Age, Biography, and Wiki
Frank Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915, in Hoboken, New Jersey. He was the only child of Natalina "Dolly" Garaventa and Antonio Martino Sinatra. Sinatra's interest in music began at a young age, influenced by artists like Gene Austin and Bing Crosby. His career spanned over five decades, with notable contributions to music, film, and entertainment.
| Occupation | Film Producer |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 12 December 1915 |
| Age | 109 Years |
| Birth Place | Hoboken, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Sagittarius |
| Country | Jersey |
| Date of death | 14 May, 1998 |
| Died Place | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Height, Weight & Measurements
Sinatra was known for his slender build during his early years but developed physically over time. His height was approximately 5 feet 8 inches (173 cm), but detailed weight measurements are not widely documented.
Sinatra also forged a highly successful acting career. After winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for From Here to Eternity (1953), he starred in The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) and The Manchurian Candidate (1962). Sinatra also appeared in musicals such as On the Town (1949), Guys and Dolls (1955), High Society (1956), and Pal Joey (1957), which won him a Golden Globe Award. Toward the end of his career, he frequently played detectives, including the title character in Tony Rome (1967). Sinatra received the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1971. On television, The Frank Sinatra Show began on CBS in 1950, and he continued to make appearances on television throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
Sinatra weighed 13.5 lbs at birth and had to be delivered with the aid of forceps, which caused severe scarring to his left cheek, neck, and ear, and perforated his eardrum—which remained damaged for the rest of his life. His grandmother resuscitated him by running him under cold water until he gasped. Due to his injuries, his baptism at St. Francis Church in Hoboken was delayed until April 2, 1916. A childhood operation on his mastoid bone left major scarring on his neck, and during adolescence he was further scarred by cystic acne. Sinatra was raised in the Catholic Church.
| Height | 5 feet 8 inches |
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Dating & Relationship Status
Sinatra was married four times: to Nancy Barbato, Ava Gardner, Mia Farrow, and Barbara Marx. He had three children: Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra Jr., and Tina Sinatra.
Sinatra's mother was energetic and driven; biographers believe that she was the dominant factor in the development of her son's personality and self-confidence. Sinatra's fourth wife Barbara would later claim that Dolly "knocked him around a lot" when he was a child. Dolly became influential in Hoboken and in local Democratic Party circles. She worked as a midwife, and according to Sinatra biographer Kitty Kelley, ran an illegal abortion service that catered to Italian Catholic girls, for which she was nicknamed "Hatpin Dolly". She had a gift for languages and served as a local interpreter.
Sinatra's illiterate father was a bantamweight boxer who later worked at the Hoboken Fire Department, working his way up to captain. Due to his illiteracy, he stressed the importance of a "complete and full" education and had instilled in his son the desire to become a civil engineer and enroll at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken. Sinatra spent much time at his parents' tavern in Hoboken, working on his homework and occasionally singing for spare change. During the Great Depression, Dolly provided money to her son for outings with friends and to buy expensive clothes, resulting in neighbors describing him as the "best-dressed kid in the neighborhood". Excessively thin and small as a child and young man, Sinatra's skinny frame later became a staple of jokes during stage shows.
To please his mother, he enrolled at Drake Business School, but departed after 11 months. Dolly found her son work as a delivery boy at the Jersey Observer newspaper (since merged into The Jersey Journal), where his godfather Frank Garrick worked; he later worked as a riveter at the Tietjen and Lang shipyard. He began performing in local Hoboken social clubs and sang for free on radio stations such as WAAT in Jersey City. In New York, Sinatra found jobs singing for his supper or for cigarettes. To improve his speech, he began taking elocution lessons for a dollar each from vocal coach John Quinlan, one of the first people to notice his impressive vocal range.
Sinatra began singing professionally as a teenager. He never learned to read music but learned by ear. He got his first break in 1935 when his mother persuaded a local singing group called the 3 Flashes to let him join. Baritone Fred Tamburro stated that "Frank hung around us like we were gods or something", admitting that they only took him on board because he owned a car and could chauffeur the group. Sinatra soon learned they were auditioning for the Major Bowes Amateur Hour show and "begged" the group to let him join.
Dorsey was a major influence on Sinatra and became a father figure. Sinatra copied Dorsey's mannerisms and traits, becoming a demanding perfectionist like him, even adopting his hobby of toy trains. He asked Dorsey to be godfather to his daughter Nancy in June 1940. Sinatra later said that "The only two people I've ever been afraid of are my mother and Tommy Dorsey." Though Kelley says that Sinatra and drummer Buddy Rich were bitter rivals, other authors state that they were friends and even roommates when the band was on the road, but professional jealousy surfaced as both men wanted to be considered the star of Dorsey's band. Later, Sinatra helped Rich form his own band with a $25,000 loan and provided financial help to Rich during times of the drummer's serious illness.
| Parents | |
| Husband | Nancy Barbato (m. February 4, 1939-October 29, 1951) Ava Gardner (m. 1951-1957) Mia Farrow (m. July 19, 1966-1968) Barbara Marx (m. July 11, 1976) |
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Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, Sinatra's net worth is estimated at $220 million. At the time of his death, his net worth was around $200 million, which would be approximately $350 million today when adjusted for inflation. His earnings came from a variety of sources including album sales, film roles, concerts, and business ventures.
In 1938, Sinatra found employment as a singing waiter at a roadhouse called "The Rustic Cabin" in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, for which he was paid $15 a week. The roadhouse was connected to the WNEW radio station in New York City, and he began performing with a group live during the Dance Parade show. Despite the low salary, Sinatra felt that this was the break he was looking for, and boasted to friends that he was going to "become so big that no one could ever touch him". In March 1939, saxophone player Frank Mane, who knew Sinatra from Jersey City radio station WAAT, arranged for him to audition and record "Our Love", his first solo studio recording. In June, bandleader Harry James, who had heard Sinatra sing on "Dance Parade", signed him to a two-year contract of $75 a week after a show at the Paramount Theatre in New York. It was with the James band that Sinatra released his first commercial record "From the Bottom of My Heart" in July. No more than 8,000 copies were sold, and further records released with James through 1939, such as "All or Nothing at All", also had weak sales on their initial release. Thanks to his vocal training, Sinatra could now sing two tones higher, and developed a repertoire which included songs such as "My Buddy", "Willow Weep for Me", "It's Funny to Everyone but Me", "Here Comes the Night", "On a Little Street in Singapore", "Ciribiribin", and "Every Day of My Life".
After the 1942 recordings, Sinatra believed he needed to go solo, with an insatiable desire to compete with Bing Crosby, but he was hampered by his contract which gave Dorsey 43% of Sinatra's lifetime earnings. A legal battle ensued, eventually settled in August 1942. On September 3, 1942, Dorsey bade farewell to Sinatra, reportedly saying "I hope you fall on your ass", but he was more gracious on the air when replacing Sinatra with singer Dick Haymes.
Rumors began spreading in newspapers that Sinatra's mobster godfather, Willie Moretti, coerced Dorsey at gunpoint to let Sinatra out of his contract for a few thousand dollars. Sinatra persuaded Stordahl to come with him and become his personal arranger, offering him $650 a month, five times his salary from Dorsey. Dorsey and Sinatra, who had been very close, never reconciled their differences.
Career, Business, and Investments
Sinatra's career was multifaceted, encompassing music, acting, and entrepreneurship:
- Music Career: He sold over 150 million records worldwide, with iconic albums released under Capitol Records and Reprise Records.
- Acting Career: Sinatra won an Academy Award for From Here to Eternity and appeared in more than 60 films, including The Man with the Golden Arm and The Manchurian Candidate.
- Business Ventures: Sinatra invested in real estate, casinos, restaurants, and branded merchandise. His involvement with the Rat Pack contributed to his Las Vegas entertainment empire.
- Frank Sinatra Enterprises (FSE): Established in 2007, FSE manages Sinatra's brand, merchandising, and music catalog, ensuring continued revenue from his legacy.
Born to Italian immigrants in Hoboken, New Jersey, Sinatra began his musical career in the swing era and was influenced by the easy-listening vocal style of Bing Crosby. He joined the Harry James band as the vocalist in 1939 before finding success as a solo artist after signing with Columbia Records in 1943, becoming the idol of the "bobby soxers". In 1946, Sinatra released his debut album, The Voice of Frank Sinatra. He then signed with Capitol Records and released several albums with arrangements by Nelson Riddle, notably In the Wee Small Hours (1955) and Songs for Swingin' Lovers! (1956). In 1960, Sinatra left Capitol Records to start his own record label, Reprise Records, releasing a string of successful albums. He collaborated with Count Basie on Sinatra-Basie: An Historic Musical First (1962) and It Might as Well Be Swing (1964). In 1965, he recorded September of My Years and starred in the Emmy-winning television special Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music. After releasing Sinatra at the Sands in 1966, Sinatra recorded one of his most famous collaborations with Tom Jobim, Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim. It was followed by 1968's Francis A. & Edward K. with Duke Ellington. Sinatra retired in 1971 following the release of "My Way" but came out of retirement two years later. He recorded several albums and released "New York, New York" in 1980.
As his success and popularity grew, Sinatra pushed Dorsey to allow him to record some solo songs. Dorsey eventually relented, and on January 19, 1942, Sinatra recorded "Night and Day", "The Night We Called It a Day", "The Song is You", and "Lamplighter's Serenade" at a Bluebird recording session, with Axel Stordahl as arranger and conductor. Sinatra first heard the recordings at the Hollywood Palladium and Hollywood Plaza and was astounded at how good he sounded. Stordahl recalled: "He just couldn't believe his ears. He was so excited you almost believed he had never recorded before. I think this was a turning point in his career. I think he began to see what he might do on his own".
Social Network
Despite his passing, Sinatra's legacy remains active on social media platforms, where fans continue to celebrate his work and influence.
Education
Sinatra attended David E. Rue Jr. High School and A.J. Demarest High School. He did not pursue higher education, focusing instead on his career in music and entertainment.
In summary, Frank Sinatra's enduring legacy is a testament to his talent, business acumen, and the careful management of his estate by his family. His net worth and influence continue to inspire new generations of fans and artists alike.
At a young age, Sinatra developed an interest in music, particularly big band jazz and listened to Gene Austin, Rudy Vallée, Russ Colombo, and Bob Eberly while idolizing Bing Crosby. For his 15th birthday, his uncle Domenico gave him a ukulele, with which he performed at family gatherings. Sinatra attended David E. Rue Jr. High School from 1928, and A. J. Demarest High School (since renamed as Hoboken High School) in 1931, where he arranged bands for school dances, but left without graduating after having attended only 47 days before being expelled for "general rowdiness".
