Listen to me on TV CONFIDENTIAL:
As always, the further we go back in Hollywood history, the more that fact and legend become intertwined. It's hard to say where the truth really lies.
May 14, 1998
Frank Sinatra dies of a heart attack in Los Angeles,
at the age of 82.
Sinatra emerged from an
Italian-American family in Hoboken, New Jersey, to become the first modern
superstar of popular music, with an entertainment career that spanned more than
five decades. In the first incarnation of his singing career, he was a master
of the romantic ballads popular during World War II. After his appeal began to
wane in the late 1940s, Sinatra reinvented himself as a suave swinger with a
rougher, world-weary singing style, and began a spectacular comeback in the
1950s.
In addition to his great musical success, Sinatra appeared in 58 films; one
of his earliest was Anchors Aweigh (1945). Playing a cocky
Italian-American soldier who meets a violent death in From Here to Eternity (1953),
co-starring Burt Lancaster and Montgomery Clift, Sinatra won an Academy Award
for Best Supporting Actor. His film career flourished after that, as he starred
as Nathan Detroit in the movie musical Guys and Dolls (1955) and played
a heroin addict in The Man With the Golden Arm (1955), for which he was
nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor. He also starred in the musicals High
Society (1956) and Pal Joey (1957) and turned in a memorable
performance as an Army investigator in the acclaimed film The Manchurian
Candidate (1962).By the late 1950s, Sinatra had become the epitome of show-business success and glamorous, rough-edged masculinity. He even headed up his own entourage, known as the Rat Pack, which included Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop. The group had originally formed around Humphrey Bogart, who died in 1957. The Rat Pack first appeared together on the big screen in 1960’s casino caper Ocean’s Eleven. They would go on to make Sergeant’s Three (1962), Four for Texas (1963) and Robin and the Seven Hoods (1964). Onscreen and in real life, the Pack’s famous stomping grounds included Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New York (notably the Copacabana Club).
Sinatra worked steadily in film throughout the 1960s, though many of his performances seemed almost perfunctory. His last major Hollywood role came in 1980’s The First Deadly Sin. A famous heartthrob, Sinatra married four times, divorcing his longtime sweetheart Nancy Barbato after a decade and three children (Nancy, Frank Jr. and Christina) to marry the actress Ava Gardner in 1951. Their marriage lasted less than two years, and in 1966 Sinatra married the 21-year-old actress Mia Farrow, 30 years his junior; they were divorced in 1968. In 1976, he married Barbara Blakely Marx (the former wife of Zeppo Marx), and they remained together until his death.
Frank Sinatra suprises Telethon host
Jerry Lewis with a suprise guest - the one and only Dean Martin! Take a
look at this classic MDA Telethon moment from 1976.
The U.S. West Coast airing of the finale of Seinfeld coincided with the death of Frank Sinatra. Sinatra's ambulance was able to arrive at his home and then to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center very quickly in light traffic, due to many in Los Angeles being indoors to watch the show.
May 14, 1998
Last episode
of Seinfeld aired.
The show starred comedian Jerry Seinfeld and was created by Seinfeld and Larry David. Though Seinfeld originally intended the show to be about how a comedian gathers material for his show, it was later better known as the “show about nothing” that was able to draw comedic absurdity from ordinary day-to-day events. Originally, each show began and ended with clips of Seinfeld performing stand-up that related to that episode’s plot.
The show starred comedian Jerry Seinfeld and was created by Seinfeld and Larry David. Though Seinfeld originally intended the show to be about how a comedian gathers material for his show, it was later better known as the “show about nothing” that was able to draw comedic absurdity from ordinary day-to-day events. Originally, each show began and ended with clips of Seinfeld performing stand-up that related to that episode’s plot.
Seinfeld's ensemble cast included Elaine Benes (Julia
Louis-Dreyfuss), George Constanza (Jason Alexander) and Cosmo Kramer (Michael
Richards), all the main characters in the show were based on Seinfeld’s or
David’s real-life friends and acquaintances. When the pilot (Originally titled The
Seinfeld Chronicles) aired
on July 5, 1989, reception was luke warm. The show was picked up by NBC and
attracted a loyell following. Each episode's story line would be discussed at
the water-cooler the folowing morning (One sparked a lawsuit). The show also introduced new catch phrases into the
national lexicon, including “yada yada yada,” “shrinkage,” “man hands” and
“spongeworthy.”
The much-anticipated
final episode was watched by an estimated 76 million viewers. Advertisers paid
the then-record sum of $1.7 million for a 30-second spot in the show.
The
180 episodes of Seinfeld continue to air in syndication around the
world.
To
quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".
quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
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