Name	Jay Deushe
Name	Don Rickles
Birth name	Donald Jay Rickles
Birth date	May 08, 1926
Birth place	Queens, New York, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film
Nationality	American
Active	1948–present
Genre	Improvisational comedy, Observational comedy, Musical comedy, Insult comedy |
Subject	United States culture, Race relations, Self-deprecation, Marriage, Everyday life, Jewish culture, Celebrities
Influences	Milton Berle
Influenced	Jay Leno, David Letterman, Howard Stern, Russell Peters, Dave Attell, Lisa Lampanelli Jerry Seinfeld, Larry the Cable Guy
Spouse	Barbara Sklar (1965–present)
Notable work	''Hello Dummy!''Q M 1/C Ruby in ''Run Silent, Run Deep''Sgt. Crapgame in ''Kelly's Heroes''Billy Sherbert in ''Casino''Mr. Potato Head in the ''Toy Story'' franchise}}

Donald Jay "Don" Rickles (born May 8, 1926) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. A frequent guest on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'', Rickles has acted in comedic and dramatic roles, but is best known as an insult comic.

Style

It is well known that Rickles has nothing against the people that he insults during his routine, and that it's all just part of the act. Although sarcastically nicknamed "Mr. Warmth" due to his offensive and insensitive stage personality, in reality most know him to be actually quite genial and pleasant. It has been said that being insulted by Rickles is like "wearing a badge of honor".

When asked by an interviewer if he ever worried that his insult comedy might ever become too offensive, Rickles replied, "You know, every night when I go out on stage to do my comedy routines, there's always one nagging fear in the back of my mind. I'm always afraid that somewhere out there, there is one person in the audience that I'm NOT going to offend!"

Rickles is known for lackadaisically saying the word "anyway" following most of his comedic insults, in order to appear nonchalant about the comic volley he had just thrown at an audience member, show host, etc. This is widely regarded as one of Rickles' classic comedic tactics that contribute to his impeccable sense of timing.

Early life

Rickles was born in the New York City borough of Queens to Max Rickles, who had emigrated in 1902 with his parents Joseph and Frances Rickles from Kaunas, Lithuania (then in the Russian Empire), and Etta (Feldman) Rickles, born in New York to immigrant parents from the Austrian Empire. His family was Jewish and spoke Yiddish at home. Rickles grew up in the Jackson Heights area.

After graduating from Newtown High School, Rickles enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served during World War II on the USS ''Cyrene'' as a seaman first class. He was honorably discharged in 1946. Two years later, he studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and then played bit parts on television. Frustrated by a lack of acting work, Rickles began doing stand-up comedy. He became known as an insult comedian by responding to his hecklers. The audience enjoyed these insults more than his prepared material, and he incorporated them into his act. When he began his career in the early 1950s he started calling ill-mannered members of the audience a "hockey puck". His style was similar to an older insult comic, "Mr. Warmth" Jack E. Leonard, though Rickles denies that Leonard influenced his style.

Career

1950s–1960s

While working in a Miami Beach nightclub known as "Murray Franklin's" early in his career, he spotted Frank Sinatra and remarked to him, "I just saw your movie, ''The Pride and the Passion'' and I want to tell you, the cannon's acting was great." He added, "Make yourself at home, Frank. Hit somebody!" Sinatra, whose pet name for Rickles was "bullet-head", enjoyed Rickles so much that he encouraged other celebrities to see Rickles' act and be insulted by him. Sinatra's support helped Rickles become a popular headline performer in Las Vegas.

Rickles earned the nicknames "The Merchant of Venom" and "Mr. Warmth" for his insult comedy, in which he pokes fun at people of all ethnicities and walks of life. When he is introduced to an audience or on a television talk show, Spanish matador music, "La Virgen de la Macarena", will usually be played, subtly foreshadowing that someone is about to be metaphorically gored. Rickles has said, "I always pictured myself facing the audience as the matador."

In 1958, Rickles made his film debut in a serious part in ''Run Silent, Run Deep'' starring Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster. Throughout the 1960s, he appeared frequently on television in sitcoms and dramatic series. Rickles guest-starred in ''Get Smart'' as "Sid", an old war buddy of Max who comes to stay with him. The two-part collaboration with Don Adams was well-received. In an episode of the 1960s drama series ''Run for Your Life'', Rickles played a distressed comedian whose act culminates when he strangles a patron while imploring the patron to "Laugh!" Rickles took a dramatic turn in the Roger Corman film ''X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes'' as a carnival barker out to exploit the title character.

Rickles also appeared in the popular ''Beach Party'' film series. He recalled in his memoirs that at a White House dinner, Barbara Bush teased him about his decision to appear in those films, and remarked "Was your career really going that badly?". Rickles' agent, Jack Gilardi, was the husband of Annette Funicello when Rickles was cast in those Beach Party films.

thumb|220px|Don Rickles (left) makes a surprise appearance on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''. Frank Sinatra was one of the guests that night. As his career progressed, Rickles began appearing more frequently on television talk shows, first appearing on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' in 1965. He became a frequent guest and guest host, appearing more than 100 times on ''The Tonight Show'' during Carson's era. An early Carson-Rickles ''Tonight'' highlight occurred in 1968 when, while two Japanese women treated Carson to a bath and massage by foot, Rickles walked onto the set. At one point, he decided to play massage therapist to the prone and towel-clad Carson. Rickles leaned over and wrapped his arms around Carson, ad-libbing, "I'm so lonely, Johnny!" Carson broke into hysterical laughter, got up, grabbed Rickles, and tossed the suit-clad comedian into the bathtub. Rickles also made frequent appearances on ''The Dean Martin Show'' and became a fixture on the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts specials, which continued until 1984.

In 1968, Rickles released a live comedy album, ''Hello, Dummy!'', which reached #54 on ''Billboard'''s Hot 100. The same year he starred in his own variety show on ABC, ''The Don Rickles Show'', with comedy writer Pat McCormick as his sidekick. The show lasted one season. During the 1960s, Rickles made guest appearances on ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'', ''The Munsters'', ''Gilligan's Island'', ''Get Smart'', ''The Andy Griffith Show'' and ''I Dream of Jeannie''.

1970s–1980s

In 1970, Rickles had a notable role as the con man Sgt. Crapgame in the hit film ''Kelly's Heroes'' with Clint Eastwood. In 1972, he starred in the sitcom ''The Don Rickles Show'' which lasted for thirteen episodes. He also starred in a series of television specials. In his memoir, Rickles acknowledged that a scripted sitcom was not well-suited to his ad-lib style of performing.

In 1976, he starred in the sitcom ''C.P.O. Sharkey'', which lasted two seasons. The show is primarily remembered for the cigarette box incident when Johnny Carson visited during an episode's taping because he was "incensed" that Rickles broke his cigarette box while Bob Newhart was guest-hosting. The incident was often replayed in ''Tonight Show'' retrospectives and was considered a highlight of the 1970s era of the show.

Rickles occasionally appeared as a panelist on ''Hollywood Squares'':

Q. You go down to a brook and you catch a frog. Then you rub it on your face! Just what is that supposed to do? Rickles: That's supposed to put you in the state hospital!

He was depicted in comic book form by Jack Kirby during his work on the Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen series.

1980s–1990s

In the early 1980s, Rickles began performing with singer Steve Lawrence in concerts in Las Vegas. In 1983, the duo co-hosted the short-lived ABC-TV series ''Foul-Ups, Bleeps & Blunders'', an imitation of NBC's ''TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes''.

In 1985, when Frank Sinatra was asked to perform at Ronald Reagan's Second Inaugural Ball, he stipulated he would not perform unless Rickles was allowed to perform with him. Rickles considers this performance the highlight of his career.

In 1990, he appeared in the second season of "Tales From the Crypt" in the episode "The Ventriloquists Dummy".

In 1992, he was cast in the film ''Innocent Blood'', directed by John Landis. In his memoir, Rickles wrote that he recalled that Landis was once a "Production Assistant" to director Brian G. Hutton during the filming of ''Kelly's Heroes''. During the filming of ''Innocent Blood'', Rickles would kid Landis by ordering him to get coffee or to run other errands befitting his one-time "gofer" status.

In 1993, Rickles starred in another short-lived sitcom, ''Daddy Dearest'', with comedian Richard Lewis. In 1995, he made a return to film in two high-profile projects: a dramatic role as Robert De Niro's trusted colleague in Martin Scorsese's ''Casino'', and voicing Mr. Potato Head in the Pixar computer-animated film ''Toy Story''. He reprises the latter role in ''Toy Story 2'' and ''Toy Story 3''. In 1998 he portrayed a movie theater manager in "Dirty Work", starring Norm Macdonald and Artie Lange.

2000s–present

Rickles continued to be very active on the stand-up comedy scene, and is still a popular performer in Las Vegas. He has no plans to retire as he recently said in an interview: "I'm in good health. I'm working better than I ever have. The audiences are great. Why should I retire? I'm like a fighter. The bell rings and you come out and fight. My energy comes alive. And I still enjoy it."

In February 2007, Rickles made a cameo appearance as himself in a strange, recurring dream sequence that was woven through an episode titled "Sub Conscious" of the CBS dramatic series, ''The Unit''.

Rickles' memoir, titled ''Rickles' Book'', was released on May 8, 2007 by Simon & Schuster. ''Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project'', a documentary about Rickles directed by John Landis, made its debut on HBO on December 2, 2007. Rickles won two Emmys for the documentary, including one for "Individual Performance" besting a number of notable comics, including David Letterman, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. To this Rickles remarked, "Stephen Colbert's a funny man, but he's too young. He has got plenty of time to win awards, but this may be my last year and I think that I made it count. On second thought it was probably just a mercy award for an old man."

Rickles reprised the role of Mr. Potato Head in the Toy Story Midway Mania! attraction at Disney's California Adventure and Disney's Hollywood Studios. He voiced the character again in ''Toy Story 3''.

In 2009, Rickles appeared on ''Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List'' and met Griffin's mother, Maggie, to fulfill one item on Maggie's "bucket list".

In 2010, he appeared in a commercial during Super Bowl XLIV as a talking rose.

On June 27, 2010, he appeared on the 37th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on CBS TV.

In 2011, Rickles joined Joe Pesci in a Snickers advertisement highlighting the actors known for their "short fuses."

Personal life

Rickles has been married for more than 45 years to his wife, Barbara, who hails from Philadelphia. They have a daughter Mindy, a son Larry, and two grandchildren, Ethan and Harrison Mann. According to Rickles' memoir, his grandchildren are much more impressed by his role as "Mr. Potato Head" than by any of his other achievements. Rickles is a life-long Democrat. However, he performed at the inaugurations of Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush with his friend Frank Sinatra.

Rickles considers comedian Bob Newhart to be his best friend. Rickles, Newhart, and their wives often vacation together. Rickles and Newhart appeared together on ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' on January 24, 2005, the Monday following Johnny Carson's death, reminiscing about their many guest appearances on Carson's show, including footage of the "cigarette box incident".

Works

Filmography

''Run Silent, Run Deep'' (1958)

''The Rabbit Trap'' (1959)

''The Rat Race'' (1960)

''X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes'' (1963)

''Muscle Beach Party'' (1964)

''Bikini Beach'' (1964)

''Pajama Party'' (1964)

''Beach Blanket Bingo'' (1965)

''Enter Laughing'' (1967)

''The Money Jungle'' (1968)

''Where It's At'' (1969)

''Kelly's Heroes'' (1970)

''The Love Machine'' (1971)

''Keaton's Cop'' (1988)

''Innocent Blood'' (1992)

''Casino'' (1995)

''Toy Story'' (1995) (voice)

''Redux Riding Hood'' (1997) (short subject) (voice)

''Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's'' (1997) (documentary)

''Quest for Camelot'' (1998) (voice)

''Dirty Work'' (1998)

''Dennis the Menace Strikes Again'' (1998)

''Toy Story 2'' (1999) (voice)

''Goodnight, We Love You'' (2004) (documentary)

''The J-K Conspiracy'' (2004) (documentary)

''The Aristocrats'' (2005) (documentary)

''The Last Laugh'' (2006) (documentary)

''Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project'' (2007) (documentary)

''Toy Story 3'' (2010) (voice)

''Hawaiian Vacation'' (2011) (voice)

''Zookeeper ''(2011) (voice)

Selected television work

''The DuPont Show with June Allyson'' (1959 episode – "No Place to Hide and the 1960 episode – "The Women Who")

''The Twilight Zone'' (1961 episode – Mr. Dingle, the Strong)'''

''The Addams Family'' (1964 episode – Hallowe'en With the Addams Family)

''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (1964 episodes - "4 1/2" and "The Alan Brady Show Goes to Jail")

''The Dean Martin Show'' (1965–1974) (Guest Star)

''Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.'' (1965) (Guest Star)

''The Andy Griffith Show'' (1965) (Guest Star)

''F-Troop'' (1965 episode - The Return of Bald Eagle) (Guest Star)

''The Munsters'' (1965 episode – Dance With Me, Herman)

''Kibbee Hates Fitch'' (1965) (unsold pilot)

''Gilligan's Island'' (1966) (Guest Star)

''The Lucy Show'' (1967)

''Get Smart'' (1968 episode – The Little Black Book, Parts I and II)

''Laugh-In'' (1968–1969)

''The Don Rickles Show'' (1968–1969)

''The Don Rickles Show'' (1972)

''Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts'' (1974–1984)

''C.P.O. Sharkey'' (1976–1978)

''For the Love of It'' (1980) (TV movie)

''Foul-Ups, Bleeps & Blunders'' (1984–1985)

''Don Rickles: Rickles on the Loose'' (1986) (television special)

''Tales from the Crypt (The Ventriloquist's Dummy) (1990)

''Daddy Dearest'' (1993)

''Mike & Spike'' (1995) Episode: "Person To Shoe" as Ace Feathers

''Muppets Tonight'' (1997)

''Bernie Mac Show'' (2002)

''The Wool Cap'' (2004) (TV movie)

''The Catch'' (2005) (unsold pilot)

''Live with Regis and Kelly'' (2007)

''The Daily Show'' (2007)

''Jimmy Kimmel Live'' (2007)

''Late Show with David Letterman'' (2008)

''The Daily Show'' (2008)

''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' (2008)

''Jimmy Kimmel Live'' (2009)

''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' (2009)

''Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List'' (2009)

''Late Show with David Letterman'' (2009)

''Jimmy Kimmel Live'' (2009)

''Jimmy Kimmel Live'' (2010)

''Late Show with David Letterman'' (2010)

''Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' (2010)

''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' (2010)

''Jimmy Kimmel Live'' (2011)

''Late Show with David Letterman'' (2011)

''Jimmy Kimmel Live'' (2011)

''The Tonight Show With Jay Leno'' (2011)

''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' (2011)

Discography

''Hello Dummy!'' (1968)

''Don Rickles Speaks!'' (1969)

Books

''Rickles' Book: A Memoir'' by Don Rickles with David Ritz (Simon & Schuster, 2007), ISBN 978-0-7432-9305-1

''Rickles' Letters'' by Don Rickles with David Ritz (Simon & Schuster, 2008), ISBN 978-1-4165-9663-9

References

Further reading

''Rickles' Book: A Memoir'' by Don Rickles with David Ritz (Simon & Schuster, 2007), ISBN 978-0-7432-9305-1

External links

Official website

Don Rickles at TVGuide.com

Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project full length feature film at Hulu

Category:1926 births Category:Living people Category:American comedians Category:American film actors Category:American Jews Category:American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Category:American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American voice actors Category:Jewish comedians Category:People from Jackson Heights, Queens Category:Actors from New York City Category:United States Navy sailors

de:Don Rickles es:Don Rickles fr:Don Rickles it:Don Rickles he:דון ריקלס ja:ドン・リックルズ pt:Don Rickles ru:Риклес, Дон fi:Don Rickles sv:Don Rickles

Name	Frank Sinatra
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Francis Albert Sinatra
Alias	Ol' Blue EyesThe Chairman of the Board
Birth date	December 12, 1915
Birth place	Hoboken, New Jersey, U.S.
Death date	May 14, 1998
Death place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Death cause	Heart attack
Instrument	Vocals
Genre	Traditional pop, jazz, swing, big band, vocal
Occupation	Singer, actor, producer, director, conductor
Years active	1935–95
Label	Columbia, Capitol, Reprise, Apple Records
Associated acts	Rat Pack, Bing Crosby, Nancy Sinatra, Judy Garland, Quincy Jones, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Frank Sinatra, Jr., Dean Martin, Count Basie, Sammy Davis, Jr., Luis Miguel
Website
Spouse	Nancy Barbato (1939–1951)Ava Gardner (1951–57)Mia Farrow (1966–1968)Barbara Marx (1976–1998) }}

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 May 14, 1998) was an American singer and film actor.

Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the "bobby soxers", he released his first album, ''The Voice of Frank Sinatra'' in 1946. His professional career had stalled by the 1950s, but it was reborn in 1954 after he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in ''From Here to Eternity''.

He signed with Capitol Records in 1953 and released several critically lauded albums (such as ''In the Wee Small Hours'', ''Songs for Swingin' Lovers'', ''Come Fly with Me'', ''Only the Lonely'' and ''Nice 'n' Easy''). Sinatra left Capitol to found his own record label, Reprise Records in 1961 (finding success with albums such as ''Ring-a-Ding-Ding!'', ''Sinatra at the Sands'' and ''Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim''), toured internationally, was a founding member of the Rat Pack and fraternized with celebrities and statesmen, including John F. Kennedy. Sinatra turned 50 in 1965, recorded the retrospective ''September of My Years'', starred in the Emmy-winning television special ''Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music'', and scored hits with "Strangers in the Night" and "My Way".

With sales of his music dwindling and after appearing in several poorly received films, Sinatra retired for the first time in 1971. Two years later, however, he came out of retirement and in 1973 recorded several albums, scoring a Top 40 hit with "(Theme From) New York, New York" in 1980. Using his Las Vegas shows as a home base, he toured both within the United States and internationally, until a short time before his death in 1998.

Sinatra also forged a successful career as a film actor, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in ''From Here to Eternity'', a nomination for Best Actor for ''The Man with the Golden Arm'', and critical acclaim for his performance in ''The Manchurian Candidate''. He also starred in such musicals as ''High Society'', ''Pal Joey'', ''Guys and Dolls'' and ''On the Town''. Sinatra was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1985 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997. Sinatra was also the recipient of eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees Award, Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Early life

Born December 12, 1915, in Hoboken, New Jersey, Sinatra was the only child of Italian immigrants Natalie Della Garaventa and Antonino Martino Sinatra and was raised Roman Catholic. He left high school without graduating, having attended only 47 days before being expelled because of his rowdy conduct. Sinatra's father, often referred to as Marty, served with the Hoboken Fire Department as a Captain. His mother, known as Dolly, was influential in the neighborhood and in local Democratic Party circles, but also ran an illegal abortion business from her home; she was arrested several times and convicted twice for this offense. During the Great Depression, Dolly nevertheless provided money to her son for outings with friends and expensive clothes. In 1938, Sinatra was arrested for carrying on with a married woman, a criminal offense at the time. For his livelihood, he worked as a delivery boy at the ''Jersey Observer'' newspaper, and later as a riveter at the Tietjan and Lang shipyard, but music was Sinatra's main interest, and he carefully listened to big band jazz. He began singing for tips at the age of eight, standing on top of the bar at a local nightclub in Hoboken. Sinatra began singing professionally as a teenager in the 1930s, although he learned music by ear and never learned how to read music.

Career

1935–40: Start of career, work with James and Dorsey

Sinatra got his first break in 1935 when his mother persuaded a local singing group, The Three Flashes, to let him join. With Sinatra, the group became known as the Hoboken Four, and they sufficiently impressed Edward Bowes. After appearing on his show, ''Major Bowes Amateur Hour'', they attracted 40,000 votes and won the first prize – a six month contract to perform on stage and radio across the United States.

Sinatra left the Hoboken Four and returned home in late 1935. His mother secured him a job as a singing waiter and MC at the Rustic Cabin in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, for which he was paid $15 a week.

On March 18, 1939, Sinatra made a demo recording of a song called "Our Love", with the Frank Mane band. The record has "Frank Sinatra" signed on the front. The bandleader kept the original record in a safe for nearly 60 years. In June, Harry James hired Sinatra on a one year contract of $75 a week. It was with the James band that Sinatra released his first commercial record "From the Bottom of My Heart" in July 1939— US Brunswick #8443 and UK Columbia #DB2150.

Fewer than 8,000 copies of "From the Bottom of My Heart" (Brunswick #8443) were sold, making the record a very rare find that is sought after by record collectors worldwide. Sinatra released ten commercial tracks with James through 1939, including "All or Nothing At All" which had weak sales on its initial release but then sold millions of copies when re-released by Columbia at the height of Sinatra's popularity a few years later.

In November 1939, in a meeting at the Palmer House in Chicago, Sinatra was asked by bandleader Tommy Dorsey to join his band as a replacement for Jack Leonard, who had recently left to launch a solo career. This meeting was a turning point in Sinatra's career. By signing with Dorsey's band, one of the hottest at the time, he greatly increased his visibility with the American public. Though Sinatra was still under contract with James, James recognized the opportunity Dorsey offered and graciously released Sinatra from his contract. Sinatra recognized his debt to James throughout his life and upon hearing of James' death in 1983, stated: "he [James] is the one that made it all possible."

On January 26, 1940, Sinatra made his first public appearance with the Dorsey band at the Coronado Theater in Rockford, Illinois. In his first year with Dorsey, Sinatra released more than forty songs, with "I'll Never Smile Again" topping the charts for twelve weeks beginning in mid-July.

Sinatra's relationship with Tommy Dorsey was troubled, because of their contract, which awarded Dorsey one-third of Sinatra's lifetime earnings in the entertainment industry. In January 1942, Sinatra recorded his first solo sessions without the Dorsey band (but with Dorsey's arranger Axel Stordahl and with Dorsey's approval). These sessions were released commercially on the Bluebird label. Sinatra left the Dorsey band late in 1942 in an incident that started rumors of Sinatra's involvement with the Mafia. A story appeared in the Hearst newspapers that mobster Sam Giancana coerced Dorsey to let Sinatra out of his contract for a few thousand dollars, and was fictionalized in the movie ''The Godfather''. According to Nancy Sinatra's biography, the Hearst rumors were started because of Frank's Democratic politics. In fact, the contract was bought out by MCA founder Jules Stein for $75,000.

1940–50: Sinatramania and decline of career

In May 1941, Sinatra was at the top of the male singer polls in the Billboard and Down Beat magazines. His appeal to bobby soxers, as teenage girls of that time were called, revealed a whole new audience for popular music, which had been recorded mainly for adults up to that time.

On December 31, 1942, Sinatra made a "legendary opening" at the Paramount Theater in New York. Jack Benny later said, "I thought the goddamned building was going to cave in. I never heard such a commotion... All this for a fellow I never heard of." When Sinatra returned to the Paramount in October 1944, 35,000 fans caused a near riot outside the venue because they were not allowed in.

During the musicians' strike of 1942–44, Columbia re-released Harry James and Sinatra's version of "All or Nothing at All" (music by Arthur Altman and lyrics by Jack Lawrence), recorded in August 1939 and released before Sinatra had made a name for himself. The original release did not even mention the vocalist's name. When the recording was re–released in 1943 with Sinatra's name prominently displayed, the record was on the best–selling list for 18 weeks and reached number 2 on June 2, 1943.

Sinatra signed with Columbia on June 1, 1943, as a solo artist, and he initially had great success, particularly during the 1942–44 musicians' strike. Although no new records had been issued during the strike, he had been performing on the radio (on ''Your Hit Parade''), and on stage. Columbia wanted to get new recordings of their growing star as fast as possible, so Sinatra convinced them to hire Alec Wilder as arranger and conductor for several sessions with a vocal group called the Bobby Tucker Singers. These first sessions were on June 7, June 22, August 5, and November 10, 1943. Of the nine songs recorded during these sessions, seven charted on the best–selling list.

Sinatra did not serve in the military during World War II. On December 11, 1943, he was classified 4-F ("Registrant not acceptable for military service") for a perforated eardrum by his draft board. Additionally, an FBI report on Sinatra, released in 1998, showed that the doctors had also written that he was a "neurotic" and "not acceptable material from a psychiatric standpoint". This was omitted from his record to avoid "undue unpleasantness for both the selectee and the induction service". Active-duty servicemen, like journalist William Manchester, said of Sinatra, "I think Frank Sinatra was the most hated man of World War II, much more than Hitler", because Sinatra was back home making all of that money and being shown in photographs surrounded by beautiful women. His exemption would resurface throughout his life and cause him grief when he had to defend himself. There were accusations, including some from noted columnist Walter Winchell, that Sinatra paid $40,000 to avoid the service – but the FBI found no evidence of this.

In 1945, Sinatra co-starred with Gene Kelly in ''Anchors Aweigh''. That same year, he was loaned out to RKO to star in a short film titled ''The House I Live In''. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, this film on tolerance and racial equality earned a special Academy Award shared among Sinatra and those who brought the film to the screen, along with a special Golden Globe for "Promoting Good Will". 1946 saw the release of his first album, ''The Voice of Frank Sinatra'', and the debut of his own weekly radio show.

By the end of 1948, Sinatra felt that his career was stalling, something that was confirmed when he slipped to No. 4 on ''Down Beat'''s annual poll of most popular singers (behind Billy Eckstine, Frankie Laine, and Bing Crosby).

The year 1949 saw an upswing, as Frank co-starred with Gene Kelly in ''Take Me Out to the Ball Game''. It was well received critically and became a major commercial success. That same year, Sinatra teamed up with Kelly for a third time in ''On the Town''.

1950–60: Rebirth of career, Capitol concept albums

After two years' absence, Sinatra returned to the concert stage on January 12, 1950, in Hartford, Connecticut. His voice suffered and he experienced hemorrhaging of his vocal cords on stage at the Copacabana on April 26, 1950. Sinatra's career and appeal to new teen audiences declined as he moved into his mid-30s.

This was a period of serious self-doubt about the trajectory of his career. In February 1951, he was walking through Times Square, past the Paramount theatre, keystone venue of his earlier phenomenal success. The Paramount marquee glowed in announcement of Eddie Fisher in concert. Swarms of teen-age girls had gathered in frenzy, swooning over the current singing idol. For Sinatra this public display of enthusiasm for Fisher validated a fear he had harbored in his own mind for a long time. The Sinatra star had fallen; the shouts of "Frankieee" were echoes of the past. Agitated and disconsolate he rushed home, closed his kitchen door, turned on the gas and laid his head on the top of the stove. A friend returned to the apartment not long after to find Sinatra lying on the floor sobbing out the melodrama of his life, proclaiming his failure was so complete he could not even commit suicide''.

In September 1951, Sinatra made his Las Vegas debut at the Desert Inn. A month later, a second series of the ''Frank Sinatra Show'' aired on CBS. Ultimately, Sinatra did not find the success on television for which he had hoped. The persona he presented to the TV audience was not that of a performer easily welcomed into homes. He projected an arrogance not compatible with the type of cozy congeniality that played well on the small screen.

Columbia and MCA dropped him in 1952.

The rebirth of Sinatra's career began with the eve-of-Pearl Harbor drama ''From Here to Eternity'' (1953), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. This role and performance marked a turnaround in Sinatra's career: after several years of critical and commercial decline, becoming an Oscar-winning actor helped him regain his position as the top recording artist in the world.

Also in 1953, Sinatra starred in the NBC radio program ''Rocky Fortune''. His character, Rocko Fortunato (aka Rocky Fortune) was a temp worker for the Gridley Employment Agency who stumbled into crime-solving by way of the odd jobs to which he was dispatched. The series aired on NBC radio Tuesday nights from October 1953 to March 1954, following the network's crime drama hit ''Dragnet''. During the final months of the show, just before the 1954 Oscars, it became a running gag that Sinatra would manage to work the phrase "from here to eternity" into each episode, a reference to his Oscar-nominated performance.

In 1953, Sinatra signed with Capitol Records, where he worked with many of the finest musical arrangers of the era, most notably Nelson Riddle, Gordon Jenkins, and Billy May. With a series of albums featuring darker emotional material, Sinatra reinvented himself, including ''In the Wee Small Hours'' (1955)—Sinatra's first 12" LP and his second collaboration with Nelson Riddle—''Where Are You?'' (1957) and ''Frank Sinatra Sings For Only The Lonely'' (1958). He also incorporated a hipper, "swinging" persona into some of his music, as heard on ''Swing Easy!'' (1954), ''Songs For Swingin' Lovers'' (1956), and ''Come Fly With Me'' (1957).

By the end of the year, Billboard had named "Young at Heart" Song of the Year; ''Swing Easy!'', with Nelson Riddle at the helm (his second album for Capitol), was named Album of the Year; and Sinatra was named "Top Male Vocalist" by ''Billboard'', ''Down Beat'' and ''Metronome''.

A third collaboration with Nelson Riddle, ''Songs For Swingin' Lovers'', was both a critical and financial success, featuring a recording of "I've Got You Under My Skin".

''Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely'', a stark collection of introspective saloon songs and blues-tinged ballads, was a mammoth commercial success, spending 120 weeks on ''Billboard'''s album chart and peaking at #1. Cuts from this LP, such as "Angel Eyes" and "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)", would remain staples of Sinatra's concerts throughout his life.

Through the late fifties, Sinatra frequently criticized rock and roll music, much of it being his reaction to rhythms and attitudes he found alien. In 1958 he lambasted it as "sung, played, and written for the most part by cretinous goons. It manages to be the martial music of every sideburned delinquent on the face of the earth."

Sinatra's 1959 hit "High Hopes" lasted on the Hot 100 for 17 weeks, more than any other Sinatra hit did on that chart, and was a recurring favorite for years on "Captain Kangaroo".

1960–70: ''Ring-A-Ding-Ding'', Reprise records, Basie, Jobim, "My Way"

Sinatra started the 1960s as he ended the 1950s. His first album of the decade, ''Nice 'n' Easy'', topped ''Billboard'''s chart and won critical plaudits. Sinatra grew discontented at Capitol and decided to form his own label, Reprise Records. His first album on the label, ''Ring-A-Ding-Ding'' (1961), was a major success, peaking at No.4 on ''Billboard'' and No.8 in the UK.

His fourth and final Timex TV special was broadcast in March 1960, and earned massive viewing figures. Titled ''It's Nice to Go Travelling'', the show is more commonly known as ''Welcome Home Elvis''. Elvis Presley's appearance after his army discharge was somewhat ironic; Sinatra had been scathing about him in the mid fifties, saying: "His kind of music is deplorable, a rancid smelling aphrodisiac. It fosters almost totally negative and destructive reactions in young people." Presley had responded: "... [Sinatra] is a great success and a fine actor, but I think he shouldn't have said it... [rock and roll] is a trend, just the same as he faced when he started years ago." Later, in efforts to maintain his commercial viability, Sinatra recorded Presley's hit "Love Me Tender" as well as works by Paul Simon ("Mrs. Robinson"), The Beatles ("Something", "Yesterday"), and Joni Mitchell ("Both Sides Now").

Following on the heels of the film ''Can Can'' was ''Ocean's 11'', the movie that became the definitive on-screen outing for "The Rat Pack," a group of entertainers led by Sinatra who worked together on a loose basis in films and casino shows that included Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop. Subsequent pictures together were ''Sergeants 3'' and ''Robin and the 7 Hoods'', although the movies' rosters of actors slightly varied according to whom Sinatra happened be angry with when casting any given film.

From his youth, Sinatra displayed sympathy for African Americans and worked both publicly and privately all his life to help them win equal rights. He played a major role in the desegregation of Nevada hotels and casinos in the 1960s. On January 27, 1961, Sinatra played a benefit show at Carnegie Hall for Martin Luther King, Jr. and led his fellow Rat Pack members and Reprise label mates in boycotting hotels and casinos that refused entry to black patrons and performers. He often spoke from the stage on desegregation and repeatedly played benefits on behalf of Dr. King and his movement. According to his son, Frank Sinatra, Jr., King sat weeping in the audience at a concert in 1963 as Sinatra sang ''Ol' Man River'', a song from the musical ''Show Boat'' that is sung by an African-American stevedore.

On September 11 and 12, 1961, Sinatra recorded his final songs for Capitol.

In 1962, he starred with Janet Leigh and Laurence Harvey in the political thriller, ''The Manchurian Candidate'', playing Bennett Marco. That same year, Sinatra and Count Basie collaborated for the album ''Sinatra-Basie''. This popular and successful release prompted them to rejoin two years later for the follow-up ''It Might as Well Be Swing'', which was arranged by Quincy Jones. One of Sinatra's more ambitious albums from the mid-1960s, ''The Concert Sinatra'', was recorded with a 73-piece symphony orchestra on 35mm tape.

Sinatra's first live album, ''Sinatra at the Sands'', was recorded during January and February 1966 at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. In June 1965, Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin played live in Saint Louis to benefit Dismas House. The Rat Pack concert was broadcast live via satellite to numerous movie theaters across America. Released in August 1965 was the Grammy Award–winning album of the year, ''September of My Years'', containing the single "It Was A Very Good Year", which won the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, Male in 1966. A career anthology, ''A Man and His Music'', followed in November, winning Album of the Year at the Grammys in 1966. The TV special, ''Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music'', garnered both an Emmy award and a Peabody Award.

In the spring, ''That's Life'' appeared, with both the single and album becoming Top Ten hits in the US on ''Billboard'''s pop charts. ''Strangers in the Night'' went on to top the ''Billboard'' and UK pop singles charts, winning the award for Record of the Year at the Grammys. The album of the same name also topped the ''Billboard'' chart and reached number 4 in the UK.

Sinatra started 1967 with a series of important recording sessions with Antônio Carlos Jobim. Later in the year, a duet with daughter Nancy, "Somethin' Stupid", topped the ''Billboard'' pop and UK singles charts. In December, Sinatra collaborated with Duke Ellington on the album ''Francis A. & Edward K.''.

During the late 1960s, press agent Lee Solters would invite columnists and their spouses into Sinatra's dressing room just before he was about to go on stage. ''The New Yorker'' recounted that "the first columnist they tried this on was Larry Fields of the ''Philadelphia Daily News'', whose wife fainted when Sinatra kissed her cheek. 'Take care of it, Lee,' Sinatra said, and he was off." The professional relationship Sinatra shared with Solters focused on projects on the west coast while those focused on the east coast were handled by Solters' partner, Sheldon Roskin of Solters/Roskin/Friedman, a well-known firm at the time.

Back on the small-screen, Sinatra once again worked with Jobim and Ella Fitzgerald on the TV special, ''A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim''.

''Watertown'' (1970) was one of Sinatra's most acclaimed concept albums but was all but ignored by the public. Selling a mere 30,000 copies and reaching a peak chart position of 101, its failure put an end to plans for a television special based on the album.

With Sinatra in mind, singer-songwriter Paul Anka wrote the song "My Way", inspired from the French "Comme d'habitude" ("As Usual"), composed by Claude François and Jacques Revaux. (The song had been previously commissioned to David Bowie, whose lyrics did not please the involved agents.) "My Way" would, ironically, become more closely identified with him than any other song over his seven decades as a singer even though he reputedly did not care for it.

1970–80: Retirement and comeback

On June 13, 1971 – at a concert in Hollywood to raise money for the Motion Picture and TV Relief Fund – at the age of 55, Sinatra announced that he was retiring, bringing to an end his 36-year career in show business.

In 1973, Sinatra came out of retirement with a television special and album, both entitled ''Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back''. The album, arranged by Gordon Jenkins and Don Costa, was a great success, reaching number 13 on ''Billboard'' and number 12 in the UK. The TV special was highlighted by a dramatic reading of "Send in the Clowns" and a song and dance sequence with former co-star Gene Kelly.

In January 1974, Sinatra returned to Las Vegas, performing at Caesars Palace despite vowing in 1970 never to play there again after the manager of the resort, Sanford Waterman, pulled a gun on him during a heated argument. With Waterman recently shot, the door was open for Sinatra to return.

In Australia, he caused an uproar by describing journalists there – who were aggressively pursuing his every move and pushing for a press conference – as "fags", "pimps", and "whores". Australian unions representing transport workers, waiters, and journalists went on strike, demanding that Sinatra apologize for his remarks. Sinatra instead insisted that the journalists apologize for "fifteen years of abuse I have taken from the world press". The future Prime Minister of Australia, Bob Hawke, then the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) leader, also insisted that Sinatra apologize, and a settlement was eventually reached to the apparent satisfaction of both parties, Sinatra's final show of his Australian tour was televised to the nation.

In October 1974, Sinatra appeared at New York City's Madison Square Garden in a televised concert that was later released as an album under the title ''The Main Event – Live''. Backing him was bandleader Woody Herman and the Young Thundering Herd, who accompanied Sinatra on a European tour later that month. The TV special garnered mostly positive reviews while the album – actually culled from various shows during his comeback tour – was only a moderate success, peaking at No.37 on ''Billboard'' and No.30 in the UK.

In August 1975, Sinatra held several back-to-back concerts together with the newly-risen singer, John Denver. Soon they became friends with each other. John Denver later appeared as a guest in the ''Sinatra and friends'' TV Special, singing "September Song" together with Sinatra. Sinatra covered the John Denver hits "My Sweet Lady" and "Leaving on a Jet Plane". And, according to Denver, his song "A Baby Just Like You" was written at Sinatra's request.

In 1979, in front of the Egyptian pyramids, Sinatra performed for Anwar Sadat. Back in Las Vegas, while celebrating 40 years in show business and his 64th birthday, he was awarded the Grammy Trustees Award during a party at Caesars Palace.

1980–90: ''Trilogy'', ''She Shot Me Down'', ''L.A. Is My Lady''

In 1980, Sinatra's first album in six years was released, ''Trilogy: Past Present Future'', a highly ambitious triple album that found Sinatra recording songs from the past (pre-rock era) and present (rock era and contemporary) that he had overlooked during his career, while 'The Future' was a free-form suite of new songs linked à la musical theater by a theme, in this case, Sinatra pondering over the future. The album garnered six Grammy nominations – winning for best liner notes – and peaked at number 17 on ''Billboard'''s album chart, while spawning yet another song that would become a signature tune, "Theme from New York, New York", as well as Sinatra's much lauded (second) recording of George Harrison's "Something" (the first was not officially released on an album until 1972's ''Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2'').

The following year, Sinatra built on the success of ''Trilogy'' with ''She Shot Me Down'', an album that revisited the dark tone of his Capitol years, and was praised by critics as a vintage late-period Sinatra. Sinatra would comment that it was "A complete saloon album... tear-jerkers and cry-in-your-beer kind of things".

Also in 1981, Sinatra was embroiled in controversy when he worked a ten-day engagement for $2 million in Sun City, South Africa, breaking a cultural boycott against apartheid-era South Africa. See Artists United Against Apartheid

He was selected as one of the five recipients of the 1983 Kennedy Center Honors, alongside Katharine Dunham, James Stewart, Elia Kazan, and Virgil Thomson. Quoting Henry James in honoring his old friend, President Ronald Reagan said that "art was the shadow of humanity" and that Sinatra had "spent his life casting a magnificent and powerful shadow".

In 1984, Sinatra worked with Quincy Jones for the first time in nearly two decades on the album, ''L.A. Is My Lady'', which was well received critically. The album was a substitute for another Jones project, an album of duets with Lena Horne, which had to be abandoned. (Horne developed vocal problems and Sinatra, committed to other engagements, could not wait to record.)

1990s: ''Duets'', final performances

In 1990, Sinatra did a national tour, and was awarded the second "Ella Award" by the Los Angeles–based Society of Singers. At the award ceremony, he performed for the final time with Ella Fitzgerald.

In December, as part of Sinatra's birthday celebrations, Patrick Pasculli, the Mayor of Hoboken, made a proclamation in his honor, declaring that "no other vocalist in history has sung, swung, crooned, and serenaded into the hearts of the young and old... as this consummate artist from Hoboken." The same month Sinatra gave the first show of his Diamond Jubilee Tour at the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

In 1993 Sinatra made a surprise return to Capitol and the recording studio for ''Duets'', which was released in November.

The other artists who added their vocals to the album worked for free, and a follow-up album (''Duets II'') was released in 1994 that reached No.9 on the ''Billboard'' charts.

Still touring despite various health problems, Sinatra remained a top concert attraction on a global scale during the first half of the 1990s. At times during concerts his memory failed him and a fall onstage in Richmond, Virginia, in March 1994, signaled further problems.

Sinatra's final public concerts were held in Japan's Fukuoka Dome in December, 1994. The following year, on February 25, 1995, at a private party for 1200 select guests on the closing night of the Frank Sinatra Desert Classic golf tournament, Sinatra sang before a live audience for the very last time. ''Esquire'' reported of the show that Sinatra was "clear, tough, on the money" and "in absolute control". His closing song was "The Best is Yet to Come".

Sinatra was awarded the Legend Award at the 1994 Grammy Awards, where he was introduced by Bono, who said of him, "Frank's the chairman of the bad attitude... Rock 'n roll plays at being tough, but this guy is the boss—the chairman of boss... I'm not going to mess with him, are you?" Sinatra called it "the best welcome...I ever had", but his acceptance speech ran too long and was abruptly cut off, leaving him looking confused and talking into a dead microphone. Later in the telecast, Billy Joel protested the decision to cut Sinatra off by leaving a long pause in the middle of his song "The River of Dreams" in order to waste "valuable advertising time".

In 1995, to mark Sinatra's 80th birthday, the Empire State Building glowed blue. A star-studded birthday tribute, ''Sinatra: 80 Years My Way'', was held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. At the end of the program Sinatra graced the stage for the last time to sing the final notes of "New York, New York" with an ensemble. It was Sinatra's last televised appearance.

In recognition of his many years of association with Las Vegas, Frank Sinatra was elected to the Gaming Hall of Fame in 1997.

Film career

Sinatra enjoyed a huge film career and began making movies almost as soon as his singing career took off. His most important pictures include ''The Manchurian Candidate'' with Angela Lansbury, ''From Here to Eternity'' with Burt Lancaster, ''The Man With the Golden Arm'' with Arnold Stang, ''Kings Go Forth'' with Natalie Wood, ''Guys and Dolls'' with Marlon Brando, ''High Society'' with Bing Crosby, ''Pal Joey'' with Rita Hayworth, ''Some Came Running'' with Dean Martin, ''Never So Few'' with Steve McQueen, ''A Hole in the Head'' with Edward G. Robinson, ''Meet Danny Wilson'', ''On the Town'' with Gene Kelly, ''Robin and the 7 Hoods'' with Bing Crosby, ''Ocean's 11'' and ''Sergeants 3'' with the Rat Pack (Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop), ''Step Lively'', ''None But the Brave'' (directed by Sinatra), ''The Detective'' with Lee Remick, ''Come Blow Your Horn'' with Lee J. Cobb and Barbara Rush, and ''The Pride and the Passion'' starring Cary Grant, among many others spanning most of his lengthy career.

Personal life

Sinatra had three children, Nancy, Frank Jr., and Tina, all with his first wife, Nancy Barbato (married 1939–51). He was married three more times, to actresses Ava Gardner (1951–57), Mia Farrow (1966–68), and finally to Barbara Marx (married 1976), to whom he was still married at his death.

Throughout his life, Sinatra had mood swings and bouts of depression. Solitude and unglamorous surroundings were to be avoided at all cost. He struggled with the conflicting need "to get away from it all, but not too far away." He acknowledged this, telling an interviewer in the 1950s: "Being an 18-karat manic depressive, and having lived a life of violent emotional contradictions, I have an over-acute capacity for sadness as well as elation." In her memoirs ''My Father's Daughter'', his daughter Tina wrote about the "eighteen-karat" remark: "As flippant as Dad could be about his mental state, I believe that a Zoloft a day might have kept his demons away. But that kind of medicine was decades off."

Although beloved as a hero by his hometown of Hoboken, Frank Sinatra rarely visited Hoboken. According to one account, Sinatra returned once in 1948 to celebrate the election of Hoboken's first Italian mayor and was not well received by the crowd. He stated he would never come back, and in fact did not return to Hoboken until 1984, to appear with Ronald Reagan.

Alleged organized crime links

Sinatra garnered considerable attention due to his alleged personal and professional links with organized crime, including figures such as Carlo Gambino, Sam Giancana, Lucky Luciano, and Joseph Fischetti. The Federal Bureau of Investigation kept records amounting to 2,403 pages on Sinatra. With his alleged Mafia ties, his ardent New Deal politics and his friendship with John F. Kennedy, he was a natural target for J. Edgar Hoover's FBI. The FBI kept Sinatra under surveillance for almost five decades beginning in the 1940s. The documents include accounts of Sinatra as the target of death threats and extortion schemes. They also portray rampant paranoia and strange obsessions at the FBI and reveal nearly every celebrated Sinatra foible and peccadillo.

For a year Hoover investigated Sinatra's alleged Communist affiliations, but found no evidence. The files include his rendezvous with prostitutes, and his extramarital affair with Ava Gardner, which preceded their marriage. Celebrities mentioned in the files are Dean Martin, Marilyn Monroe, Peter Lawford, and Giancana's girlfriend, singer Phyllis McGuire.

The FBI's secret dossier on Sinatra was released in 1998 in response to Freedom of Information Act requests.

The released FBI files reveal some tantalizing insights into Sinatra’s lifetime consistency in pursuing and embracing seemingly conflicting affiliations. But Sinatra’s alliances had a practical aspect. They were adaptive mechanisms for behavior motivated by self-interest and inner anxieties. In September 1950 Sinatra felt particularly vulnerable. He was in a panic over his moribund career and haunted by the continual speculations and innuendos in circulation regarding his draft status in World War II. Sinatra “was scared, his career had sprung a leak.” In a letter dated September 17, 1950, to Clyde Tolson, Sinatra offered to be of service to the FBI as an informer. An excerpted passage from a memo in FBI files states that Sinatra “feels he can be of help as a result of going anywhere the Bureau desires and contacting any people from whom he might be able to obtain information. Sinatra feels as a result of his publicity he can operate without suspicion…he is willing to go the whole way.” The FBI declined his assistance.

Political views

Sinatra held differing political views throughout his life.

Sinatra's parents had immigrated to the United States in 1895 and 1897 respectively. His mother, Dolly Sinatra (1896–1977), was a Democratic Party ward leader.

Sinatra remained a supporter of the Democratic Party until the early 1970s when he switched his allegiance to the Republican Party.

Political activities 1944–1968

In 1944, after sending a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Sinatra was invited to meet Roosevelt at the White House, where he agreed to become part of the Democratic party's voter registration drives.

He donated $5,000 to the Democrats for the 1944 presidential election and by the end of the campaign was appearing at two or three political events every day.

After World War II, Sinatra's politics grew steadily more left wing, and he became more publicly associated with the Popular Front. He started reading liberal literature and supported many organizations that were later identified as front organizations of the Communist Party by the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s, though Sinatra was never brought before the committee.

Sinatra spoke at a number of New Jersey high schools in 1945, where students had gone on strike in opposition to racial integration. Later that year Sinatra would appear in ''The House I Live In'', a short film that stood against racism. The film was scripted by Albert Maltz, with the title song written by Earl Robinson and Abel Meeropol (under the pseudonym of Lewis Allen).

In 1948, Sinatra actively campaigned for President Harry S. Truman. In 1952 and 1956, he also campaigned for Adlai Stevenson. a rival singer and a Republican, for Kennedy's visit to Palm Springs, in 1962. Kennedy had planned to stay at Sinatra's home over the Easter holiday weekend, but decided against doing so because of Sinatra's alleged connections to organized crime. Kennedy stayed at Bing Crosby's house instead. Sinatra had invested a lot of his own money in upgrading the facilities at his home in anticipation of the President's visit. At the time, President Kennedy's brother, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, was intensifying his own investigations into organized crime figures such as Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana, who had earlier stayed at Sinatra's home.

Despite his break with Kennedy, however, he still mourned over Kennedy after he learned he was assassinated. He also re-stated his support for Humphrey on a live election-eve national telethon.

Political activities 1970–1984

In 1970, the first sign of Sinatra's break from the Democratic Party came when he endorsed Ronald Reagan for a second term as Governor of California;

Death

Sinatra began to show signs of dementia in his last years and after a heart attack in February 1997, he made no further public appearances. After suffering another heart attack, he died at 10:50 pm on May 14, 1998, at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, with his wife Barbara by his side. He was 82 years old. Sinatra's final words, spoken after Barbara encouraged him to "fight" as attempts were made to stabilize him, were "I'm losing." The official cause of death was listed as complications from dementia, heart and kidney disease, and bladder cancer. His death was confirmed by the Sinatra family on their website with a statement accompanied by a recording of the singer's version of "Softly As I Leave You". The next night the lights on the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed for 10 minutes in his honor. President Bill Clinton, as an amateur saxophonist and musician, led the world's tributes to Sinatra, saying that after meeting and getting to know the singer as President, he had "come to appreciate on a personal level what millions of people had appreciated from afar". Elton John stated that Sinatra, "was simply the best – no one else even comes close". Tony Curtis, Liza Minnelli, Kirk Douglas, Robert Wagner, Bob Dylan, Don Rickles, Nancy Reagan, Angie Dickinson, Sophia Loren, Bob Newhart, Mia Farrow, and Jack Nicholson. A private ceremony was held later that day at St. Theresa's Catholic Church in Palm Springs. Sinatra was buried following the ceremony next to his parents in section B-8 of Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, a quiet cemetery on Ramon Road where Cathedral City meets Rancho Mirage and near his compound, located on Rancho Mirage's tree-lined Frank Sinatra Drive. His close friends, Jilly Rizzo and Jimmy Van Heusen, are buried nearby in the same cemetery.

The words "The Best Is Yet to Come" are imprinted on Sinatra's grave marker.

Legacy

The U.S. Postal Service issued a 42-cent postage stamp in honor of Sinatra on May 13, 2008. The design of the stamp was unveiled Wednesday, December 12, 2007 – on what would have been his 92nd birthday – in Beverly Hills, California, with Sinatra family members on hand. The design shows a 1950s-vintage image of Sinatra, wearing a hat. The design also includes his signature, with his last name alone. The Hoboken Post Office was renamed in his honor in 2002. The Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, Queens and the Frank Sinatra Park in Hoboken were named in his honor.

The U.S. Congress passed a resolution on May 20, 2008, designating May 13 as Frank Sinatra Day to honor his contribution to American culture. The resolution was introduced by Representative Mary Bono Mack.

To commemorate the anniversary of Sinatra's death, Patsy's Restaurant in New York City, which Sinatra frequented, exhibited in May 2009 fifteen previously unseen photographs of Sinatra taken by Bobby Bank. The photos are of his recording "Everybody Ought to Be in Love" at a nearby recording studio.

Stephen Holden wrote for the 1983 ''Rolling Stone Record Guide'': : Frank Sinatra's voice ''is'' pop music history. [...] Like Presley and Dylan – the only other white male American singers since 1940 whose popularity, influence, and mythic force have been comparable – Sinatra will last indefinitely. He virtually invented modern pop song phrasing.

Wynn Resorts dedicated a signature restaurant to Sinatra inside Encore Las Vegas on December 22, 2008. Memorabilia in the restaurant includes his Oscar for "From Here to Eternity", his Emmy for "Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music", his Grammy for "Strangers in the Night", photographs and a gold album he received for "Classic Sinatra".

There is a residence hall at Montclair State University named for him in recognition of his status as an iconic New Jersey native.

The Frank Sinatra International Student Center at Israel's Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus campus, was dedicated in 1978 in recognition of Sinatra's charitable and advocacy activities on behalf of the State of Israel.

Film portrayals

In 1992, CBS aired a TV mini-series about the entertainer's life called ''Sinatra'', directed by James Steven Sadwith and starred Philip Casnoff as Sinatra. Opening with his childhood in Hoboken, New Jersey, the film follows Sinatra's rise to the top in the 1940s, through the dark days of the early 1950s and his triumphant re-emergence in the mid-1950s, to his status as pop culture icon in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In between, the film hits all of the main events, including his three marriages, his connections with the Mafia and his notorious friendship with the Rat Pack. Tina Sinatra was executive producer. Casnoff received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance.

In 1998, Ray Liotta portrayed Sinatra in the HBO movie ''The Rat Pack'', alongside Joe Mantegna as Dean Martin and Don Cheadle as Sammy Davis, Jr. It depicted their contribution to John F. Kennedy's election as U.S. president in 1960.

In 2003, Sinatra was portrayed by James Russo in "Stealing Sinatra", which revolved around the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr. in 1963

Also in 2003, he was portrayed by Dennis Hopper in ''The Night We Called It a Day'', based upon events that occurred during a tour of Australia where Frank had called a member of the news media a "two-bit hooker" and all the unions in the country came crashing down on him.

Sinatra was also portrayed by Sebastian Anzaldo in the film ''Tears of a King'', who also impersonated Sinatra in a TV episode of ''The Next Best Thing''.

In the Emmy Award Winning 2011 miniseries, The Kennedys, Sinatra was depicted by Canadian actor Chris Diamantopoulos.

Brett Ratner is currently developing a film adaptation of George Jacobs' memoir ''Mr. S: My Life With Frank Sinatra''. Jacobs, who was Sinatra's valet, will be portrayed by Chris Tucker. Martin Scorsese is developing a biopic of Sinatra's life to be scripted by Phil Alden Robinson and produced by Scott Rudin. When the film was first announced, three actors were said to be in contention for the part: Leonardo DiCaprio was Scorsese's preference, Johnny Depp was the studio's, and the Sinatra estate preferred George Clooney. Scorsese later mentioned that he wanted Al Pacino for Sinatra and Robert DeNiro as Dean Martin. The film covers his whole life, so three or more actors will be playing him at different ages.

Discography

Awards and recognitions

See also

Rat Pack

Sinatra Doctrine

1920 US Census with Sinatras

1930 US Census with Sinatras

List of jazz musicians

Best selling music artists

Frank Sinatra discography

Frank Sinatra filmography

The Frank Sinatra Show (CBS)

The Frank Sinatra Show (ABC)

Anthony Martin Sinatra

References

Further reading

Biographies

Freedland, Michael (2000) ''All the Way: A Biography of Frank Sinatra''. St Martins Press. ISBN 0-7528-1662-4

Grudens, Richard (2010) ''Sinatra Singing''. Celebrity Profiles Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9763877-8-7

Havers, Richard (2004) ''Sinatra''. Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 1-4053-1461-3

Kaplan, James (2010) ''Frank: The Voice''. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0385518048

Kelley, Kitty (1986) ''His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra''. Bantam Press. ISBN 0-553-26515-6

Lahr, John (1987) ''Sinatra''. Random House. ISBN 0-7538-0842-0

Munn, Michael (2002) ''Sinatra: The Untold Story''. Robson Books Ltd. ISBN 1-86105-537-4

Rockwell, John (1984) ''Sinatra: An American Classic''. Rolling Stone. ISBN 0-394-53977-X

Rojek, Chris (2004) ''Frank Sinatra''. Polity. ISBN 0-7456-3090-1

Santopietro, Tom (2008) ''Sinatra In Hollywood''. Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 978-0-312-36226-3

Summers, Antony and Swan, Robbyn (2005) ''Sinatra: The Life''. Doubleday. ISBN 0-552-15331-1

Taraborrelli, J. Randall (1998) ''Sinatra: The Man Behind the Myth''. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 1-84018-119-2

Wilson, Earl (1976) ''Sinatra''.

Memoirs

Ash, Vic. (2006) ''I Blew it My Way: Bebop, Big Bands and Sinatra''. Northway Publications. ISBN 0-9550908-2-2

Jacobs, George and Stadiem, William. (2003) ''Mr. S.: The Last Word on Frank Sinatra''. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-330-41229-9

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Criticism

Fuchs, J. & Prigozy, R., ed. (2007) ''Frank Sinatra: The Man, the Music, the Legend''. The Boydell Press. ISBN 1-58046-251-0

Granata, Charles L. (1999) ''Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording''. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-55652-509-4

Hamill, Pete (2003) ''Why Sinatra Matters''. Back Bay Books. ISBN 0-316-73886-7

Mustazza, Leonard, ed. (1998) ''Frank Sinatra and Popular Culture''. Praeger. ISBN 0-275-96495-7

Petkov, Steven and Mustazza, Leonard, ed. (1997) ''The Frank Sinatra Reader''. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-511389-6

Pugliese, S., ed. (2004) ''Frank Sinatra: "History, Identity, and Italian American Culture "''. Palgrave. ISBN 1-4039-6655-9

Smith, Martin (2005) ''When Ol' Blue Eyes Was a Red''. Redwords. ISBN 1-905192-02-9

Zehme, Bill (1997) ''The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin'''. Harper Collins. ISBN 0-06-093175-2

"Frank Sinatra – Through the Lens of Jazz", ''Jazz Times Magazine'', May 1998

Friedwald, Will (1999) ''Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art''. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-684-19368-X

Granata, Charles L. (1999) ''Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording''. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 1-55652-509-5

McNally, Karen (2008) ''When Frankie Went to Hollywood: Frank Sinatra and American Male Identity'' University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-03334-5

Pignone, Charles, with foreword by Sinatra, Frank Jr. and Jones, Quincy (2004) ''The Sinatra Treasures''. Virgin Books. ISBN 1-85227-184-1

Pignone, Charles, with foreword by Sinatra, Amanda (2007) ''Frank Sinatra: The Family Album '' Little Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-00349-2

Sinatra, Julie (2007) ''Under My Skin: My Father, Frank Sinatra The Man Behind the Mystique'' iuniverse.com, ISBN 0-595-43478-9

Sinatra, Nancy (1986) ''Frank Sinatra, My Father''. Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-23356-9

Sinatra, Nancy (1998) ''Frank Sinatra 1915–1998: An American Legend''. Readers Digest. ISBN 0-7621-0134-2

Sinatra, Tina (2000) ''My Father's Daughter''. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-87076-2

Cultural criticism

Gigliotti, Gilbert L. ''A Storied Singer: Frank Sinatra as Literary Conceit''. Greenwood Press, 2002.

Hamill, Pete. ''Why Sinatra Matters''. Back Bay Books, 2003.

Mustazza, Leonard, ed. ''Frank Sinatra and Popular Culture''. Praeger, 1998.

Petkov, Steven and Mustazza, Leonard, ed. ''The Frank Sinatra Reader''. Oxford University Press, 1997.

Pugliese, S., ed. ''Frank Sinatra: "History, Identity, and Italian American Culture "''. Palgrave, 2004.

Smith, Martin. ''When Ol' Blue Eyes was a red''. Redwords, 2005.

Zehme, Bill. ''The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin'''. Harper Collins, 1997.

Other

Gigliotti, Gilbert L., ed. (2008) ''Sinatra: But Buddy I'm a Kind of Poem''. Entasis Press ISBN 978-0-9800999-0-4

Giordmaina, Diane [McCue] (2009) "Sinatra and The Moll". iUniverse. ISBN 978-0-595-53234-6

Havers, Richard (2004) ''Sinatra''. Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 1-4053-1461-3

Ingham, Chris (2005) ''The Rough Guide to Frank Sinatra''. Rough Guides. ISBN 1-84353-414-2

Knight, Timothy (2010) ''Sinatra – Hollywood His Way''. Running Press. ISBN 9780762437436

Kuntz, Tom; Kuntz, Phil (2000) ''The Sinatra Files: The Secret FBI Dossier''. Three Rivers Press ISBN 0-8129-3276-5

Lloyd, David (2003) ''The Gospel According to Frank''. New American Press. ISBN 1-930907-19-2

O'Neill, Terry, ed. Morgan, Robert (2007) ''Sinatra: Frank and Friendly''. Evans Mitchell Books. ISBN 1-901268-32-2

Phasey, Chris (1995) ''Francis Albert Sinatra: Tracked Down'' (Discography). Buckland Publications. ISBN 0-7212-0935-1

''The New Rolling Stone Record Guide'', Rolling Stone Press, 1983.

External links

The House I Live In (1945)

The Frank Sinatra Show (1950–1952)

FBI file on Frank Sinatra

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name	Johnny Carson
birth name	John William Carson
birth date	October 23, 1925
birth place	Corning, Iowa, U.S.
death date	January 23, 2005
death place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
nationality	American
active	1950–1994
signature	Johnny Carson Signature.svg
influences	Groucho Marx, Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Bob Hope, Laurel and Hardy, Red Skelton, George Burns, Milton Berle, Steve Allen, Charlie Chaplin, Don Rickles, Michael Gough
influenced	Ray Combs, Ellen DeGeneres, Kathy Griffin, Bill Hicks, Jay Leno, David Letterman, George Lopez, Bill Maher, Conan O'Brien, Jerry Seinfeld, Garry Shandling
spouse	Joan Morrill Wolcott (1949–1963)Joanne Copeland (1963–1972)Joanna Holland (1972–1985)Alexandra Mass (1987–2005, his death)
notable work	Host of ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''

}} John William "Johnny" Carson (October 23, 1925 January 23, 2005) was an American television host and comedian, known as host of ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' for 30 years (1962–1992). Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the ''Television Academy Hall of Fame'' in 1987. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992, and received Kennedy Center Honors in 1993.

Although his show was already hugely successful by the end of the 1960s, it was during the 1970s that he became an American icon and the "best guest" in American homes up until his retirement in 1992. Carson adopted a casual, conversational approach with extensive interaction with guests, an approach pioneered by Arthur Godfrey and previous ''Tonight Show'' hosts Steve Allen and Jack Paar. Late night hosts David Letterman, Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, Craig Ferguson, and Jimmy Fallon have all cited Carson's influence on their late-night talk shows, which greatly resemble Carson's show in format and tone.

Early life and career

Carson was born in Corning, Iowa, on October 23, 1925 to Homer "Kit" Lloyd Carson, a power company manager, and Ruth Hook Carson. He grew up in the nearby towns of Avoca, Clarinda and Red Oak in southwest Iowa, before moving to Norfolk, Nebraska at the age of eight. At the age of 12 Carson found a book on magic at a friend's house and immediately purchased a mail-order magician's kit. He debuted as "The Great Carsoni" at 14 and was paid $3; many other performances at local picnics and country fairs followed.

After attending Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, he joined the U.S. Navy on June 8, 1943, received V-12 officer training at Columbia University, and continued to perform magic. Commissioned an ensign late in the war, Carson was assigned to the USS ''Pennsylvania'' in the Pacific. He was en route to the combat zone aboard a troopship when the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war. Carson served as a communications officer in charge of decoding encrypted messages, and said that the high point of his military career was performing a magic trick for United States Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal.

Carson then attended the University of Nebraska in Lincoln where he joined Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, continued performing magic (now paid $25 per appearance), wrote a thesis on the structure of Jack Benny's comedy routines, and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in radio and speech with a minor in physics in 1949.

He began his broadcasting career in 1950 at WOW radio and television in Omaha, Nebraska. Carson soon hosted a morning television program called ''The Squirrel's Nest''. One of his routines involved interviewing pigeons on the roof of the local courthouse that would allegedly report on the political corruption they had seen. Carson supplemented his income by serving as master of ceremonies at local church dinners, attended by some of the same politicians and civic leaders that he had lampooned on the radio.

In 1951 Carson visited California and unsuccessfully sought work. The wife of one of the political figures he spoofed owned stock in a radio station in Los Angeles and referred Carson to her brother, who was influential in the emerging television market in Southern California, and later that year Carson went to work at CBS-owned Los Angeles television station KNXT. He would later joke that he owed his success to the birds of Omaha. In 1953 comic Red Skelton — a fan of Carson's "cult success" low-budget sketch comedy show, ''Carson's Cellar'' (1951 to 1953) on KNXT — asked Carson to join his show as a writer. In 1954 Skelton during rehearsal accidentally knocked himself unconscious an hour before his live show began, and Carson successfully filled in for him. In 1955 Jack Benny invited Carson to appear on one of his programs, during the opening and closing segments. Carson imitated Benny and claimed that Benny had copied his gestures. Benny, however, predicted that Carson would have a successful career as a comedian. Carson hosted several shows besides ''Carson's Cellar'', including the game show ''Earn Your Vacation'' (1954) and the variety show ''The Johnny Carson Show'' (1955–1956). He was a regular panelist on the original ''To Tell the Truth'' until 1962. After the prime time ''The Johnny Carson Show'' failed, he moved to New York City to host ''Who Do You Trust?'' (1957–1962), formerly known as ''Do You Trust Your Wife?''. In 1958 he appeared as a guest star in an episode entitled "Do You Trust Your Wife" on NBC's short-lived variety show, ''The Polly Bergen Show''. It was on ''Who Do You Trust?'' that Carson met his future sidekick, Ed McMahon. Although he saw moving to daytime as hurting his career, ''Who Do You Trust?'' was a success. It was the first show where he could ad lib and interview guests, and because of Carson's on-camera wit, the show became "the hottest item on daytime television" during his five years there.

''The Tonight Show''

NBC's ''Tonight'' was the late-night counterpart to its early-morning show ''Today''. Originating in 1953 with host Steve Allen, ''Tonight'' was somewhat experimental at the time, because no television network had yet attempted late-night programming. ''Tonight'' was successful, and when Allen moved on to prime-time comedy-variety shows, Jack Paar replaced him as host of ''Tonight''. Paar left the show in 1962.

Johnny Carson's success on ''Who Do You Trust?'' led NBC to invite him to take over ''Tonight'' a few months before Paar's departure. Carson declined the offer because he feared the difficulty of interviewing celebrities for 105 minutes daily, but NBC asked him again after Bob Newhart, Jackie Gleason, Groucho Marx, and Joey Bishop all declined. Carson accepted in March 1962, but had six months left on his ABC contract, during which NBC used multiple guest hosts including Merv Griffin.

Although he continued to have doubts about his new job, Carson became host of ''Tonight'' (later becoming ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'') on October 1, 1962 and quickly overcame his fears. While ''Tonight'' under its previous hosts had been successful, with Carson the show's ratings soared. Billy Wilder said of Carson:

}}

McMahon followed Carson from ''Who Do You Trust?'' as his announcer and sidekick. McMahon's opening line, "Heeeere's Johnny" was followed by a brief monologue by Carson. This was often followed by comedy sketches, interviews, and music. Carson's trademark was a phantom golf swing at the end of his monologues, aimed stage left toward the studio orchestra. Guest hosts sometimes parodied that gesture. Bob Newhart rolled an imaginary bowling ball toward the audience. Johnny enjoyed what he called the "Carson Kits," or beautiful girls to dress his show. Theona Bryant, a favorite, was a model. The other "Carson Cuties" were Phyllis Applegate, Norma Brooks, and Sally Todd.

Paul Anka wrote the theme song ("Johnny's Theme"), a reworking of his "Toot Sweet", given lyrics, renamed "It's Really Love," and recorded by Annette Funicello in 1959. Before taking over ''The Tonight Show'', Carson wrote lyrics for the song and thus claimed 50 percent of the song's performance royalties (even though the lyrics were never used).

The show was originally produced in New York City, with occasional stints in California. It was not live in its early years, although during the 1970s, NBC fed the live taping from Burbank to New York via satellite for editing (see below). The program had been done "live on tape" (uninterrupted unless a problem occurred) since the Jack Paar days. Carson had a talent for quick quips to deal with problems. If the opening monologue fared poorly, the band would start playing "Tea for Two" and Carson danced, to laughs from the studio audience. Alternatively, Carson might pull the boom mic close to his face and announce ''"Attention K-Mart shoppers!"''

Move to Burbank

In May 1972, the show moved from New York to Burbank, California. Carson often joked about "beautiful downtown Burbank" and referred to "beautiful downtown Bakersfield," which prompted Mayor Mary K. Shell to chide Carson and invite him to her city to see improvements made during the early 1980s.

After July 1971, Carson stopped doing shows five days a week. Instead, on Monday nights there was a guest host, leaving Carson to do the other four each week. Shows were taped in Burbank at 5:30 pm (8:30 pm Eastern time) to be shown that evening at 11:30 pm Eastern time. On September 8, 1980, at Carson's request, the show cut its 90-minute format to 60 minutes; Tom Snyder's ''Tomorrow'' added a half hour to fill the vacant time. Joan Rivers became the "permanent" guest host from September 1983 until 1986, when she was fired for accepting a competing show on Fox without consulting Carson. ''The Tonight Show'' returned to using rotating guest hosts, including comic George Carlin. Jay Leno then became the exclusive guest host in fall 1987. Leno stated that although other guest hosts upped their fees, he kept his low, assuring himself more bookings. Eventually, Monday night was for Leno, Tuesday for ''The Best of Carson'', rebroadcasts usually dating from a year earlier but occasionally from the 1970s.

As Carson's work schedule shortened, ''Tonight'' remained so successful for NBC that his compensation continued to rise; by the mid-1970s Carson had become the highest-paid person on television at about $4 million a year ($}} today), not including nightclub appearances and his other businesses. Carson refused many offers to appear in films, including the title role in ''The Thomas Crown Affair'' and Gene Wilder's role in ''Blazing Saddles''.

In recognition of his 25th anniversary on ''The Tonight Show'', Carson received a personal Peabody Award, with the Board saying he had "become an American institution, a household word, [and] the most widely quoted American"; they also said they "felt the time had come to recognize the contributions that Johnny has made to television, to humor, and to America."

Comic characters

Carson played several continuing characters on sketches during the show, including

Art Fern, the "Tea Time Movie" announcer, whose theme song was "Hooray for Hollywood." Carson once admitted on camera that this was his favorite character, based on late-afternoon TV hosts who would deliver commercials throughout the movie. Each sketch usually featured three long commercials interrupted by silent, four-second clips from antique films. When the camera returned from each clip, Art was always caught off-guard and immediately reminded viewers that they were watching a film favorite. The movies always had unlikely casts and even less likely titles: "Slim Pickens, Patti Page, Duke Wayne, and Charlton Heston in another classic Western: 'Kiss My Saddle Horn'!" Carson originally played the fast-talking huckster in his own voice (as Honest Bernie Schlock or Ralph Willie), and finally settled on a nasal, high-pitched, smarmy drone reminiscent of Jackie Gleason's "Reginald Van Gleason III" character. The character, now permanently known as Art Fern, wore a lavish toupee, loud jackets, and a pencil mustache. Actress Carol Wayne became famous for her 100-plus appearances (1971–1982) as Art's buxom assistant, the Matinée Lady. While Art gave his spiel, she would enter the stage behind him. Art would react to her attractive body, wincing loudly, "''Ho'' — leeeee!" After Carol Wayne's death in 1985, Carson kept Art Fern off the air for most of the next year, and finally hired Danuta Wesley and then Teresa Ganzel to play the Matinée Lady. Carson also used these sketches to poke fun at the intricate Los Angeles interstate system, using a pointer and map to give confusing directions to shoppers often including points where he would unfold the cardboard map to point out, via the appropriate picture, when the shopper would arrive at "the fork in the road." Another freeway routine in the same theme centered around the fictional "Slauson Cutoff." Art Fern would advise drivers to take a series of freeways until they reached the Slauson Cutoff, and would then advise them to "Get out of your car, cut off your slauson, get back in your car," often followed by peals of laughter from the audience, led by McMahon.

Carnac the Magnificent, a turbaned psychic who could answer questions before seeing them. (This same routine had been done by Carson's predecessor, Steve Allen, as "The Answer Man." The Carnac character and routine closely resembled Ernie Kovacs' character "Mr. Question Man.") Carnac had a trademark entrance in which he always turned the wrong direction when coming onto stage and then "tripped" on the step up to Carson's desk. (In one episode, technicians rigged Carson's desk to fall apart when Carnac fell into it.) These comedic missteps were an indication of Carnac's true prescient abilities. Ed McMahon would hand Carnac a series of envelopes, containing questions. Carnac would place each envelope against his forehead and predict the answer, such as "Gatorade." Then he would read the question: "What does an alligator get on welfare?" Some of the jokes were feeble, and McMahon used pauses after terrible puns and audience groans to make light of Carnac's lack of comic success ("Carnac must be used to quiet surroundings"), prompting Carson to return an equal insult. McMahon would always announce near the end, "I hold in my hand the ''last'' envelope," at which the audience would applaud wildly, prompting Carnac to pronounce a comedic "curse" on the audience, such as "May your sister elope with a camel!"

Floyd R. Turbo, American (with no pause between words). A stereotypical redneck wearing a plaid hunting coat and cap, who offered "editorial responses" to left-leaning causes or news events. Railing against women's rights in the workplace, for example, Turbo would shout, "This raises the question: kiss my Dictaphone!"

Aunt Blabby, a cantankerous and sometimes amorous old lady, invariably being interviewed by straight man Ed McMahon about elder affairs. McMahon would innocently use a common expression like "check out," only to have Aunt Blabby warn him, "Don't say 'check out' to an old person!" Aunt Blabby was an obvious copy of Jonathan Winters’ most famous creation, Maude Frickert, including her black spinster dress and wig.

El Mouldo, a mentalist, who would attempt to perform mind-reading and mind-over-matter feats, all of which failed. Often his tricks would include an attempt to bilk money from Ed McMahon or would end with him begging the audience for a dollar, or at least bus fare.

The Maharishi, whose theme song was "Song of India". This frizzy-haired "holy man" spoke in a high-pitched, tranquil tone, greeted announcer McMahon with a flower, and answered philosophical questions.

Carson uncensored on satellite

Even though Carson's program was based in Burbank, NBC's editing and production services for the program were located in New York, resulting in the requirement that Carson's program be transmitted from Burbank to New York. Beginning in 1976, NBC used the Satcom 2 satellite to do this, feeding the live taping (which usually took place in the early evening) directly to New York, where it would be edited prior to the normal broadcast. This live feed lasted usually from two to two-and-a-half hours a night, and was uncensored and commercial-free. During the commercial breaks the audio and picture would be left on, capturing at times risque language and other events that would certainly be edited out later going out over the feed.

At the same time, however, satellite ground stations owned by private individuals began to appear, and some managed to find the live feed. Satellite dish owners began to document their sightings in technical journals, giving viewers knowledge of things they were not meant to see. Carson and his production staff grew concerned about this, and pressured NBC into ceasing the satellite transmissions of the live taping in the early 1980s. The satellite link was replaced by microwave landline transmission until the show's editing facilities were finally moved to Burbank.

Effect on popular culture

Carson's show was the launch for many performers, notably comedians. Many got their break on the show, and it was an achievement to get Carson to laugh and be called to the guest chair. Most notable were Jerry Seinfeld, Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Maher, Ellen Degeneres, Tim Allen, Drew Carey, and Roseanne Barr. Carson was successor to ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' as a showcase for all kinds of talent, as well as continuing a vaudeville-style variety show.

A bit of adult humor was not beyond Carson. During an interview with Dolly Parton, in reference to her large bust, she said, ''"People are always asking if they're real and ... I'll tell you what, these are mine."'' Carson replied, ''"I have certain guidelines on this show. But I would give about a year's pay to peek under there."'' Videotape of the Parton interview survives and has been rebroadcast several times during ''Tonight Show'' retrospectives.

In 1966, Carson singlehandedly popularized the game Twister when he got down on the floor to play it with Eva Gabor. Previous to their game on television, Twister had languished on Milton Bradley's B-list, but after the broadcast, it took off in popularity.

Controversies and feuds

Carson made several routine jokes at the expense of other celebrities. Some years after a high-profile feud between Carson and Wayne Newton, the latter appeared on ''Larry King Live'', declaring that "Johnny Carson was a mean-spirited human being. And there are people that he has hurt that people will never know about. And for some reason at some point, he decided to turn that kind of negative attention toward me. And I refused to have it."

Carson reportedly loathed what he felt was disloyalty among friends. The comedian was displeased when former ''Tonight Show'' guest hosts John Davidson and Joan Rivers got their own talk shows. Rivers' show on the Fox network directly competed with Carson during the 1986-1987 season, and died a quick death. On June 24, 2009 following Ed McMahon's death, Rivers lauded McMahon on ''Larry King Live'' but stated that Carson "never again spoke to me, up to his death."

Carson successfully sued a manufacturer of portable toilets who wanted to call its product "Here's Johnny".

Business ventures

Carson was a major investor in the ultimately failed DeLorean Motor Company.

Carson was head of a group of investors who purchased and operated two television stations. The first was KVVU-TV in Henderson, Nevada, an independent station serving Las Vegas, acquired by the Carson group in 1979. Shortly after buying the station, KVVU was rumored to acquiring an NBC affiliation as then long-time affiliate KORK-TV was in the process of being replaced by KVBC, but it never happened. Carson's second station, independent KNAT-TV in Albuquerque, New Mexico was purchased in 1982. Unlike the Las Vegas operation, KNAT faced stiffer competition for top-quality syndicated programming. Carson sold both of his stations between 1985 and 1986, with KVVU going to Meredith Corporation and KNAT being sold to Trinity Broadcasting Network.

Carson's other business ventures included the successful Johnny Carson Apparel, Inc.—his turtlenecks became a fashion trend—and a failed restaurant franchise.

Retirement

Carson retired from show business on May 22, 1992, when he stepped down as host of ''The Tonight Show''. His farewell was a major media event, and stretched over several nights. It was often emotional for Carson, his colleagues, and the audiences, particularly the farewell statement he delivered on his 4,531st and final ''Tonight Show'':

NBC gave the role of host to the show's then-current permanent guest host, Jay Leno. Leno and David Letterman were soon competing on separate networks.

Post-retirement appearances

At the end of his final ''Tonight Show'' appearance, Carson indicated that he might, if so inspired, return with a new project, but instead chose to go into full retirement, rarely giving interviews and declining to participate in NBC's 75th anniversary celebrations. He made the occasional cameo appearance, including voicing himself on a 1993 episode of ''The Simpsons'' ("Krusty Gets Kancelled"), telephoning David Letterman on a November 1993 episode of ''Late Show with David Letterman'', and appearing in the 1993 NBC Special ''Bob Hope: The First 90 Years''. On May 13, 1994, Carson appeared on ''Late Show with David Letterman''. During a week of shows from Los Angeles, Letterman was having Larry "Bud" Melman (Calvert DeForest) deliver his "Top Ten Lists" under the guise that a famous personality would be delivering the list instead. On the last show of the week, Letterman indicated that Carson would be delivering the list. Instead, DeForest delivered the list, insulted the audience (in keeping with the gag), and walked off to polite applause. Letterman then indicated that the card he was given did not have the proper list on it and asked that the "real" list be brought out. On that cue, the real Johnny Carson emerged from behind the curtain (as Letterman's band played "Johnny's Theme"), an appearance which prompted a standing ovation from the audience. Carson then requested to sit behind Letterman's desk; Letterman obliged, as the audience continued to cheer and applaud. After some moments, Carson departed from the show without having spoken to the audience. He later cited acute laryngitis as the reason for his silence. This night turned out to be Carson's last television appearance.

Letterman

Just days before Carson's death, it was revealed that he occasionally sent jokes to Letterman. Letterman would then use these jokes in the monologue of his show, which Carson got "a big kick out of" according to Worldwide Pants, Inc., Senior Vice-President Peter Lassally, who formerly produced both men's programs. He also claimed that Carson had always believed Letterman, not Leno, to be his "rightful successor." Letterman frequently employs some of Carson's trademark bits on his show, including "Carnac" (with band leader Paul Shaffer as Carnac), "Stump the Band," and the "Week in Review."

Personal life

Despite his on-camera demeanor, Carson was very shy off-camera, avoided most large parties, and was referred to as "the most private public man who ever lived". Dick Cavett recalled that "I felt sorry for Johnny in that he was so socially uncomfortable. I've hardly ever met anybody who had as hard a time as he did." George Axelrod said of Carson: "Socially, he doesn’t exist. The reason is that there are no television cameras in living rooms. If human beings had little-red lights in the middle of their foreheads, Carson would be the greatest conversationalist on earth."

He normally refused to discuss politics, social controversies, his childhood, or private life with interviewers, and offered the following list of prewritten answers to journalists who wanted to ask him questions: #Yes, I did. #Not a bit of truth in that rumor. # Only twice in my life, both times on Saturday. #I can do either, but I prefer the first. #No. Kumquats. #I can’t answer that question. #Toads and tarantulas. #Turkestan, Denmark, Chile, and the Komandorskie Islands. #As often as possible, but I’m not very good at it yet. I need much more practice. #It happened to some old friends of mine, and it’s a story I’ll never forget.

Politics

Carson opposed capital punishment, favored racial equality, and was against crimininalizing extramarital sex and pornography. He avoided explicitly mentioning his views on ''Tonight'', however, saying "I hate to be pinned down" as that would "hurt me as an entertainer, which is what I am".

Marriages

In 1948, Carson married Jody Wolcott. The marriage was volatile, with infidelities by both parties, finally ending in divorce. In 1963, Carson got a "quickie" Mexican divorce from Wolcott and married Joanne Copeland on August 17, 1963. After a protracted divorce in 1972, Copeland received nearly half a million dollars in cash and art, and $100,000 a year in alimony for life.

At the Carson ''Tonight Show'' 10th anniversary party on September 30, 1972, Carson announced that he and former model Joanna Holland had been secretly married that afternoon, shocking his friends and associates. Carson kidded that he had married three similarly named women to avoid "having to change the monogram on the towels." A similar joke was made by Bob Newhart during Carson's roast by Dean Martin. On March 8, 1983, Holland filed for divorce. Under California's community property laws, she was entitled to 50 percent of all the assets accumulated during the marriage, even though Carson earned virtually 100 percent of the couple's income. During this period he joked on ''The Tonight Show'', "My producer, Freddie de Cordova, really gave me something I needed for Christmas. He gave me a gift certificate to the Law Offices of Jacoby & Meyers." The divorce case finally ended in 1985 with an 80-page settlement, Holland receiving $20 million in cash and property.

On June 20, 1987, Carson married Alexis Mass. The marriage lasted until his death in 2005.

Children

Carson had three sons. Richard Carson, his son from his first marriage, died on June 21, 1991, when his car plunged down a steep embankment along a paved service road off Highway 1 near Cayucos, a small town north of San Luis Obispo, California. Apparently, Richard had been taking photographs when the accident occurred. On the first ''Tonight Show'' after Ricky's death, Carson gave a tribute in the final minutes of his show as samples of his son's photographic work (and images of Ricky, himself) were displayed with the music accompaniment of ''Riviera Paradise'' by blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. In addition, the final image — as well as some "More to Come" bumpers — of Carson's last show that aired May 22, 1992 featured a photo Richard had taken.

Charity

In 1981, Carson created the John W. Carson Foundation, dedicated to supporting children, education and health services. The Foundation continues to support charitable causes.

In November 2004, Carson announced a $5.3 million gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation to support the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts' Department of Theatre Arts, which created the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film. Another $5 million donation was announced by the estate of Carson to the University of Nebraska following his death.

Carson also donated to causes in his hometown of Norfolk, including the Carson Cancer Center at Faith Regional Health Services, the Elkhorn Valley Museum, and the Johnny Carson Theater at Norfolk Senior High School.

In August 2010, the charitable foundation created by Johnny Carson reported receiving $156 million from a personal trust established by the entertainer years prior to his January 2005 death. Carson's foundation was now by far the biggest of Hollywood charities.

Other events

Carson, an amateur astronomer, was close friends with astronomer Carl Sagan, who often appeared on ''The Tonight Show''. The unique way Sagan had of saying certain words, like "billions" of galaxies, would lead to Carson ribbing his friend, imitating his voice and saying ''"BILL-ions and BILL-ions"'', a phrase attributed to Sagan. Carson was the first person to contact Sagan's wife with condolences when the scientist died in 1996. He owned several telescopes, including a Questar, considered at the time a top-of-the line telescope.

Carson was shown on a segment of ''60 Minutes'' practicing at home on a drum set given to him by close friend Buddy Rich, who was the jazz musician with the most appearances on ''The Tonight Show''. Writer Gore Vidal, another frequent ''Tonight Show'' guest and friend, writes about Carson's personality in his 2006 memoirs.

In 1982, Carson was found to be driving his DeLorean while under the influence of alcohol. He pled ''nolo contendere'' to a misdemeanor charge and given three years of probation. Carson was required to attend an alcohol program for drivers and was permitted to use his car only to drive to work and back.

Death and tributes

On March 19, 1999, Carson, then 73, suffered a severe heart attack at his home in Malibu, California. Carson was sleeping when he suddenly awoke with severe chest pains. He was rushed to a hospital in nearby Santa Monica where he underwent quadruple-bypass surgery.

At 6:50 AM PST on January 23, 2005, Carson died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, of respiratory failure arising from emphysema. He was 79 years old. Carson had revealed his illness to the public in September 2002. Following Carson's death his body was cremated, and the ashes were given to his wife. In accordance with his family's wishes, no public memorial service was held. There were numerous tributes paid to Carson upon his death, including a statement by then President George W. Bush, recognizing the deep and enduring affection held for him.

On January 24, 2005, ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' paid tribute to Carson with guests Ed McMahon, Bob Newhart, Don Rickles, Drew Carey and k.d. lang. Letterman followed suit on January 31 with former ''Tonight Show'' executive producer Peter Lassally and bandleader Doc Severinsen. During the beginning of this show, Letterman said that for 30 years no matter what was going on in the world, no matter whether people had a good or bad day, they wanted to end the day by being "tucked in by Johnny." Letterman also told his viewers that the monologue he had just given (which had been very well received by the studio audience) had consisted entirely of jokes sent to him by Carson in the last few months of his life. Doc Severinsen ended the Letterman show that night by playing one of Carson's two favorite songs, "Here's That Rainy Day" (the other was "I'll Be Seeing You"). It had been reported over the decades of Carson's fame that he was, off-camera, so intensely private that he had never once invited McMahon to his home. After Carson's death, though, McMahon disputed those rumors and claimed that a close friendship existed. On his final ''Tonight Show'' appearance, Carson himself said that while sometimes people who work together for long stretches of time on television don't necessarily like each other, this was not the case with him and McMahon: They were good friends who would have dinner together, and the camaraderie that they had on the show could not be faked. Carson and McMahon were friends for forty-six years.

A week or so after the tributes, Dennis Miller was on ''The Tonight Show'' and told Jay Leno about the first time he tried to host a talk show, and how miserably it went. He said that he got a call immediately after the first show, from Carson, telling him, "It's not as easy as it looks, is it, kid?"

The 2005 film ''The Aristocrats'' was dedicated to Carson, as well as ''The Simpsons'' episode "Mommie Beerest".

At the 1st Annual Comedy Awards on Comedy Central, the Johnny Carson Award was given to David Letterman.

References

Further reading

Accounts on work and life

Humor material collections

ISBN-10: 1199397350 ASIN: B002J1EG3A

''Johnny Carson Collection'', Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

External links

Official website for ''The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson''

at Salon at ''The New Republic''

1978 profile from ''The New Yorker'' by Kenneth Tynan

''The Johnny Carson Show'' from USA Today

Posthumous Letter to Carson from Steve Martin published in ''The New York Times''

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Obituaries

CNN obituary

MSNBC obituary

Johnny Carson obituary by James Wolcott

Category:1925 births Category:2005 deaths Category:American game show hosts Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American television talk show hosts Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:Deaths from emphysema Category:Disease-related deaths in California Category:Entertainers from Nebraska Category:University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni Category:United States Navy officers Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Peabody Award winners Category:People from Adams County, Iowa

ar:جوني كارسون da:Johnny Carson de:Johnny Carson es:Johnny Carson eo:Johnny Carson fr:Johnny Carson ga:Johnny Carson gl:Johnny Carson id:Johnny Carson it:Johnny Carson he:ג'וני קרסון nl:Johnny Carson ja:ジョニー・カーソン no:Johnny Carson pl:Johnny Carson pt:Johnny Carson simple:Johnny Carson sh:Johnny Carson fi:Johnny Carson sv:Johnny Carson zh:约翰尼·卡森

birth date	November 17, 1942
birth place	Flushing, Queens, NY, U.S.
nationality	American
influences	''in alphabetical order'': Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, Satyajit Ray
years active	1963–present
birth name	Martin Charles Scorsese
occupation	Film director, producer, actor, screenwriter
education	Cardinal Hayes High School
alma mater	New York University / Tisch
spouse	Laraine Marie Brennan (1965–ca 71; divorced)Julia Cameron (1976–77; divorced)Isabella Rossellini (1979–82; divorced)Barbara De Fina (1985–91; divorced)Helen Morris (1999–present)
parents	Charles Scorsese,Catherine Scorsese }}

Martin Charles Scorsese (; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation. He is a recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award for his contributions to the cinema, and has won Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and DGA Awards.

Scorsese's body of work addresses such themes as Italian American identity, Roman Catholic concepts of guilt and redemption, machismo, modern crime and violence. Scorsese is hailed as one of the most significant and influential American filmmakers of all time, directing landmark films such as ''Mean Streets'', ''Taxi Driver'', ''Raging Bull'', and ''Goodfellas'' – all of which he collaborated on with actor and close friend Robert De Niro. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''The Departed'', having been nominated a previous five times.

Martin Scorsese grew up in New York City. His father, Charles Scorsese (1913–1993), and mother, Catherine Scorsese (born Cappa; 1912–97), both worked in New York's Garment District. His father was a clothes presser and an actor, and his mother was a seamstress and an actress. His father's parents emigrated from Polizzi Generosa, in the province of Palermo, Sicily, and his mother was also of Italian descent. Scorsese was raised in a devoutly Catholic environment. As a boy, he had asthma and couldn't play sports or do any activities with other kids and so his parents and his older brother would often take him to movie theaters; it was at this stage in his life that he developed passion for cinema. Enamored of historical epics in his adolescence, at least two films of the genre, ''Land of the Pharaohs'' and ''El Cid'', appear to have had a deep and lasting impact on his cinematic psyche. Scorsese also developed an admiration for neorealist cinema at this time. He recounted its influence in a documentary on Italian neorealism, and commented on how ''Bicycle Thieves'' alongside ''Paisà'', ''Rome, Open City'' inspired him and how this influenced his view or portrayal of his Sicilian genes. In his documentary, ''Il Mio Viaggio in Italia'', Scorsese noted that the Sicilian episode of Roberto Rossellini's ''Paisà'' which he first saw on television alongside his relatives, who were themselves Sicilian immigrants, made a significant impact on his life. He acknowledges owing a great debt to the French New Wave and has stated that "the French New Wave has influenced all filmmakers who have worked since, whether they saw the films or not." He has also cited filmmakers like Satyajit Ray, Ingmar Bergman, Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini as a major influence on his career. His initial desire to become a priest while attending Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx gave way to cinema, and, consequently, Scorsese enrolled in NYU's University College of Arts and Science, (now known as the College of Arts and Science), where he earned a B.A. in English in 1964. He went on to earn his M.F.A. from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in 1966, a year after the school was founded.

Family

Scorsese has been married five times. His first wife was Laraine Marie Brennan; they have a daughter, Catherine. He married the writer Julia Cameron in 1976; they have a daughter, Domenica Cameron-Scorsese, who is an actress and appeared in ''The Age of Innocence'', but the marriage lasted only a year. The divorce was acrimonious and served as the basis of Cameron's first feature, the dark comedy, ''God's Will'', which also starred their daughter, Domenica. Their daughter also had a small role in ''Cape Fear'' using the name Domenica Scorsese and has continued to act, write, direct and produce.

He was married to actress Isabella Rossellini from 1979 to their divorce in 1983. He then married producer Barbara De Fina in 1985; their marriage ended in divorce as well, in 1991. He has been married to Helen Morris since 1999; they have a daughter, Francesca, who appeared in ''The Departed'' and ''The Aviator''. He is primarily based in New York City.

Scorsese has commented, "I'm a lapsed Catholic. But I am Roman Catholic, there's no way out of it."

Career

Early career

Scorsese attended New York University's film school (B.A., English, 1964; M.F.A., film, 1966) making the short films ''What's a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This?'' (1963) and ''It's Not Just You, Murray!'' (1964). His most famous short of the period is the darkly comic ''The Big Shave'' (1967), which features Peter Bernuth. The film is an indictment of America's involvement in Vietnam, suggested by its alternative title ''Viet '67''. Scorsese has mentioned on several occasions that he was greatly inspired in his early days at New York University by his Armenian-American film professor Haig P. Manoogian.

In 1967, Scorsese made his first feature-length film, the black and white ''I Call First'', which was later retitled ''Who's That Knocking at My Door'' with his fellow students actor Harvey Keitel and editor Thelma Schoonmaker, both of whom were to become long-term collaborators. This film was intended to be the first of Scorsese's semi-autobiographical 'J.R. Trilogy', which also would have included his later film, ''Mean Streets''.

1970s

From there he became friends with the influential "movie brats" of the 1970s: Francis Ford Coppola, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg. It was Brian De Palma who introduced Scorsese to Robert De Niro. During this period he worked as the assistant director and one of the editors on the documentary ''Woodstock'' and met actor-director John Cassavetes, who would also go on to become a close friend and mentor.

''Mean Streets''

In 1972 Scorsese made the Depression-era exploiter ''Boxcar Bertha'' for B-movie producer Roger Corman, who had also helped directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, James Cameron, and John Sayles launch their careers. It was Corman who taught Scorsese that entertaining films could be shot with next to no money or time, preparing the young director well for the challenges to come with ''Mean Streets''. Following the film's release, Cassavetes encouraged Scorsese to make the films that he wanted to make, rather than someone else's projects.

Championed by influential movie critic Pauline Kael, ''Mean Streets'' was a breakthrough for Scorsese, De Niro, and Keitel. By now the signature Scorsese style was in place: macho posturing, bloody violence, Catholic guilt and redemption, gritty New York locale (though the majority of ''Mean Streets'' was actually shot in Los Angeles), rapid-fire editing, and a rock soundtrack. Although the film was innovative, its wired atmosphere, edgy documentary style, and gritty street-level direction owed a debt to directors Cassavetes, Samuel Fuller, and early Jean-Luc Godard. (Indeed the film was completed with much encouragement from Cassavetes, who felt ''Boxcar Bertha'' was undeserving of the young director's prodigious talent.)

In 1974, actress Ellen Burstyn chose Scorsese to direct her in ''Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore'', for which she won an Academy Award for Best Actress. Although well regarded, the film remains an anomaly in the director's early career, as it focuses on a central female character. Returning to Little Italy to explore his ethnic roots, Scorsese next came up with Italianamerican, a documentary featuring his parents, Charles and Catherine Scorsese.

''Taxi Driver''

''Taxi Driver'' followed in 1976 – Scorsese's dark, urban nightmare of one lonely man's slow, deliberate descent into insanity.

The film established Scorsese as an accomplished filmmaker and also brought attention to cinematographer Michael Chapman, whose style tends towards high contrasts, strong colors and complex camera movements. The film starred Robert De Niro as the troubled and psychotic Travis Bickle. The film co-starred Jodie Foster in a highly controversial role as an underage prostitute, and Harvey Keitel as her pimp, Matthew, called "Sport."

''Taxi Driver'' also marked the start of a series of collaborations between Scorsese and writer Paul Schrader, whose influences included the diary of would-be assassin Arthur Bremer and ''Pickpocket'', a film by the French director Robert Bresson. Writer/director Schrader often returns to Bresson's work in films such as ''American Gigolo'', ''Light Sleeper'', and Scorsese's later ''Bringing Out the Dead''.

Already controversial upon its release, ''Taxi Driver'' hit the headlines again five years later, when John Hinckley, Jr. made an assassination attempt on then-President Ronald Reagan. He subsequently blamed his act on his obsession with Jodie Foster's ''Taxi Driver'' character (in the film, De Niro's character, Travis Bickle, makes an assassination attempt on a senator).

''Taxi Driver'' won the Palme d'Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival, also receiving four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, although all were unsuccessful.

Scorsese was subsequently offered the role of Charles Manson in the movie ''Helter Skelter'' and a part in Sam Fuller's war movie ''The Big Red One'', but he turned both down. However he did accept the role of a gangster in exploitation movie ''Cannonball'' directed by Paul Bartel. In this period there were also several directorial projects that never got off the ground including ''Haunted Summer'', about Mary Shelley and a film with Marlon Brando about the Indian massacre at Wounded Knee.

''New York, New York'' and ''The Last Waltz''

The critical success of ''Taxi Driver'' encouraged Scorsese to move ahead with his first big-budget project: the highly stylized musical ''New York, New York''. This tribute to Scorsese's home town and the classic Hollywood musical was a box-office failure.

''New York, New York'' was the director's third collaboration with Robert De Niro, co-starring with Liza Minnelli (a tribute and allusion to her father, legendary musical director Vincente Minnelli). The film is best remembered today for the title theme song, which was popularized by Frank Sinatra. Although possessing Scorsese's usual visual panache and stylistic bravura, many critics felt its enclosed studio-bound atmosphere left it leaden in comparison to his earlier work.

Despite its weak reception, the film is regarded by some to be among the director's finest achievements. Richard Brody in the ''New Yorker'' wrote: "For Scorsese, a lifelong cinephile, the essence of New York could be found in its depiction in classic Hollywood movies. Remarkably, his backward-looking tribute to the golden age of musicals and noirish romantic melodramas turned out to be one of his most freewheeling and personal films." Jean-Luc Godard is another admirer of the film.

The disappointing reception that ''New York, New York'' received drove Scorsese into depression. By this stage the director had also developed a serious cocaine addiction. However, he did find the creative drive to make the highly regarded ''The Last Waltz'', documenting the final concert by The Band. It was held at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, and featured one of the most extensive lineups of prominent guest performers at a single concert, including Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Neil Diamond, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Paul Butterfield, Ronnie Wood and Van Morrison. However, Scorsese's commitments to other projects delayed the release of the film until 1978.

Another Scorsese-directed documentary entitled ''American Boy'' also appeared in 1978, focusing on Steven Prince, the cocky gun salesman who appeared in ''Taxi Driver''. A period of wild partying followed, damaging the director's already fragile health.

Scorsese also helped provide footage for the documentary ''Elvis on Tour''.

1980s

''Raging Bull''

By several accounts (Scorsese's included), Robert De Niro practically saved Scorsese's life when he persuaded Scorsese to kick his cocaine addiction to make his highly regarded film, ''Raging Bull''. Convinced that he would never make another movie, he poured his energies into making this violent biopic of middleweight boxing champion Jake LaMotta, calling it a Kamikaze method of film-making. The film is widely viewed as a masterpiece and was voted the greatest film of the 1980s by Britain's ''Sight & Sound'' magazine. It received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Robert De Niro, and Scorsese's first for Best Director. De Niro won, as did Thelma Schoonmaker for editing, but Best Director went to Robert Redford for ''Ordinary People''.

''Raging Bull'', filmed in high contrast black and white, is where Scorsese's style reached its zenith: ''Taxi Driver'' and ''New York, New York'' had used elements of expressionism to replicate psychological points of view, but here the style was taken to new extremes, employing extensive slow-motion, complex tracking shots, and extravagant distortion of perspective (for example, the size of boxing rings would change from fight to fight). Thematically too, the concerns carried on from ''Mean Streets'' and ''Taxi Driver'': insecure males, violence, guilt, and redemption.

Although the screenplay for ''Raging Bull'' was credited to Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin (who earlier co-wrote ''Mean Streets''), the finished script differed extensively from Schrader's original draft. It was re-written several times by various writers including Jay Cocks (who went on to co-script later Scorsese films ''The Age of Innocence'' and ''Gangs of New York''). The final draft was largely written by Scorsese and Robert De Niro.

The American Film Institute chose ''Raging Bull'' as the #1 American sports film on their list of the top 10 sports films.

''The King of Comedy''

Scorsese's next project was his fifth collaboration with Robert De Niro, ''The King of Comedy'' (1983). A satire on the world of media and celebrity, it was an obvious departure from the more emotionally committed films he had become associated with. Visually, it was far less kinetic than the style Scorsese had developed up until this point, often using a static camera and long takes. The expressionism of his recent work here gave way to moments of almost total surrealism. It still bore many of Scorsese's trademarks, however, such as its focus on a troubled loner who ironically becomes famous through a criminal act (murder and kidnapping, respectively).

''The King of Comedy'' failed at the box office, but has become increasingly well regarded by critics in the years since its release. German director Wim Wenders numbered it among his fifteen favourite films. Also, Scorsese apparently believes that this is the best performance De Niro ever gave for him.

Next Scorsese made a brief cameo appearance in the movie ''Anna Pavlova'' (also known as ''A Woman for All Time''), originally intended to be directed by one of his heroes, Michael Powell. This led to a more significant role in Bertrand Tavernier's jazz movie ''Round Midnight''.

In 1983 Scorsese began work on a long-cherished personal project, ''The Last Temptation of Christ'', based on the 1951 (English translation 1960) novel written by Nikos Kazantzakis, who was introduced to the director by actress Barbara Hershey when they were both attending New York University in the late 1960s. The movie was slated to shoot under the Paramount Pictures banner, but shortly before principal photography was to commence, Paramount pulled the plug on the project, citing pressure from religious groups. In this aborted 1983 version, Aidan Quinn was cast as Jesus, and Sting was cast as Pontius Pilate. (In the 1988 version, these roles were played respectively by Willem Dafoe and David Bowie.)

''After Hours''

After the collapse of this project Scorsese again saw his career at a critical point, as he described in the documentary ''Filming for Your Life: Making 'After Hours''' (2004). He saw that in the increasingly commercial world of 1980s Hollywood, the highly stylized and personal 1970s films he and others had built their careers on would not continue to enjoy the same status. Scorsese decided then on an almost totally new approach to his work. With ''After Hours'' (1985) he made an aesthetic shift back to a pared-down, almost "underground" film-making style – his way of staying viable. Filmed on an extremely low budget, on location, and at night in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan, the film is a black comedy about one increasingly misfortunate night for a mild New York word processor (Griffin Dunne) and featured cameos by such disparate actors as Teri Garr and Cheech and Chong. A bit of a stylistic anomaly for Scorsese, ''After Hours'' fits in well with popular low-budget "cult" films of the 1980s, e.g. Jonathan Demme's ''Something Wild'' and Alex Cox's ''Repo Man''.

''The Color of Money''

Along with the 1987 Michael Jackson music video "Bad", in 1986 Scorsese made ''The Color of Money'', a sequel to the much admired Robert Rossen film ''The Hustler'' (1961) with Paul Newman. Although typically visually assured, ''The Color of Money'' was the director's first foray into mainstream commercial film-making. It won actor Paul Newman a belated Oscar and gave Scorsese the clout to finally secure backing for a project that had been a long time goal for him: ''The Last Temptation of Christ''. He also made a brief venture into television, directing an episode of Steven Spielberg's ''Amazing Stories''.

''The Last Temptation of Christ''

After his mid-80s flirtation with commercial Hollywood, Scorsese made a major return to personal film-making with the Paul Schrader-scripted ''The Last Temptation of Christ'' in 1988. Based on Nikos Kazantzakis's controversial 1960 book, it retold the life of Christ in human rather than divine terms. Even prior to its release the film caused a massive furore, worldwide protests against its blasphemy effectively turning a low budget independent movie into a media sensation. Most controversy centered on the final passages of the film which depicted Christ marrying and raising a family with Mary Magdalene in a Satan-induced hallucination while on the cross.

Looking past the controversy, ''The Last Temptation of Christ'' gained critical acclaim and remains an important work in Scorsese's canon: an explicit attempt to wrestle with the spirituality which had under-pinned his films up until that point. The director went on to receive his second nomination for a Best Director Academy Award (again unsuccessfully, this time losing to Barry Levinson for ''Rain Man'').

Along with directors Woody Allen and Francis Ford Coppola, in 1989 Scorsese provided one of three segments in the portmanteau film ''New York Stories'', called "Life Lessons".

1990s

''Goodfellas''

After a decade of mostly mixed results, Gangster epic ''Goodfellas'' (1990) was a return to form for Scorsese and his most confident and fully realized film since ''Raging Bull''. De Niro and Joe Pesci in ''Goodfellas'' offered a virtuoso display of the director's bravura cinematic technique and re-established, enhanced, and consolidated his reputation. After the film was released Roger Ebert, a friend and supporter of Scorsese, named ''Goodfellas'' "the best mob movie ever" and is ranked #1 on Roger's movie list for 1990, along with Gene Siskel and Peter Travers, the film is widely considered one of the director's greatest achievements.

However, ''Goodfellas'' also signified an important shift in tone in the director's work, inaugurating an era in his career which was technically accomplished but some have argued emotionally detached. Despite this, many view ''Goodfellas'' as a Scorsese archetype – the apogee of his cinematic technique.

The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, Scorsese earned his third Best Director nomination for ''Goodfellas'' but again lost to a first-time director, Kevin Costner (''Dances With Wolves''). Joe Pesci earned the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in ''Goodfellas''. Scorsese and the film won over a numerous of different awards, including five BAFTA Awards, a Silver Lion and more.

After the film, ''Goodfellas'' was acknowledged as the second best in the gangster film genre (after ''The Godfather''). The American Film Institute put ''Goodfellas'' at #94 on the AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies list and on the 2007 updated version they moved ''Goodfellas'' up to #92 on the AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies list (10th Anniversary Edition) and they put ''Goodfellas'' at #2 on their list of the top 10 Gangster films.

In 1990, he acted in a cameo role as Vincent van Gogh in the film ''Dreams'' by legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa.

''Cape Fear''

1991 brought ''Cape Fear'', a remake of a cult 1962 movie of the same name, and the director's seventh collaboration with De Niro. Another foray into the mainstream, the film was a stylized thriller taking its cues heavily from Alfred Hitchcock and Charles Laughton's ''The Night of the Hunter'' (1955). ''Cape Fear'' received a mixed critical reception and was lambasted in many quarters for its scenes depicting misogynistic violence. However, the lurid subject matter did give Scorsese a chance to experiment with a dazzling array of visual tricks and effects. The film garnered two Oscar nominations. Earning eighty million dollars domestically, it would stand as Scorsese's most commercially successful release until ''The Aviator'' (2004), and then ''The Departed'' (2006). The film also marked the first time Scorsese used wide-screen Panavision with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1.

''The Age of Innocence''

The opulent and handsomely mounted ''The Age of Innocence'' (1993) was on the surface a huge departure for Scorsese, a period adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel about the constrictive high society of late-19th Century New York. It was highly lauded by critics upon original release, but was a box office bomb. As noted in ''Scorsese on Scorsese'' by editor/interviewer Ian Christie, the news that Scorsese wanted to make a film about a 19th Century failed romance raised many eyebrows among the film fraternity all the more when Scorsese made it clear that it was a personal project and not a studio for-hire job.

Scorsese was interested in doing a "romantic piece". His friend, Jay Cocks gave him the Wharton novel in 1980, suggesting that this should be the romantic piece Scorsese should film as Cocks felt it best represented his sensibility. In ''Scorsese on Scorsese'' he noted that:

::''"Although the film deals with New York aristocracy and a period of New York history that has been neglected, and although it deals with code and ritual, and with love that's not unrequited but unconsummated – which pretty much covers all the themes I usually deal with – when I read the book, I didn't say, 'Oh good, all those themes are here.'"''

Scorsese, who was strongly drawn to the characters and the story of Wharton's text, wanted his film to be as rich an emotional experience as the book was to him rather than the traditional academic adaptations of literary works. To this aim, Scorsese sought influence from diverse period films which made an emotional impact on him. In ''Scorsese on Scorsese'', he documents influences from films such as Luchino Visconti's ''Senso'' and his ''Il Gattopardo'' as well as Orson Welles's ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' and also Roberto Rossellini's ''La Prise de pouvoir par Louis XIV''. Although ''The Age of Innocence'' was ultimately different than these films in terms of narrative, story and thematic concern, the presence of a lost society, of lost values as well as detailed re-creations of social customs and rituals continues the tradition of these films.

Recently, it has started to come back into the public eye, especially in countries such as the UK and France, but still is largely neglected in North America. The film earned five Academy Award nominations (including for Scorsese for Best Adapted Screenplay), winning the Costume Design Oscar. It also made a significant impact on directors such as Chinese auteur Tian Zhuangzhuang, and British filmmaker Terence Davies, both of whom ranked it among their ten favorite films.

This was his first collaboration with the Academy Award winning actor, Daniel Day-Lewis, with whom he would work again in ''Gangs of New York''.

''Casino''

1995's expansive ''Casino'', like ''The Age of Innocence'' before it, focused on a tightly wound male whose well-ordered life is disrupted by the arrival of unpredictable forces. The fact that it was a violent gangster film made it more palatable to fans of the director who perhaps were baffled by the apparent departure of the earlier film. Critically, however, ''Casino'' received mixed notices. In large part this was due to its huge stylistic similarities to his earlier ''Goodfellas'', and its excessive violence that garnered it a reputation as possibly the most violent American gangster film ever made . Indeed many of the tropes and tricks of the earlier film resurfaced more or less intact, most obviously the casting of both Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, Pesci once again being an unbridled psychopath. Sharon Stone was nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award for her performance.

During the filming Scorsese played a background part as a gambler at one of the tables. It is quite often rumored that a real game of poker was being held at the time between extras and that a pot of $2000 was at stake.

''A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies''

Scorsese still found time for a four hour documentary in 1995 offering a thorough trek through American cinema. It covered the silent era to 1969, a year after which Scorsese began his feature career, stating "I wouldn't feel right commenting on myself or my contemporaries."

''Kundun''

If ''The Age of Innocence'' alienated and confused some fans, then ''Kundun'' (1997) went several steps further, offering an account of the early life of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, the People's Liberation Army's entering of Tibet, and the Dalai Lama's subsequent exile to India. Not least a departure in subject matter, ''Kundun'' also saw Scorsese employing a fresh narrative and visual approach. Traditional dramatic devices were substituted for a trance-like meditation achieved through an elaborate tableau of colourful visual images.

The film was a source of turmoil for its distributor, Disney, who was planning significant expansion into the Chinese market at the time. Initially defiant in the face of pressure from Chinese officials, Disney has since distanced itself from the project, hurting ''Kundun'''s commercial profile.

In the short term, the sheer eclecticism in evidence enhanced the director's reputation. In the long term however, it generally appears ''Kundun'' has been sidelined in most critical appraisals of the director, mostly noted as a stylistic and thematic detour. ''Kundun'' was the director's second attempt to profile the life of a great religious leader, following ''The Last Temptation of Christ''.

''Bringing Out the Dead''

''Bringing Out the Dead'' (1999) was a return to familiar territory, with the director and writer Paul Schrader constructing a pitch-black comic take on their own earlier ''Taxi Driver''. Like previous Scorsese-Schrader collaborations, its final scenes of spiritual redemption explicitly recalled the films of Robert Bresson. (It's also worth noting that the film's incident-filled nocturnal setting is reminiscent of ''After Hours''.) It received generally positive reviews, although not the universal critical acclaim of some of his other films. It stars Nicolas Cage, Ving Rhames, John Goodman, Tom Sizemore, and Patricia Arquette.

2000s

''Gangs of New York''

In 1999 Scorsese also produced a documentary on Italian filmmakers entitled ''Il Mio Viaggio in Italia'', also known as ''My Voyage to Italy''. The documentary foreshadowed the director's next project, the epic ''Gangs of New York'' (2002), influenced by (amongst many others) major Italian directors such as Luchino Visconti and filmed in its entirety at Rome's famous Cinecittà film studios.

With a production budget said to be in excess of $100 million, ''Gangs of New York'' was Scorsese's biggest and arguably most mainstream venture to date. Like ''The Age of Innocence'', it was set in 19th-century New York, although focusing on the other end of the social scale (and like that film, also starring Daniel Day-Lewis). The film also marked the first collaboration between Scorsese and actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who since then has become a fixture in later Scorsese films.

The production was highly troubled with many rumors referring to the director's conflict with Miramax boss Harvey Weinstein. Despite denials of artistic compromise, ''Gangs of New York'' revealed itself to be the director's most conventional film: standard film tropes which the director had traditionally avoided, such as characters existing purely for exposition purposes and explanatory flashbacks, here surfaced in abundance. The original score composed by regular Scorsese collaborator Elmer Bernstein was rejected at a late stage for a score by Howard Shore and mainstream rock artists U2 and Peter Gabriel. The final cut of the movie ran to 168 minutes, while the director's original cut was over 180 minutes in length. The film still received generally positive reviews with the review tallying website Rotten Tomatoes reporting that 75% of the reviews they tallied for the film were positive and summarizing the critics by saying "Though flawed, the sprawling, messy Gangs of New York is redeemed by impressive production design and Day-Lewis's electrifying performance."

Nonetheless, the themes central to the film were consistent with the director's established concerns: New York, violence as culturally endemic, and sub-cultural divisions down ethnic lines.

Originally filmed for a release in the winter of 2001 (to qualify for Academy Award nominations), Scorsese delayed the final production of the film until after the beginning of 2002; the studio consequently delayed the film for nearly a year until its release in the Oscar season of late 2002.

''Gangs of New York'' earned Scorsese his first Golden Globe for Best Director. In February 2003, ''Gangs of New York'' received ten Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Daniel Day-Lewis, however it did not win in any category.

Scorsese also had uncredited involvement as executive producer with the 2002 film ''Deuces Wild'', written by Paul Kimatian.

''The Blues''

The following year Scorsese completed production of ''The Blues'', an expansive seven part documentary tracing the history of blues music from its African roots to the Mississippi Delta and beyond. Seven film-makers including Wim Wenders, Clint Eastwood, Mike Figgis, and Scorsese himself each contributed a 90 minute film (Scorsese's entry was entitled "Feel Like Going Home").

''The Aviator''

Scorsese's film ''The Aviator'' (2004), was a lavish, large-scale biopic of eccentric aviation pioneer and film mogul Howard Hughes and would reunite Scorsese with actor Leonardo DiCaprio. The film received highly positive reviews. The film also met with widespread box office success and gained Academy recognition.

''The Aviator'' was nominated for six Golden Globe awards, including ''Best Motion Picture – Drama'', ''Best Director'', ''Best Screenplay'', and ''Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama'' for Leonardo DiCaprio. It won three, including ''Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama''. In January 2005, ''The Aviator'' became the most-nominated film of the 77th Academy Awards nominations, nominated in 11 categories including Best Picture. The film also garnered nominations in nearly all of the other major categories, including a fifth Best Director nomination for Scorsese, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Leonardo DiCaprio), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Cate Blanchett), and Alan Alda for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Despite having a leading tally, the film ended up with only five Oscars: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing and Best Cinematography. Scorsese lost again, this time to director Clint Eastwood for ''Million Dollar Baby'' (which also won Best Picture).

''No Direction Home''

''No Direction Home'' is a documentary film by Martin Scorsese that tells of the life of Bob Dylan, and his impact on American popular music and culture of the 20th century. The film does not cover Dylan's entire career; it focuses on his beginnings, his rise to fame in the 1960s, his then-controversial transformation from an acoustic guitar-based musician and performer to an electric guitar-influenced sound and his "retirement" from touring in 1966 following an infamous motorcycle accident. The film was first presented on television in both the United States (as part of the PBS ''American Masters'' series) and the United Kingdom (as part of the BBC Two ''Arena'' series) on September 26–27, 2005. A DVD version of the film was released that same month. The film won a Peabody award. In addition, Scorsese received an Emmy nomination for it.

''The Departed''

Scorsese returned to the crime genre with the Boston-set thriller ''The Departed'', based on the Hong Kong police drama ''Infernal Affairs''. Along with Matt Damon, Leonardo Di Caprio, ''The Departed'' was Scorsese's first collaboration with Jack Nicholson and Martin Sheen.

''The Departed'' opened to widespread critical acclaim with some proclaiming it as one of the best efforts Scorsese had brought to the screen since 1990's ''Goodfellas'', and still others putting it at the same level as Scorsese's most celebrated classics ''Taxi Driver'' and ''Raging Bull''. With domestic box office receipts surpassing $129,402,536, ''The Departed'' was Scorsese's highest grossing film (not accounting for inflation) until 2010's ''Shutter Island''.

Martin Scorsese's direction of ''The Departed'' earned him his second Golden Globe for Best Director, as well as a Critic's Choice Award, his first Director's Guild of America Award, and the Academy Award for Best Director. While being presented with the award, Scorsese said "Could you double-check the envelope?" It was presented to him by his longtime friends and colleagues Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, and George Lucas. ''The Departed'' also received the Academy Award for the Best Motion Picture of 2006, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing by longtime Scorsese editor Thelma Schoonmaker, her third win for a Scorsese film, though many thought Scorsese deserved Academy Awards in his past films as well.

''Shine a Light''

''Shine a Light'' is a concert film of rock and roll band The Rolling Stones' performances at New York City's Beacon Theater on October 29 and November 1, 2006, intercut with brief news and interview footage from throughout the band's career.

The film was initially scheduled for release on September 21, 2007, but Paramount Classics postponed its general release until April 2008. Its world premiere was at the opening of the 58th Berlinale Film Festival on February 7, 2008.

2010s

''Shutter Island''

On October 22, 2007, ''Daily Variety'' reported that Scorsese would reunite with Leonardo DiCaprio on a fourth picture, ''Shutter Island''. Principal photography on the Laeta Kalogridis screenplay, based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, began in Massachusetts in March 2008.

In December 2007, actors Mark Ruffalo, Max von Sydow, Ben Kingsley, and Michelle Williams joined the cast, marking the first time these four actors have worked with Scorsese. The film was released on February 19, 2010. On May 20, 2010, the film was Scorsese's highest grossing film.

''Boardwalk Empire''

Scorsese directed the series premiere for ''Boardwalk Empire'', an HBO drama series, starring Steve Buscemi and Michael Pitt, and based upon Nelson Johnson's book ''Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times and Corruption of Atlantic City''. Terence Winter, who previously wrote for ''The Sopranos'', created the series. In addition to directing the pilot, Scorsese will also serve as an executive producer on the series.

The series premiered on September 19, 2010 and was renewed for a second season.

''George Harrison: Living in the Material World''

Scorsese directed a three-and-a-half-hour documentary about the life and music of former Beatles member George Harrison, which premiered in the United States on HBO over two parts on October 5 and 6, 2011.

''Hugo''

''Hugo'' is a 3D adventure drama film based on Brian Selznick's novel ''The Invention of Hugo Cabret''. The film stars Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Ray Winstone, Emily Mortimer and Jude Law. The film has been met with critical acclaim and earned Scorsese his third Golden Globe Award for Best Director. The film was also nominated for eleven Academy Awards.

This is Scorsese’s first film shot in 3D and was released in the US on November 23, 2011.

Future films

Scorsese has announced several potential future projects. A documentary feature on Scorsese by artist Melinda Camber Porter was nearly complete when she lost her life to cancer.

After the release of his newest film, ''Hugo'', Scorsese anticipates filming an adaptation of Shusaku Endo's novel ''Silence'', a drama about the voyages of two Portuguese Jesuit priests in Japan during the 17th Century. Scorsese had originally planned ''Silence'' as his next project following ''Shutter Island.'' Scorsese reported that his long-planned Frank Sinatra biopic is coming up, with Phil Alden Robinson writing the screenplay. He is also attached to direct ''The Irishman'', which will star Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino. It has also been announced that Scorsese is attached to direct an adaptation of Norwegian crime writer Jo Nesbø's novel ''The Snowman''.

Collaborations with Robert De Niro

Scorsese frequently collaborated with Robert De Niro, making a total of eight films with the actor. After being introduced to him in the early 1970s, Scorsese cast De Niro in his 1973 film ''Mean Streets''. Three years later, De Niro starred in ''Taxi Driver'', this time holding the lead role. De Niro re-joined Scorsese for ''New York, New York'' in 1977, but the film was unsuccessful. Nevertheless, their partnership continued into the 1980s, when the pair made ''Raging Bull'', which was highly successful, and ''The King of Comedy''. In the 1990s, De Niro starred in ''Goodfellas'', one of the pair's most praised films, and 1991's ''Cape Fear'', before making ''Casino ''in 1995. The two also voiced major parts in the 2004 film ''Shark Tale''. Scorsese and De Niro plan to re-unite for a film referred to as ''The Irishman'' based on the book ''I Heard You Paint Houses'', although a date for the project is uncertain.

Honors

In 2007, Scorsese was listed among ''Time'' magazine's 100 Most Influential People in The World.

In August 2007 Scorsese was named the 2nd greatest director of all time in a poll by ''Total Film'' magazine, in front of Steven Spielberg and behind Alfred Hitchcock.

In 2007, Scorsese was honored by the National Italian American Foundation (N.I.A.F.) at the nonprofit's thirty-second Anniversary Gala. During the ceremony, Scorsese helped launch N.I.A.F.'s Jack Valenti Institute, which provides support to Italian film students in the U.S., in memory of former Foundation Board Member and past president of the Motion Picture Association of America (M.P.A.A.) Jack Valenti. Scorsese received his award from Mary Margaret Valenti, Jack's widow. Certain pieces of Scorsese's film related material and personal papers are contained in the Wesleyan University Cinema Archives to which scholars and media experts from around the world may have full access. In 2011 Scorsese received an honorary doctorate from the National Film School in Lodz. At the awards ceremony he said, "I feel like I'm a part of this school and that I attended it", paying tribute to the films of Wajda, Munk, Has, Polanski and Skolimowski.

Director trademarks

Begins his films with segments taken from the middle or end of the story. Examples include ''Raging Bull'' (1980), ''Goodfellas'' (1990), ''Casino'' (1995), and ''The Last Waltz''. Frequent use of slow motion, e.g. ''Mean Streets'' (1973), ''Taxi Driver'' (1976), ''Raging Bull'' (1980), and ''Goodfellas'' (1990) . Also known for using freeze frame, such as the opening credits of ''The King of Comedy'' (1983), and throughout ''Goodfellas'' (1990). His lead characters are often morally ambiguous, prone to violence, and/or want to be accepted in society or a society (The Departed, Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas) and are not infrequently sociopaths (Cape Fear, Raging Bull, Casino).

In most of his films the main character often falls in love and has a wife, and often has a turning point between the main character and the wife. e.g. ''Raging Bull'', ''Goodfellas'', and ''Casino''.

His blonde leading ladies are usually seen through the eyes of the protagonist as angelic and ethereal; they wear white in their first scene and are photographed in slow-motion (Cybill Shepherd in ''Taxi Driver''; Cathy Moriarty's white bikini in ''Raging Bull''; Sharon Stone's white minidress in ''Casino''). This may possibly be a nod to director Alfred Hitchcock. Often uses long tracking shots. Example: ''Goodfellas'' (1990) Use of MOS sequences set to popular music or voice over, often involving aggressive camera movement and/or rapid editing.

The supporting actor will often betray the protagonist (Micheal in ''Mean Streets'', Judas Iscariot in ''The Last Temptation of Christ'', Jimmy Conway in ''Goodfellas'', Nicky Santoro in ''Casino'')

Often has a quick cameo in his films (''Mean Streets'', ''Taxi Driver'', ''The King of Comedy'', ''After Hours'', ''The Last Temptation of Christ'' (albeit hidden under a hood), ''Casino'', ''The Age of Innocence'', ''Gangs of New York'', ''Hugo''). Also, often contributes his voice to a film without showing his face on screen. He provides the opening voice-over narration in ''Mean Streets'' and ''The Color of Money''; plays the off-screen dressing room attendant in the final scene of ''Raging Bull''; provides the voice of the unseen ambulance dispatcher in ''Bringing out the Dead''. Frequently uses New York City as the main setting in his films, e.g. ''Gangs of New York'', ''Taxi Driver'', ''The Age of Innocence'', ''The King of Comedy'', ''After Hours'', ''New York, New York'', and ''Mean Streets''.

Sometimes highlights characters in a scene with an iris, an homage to 1920s silent film cinema (as scenes at the time sometimes used this transition). This effect can be seen in ''Casino'' (it is used on Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci), ''Life Lessons'', and ''The Departed'' (on Matt Damon).

Some of his films include references/allusions to Westerns, particularly ''Shane'', ''The Searchers'' and ''The Oklahoma Kid''.

More recently, his films have featured corrupt authority figures, such as policemen in ''The Departed'' and politicians in ''Gangs of New York'' and ''The Aviator''.

Guilt is a prominent theme in many of his films, as is the role of Catholicism in creating and dealing with guilt (''Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Bringing Out the Dead, Mean Streets, Who's That Knocking at My Door, Shutter Island'').

Slow motion flashbulbs and accented camera/flash/shutter sounds.

The song ''Gimme Shelter'' by the Rolling Stones is heard in several of Scorsese's films, including ''Goodfellas'', ''Casino'' and ''The Departed''.

Some of his films are inspired by a true story. Examples: ''Raging Bull'', ''Goodfellas'', and ''Casino''.

Frequent collaborations

Scorsese often casts the same actors in his films, particularly Robert De Niro, who collaborated with Scorsese for eight films. Included are the three films (''Raging Bull'', ''Taxi Driver'', and ''Goodfellas'') that made AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list. Scorsese has often said he thinks De Niro's best work under his direction was Rupert Pupkin in ''The King of Comedy''. Most recently, Scorsese has found a new muse with young actor Leonardo DiCaprio, with whom he has collaborated for four films, with two others confirmed to be in the works. Several critics have compared Scorsese's new partnership with DiCaprio with his previous one with De Niro. Other frequent collaborators include Victor Argo (6), Harry Northup (6), Harvey Keitel (5), Murray Moston (5), Joe Pesci (3), Frank Vincent (3) and Verna Bloom (3). Daniel Day-Lewis, who had become very reclusive to the Hollywood scene, Alec Baldwin, Ben Kingsley, Jude Law, Emily Mortimer, John C. Reilly, Frank Sivero, and Ray Winstone have also appeared in multiple Scorsese films. Before their deaths, Scorsese's parents, Charles Scorsese and Catherine Scorsese, appeared in bit parts, walk-ons or supporting roles, most notably in ''Goodfellas''.

For his crew, Scorsese frequently worked with editor Thelma Schoonmaker, cinematographers Michael Ballhaus and Robert Richardson, screenwriters Paul Schrader Mardik Martin, and John Logan, costume designer Sandy Powell, production designer Dante Ferretti, and composers Robbie Robertson, Howard Shore and Elmer Bernstein. Schoonmaker, Richardson, Powell, and Ferretti have all won Academy Awards in their respective categories on collaborations with Scorsese. Elaine and Saul Bass, the latter being Hitchcock's frequent title designer, designed the opening credits for ''Goodfellas'', ''The Age of Innocence'', ''Casino'' and ''Cape Fear''. He was the executive producer of the film ''Brides'', which was directed by Pantelis Voulgaris and starred Victoria Haralabidou, Damien Lewis, Steven Berkoff and Kosta Sommer.

! Actor/Actress

! ''Who's That Knocking at My Door'' (1968)

! ''Boxcar Bertha'' (1972)

! ''Mean Streets'' (1973)

! ''Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore'' (1974)

! ''Taxi Driver'' (1976)

! ''New York, New York (film)>New York, New York'' (1977)

! ''Raging Bull'' (1980)

! ''The King of Comedy (1983 film)>The King of Comedy'' (1983)

! ''After Hours (film)>After Hours'' (1985)

! ''The Color of Money'' (1986)

! ''The Last Temptation of Christ (film)>The Last Temptation of Christ'' (1988)

! ''Goodfellas'' (1990)

! ''Cape Fear (1991 film)>Cape Fear'' (1991)

! ''The Age of Innocence (film)>The Age of Innocence'' (1993)

! ''Casino (film)>Casino'' (1995)

! ''Kundun'' (1997)

! ''Bringing Out the Dead'' (1999)

! ''Gangs of New York'' (2002)

! ''The Aviator (2004 film)>The Aviator'' (2004)

! ''The Departed'' (2006)

! ''Shutter Island (film)>Shutter Island'' (2010)

! ''Hugo (film)>Hugo'' (2011)

! Victor Argo

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Awards and recognitions

Scorsese received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1997.

In 1998, the American Film Institute placed three Scorsese films on their list of the greatest movies in America: ''Raging Bull'' at #24, ''Taxi Driver'' at #47 and ''Goodfellas'' at #94. For their tenth anniversary edition of the list, ''Raging Bull'' was moved to #4, ''Taxi Driver'' was moved to #52 and ''Goodfellas'' was moved to #92.

Scorsese received the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic on January 18, 2001.

In 2001, AFI put two Scorsese films on their list of the most "heart-pounding movies" in American cinema: ''Taxi Driver'' at #22 and ''Raging Bull'' at #51.

On June 17, 2008, AFI put two of Scorsese's films on the AFI's 10 Top 10 list: ''Raging Bull'' at #1 for the Sports genre and ''Goodfellas'' at #2 for the Gangster genre.

At a ceremony in Paris, France, on January 5, 2005, Martin Scorsese was awarded the French Legion of Honor in recognition of his contribution to cinema.

In 2007, Scorsese won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''The Departed'', which also won Best Picture.

On September 11, 2007, the Kennedy Center Honors committee, which recognizes career excellence and cultural influence, named Scorsese as one of the honorees for the year.

Scorsese was the recipient of the 2010 Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 67th Golden Globe Awards.

On September 18, 2011, at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards, Scorsese won in the category Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, for his work on the series premiere of ''Boardwalk Empire''.

On January 15, 2012, at the 69th Golden Globe Awards, Scorsese won an award for Best Director on the 2011 movie ''Hugo''. Scorsese has earned praise from many film legends including Ingmar Bergman, Frank Capra, Jean-Luc Godard, Werner Herzog, Elia Kazan, Akira Kurosawa, David Lean, Michael Powell, Satyajit Ray, and François Truffaut.

Filmography

See also

List of film collaborations

References

External links

Martin Scorsese Bibliography (via UC Berkeley)

They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?

Martin Scorsese Life in Pictures Interview recorded at BAFTA London – 2010

Scorsese interviews on ''BBC''

1999 Princeton Q&A; lecture (RealMedia video)

Podcast: Scorsese Discusses His Digital Workflow Techniques

Martin Scorsese's response to a Proust Questionnaire

Category:1942 births Category:Living people Category:Academy Award winners category:Actors from New York City Category:American documentary filmmakers Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American film directors of Italian descent Category:American film editors Category:American film producers Category:American music video directors Category:American people of Sicilian descent Category:American Roman Catholics Category:American screenwriters Category:American voice actors Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Best Director Academy Award winners Category:Best Director Golden Globe winners Category:César Award winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Film theorists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Légion d'honneur recipients Category:New York Democrats Category:People from Queens

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name	Dean Martin
background	solo_singer
birth name	Dino Paul Crocetti
alias	Dean MartinThe King of CoolDinoDino Martini
born	June 07, 1917Steubenville, Ohio, U.S.
died	December 25, 1995Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
genre	Big band, easy listening, pop standard, country
years active	1939–1995
occupation	Musician, singer-songwriter, actor, comedian, film producer
label	Capitol, Reprise }}

Dean Martin (June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995), born Dino Paul Crocetti, was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "Mambo Italiano", "Sway", "Volare" and smash hit "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?". Nicknamed the "King of Cool", he was one of the members of the "Rat Pack" and a major star in four areas of show business: concert stage/night clubs, recordings, motion pictures, and television.

Early life

Martin was born in Steubenville, Ohio, to Italian parents, Gaetano and Angela Crocetti (née Barra). His father was from Abruzzo, Italy, and his mother was an Italian of part Neapolitan and part Sicilian ancestry. Martin was the younger of two sons. His brother was named Bill. Martin spoke only Italian until he started school. He attended Grant Elementary School in Steubenville, and took up the drums as a hobby as a teenager. He was the target of much ridicule for his broken English and ultimately dropped out of Steubenville High School in the 10th grade because he thought that he was smarter than his teachers. He delivered bootleg liquor, served as a speakeasy croupier, was a blackjack dealer, worked in a steel mill and boxed as welterweight. He grew up a neighbor to Jimmy the Greek.

At the age of 15, he was a boxer who billed himself as "Kid Crochet". His prizefighting years earned him a broken nose (later straightened), a scarred lip, and many sets of broken knuckles (a result of not being able to afford the tape used to wrap boxers' hands). Of his twelve bouts, he would later say "I won all but eleven." For a time, he roomed with Sonny King, who, like Martin, was just starting in show business and had little money. It is said that Martin and King held bare-knuckle matches in their apartment, fighting until one of them was knocked out; people paid to watch.

Eventually, Martin gave up boxing. He worked as a roulette stickman and croupier in an illegal casino behind a tobacco shop where he had started as a stock boy. At the same time, he sang with local bands. Calling himself "Dino Martini" (after the then-famous Metropolitan Opera tenor, Nino Martini), he got his first break working for the Ernie McKay Orchestra. He sang in a crooning style influenced by Harry Mills (of the Mills Brothers), among others. In the early 1940s, he started singing for bandleader Sammy Watkins, who suggested he change his name to Dean Martin.

In October 1941, Martin married Elizabeth Anne McDonald. During their marriage (ended by divorce in 1949), they had four children. Martin worked for various bands throughout the early 1940s, mostly on looks and personality until he developed his own singing style. Martin famously flopped at the Riobamba, a high class nightclub in New York, when he succeeded Frank Sinatra in 1943, but it was the setting for their meeting.

Drafted into the United States Army in 1944 during World War II, Martin served a year stationed in Akron, Ohio. He was then reclassified as 4-F (possibly because of a double hernia; Jerry Lewis referred to the surgery Martin needed for this in his autobiography) and was discharged.

By 1946, Martin was doing relatively well, but was still little more than an East Coast nightclub singer with a common style, similar to that of Bing Crosby. He drew audiences to the clubs he played, but he inspired none of the fanatic popularity enjoyed by Sinatra.

Mafia connections

A biography on Martin entitled ''Dean Martin: King of the Road'' by Michael Freedland alleged he had links to the Mafia early in his career. According to this book, Martin was given help with his singing career by the Chicago Outfit who owned saloons in the city, and later performed in shows hosted by these bosses when he was a star. The mob bosses were Tony ("Joe Batters") Accardo and Sam Giancana. Freedland suggests Martin felt little sympathy for the Mafia and did them small favors only if it was not inconvenient for him. Another book, ''The Animal in Hollywood'' by John L. Smith, depicted Martin's longtime friendship with Mafia mobsters "Handsome Johnny" Roselli and Anthony ("The Animal") Fiato. Smith suggests that Fiato did Martin many favors, such as getting back money from two swindlers who had cheated Martin's ex-wife Betty out of thousands of dollars of her alimony.

Career

Teaming with Jerry Lewis

Martin attracted the attention of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures, but a Hollywood contract was not forthcoming. He met comic Jerry Lewis at the Glass Hat Club in New York, where both men were performing. Martin and Lewis formed a fast friendship which led to their participation in each other's acts and the ultimate formation of a music-comedy team.

Martin and Lewis's official debut together occurred at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 24, 1946, and they were not well received. The owner, Skinny D'Amato, warned them that if they did not come up with a better act for their second show later that night, they would be fired. Huddling together in the alley behind the club, Lewis and Martin agreed to "go for broke", to throw out the pre-scripted gags and to improvise. Martin sang and Lewis came out dressed as a busboy, dropping plates and making a shambles of both Martin's performance and the club's sense of decorum until Lewis was chased from the room as Martin pelted him with breadrolls. They did slapstick, reeled off old vaudeville jokes, and did whatever else popped into their heads at the moment. This time, the audience doubled over in laughter. This success led to a series of well-paying engagements on the Eastern seaboard, culminating in a triumphant run at New York's Copacabana. Patrons were convulsed by the act, which consisted primarily of Lewis interrupting and heckling Martin while he was trying to sing, and ultimately the two of them chasing each other around the stage and having as much fun as possible. The secret, both said, is that they essentially ignored the audience and played to one another.

The team made its TV debut on the very first broadcast of CBS-TV network's ''Toast of the Town'' (later called ''The Ed Sullivan Show'') with Ed Sullivan and Rodgers & Hammerstein appearing on this same inaugural telecast of June 20, 1948. A radio series commenced in 1949, the same year Martin and Lewis were signed by Paramount producer Hal B. Wallis as comedy relief for the movie ''My Friend Irma''.

Their agent, Abby Greshler, negotiated for them one of Hollywood's best deals: although they received only a modest $75,000 between them for their films with Wallis, Martin and Lewis were free to do one outside film a year, which they would co-produce through their own York Productions. They also had complete control of their club, record, radio and television appearances, and it was through these endeavors that they earned millions of dollars.

In ''Dean & Me'', Lewis calls Martin one of the great comic geniuses of all time. But the harsh comments from the critics, as well as frustration with the formulaic similarity of Martin and Lewis movies, which producer Hal Wallis stubbornly refused to change, led to Martin's dissatisfaction. He put less enthusiasm into the work, leading to escalating arguments with Lewis. They finally could not work together, especially after Martin told his partner he was "nothing to me but a dollar sign". The act broke up in 1956, 10 years to the day from the first official teaming.

Martin's first solo film, ''Ten Thousand Bedrooms'' (1957), was a box office failure. He was still popular as a singer, but with rock and roll surging to the fore, the era of the pop crooner was waning.

The CBS film, ''Martin and Lewis'', a made-for-TV movie about the famous comedy duo, starred Jeremy Northam as Martin, and Sean Hayes as Lewis. It depicted the years from 1946–1956.

Solo career

Never totally comfortable in films, Martin wanted to be known as a real actor. Though offered a fraction of his former salary to co-star in a war drama, ''The Young Lions'' (1957), he was ecstatic to receive the part because it would be a dramatic showcase with the two most intriguing young actors of the period and he could learn from Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift. Tony Randall already had the part, but talent agency MCA realized that with this movie, Martin would become a triple threat: they could make money from his work in night clubs, movies, and records. Martin replaced Randall and the film turned out to be the beginning of Martin's spectacular comeback. Success would continue as Martin starred alongside Frank Sinatra for the first time in a highly acclaimed Vincente Minnelli drama, ''Some Came Running'' (1958). By the mid '60s, Martin was a top movie, recording, and nightclub star, while Lewis' film career declined. Martin was acclaimed for his performance as Dude in ''Rio Bravo'' (1959), directed by Howard Hawks and also starring John Wayne and singer Ricky Nelson. He teamed up again with Wayne in ''The Sons of Katie Elder'' (1965), somewhat unconvincingly cast as brothers.

In 1960, Martin was cast in the motion picture version of the Judy Holliday hit stage play ''Bells Are Ringing''. Martin played a satiric variation of his own womanizing persona as Vegas singer "Dino" in Billy Wilder's comedy ''Kiss Me, Stupid'' (1964) with Kim Novak, and he was not above poking fun at his image in films such as the ''Matt Helm'' spy spoofs of the 1960s, in which he was a co-producer.

As a singer, Martin copied the styles of Harry Mills (of the Mills Brothers), Bing Crosby, and Perry Como until he developed his own and could hold his own in duets with Sinatra and Crosby. Like Sinatra, he could not read music, but he recorded more than 100 albums and 600 songs. His signature tune, "Everybody Loves Somebody", knocked The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" out of the number-one spot in the United States in 1964. This was followed by the similarly-styled "The Door is Still Open to My Heart", which reached number six later that year. Elvis Presley was said to have been influenced by Martin, and patterned "Love Me Tender" after his style. Martin, like Elvis, was influenced by country music. By 1965, some of Martin's albums, such as ''Dean "Tex" Martin,'' ''The Hit Sound Of Dean Martin,'' ''Welcome To My World'' and ''Gentle On My Mind'' were composed of country and western songs made famous by artists like Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, and Buck Owens. Martin hosted country performers on his TV show and was named "Man Of the Year" by the Country Music Association in 1966. "Ain't That a Kick in the Head", a song Martin performed in ''Ocean's Eleven'' that never became a hit at the time, has enjoyed a spectacular revival in the media and pop culture.

For three decades, Martin was among the most popular acts in Las Vegas. Martin sang and was one of the smoothest comics in the business, benefiting from the decade of raucous comedy with Lewis. Martin's daughter, Gail, also sang in Vegas and on his TV show, co-hosting his summer replacement series on NBC. Though often thought of as a ladies' man, Martin spent a lot of time with his family; as second wife Jeanne put it, prior to the couple's divorce, "He was home every night for dinner."

The Rat Pack

As Martin's solo career grew, he and Frank Sinatra became close friends. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Martin and Sinatra, along with friends Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, and Sammy Davis, Jr. formed the legendary Rat Pack, so called by the public after an earlier group of social friends, the Holmby Hills Rat Pack centered on Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, of which Sinatra had been a member.

The Martin-Sinatra-Davis-Lawford-Bishop group referred to themselves as "The Summit" or "The Clan" and never as "The Rat Pack", although this has remained their identity in the popular imagination. The men made films together, formed an important part of the Hollywood social scene in those years, and were politically influential (through Lawford's marriage to Patricia Kennedy, sister of President John F. Kennedy).

The Rat Pack were legendary for their Las Vegas performances. For example, the marquee at the Sands Hotel might read DEAN MARTIN---MAYBE FRANK---MAYBE SAMMY. Las Vegas rooms were at a premium when the Rat Pack would appear, with many visitors sleeping in hotel lobbies or cars to get a chance to see the three men together. Their act (always in tuxedo) consisted of each singing individual numbers, duets and trios, along with much seemingly improvised slapstick and chatter. In the socially-charged 1960s, their jokes revolved around adult themes, such as Sinatra's infamous womanizing and Martin's legendary drinking, as well as many at the expense of Davis's race and religion. Davis famously practiced Judaism and used Yiddish phrases onstage, eliciting much merriment from both his stage-mates and his audiences. It was all good-natured male bonding, never vicious, rarely foul-mouthed, and the three had great respect for each other. The Rat Pack was largely responsible for the integration of Las Vegas. Sinatra and Martin steadfastly refused to appear anywhere that barred Davis, forcing the casinos to open their doors to African-American entertainers and patrons, and to drop restrictive covenants against Jews.

Posthumously, the Rat Pack has experienced a popular revival, inspiring the George Clooney/Brad Pitt "Ocean's" trilogy. An HBO film, ''The Rat Pack'', starred Joe Mantegna as Martin, Ray Liotta as Sinatra and Don Cheadle as Davis. It depicted their contribution to JFK's election in 1960.

The 1960s to 1980s

In 1965, Martin launched his weekly NBC comedy-variety series, ''The Dean Martin Show'', which exploited his public image as a lazy, carefree boozer. There he perfected his famous laid-back persona of the half-drunk crooner suavely hitting on beautiful women with hilarious remarks that would get anyone else slapped, and making snappy if slurred remarks about fellow celebrities during his famous roasts. During an interview he stated, and this may have been tongue-in-cheek, that he had someone record them on cassette tape so he could listen to them; this is evidenced by his comments to this effect on the British TV documentary 'Wine, Women and Song' which was aired in 1983.

The TV show was a success. Martin prided himself on memorizing whole scripts – not merely his own lines. He disliked rehearsing because he firmly believed his best performances were his first. The show's loose format prompted quick-witted improvisation from Martin and the cast. On occasion, he made remarks in Italian, some mild obscenities that brought angry mail from offended, Italian-speaking viewers. This prompted a battle between Martin and NBC censors, who insisted on more scrutiny of the show's content. The show was often in the Top Ten. Martin, deeply appreciative of the efforts of the show's producer, his friend Greg Garrison, later made a handshake deal giving Garrison, a pioneer TV producer in the 1950s, 50% ownership of the show. However, the validity of that ownership is currently the subject of a lawsuit brought by NBC Universal.

Despite Martin's reputation as a heavy drinker – a reputation perpetuated via his vanity license plates reading "DRUNKY" – he was remarkably self-disciplined. He was often the first to call it a night, and when not on tour or on a film location, liked to go home to see his wife and children. Phyllis Diller has said that Martin was indeed drinking alcohol onstage and not apple juice. She also commented that although he was not drunk, he was not really sober either, but had very strict rules when it came to performances. He borrowed the lovable-drunk shtick from Joe E. Lewis, but his convincing portrayals of heavy boozers in ''Some Came Running'' and Howard Hawks's ''Rio Bravo'' led to unsubstantiated claims of alcoholism. More often than not, Martin's idea of a good time was playing golf or watching TV, particularly westerns – not staying with Rat Pack friends Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. into the early hours of the morning.

Martin starred in and co-produced a series of four Matt Helm superspy comedy adventures. A fifth, ''The Ravagers'', was planned starring Sharon Tate and Martin in a dual role, one as a serial killer, but due to the murder of Tate and the decline of the spy genre the film was never made.

By the early 1970s, ''The Dean Martin Show'' was still earning solid ratings, and although he was no longer a Top 40 hitmaker, his record albums continued to sell steadily. His name on a marquee could guarantee casinos and nightclubs a standing-room-only crowd. He found a way to make his passion for golf profitable by offering his own signature line of golf balls. Shrewd investments had greatly increased Martin's personal wealth; at the time of his death, Martin was reportedly the single largest minority shareholder of RCA stock. Martin even managed to cure himself of his claustrophobia by reportedly locking himself in the elevator of a tall building and riding up and down for hours until he was no longer panic-stricken.

Martin retreated from show business. The final (1973–74) season of his variety show would be retooled into one of celebrity roasts, requiring less of Martin's involvement. After the show's cancellation, NBC continued to air the ''Dean Martin Celebrity Roast'' format in a series of TV specials through 1984. In those 11 years, Martin and his panel of pals successfully ridiculed and made fun of these legendary stars in this order: Ronald Reagan, Hugh Hefner, Ed McMahon, William Conrad, Kirk Douglas, Bette Davis, Barry Goldwater, Johnny Carson, Wilt Chamberlain, Hubert Humphrey, Carroll O'Connor, Monty Hall, Jack Klugman & Tony Randall, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Leo Durocher, Truman Capote, Don Rickles, Ralph Nader, Jack Benny, Redd Foxx, Bobby Riggs, George Washington, Dan Rowan & Dick Martin, Hank Aaron, Joe Namath, Bob Hope, Telly Savalas, Lucille Ball, Jackie Gleason, Sammy Davis Jr, Michael Landon, Evel Knievel, Valerie Harper, Muhammad Ali, Dean Martin, Dennis Weaver, Joe Garagiola, Danny Thomas, Angie Dickinson, Gabe Kaplan, Ted Knight, Peter Marshall, Dan Haggerty, Frank Sinatra, Jack Klugman, Jimmy Stewart, George Burns, Betty White, Suzanne Somers, Joan Collins, and Mr T. For nearly a decade, Martin had recorded as many as four albums a year for Reprise Records. That stopped in November 1974, when Martin recorded his final Reprise album - ''Once In A While,'' released in 1978. His last recording sessions were for Warner Brothers Records. An album titled ''The Nashville Sessions'' was released in 1983, from which he had a hit with "(I Think That I Just Wrote) My First Country Song", which was recorded with Conway Twitty and made a respectable showing on the country charts. A followup single "L.A. Is My Home" / "Drinking Champagne" came in 1985. The 1975 film ''Mr. Ricco'' marked Martin's final starring role, and Martin limited his live performances to Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

Martin seemed to suffer a mid-life crisis. In 1972, he filed for divorce from his second wife, Jeanne. A week later, his business partnership with the Riviera was dissolved amid reports of the casino's refusal to agree to Martin's request to perform only once a night. He was quickly snapped up by the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, and signed a three-picture deal with MGM Studios. Less than a month after his second marriage had been legally dissolved, Martin married 26-year-old Catherine Hawn on April 25, 1973. Hawn had been the receptionist at the chic Gene Shacrove hair salon in Beverly Hills. They divorced November 10, 1976. He was also briefly engaged to Gail Renshaw, Miss World-U.S.A. 1969.

Eventually, Martin reconciled with Jeanne, though they never remarried. He also made a public reconciliation with Jerry Lewis on Lewis' Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon in 1976. Frank Sinatra shocked Lewis and the world by bringing Martin out on stage. As Martin and Lewis embraced, the audience erupted in cheers and the phone banks lit up, resulting in one of the telethon's most profitable years. Lewis reported the event was one of the three most memorable of his life. Lewis brought down the house when he quipped, "So, you working?" Martin, playing drunk, replied that he was "at the Meggum" – this reference to the MGM Grand Hotel convulsed Lewis. This, along with the death of Martin's son Dean Paul Martin a few years later, helped to bring the two men together. They maintained a quiet friendship but only performed together again once, in 1989, on Martin's 72nd birthday.

Personal life

Martin was married three times. Martin's first wife, Betty McDonald, tried by all accounts to be a good wife and mother to their four children, but her efforts were ultimately undone by her alcoholism . It remains a matter of speculation whether her alcoholism led to the failure of the marriage, or whether Martin's infidelities led to Betty's alcoholism. Subsequent to their divorce, Martin gained custody of their children; Betty lived out her life in quiet obscurity in San Francisco. Their children were Stephen Craig (born June 29, 1942), Claudia Dean (March 16, 1944 - 2001 from breast cancer), Barbara Gail (born April 11, 1945) and Deana (Dina) (born August 19, 1948).

Martin's second wife was Jeanne Biegger. A stunning blonde, Jeanne could sometimes be spotted in Martin's audience while he was still married to Betty. Their marriage lasted twenty-four years (1949–1973) and produced three children. Their children were Dean Paul (November 17, 1951 - March 21, 1987; plane crash), Ricci James (born September 20, 1953) and Gina Caroline (born December 20, 1956).

Martin's third marriage, to Catherine Hawn, lasted three years. One of Martin's managers had spotted her at the reception desk of a hair salon on Rodeo Drive, then arranged a meeting. Martin adopted Hawn's daughter, Sasha, but their marriage also failed. Martin initiated divorce proceedings.

Martin's uncle was Leonard Barr, who appeared in several of his shows.

Later years and death

On December 1, 1983 while gambling at the Golden Nugget casino in Atlantic City, Martin and Sinatra intimidated the dealer and several employees into breaking New Jersey law by making the dealer deal the cards by hand instead of from a shoe. Although Sinatra and Martin were implicated as the cause of the violation, neither was fined by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. The Golden Nugget received a $25,000 fine (which Sinatra paid, stating that it was his responsibility as he and Martin were the cause of the fine) and four employees including the dealer, a supervisor and pit boss were suspended from their jobs without pay.

Martin returned to films briefly with appearances in the two star-laden yet critically panned Cannonball Run movies. He also had a minor hit single with "Since I Met You Baby" and made his first music video, which appeared on MTV. The video was created by Martin's youngest son, Ricci.

On March 21, 1987, Martin's son, Dean Paul (formerly Dino of the '60s "teeny-bopper" rock group Dino, Desi & Billy), was killed when his F-4 Phantom II jet fighter crashed while flying with the California Air National Guard. A much-touted tour with Davis and Sinatra in 1988 sputtered. On one occasion, he infuriated Sinatra when he turned to him and muttered "Frank, what the hell are we doing up here?" Martin, who always responded best to a club audience, felt lost in the huge stadiums they were performing in (at Sinatra's insistence), and he was not interested in drinking until dawn after performances. His final Vegas shows were at Bally's Hotel in 1990. There he had his final reunion with Jerry Lewis on his 72nd birthday. Martin's last two TV appearances involved tributes to his former Rat Pack members. On December 8, 1989, he joined many stars of the entertainment industry in Sammy Davis, Jr's 60th anniversary celebration, which aired only a few weeks before Davis died from throat cancer. In December 1990, he congratulated Frank Sinatra on his 75th birthday special. By early 1995, Martin had officially retired from performing.

Martin, a life-long smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer at Cedars Sinai Medical Center on 16 September 1993. He died of acute respiratory failure resulting from emphysema at his Beverly Hills home on Christmas morning 1995, at age 78. The lights of the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed in his honor.

Tributes and legacy

In 1996, Ohio Rte. 7, through Steubenville, was re-dedicated as "Dean Martin Boulevard." Road signs bearing an Al Hirschfeld caricature of Martin's likeness officially designate the stretch, along with a state historical marker, in the Gazebo Park at Route 7 and North Fourth Street.

An annual "Dean Martin Festival" celebration is held in Steubenville. Impersonators, friends and family of Martin, and various entertainers, many of Italian ancestry, appear.

In 2005, Las Vegas renamed Industrial Road as ''Dean Martin Drive.'' A similarly named street was dedicated in 2008 in Rancho Mirage, California.

Martin's family was presented a gold record in 2004 for ''Dino: The Essential Dean Martin'', his fastest-selling album ever, which also hit the iTunes Top 10. For the week ending December 23, 2006, the Dean Martin and Martina McBride duet of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" reached #7 on the R&R; AC chart. It also went to #36 on the R&R; Country chart - the last time Martin had a song this high in the charts was in 1965, with the song "I Will", which reached #10 on the Pop chart.

An album of duets, ''Forever Cool'', was released by Capitol/EMI in 2007. It features Martin's voice with Kevin Spacey, Shelby Lynne, Joss Stone, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Robbie Williams, McBride and others.

His footprints were immortalized at Grauman's Chinese Theater in 1964. Martin has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: One at 6519 Hollywood Boulevard, for movies; one at 1817 Vine, for recordings; and one at 6651 Hollywood Boulevard, for television.

In February 2009, Martin was honored with a posthumous Grammy award for Lifetime Achievement. Four of his surviving children, Gail, Deana, Ricci and Gina, were on hand to accept on his behalf. In 2009, Martin was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

Popular culture

A number of Dean Martin songs have constantly been featured across popular culture for decades. Hit songs such as "Ain't That a Kick in the Head", "Sway", "That's Amore", and Martin's signature song "Everybody Loves Somebody" (and many more) have been used in films (such as the Oscar-winning ''Logorama'', ''A Bronx Tale'', ''Casino'', ''Goodfellas'', and ''Return to Me''), television series (such as ''American Dad!'', ''Friends'', and ''House MD''), video games (such as ''The Godfather: The Game'', ''The Godfather II'', ''Fallout: New Vegas'', and ''Mafia II''), and even fashion shows (such as the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2008).

In film and television

In That '70s show episode, S-6/E-2 "Join Together." When the Forman's were throwing away all of their bad foods and drinks, because of Red's Heart Attack. Red's beloved beer and his meats were taken away and Red's Fresh mouth son, Eric said,"Whoa look at this, it looks like Dean Martin exploded!"

In the movie ''A Bronx Tale'', Martin's song, "Ain't That A Kick In The Head?", was featured during the scene when C was playing dice.

A Budweiser TV commercial that premiered during Super Bowl XLI featured Martin's "Ain't That A Kick In The Head?".

British actor Jeremy Northam portrayed the entertainer in a made-for-TV movie called, ''Martin and Lewis'', alongside Will & Grace's Sean Hayes as Jerry Lewis.

Martin was portrayed by Joe Mantegna in an HBO movie about Sinatra and Martin titled ''The Rat Pack''. Mantegna was nominated for both an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the role.

In the movie ''Return to Me'', three of his recordings are featured: "Good Morning, Life," "Buona Sera" and "Return to Me".

Danny Gans portrayed Martin in the miniseries ''Sinatra''.

In the pilot episode of ''White Collar'', Peter refers to Neal as "Dino", referencing the newly-found Sy Devore suits that Neal now wears – made famous by the "Rat Pack".

In the movie ''Pulp Fiction'', Mia Wallace and Vincent Vega go out to dinner at "Jack Rabbit Slim's" – she chooses "Martin and Lewis", and a $5 milkshake shows up.

In the movie ''Moonstruck'', Martin's recording of "That's Amore" plays over both the opening and closing credits.

In a Royal Automobile Club commercial, "Memories are Made of This" is sung.

In games and gambling

Martin is the subject of "Dean Martin's Wild Party", a video slot machine found in some casinos. The game features songs sung by Martin during the bonus game and the count-up of a player's winnings.

The 2010 video game, ''Fallout: New Vegas'', features Martin's "Ain't that a Kick in the Head?" throughout the game. It can be listened to on the "New Vegas" radio channel and heard on the loud speakers when you enter the Vegas Strip. The first quest of the game is also ironically named after the same song, as the player character is inflicted with a headshot wound.

Dean Martin's music is featured on the radios in the game Mafia II and Godfather II.

In music

A compilation album called, ''Amore!'', debuted at Number One on ''Billboard magazine'''s Top Pop Catalog Albums chart in its February 21, 2009 issue.

Other

In the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2008, "Ain't That A Kick In The Head?" was the opening song from the show.

Discography

Filmography

Features: {|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- |1946 |''Film Vodvil: Art Mooney and Orchestra'' | |Short |- |1949 |''My Friend Irma'' |Steve Laird | |- |rowspan=3|1950 |''My Friend Irma Goes West'' |Steve Laird | |- |''At War with the Army'' |1st Sgt. Vic Puccinelli | |- |''Screen Snapshots: Thirtieth Anniversary Special'' | |Short |- |1951 |''That's My Boy'' |Bill Baker | |- |rowspan=4|1952 |''Sailor Beware'' |Al Crowthers | |- |''Jumping Jacks'' |Corp. Chick Allen | |- |''Road to Bali'' |Man in Lala's dream |Cameo (uncredited) |- |''The Stooge'' |Bill Miller | |- |rowspan=3|1953 |''Scared Stiff'' |Larry Todd | |- |''The Caddy'' |Joe Anthony | |- |''Money from Home'' |Herman 'Honey Talk' Nelson | |- |rowspan=2|1954 |''Living It Up'' |Dr. Steve Harris | |- |''3 Ring Circus'' |Peter 'Pete' Nelson | |- |rowspan=2|1955 |''You're Never Too Young'' |Bob Miles | |- |''Artists and Models'' |Rick Todd | |- |rowspan=3|1956 |''Screen Snapshots: Hollywood, City of Stars'' | |Short |- |''Pardners'' |Slim Mosely Jr. / Slim Mosely Sr. | |- |''Hollywood or Bust'' |Steve Wiley | |- |1957 |''Ten Thousand Bedrooms'' |Ray Hunter | |- |rowspan=2|1958 |''The Young Lions'' |Michael Whiteacre | |- |''Some Came Running'' |Bama Dillert (professional gambler) | |- |rowspan=2|1959 |''Rio Bravo'' |Dude ('Borachón') | |- |''Career'' |Maurice 'Maury' Novak | |- |rowspan=4|1960 |''Who Was That Lady?'' |Michael Haney |Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |- |''Bells Are Ringing'' |Jeffrey Moss | |- |''Ocean's Eleven'' |Sam Harmon | |- |''Pepe'' | |Cameo |- |rowspan=2|1961 |''All in a Night's Work'' |Tony Ryder | |- |''Ada'' |Bo Gillis | |- |rowspan=4|1962 |''Something's Got to Give'' |Nicholas 'Nick' Arden |(unfinished) |- |''Sergeants 3'' |Sgt. Chip Deal | |- |''The Road to Hong Kong'' |The 'Grape' on plutonium |Cameo (uncredited) |- |''Who's Got the Action?'' |Steve Flood | |- |rowspan=5|1963 |''38-24-36'' |Self | |- |''Come Blow Your Horn'' |The Bum |(uncredited) |- |''Toys in the Attic'' |Julian Berniers | |- |''4 for Texas'' |Joe Jarrett | |- |''Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?'' |Jason Steel | |- |rowspan=3|1964 |''What a Way to Go!'' |Leonard 'Lennie' Crawley | |- |''Robin and the 7 Hoods'' |Little John | |- |''Kiss Me, Stupid'' |Dino | |- |rowspan=2|1965 |''The Sons of Katie Elder'' |Tom Elder | |- |''Marriage on the Rocks'' |Ernie Brewer | |- |rowspan=3|1966 |''The Silencers'' |Matt Helm | |- |''Texas Across the River'' |Sam Hollis | |- |''Murderers' Row'' |Matt Helm | |- |rowspan=2|1967 |''Rough Night in Jericho'' |Alex Flood | |- |''The Ambushers'' |Matt Helm | |- |rowspan=4|1968 |''How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life'' |David Sloane | |- |''Bandolero!'' |Dee Bishop | |- |''Rowan & Martin at the Movies'' | |Short |- |''5 Card Stud'' |Van Morgan | |- |1969 |''The Wrecking Crew'' |Matt Helm | |- |1970 |''Airport'' |Capt. Vernon Demerest | |- |1971 |''Something Big'' |Joe Baker | |- |1973 |''Showdown'' |Billy Massey | |- |1975 |''Mr. Ricco'' |Joe Ricco | |- |1981 |''The Cannonball Run'' |Jamie Blake | |- |rowspan=2|1984 |''Cannonball Run II'' |Jamie Blake | |- |''Terror in the Aisles'' | |archival footage |}

References

Further reading

Arthur Marx. ''Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime (Especially Himself): The story of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis'', New York, NY: Hawthorn Books, 1974, ISBN 978-0801524301

Lewis, Jerry and James Kaplan. ''Dean & Me (A Love Story)''. Doubleday, New York, 2005. ISBN 0-7679-2086-4

Tosches, Nick. ''Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams''. Delta Trade Paperbacks, New York, 1992 (1st edition). ISBN 0-385-33429-X

Smith, John L. ''The Animal in Hollywood: Anthony Fiato's Life in the Mafia''. Barricade Books, New York, 1998. ISBN 1-56980-126-6

External links

Dean Martin at The Biography Channel

Cleveland.com: Homegrown Heroes: Dean Martin Timeline

Dean Works the room at the Sands

Jerry Lewis interview for the Archive of American Television

Dean Martin biography/discography on The Interlude Era site

Radio interview with Deana Martin WSLR

Dean Martin Roasts Johnny Carson

Dean Martin Roast Frank Sinatra

Dean Martin Roasts Don Rickles

Category:1917 births Category:1995 deaths Category:Actors from Ohio Category:Actors from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:American baritones Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:American comedians Category:American crooners Category:American film actors Category:American jazz musicians of Italian descent Category:American people of Sicilian descent Category:Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Category:California Republicans Category:Cancer deaths in California Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Deaths from emphysema Category:Deaths from lung cancer Category:Deaths from respiratory failure Category:Musicians from Ohio Category:Musicians from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:Ohio Republicans Category:People from Steubenville, Ohio Category:Traditional pop music singers

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