witchcraft, That’s Life, New York, New York and My Way; taking home ten Grammy awards including the Lifetime Achievement Award.
For Frankie, being a singing idol wasn’t enough. The silver screen beckoned and he became bigger than life in over fifty films, including On the Town, Guys and Dolls, Ocean’s Eleven, Not as a Stranger, The Manchurian Candidate, None But the Brave, Young at Heart, The Tender Trap, High Society, Pal Joey and The Joker is Wild. Hollywood rewarded him with a Special Oscar for The House I Live In, a short he made to promote racial and religious tolerance; an Oscar nomination for The Man with the Golden Arm, and the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his performance in From Here to Eternity; plus the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1970.
The television industry embraced Frank, too, presenting him with an Emmy in 1965 for Outstanding Musical Special, Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music. Not to be outdone, the President of the United States of America, Ronald Reagan, presented Francis Albert Sinatra with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985.
Mr. S. died of a heart attack on May 14, 1998 in Los Angeles, California. He remains the Chairman of the Board in the memories of the four generations of his fans worldwide.
Those Were the Days, the Today in History service from 440 International
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