Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
name	Billy Wilder
birth name	Samuel Wilder
birth date	June 22, 1906
birth place	(now Sucha Beskidzka, Poland)
death date	March 27, 2002
death place	Beverly Hills, California, United States
years active	1929-1995
cause death	Pneumonia
occupation	Film director, producer and screenwriter
spouse	Audrey Young (1949-2002) }}

Billy Wilder (22 June 190627 March 2002) was an Austro-Hungarian-born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age. Wilder is one of only five people who have won Academy Awards as producer, director, and writer for the same film (''The Apartment'').

Wilder became a screenwriter in the late 1920s while living in Berlin. After the rise of Adolf Hitler, Wilder, who was Jewish, left for Paris, where he made his directorial debut. He relocated to Hollywood in 1933, and in 1939 he had a hit as a co-writer of the screenplay to the screwball comedy ''Ninotchka''. Wilder established his directorial reputation after helming ''Double Indemnity'' (1944), a ''film noir'' he co-wrote with mystery novelist Raymond Chandler. Wilder earned the Best Director and Best Screenplay Academy Awards for the adaptation of a Charles R. Jackson story ''The Lost Weekend'', about alcoholism. In 1950, Wilder co-wrote and directed the critically acclaimed ''Sunset Boulevard''.

From the mid-1950s on, Wilder made mostly comedies. Among the classics Wilder created in this period are the farces ''The Seven Year Itch'' (1955) and ''Some Like It Hot'' (1959), satires such as ''The Apartment'' (1960), and the romantic comedy ''Sabrina'' (1954). He directed fourteen different actors in Oscar-nominated performances. Wilder was recognized with the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1986. In 1988, Wilder was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. In 1993, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. Wilder holds a significant place in the history of Hollywood censorship for expanding the range of acceptable subject matter.

Life and career

Austria and Germany

Born Samuel Wilder to a Jewish family in Sucha Beskidzka, Austria-Hungary (now Poland) to Max Wilder and Eugenia Dittler, Wilder was nicknamed Billie by his mother (he changed that to "Billy" after arriving in America). His parents had a successful and well-known cake shop in Sucha Beskidzka's train station and unsuccessfully tried to persuade their son to join the family business. Soon the family moved to Vienna, where Wilder attended school. After dropping out of the University of Vienna, Wilder became a journalist. To advance his career Wilder decided to move to Berlin, Germany. While in Berlin, before achieving success as a writer, Wilder allegedly worked as a taxi dancer.

After writing crime and sports stories as a stringer for local newspapers, he was eventually offered a regular job at a Berlin tabloid. Developing an interest in film, he began working as a screenwriter. He collaborated with several other tyros (with Fred Zinnemann and Robert Siodmak on the 1929 feature ''People on Sunday''). After the rise of Adolf Hitler, Wilder, a Jew, left for Paris, where he made his directorial debut with the 1934 film ''Mauvaise Graine''. He relocated to Hollywood prior to its release. His mother, grandmother, and stepfather perished in Auschwitz concentration camp.

Hollywood career

After arriving in Hollywood in 1933, Wilder continued his career as a screenwriter. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1934. Wilder's first significant success was ''Ninotchka'' in 1939, a collaboration with fellow German immigrant Ernst Lubitsch. This screwball comedy starred Greta Garbo (generally known as a tragic heroine in film melodramas), and was popularly and critically acclaimed. With the byline, "Garbo Laughs!", it also took Garbo's career in a new direction. The film also marked Wilder's first Academy Award nomination, which he shared with co-writer Charles Brackett (although their collaboration on ''Bluebeard's Eighth Wife'' and ''Midnight'' had been well received). For twelve years Wilder co-wrote many of his films with Brackett, from 1938 through 1950. He followed ''Ninotchka'' with a series of box office hits in 1942, including his ''Hold Back the Dawn'' and ''Ball of Fire'', as well as his directorial feature debut, ''The Major and the Minor''.

He had a major impact his third film as director with ''Double Indemnity'' (1944), a ''film noir'', nominated for Best Director and Screenplay, which was co-written with mystery novelist Raymond Chandler; the two men though did not get along. ''Double Indemnity'' not only set conventions for the ''noir'' genre (such as "venetian blind" lighting and voice-over narration), but was also a landmark in the battle against Hollywood censorship. The original James M. Cain novel ''Double Indemnity'' featured two love triangles and a murder plotted for insurance money. While the book was highly popular with the reading public, it had been considered unfilmable under the Hays Code, because adultery was central to its plot. ''Double Indemnity'' is credited by some as the first true film noir, combining the stylistic elements of ''Citizen Kane'' with the narrative elements of ''The Maltese Falcon'' (1941). Wilder was the Editors Supervisor in the 1945 US Army Signal Corps documentary/propaganda film ''Death Mills''.

Two years later, Wilder earned the Best Director and Best Screenplay Academy Awards for the adaptation of a Charles R. Jackson story ''The Lost Weekend'' (1945), the first major American film to make a serious examination of alcoholism, another difficult theme under the Production Code. In 1950, Wilder co-wrote and directed the dark and cynical and critically acclaimed ''Sunset Boulevard'', which paired rising star William Holden with Gloria Swanson. Swanson played Norma Desmond, a reclusive silent film star who dreams of a comeback; Holden is an aspiring screenwriter who becomes a kept man.

In 1951, Wilder followed ''Sunset Boulevard'' with ''Ace in the Hole'' (aka ''The Big Carnival''), a tale of media exploitation of a caving accident. It was a critical and commercial failure at the time, but its reputation has grown over the years. In the fifties, Wilder also directed two adaptations of Broadway plays, the prisoner of war drama ''Stalag 17'' (1953), which resulted in a Best Actor Oscar for William Holden, and the Agatha Christie mystery ''Witness for the Prosecution'' (1957). In the mid 1950s, Wilder became interested in doing a film with one of the classic slapstick comedy acts of the Hollywood Golden Age. He first considered, and rejected, a project to star Laurel and Hardy. He then held discussions with Groucho Marx concerning a new Marx Brothers comedy, tentatively titled "A Day at the U.N." This project was abandoned when Chico Marx died in 1961.

From the mid-1950s onwards, Wilder made mostly comedies. Among the classics Wilder created in this period are the farces ''The Seven Year Itch'' (1955) and ''Some Like It Hot'' (1959), satires such as ''The Apartment'' (1960), and the romantic comedy ''Sabrina'' (1954). Wilder's humor is sometimes sardonic. In ''Love in the Afternoon'' (1957), a young and innocent Audrey Hepburn does not wish to be young or innocent with playboy Gary Cooper, and pretends to be a married woman in search of extramarital amusement. The film was Wilder's first collaboration with writer-producer I. A. L. Diamond, an association that continued until the end of both men's careers.

In 1959, United Artists released Wilder's Prohibition-era farce ''Some Like It Hot'' without a Production Code seal of approval, withheld due to the film's unabashed sexual comedy, including a central cross-dressing theme. Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis play musicians who disguise themselves as women to escape pursuit by a Chicago gang. Curtis's character courts a singer played by Marilyn Monroe, while Lemmon is wooed by Joe E. Brown—setting up the film's final joke in which Lemmon reveals that his character is a man and Brown blandly replies "Well, nobody's perfect". The film's box-office success, record-breaking for a comedy, is widely considered to be one of several death blows to the Hays code. After winning three Academy Awards for 1960's ''The Apartment'' (for Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay), Wilder's career slowed. His Cold War farce ''One, Two, Three'' (1961) featured a rousing comic performance by James Cagney, but was followed by apparently lesser films but now of cult status such as ''Irma la Douce'' and ''Kiss Me, Stupid''. Wilder gained his last Oscar nomination for his screenplay ''The Fortune Cookie'' -UK Meet Whiplash Willie - (1966). His 1970 film ''The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'' was intended as a major roadshow release, but was heavily cut by the studio and has never been fully restored. Later films such as ''Fedora'' (1978) and ''Buddy Buddy'' (1981) failed to impress critics or the public.

After that Wilder never ceased to complain that Hollywood was making a big mistake by not giving him any films to direct. He did so at film festivals, in interviews, on television, and whenever he had the opportunity. He often hinted that he was being discriminated against, due to his age. His complaining did not help: for whatever reason, the studios were unwilling to hire him. One "consolation" which Wilder had in his later years, besides his art collection (see "Later Life," below), was the Andrew Lloyd Webber stage musical version of ''Sunset Boulevard''. The musical itself had an uneven success and is generally considered to be one of the least of Webber's musicals.

Directorial style

Wilder's directorial choices reflected his belief in the primacy of writing. He avoided the exuberant cinematography of Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles because, in Wilder's opinion, shots that called attention to themselves would distract the audience from the story. Wilder's pictures have tight plotting and memorable dialogue. Despite his conservative directorial style, his subject matter often pushed the boundaries of mainstream entertainment. Once a subject was chosen, he would begin to visualize in terms of specific artists. His belief was that no matter how talented the actor, none was without limitations and the end result would be better if you bent the script to their personality rather than force a performance beyond their limitations. Wilder was skilled at working with actors, coaxing silent era legends Gloria Swanson and Erich von Stroheim out of retirement for roles in ''Sunset Boulevard''. For ''Stalag 17'', Wilder squeezed an Oscar-winning performance out of a reluctant William Holden (Holden wanted to make his character more likeable; Wilder refused). Wilder sometimes cast against type for major parts such as Fred MacMurray in ''Double Indemnity'' and ''The Apartment''. MacMurray had become Hollywood's highest-paid actor portraying a decent, thoughtful character in light comedies, melodramas, and musicals; Wilder cast him as a womanizing schemer. Humphrey Bogart shed his tough guy image to give one of his warmest performances in ''Sabrina''. James Cagney, not usually known for comedy, was memorable in a high-octane comic role for Wilder's ''One, Two, Three''. Wilder coaxed a very effective, and in some ways memorable performance out of Marilyn Monroe in ''Some Like It Hot''.

In total, he directed fourteen different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Barbara Stanwyck in ''Double Indemnity'', Ray Milland in ''The Lost Weekend'', William Holden in ''Sunset Boulevard'' and ''Stalag 17'', Gloria Swanson in ''Sunset Boulevard'', Erich von Stroheim in ''Sunset Boulevard'', Nancy Olson in ''Sunset Boulevard'', Robert Strauss in ''Stalag 17'', Audrey Hepburn in ''Sabrina'', Charles Laughton in ''Witness for the Prosecution'', Elsa Lanchester in ''Witness for the Prosecution'', Jack Lemmon in ''Some Like It Hot'' and ''The Apartment'', Jack Kruschen in ''The Apartment'', Shirley MacLaine in ''The Apartment'' and ''Irma la Douce'' and Walter Matthau in ''The Fortune Cookie''. Milland, Holden and Matthau won Oscars for their performances in Wilder films. Wilder mentored Jack Lemmon and was the first director to pair him with Walter Matthau, in ''The Fortune Cookie'' (1966). Wilder had great respect for Lemmon, calling him the hardest working actor he had ever met. Lemmon starred in seven of Wilder's films.

Wilder's work has had to meet some critical challenges. Although he is admired by many critics and filmgoers, he has not won approval from noted critic David Thomson, author of ''A Biographical Dictionary of Film'', and other works. Thomson summarizes his attitude toward Wilder by saying, "I remain skeptical." Thomson emphasizes that, although Wilder created some brilliant films, he also directed some poor ones, especially at the end of his career. Thomson notes that critic Andrew Sarris did not approve of Wilder for a long time but then changed his attitude much later.

Wilder's films often lacked any discernible political tone or sympathies, which was not unintentional. He was less interested in current political fashions than in human nature and the issues that confronted ordinary people. He was not affected by the Hollywood blacklist, and had little sympathy for those who were. Of the blacklisted 'Hollywood Ten' Wilder famously quipped, "Of the ten, two had talent, and the rest were just unfriendly". Wilder reveled in poking fun at those who took politics too seriously. In ''Ball of Fire'', his burlesque queen 'Sugarpuss' points at her sore throat and complains "Pink? It's as red as the ''Daily Worker'' and twice as sore." Later, she gives the overbearing and unsmiling housemaid the name "Franco". Wilder is sometimes confused with director William Wyler; the confusion is understandable, as both were German-speaking Jews with similar backgrounds and names. However, their output as directors was quite different, with Wyler preferring to direct epics and heavy dramas and Wilder noted for his comedies and film noir type dramas.

Later life

Wilder was recognized with the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1986. In 1988, Wilder was awarded the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. In 1993, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Wilder became well known for owning one of the finest and most extensive art collections in Hollywood, mainly collecting modern art. As he described it in the mid 80’s, “It’s a sickness. I don’t know how to stop myself. Call it bulimia if you want – or curiosity or passion. I have some Impressionists, some Picassos from every period, some mobiles by Calder. I also collect tiny Japanese trees, glass paperweights and Chinese vases. Name an object and I collect it.” A few years before he died, Wilder agreed to a sale of most of the collection at an auction, netting a very large sum of money. He said that he was not selling the art to make money, but that he had enjoyed it as much as he could; he wanted others to have a chance to own it.

Wilder’s artistic ambitions led him to create a series of works all his own. By the early 90’s, Wilder had amassed a beguiling assortment of plastic-artistic constructions, many of which were made in collaboration with artist Bruce Houston. In 1993, art dealer Louis Stern, a long time friend, helped organize an exhibition of Wilder’s work at his Beverly Hills gallery. The exhibition was entitled ''Billy Wilder’s Marché aux Puces'' and the ''Variations on the Theme of Queen Nefertete'' segment was an unqualified crowd pleaser. This series featured busts of the ravishing Egyptian queen wrapped ''a la Christo'' or splattered ''a la Jackson Pollock'' or sporting a Campbell’s soup can in homage to Warhol.

Wilder died in 2002 of pneumonia at the age of 95 after battling health problems, including cancer, in Los Angeles, California and was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, Los Angeles, California near Jack Lemmon. Marilyn Monroe's crypt is located in the same cemetery. Wilder died the same day as two other comedy legends: Milton Berle and Dudley Moore. The next day, French newspaper ''Le Monde'' titled its first-page obituary, "Billy Wilder dies. Nobody's perfect", quoting the final gag line in ''Some Like It Hot''.

Legacy

Wilder holds a significant place in the history of Hollywood censorship for expanding the range of acceptable subject matter. He is responsible for two of the film noir era's most definitive films in ''Double Indemnity'' and ''Sunset Boulevard''. Along with Woody Allen and the Marx Brothers, he leads the list of films on the American Film Institute's list of 100 funniest American films with 5 films written and holds the honor of holding the top spot with ''Some Like it Hot''. Also on the list are ''The Apartment'' and ''The Seven Year Itch'' which he directed, and ''Ball of Fire'' and ''Ninotchka'' which he co-wrote. The American Film Institute has ranked four of Wilder's films among their top 100 American films of the 20th century: ''Sunset Boulevard'' (no. 12), ''Some Like It Hot'' (no. 14), ''Double Indemnity'' (no. 38) and ''The Apartment'' (no. 93). For the tenth anniversary edition of their list, the AFI moved ''Sunset Blvd.'' to #16, ''Some Like it Hot'' to #22, ''Double Indemnity'' to #29 and ''The Apartment'' to #80.

Spanish filmmaker Fernando Trueba said in his acceptance speech for the 1993 Best Non-English Speaking Film Oscar: "I would like to believe in God in order to thank him. But I just believe in Billy Wilder... so, thank you Mr. Wilder." According to Trueba, Wilder called him the day after and told him: "Fernando, it's God." Wilder's 12 Academy Award nominations for screenwriting were a record until 1997 when Woody Allen received a 13th nomination for ''Deconstructing Harry''.

Filmography

Awards

With eight nominations for Academy Award for Best Director, Wilder is the second most nominated director in the history of the Academy Awards, behind William Wyler. Out of these nominations, Wilder won two Oscars.

Writers Guild of America west (WGAw) - Laurel Award, 1957 (with Charles Brackett) and 1980 (with I.A.L. Diamond). In addition to the career awards, Wilder was nominated 15 times for WGA Screenplay awards, winning five times, despite the fact that the award was not offered until 1948.

Directors Guild of America (DGA) - D.W. Griffith Award, 1985 (renamed the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999). In addition to the career award, Wilder was nominated eight times for the DGA Screen Director award, winning for 1960's ''The Apartment''.

WGAw/DGA - Preston Sturges Award, 1991

Golden Globes: Wilder won five Golden Globes after the awards started in 1944: twice as the producer of Best Picture winners (''Some Like It Hot'' and ''The Apartment''); twice as a director (''The Lost Weekend'' and ''Sunset Boulevard''), and once as a screenwriter (''Sabrina'', but this award wasn't presented from 1955 to 1965, during Wilder's most successful years).

In 1993, Wilder was awarded with an Honorary Golden Bear at the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival.

Academy Award Nominations

Award !Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)Academy Award for Best DirectorAcademy Award for Best DirectorAcademy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)Academy Award for Best DirectorAcademy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay)Academy Award for Best DirectorAcademy Award for Best DirectorAcademy Award for Best DirectorAcademy Award for Best Director [[Academy Award for Best PictureAcademy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay)

Year	Film !! Result
1939	Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)>Best Writing, Screenplay	Ninotchka'' >
rowspan=2	1941	Best Writing, Screenplay ||	''Hold Back the Dawn''	Sidney Buchman and Seton I. Miller – ''Here Comes Mr. Jordan''
Academy Award for Best Story	Best Writing, Original Story	''Ball of Fire''
rowspan=2	1944	Best Director |	Double Indemnity'' |>Leo McCarey – ''Going My Way''
Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)	Best Writing, Screenplay	Frank Butler (writer)>Frank Butler and Frank Cavett – ''Going My Way''
rowspan=2	1945	Best Director |	The Lost Weekend'' |>
Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)	Best Writing, Screenplay
1948	Best Writing, Screenplay ||	''A Foreign Affair''	John Huston – ''The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (film)>The Treasure of the Sierra Madre''
rowspan=2	1950	Best Director |	Sunset Boulevard'' |>Joseph L. Mankiewicz – ''All About Eve''
Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay)	Best Writing, Story and Screenplay
1951	Best Writing, Story and Screenplay ||	Ace in the Hole (film)>Ace in the Hole''	Alan Jay Lerner – ''An American in Paris (film)>An American in Paris''
1953	Best Director ||	''Stalag 17''	Fred Zinnemann – ''From Here to Eternity''
rowspan=2	1954	Best Director |	Sabrina'' |>Elia Kazan – ''On the Waterfront''
Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)	Best Writing, Screenplay	George Seaton – ''The Country Girl (1954 film)>The Country Girl''
1957	Best Director ||	Witness for the Prosecution (1957 film)>Witness for the Prosecution''	David Lean – ''The Bridge on the River Kwai''
rowspan=2	1959	Best Director ||	''Some Like It Hot''	William Wyler – ''Ben-Hur (1959 film)>Ben-Hur''
Academy Award for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)	Best Writing, ScreenplayBased on Material from Another Medium	Neil Paterson (writer)
rowspan=3	1960	Best Motion Picture ||	''The Apartment''
Academy Award for Best Director	Best Director
Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay)	Best Writing, Story and ScreenplayWritten Directly for the Screen
1966	Best Writing, Story and ScreenplayWritten Directly for the Screen ||	''The Fortune Cookie''	Claude Lelouch – ''A Man and a Woman''
1987	Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award

Directed Academy Award performances

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Performer ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Result |- |colspan="4" align="center" |Academy Award for Best Actor |- | 1945 | Ray Milland | ''The Lost Weekend'' | |- | 1950 | William Holden | ''Sunset Boulevard'' | |- | 1953 | William Holden | ''Stalag 17'' | |- | 1957 | Charles Laughton | ''Witness for the Prosecution'' | |- | 1959 | Jack Lemmon | ''Some Like It Hot'' | |- | 1960 | Jack Lemmon | ''The Apartment'' | |- |colspan="8" align="center" |Academy Award for Best Actress |- | 1944 | Barbara Stanwyck | ''Double Indemnity'' | |- | 1950 | Gloria Swanson | ''Sunset Boulevard'' | |- | 1954 | Audrey Hepburn | ''Sabrina'' | |- | 1960 | Shirley MacLaine | ''The Apartment'' | |- | 1963 | Shirley MacLaine | ''Irma la Douce'' | |- |colspan="8" align="center" |Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor |- | 1950 | Erich von Stroheim | ''Sunset Boulevard'' | |- | 1953 | Robert Strauss | ''Stalag 17'' | |- | 1960 | Jack Kruschen | ''The Apartment'' | |- | 1966 | Walter Matthau | ''The Fortune Cookie'' | |- |colspan="8" align="center" |Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress |- | 1950 | Nancy Olson | ''Sunset Boulevard'' | |- | 1957 | Elsa Lanchester | ''Witness for the Prosecution'' | |- |}

Major Awards for Directed Films

GoldenGlobe Noms. ''Mauvaise Graine'' ''The Major and the Minor'' ''Five Graves to Cairo'' ''Double Indemnity (film) ''The Lost Weekend (film) ''The Emperor Waltz'' 2 ''Sunset Boulevard (film) ''Ace in the Hole (film) ''Stalag 17'' ''Sabrina (1954 film) ''The Seven Year Itch'' ''The Spirit of St. Louis (film) 6 ''Some Like It Hot'' ''The Apartment'' ''One, Two, Three'' ''Irma la Douce'' ''Kiss Me, Stupid'' ''The Fortune Cookie'' ''The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes'' ''Avanti!'' ''The Front Page (1974 film) ''Fedora (film) ''Buddy Buddy''

Year !! Film !! Academy Award Noms. !! Academy Award Wins	|	Golden Globe Wins (beg. 1943)	Directors Guild of America Award>DGA Award (beg. 1948)	Writers Guild of America Award>WGA Award (beg. 1948)
1934	|
1942	|
1943	|	3		*
1944	Double Indemnity'' ||	7		*
1945	The Lost Weekend'' ||	7	4	*	3
rowspan=2	1948	|	2		*
''A Foreign Affair''	|		*
1950	Sunset Boulevard'' ||	11	3	7	4
1951	Ace in the Hole'' ||	1
1953	|	3	1	*
1954	Sabrina'' ||	4	1	*	1
1955	|			*	1
rowspan=3	1957	The Spirit of St. Louis'' ||	1
''Love in the Afternoon (1957 film)	Love in the Afternoon''	|		3
''Witness for the Prosecution (1957 film)	Witness for the Prosecution''	|		5	1
1959	|	6	1	3	3
1960	|	10	5	4	3
1961	|	1		2
1963	|	3	1	3	1
1964	|
1966	|	4	1	1
1970	|
1972	|			6	1
1974	The Front Page'' ||			3
1978	Fedora'' ||
1981	|

-- Only Golden Globe winners reported in these years

Trivia

Wilder's assistant was producer Thomas L. Miller, who is known for his work on such shows as ''Happy Days''.

Wilder used the song "Isn't It Romantic" in many of his films.

Notes

See also

Ruth Chatterton

Billy Wilder filmography

List of film collaborations

David Niven

Laurence Olivier

References

Literature

Phillips, Gene D., "Some Like it Wilder" (The University Press of Kentucky: 2010)

Armstrong, Richard, ''Billy Wilder, American Film Realist'' (McFarland & Company, Inc.: 2000)

Dan Auiler, "Some Like it Hot" (Taschen, 2001)

Chandler, Charlotte, ''Nobody's Perfect. Billy Wilder. A Personal Biography'' (New York: Schuster & Schuster, 2002)

Crowe, Cameron, ''Conversations with Wilder'' (New York: Knopf, 2001)

Guilbert, Georges-Claude, ''Literary Readings of Billy Wilder'' (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007)

Hermsdorf, Daniel, ''Billy Wilder. Filme - Motive - Kontroverses'' (Bochum: Paragon-Verlag, 2006)

Hopp, Glenn, ''Billy Wilder'' (Pocket Essentials: 2001)

Hopp, Glenn / Duncan, Paul, ''Billy Wilder'' (Köln / New York: Taschen, 2003)

Horton, Robert, ''Billy Wilder Interviews'' (University Press of Mississippi, 2001)

Hutter, Andreas / Kamolz, Klaus, ''Billie Wilder. Eine europäische Karriere'' (Vienna, Cologne, Weimar: Boehlau, 1998)

Gyurko, Lanin A., ''The Shattered Screen. Myth and Demythification in the Art of Carlos Fuentes and Billy Wilder'' (New Orleans: University Press of the South, 2009)

Jacobs, Jérôme, ''Billy Wilder'' (Paris: Rivages Cinéma, 2006)

Lally, Kevin, ''Wilder Times: The Life of Billy Wilder'' (Henry Holt & Co: 1st ed edition, May 1996)

Sikov, Ed, ''On Sunset Boulevard. The Life and Times of Billy Wilder'' (New York: Hyperion, 1999)

Neil Sinyard & Adrian Turner, "Journey Down Sunset Boulevard" (BCW, Isle of Wight, UK, 1979)

Wood, Tom, ''The Bright Side of Billy Wilder, Primarily'' (New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1969)

Zolotow, Maurice, ''Billy Wilder in Hollywood'' (Pompton Plains: Limelight Editions, 2004)

Hellmuth Karasek, ''Billy Wilder, eine Nahaufnahme'' (Heyne, 2002)

External links

American Master - Billy Wilder

Wilder Bibliography (via UC Berkeley)

Billy Wilder Tribute at NPR

Lifetime Honors - National Medal of Arts.

Writers Guild of America, west - Laurel Award Recipients

Directors Guild of America

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Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
birth name	John Uhler Lemmon III
birth date	February 08, 1925
birth place	Newton, Massachusetts, U.S.
death date	June 27, 2001
death place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
alma mater	Harvard University
years active	1949–2000
occupation	Actor
spouse	Cynthia Stone (1950–1956; divorced; 1 child)Felicia Farr (1962–2001; his death; 1 child) }}

John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including ''Some Like It Hot'', ''The Apartment'', ''Mister Roberts'' (for which he won the 1955 Best Supporting Actor Academy Award), ''Days of Wine and Roses'', ''The Great Race'', ''Irma la Douce'', ''The Odd Couple'', ''Save the Tiger'' (for which he won the 1973 Best Actor Academy Award), ''The Out-of-Towners'', ''The China Syndrome'', ''Missing'' (for which he won 'Best Actor' at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival), ''Glengarry Glen Ross'', ''Grumpy Old Men'' and ''Grumpier Old Men''.

Early life

Lemmon was born in an elevator at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. He was the only child of Mildred Burgess LaRue (née Noel) and John Uhler Lemmon, Jr., who was the president of a doughnut company. Lemmon attended John Ward Elementary School in Newton and The Rivers School in Weston, Massachusetts. He later revealed that he knew he wanted to be an actor from the age of eight. Lemmon attended Phillips Academy (Class of 1943) and Harvard University (Class of 1947) where he lived in Adams House and was an active member of several Drama Clubs - becoming president of the Hasty Pudding Club - as well as a member of the Delphic Club for Gentleman, a final club at Harvard. After Harvard, Lemmon joined the Navy, receiving V-12 training and serving as an ensign. On being discharged, he took up acting professionally, working on radio, television and Broadway. He studied acting under Uta Hagen. He also became enamored of the piano and learned to play it on his own. He could also play the harmonica, organ, and the double bass.

Career

Lemmon's film debut was a bit part as a plasterer/painter in the 1949 film ''The Lady Takes a Sailor'' but he was not noticed until his official debut opposite Judy Holliday in the 1954 comedy ''It Should Happen to You''. Lemmon worked with many legendary leading ladies, among them Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood, Betty Grable, Janet Leigh, Shirley MacLaine, Romy Schneider, Doris Day, Kim Novak, Judy Holliday, Rita Hayworth, June Allyson, Virna Lisi, Ann Margret, Sophia Loren and many more. He was also close friends with Tony Curtis, Ernie Kovacs, Walter Matthau and Kevin Spacey. He made two films with Curtis, three films with Kovacs (''Operation Mad Ball'', ''Bell, Book, and Candle'', and ''It Happened to Jane''), and eleven with Matthau.

Early in Lemmon's career, Lemmon met Ernie Kovacs during the filming of ''Operation Mad Ball'' and co-starred with the comedian in this film. Lemmon and Kovacs became close friends and appeared together in two subsequent films - ''Bell, Book, and Candle''. and ''It Happened to Jane'' In 1977 PBS broadcast a compilation series of Kovacs' television work, and Lemmon served as the narrator of the series. Lemmon discussed his friendship with Kovacs in the documentary, ''Ernie Kovacs: Television's Original Genius''.

He became a favorite actor of director Billy Wilder, starring in his films ''Some Like It Hot'', ''The Apartment'', ''Irma la Douce'', ''The Fortune Cookie'', ''Avanti!'', ''The Front Page'' and ''Buddy Buddy''. Wilder felt Lemmon had a natural tendency toward overacting that had to be tempered; the Wilder biography ''Nobody's Perfect'' quotes the director as saying, "Lemmon, I would describe him as a ham, a fine ham, and with ham you have to trim a little fat". The biography also quotes Jack Lemmon as saying, "I am particularly susceptible to the parts I play... If my character was having a nervous breakdown, I started to have one".

He also had a longtime working relationship with director Blake Edwards, starring in ''My Sister Eileen'' (1955), ''Days of Wine and Roses'' (1962), ''The Great Race'' (1965) and ''That's Life!'' (1986).

Lemmon recorded an album in 1958 while filming ''Some Like It Hot'' with Marilyn Monroe. Twelve jazz tracks were created for Lemmon and another twelve were added. Lemmon played the piano and recorded his own versions of Monroe's trademark songs, ''I Wanna Be Loved By You'' and ''I'm Through With Love'', for the album which was released in 1959 as ''A Twist of Lemmon/Some Like It Hot''.

Lemmon was awarded the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1956 for ''Mister Roberts'' (1955) and the Best Actor Oscar for ''Save the Tiger'' (1973), becoming the first actor to achieve this double. He was also nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his role in the controversial film ''Missing'' in 1982 and for his roles in ''Some Like it Hot'' (1959), ''The Apartment'' (1960), ''Days of Wine and Roses'' (1962), ''The China Syndrome '' (1979), and ''Tribute'' (1980). In 1988, the American Film Institute gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award.

''Days of Wine and Roses'' (1962) was one of his favorite roles. He portrayed Joe Clay, a young, fun-loving alcoholic businessman. In that film, Lemmon delivered the line, "My name is Joe Clay ... I'm an alcoholic." Three and a half decades later, he admitted on the television program, ''Inside the Actors Studio'', that he was not acting when he delivered that line, that he really was a recovering alcoholic at the end of his life.

Lemmon's production company JML produced ''Cool Hand Luke'' in 1967. Paul Newman was grateful to Lemmon for his support and offered him the role later made famous by Robert Redford in ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' but Lemmon turned it down. He did not like riding horses and he also felt he'd already played too many aspects of the Sundance Kid's character before.

Lemmon often appeared in films partnered with Walter Matthau. Among their pairings was 1968's ''The Odd Couple'', as Felix Ungar (Lemmon) and Oscar Madison (Matthau). They also starred together in ''The Fortune Cookie'' (for which Matthau won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor), ''The Front Page'' and ''Buddy Buddy''. In 1971, Lemmon directed Matthau in the comedy ''Kotch''. It was the only movie that Lemmon ever directed and Matthau was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for his performance.

Additionally, Lemmon and Matthau had small parts in Oliver Stone's 1991 film, ''JFK'' (the only film in which both appeared without sharing screen time). In 1993, the duo teamed up again to star in ''Grumpy Old Men''. The film was a surprise hit, earning the two actors a new generation of young fans. During the rest of the decade, they would go on to star together in ''Out to Sea'', ''Grumpier Old Men'' and the widely panned ''The Odd Couple II''.

Lemmon starred in ''Some Like it Hot'', for which he was awarded Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1982, he won another Cannes award for his performance in ''Missing'' (which received the Palme d'Or).

At the 1998 Golden Globe Awards, he was nominated for "Best Actor in a Made for TV Movie" for his role in ''Twelve Angry Men'' losing to Ving Rhames. After accepting the award, Rhames asked Lemmon to come on stage and, in a move that stunned the audience, gave his award to him. (The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which presents the Golden Globes, decided to have a second award made and sent to Rhames.).

He received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1988.

Personal life

Kevin Spacey recalled that Lemmon is remembered as always making time for other people. When already regarded as a legend, he met the teenage Spacey backstage after a theater performance and spoke to him about pursuing an acting career. Spacey would later work with Lemmon in ''Dad'' (1989), the critically acclaimed film ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1992) and on stage in a revival of ''Long Day's Journey Into Night''. Lemmon's performance also inspired Gil Gunderson, a character on The Simpsons that is modeled on Lemmon's.

Lemmon was married twice. His son Chris Lemmon (b. 1954), was his first child by his first wife, actress Cynthia Stone (b. February 26, 1926, Peoria, Illinois, d. December 26, 1988). His second wife was the actress Felicia Farr, with whom he had a daughter, Courtney (b.1966).

Lemmon admitted that he was an alcoholic in the late 1960s. (Source: Los Angeles Tomes Obituary.)

Felicia Farr had another daughter from a previous relationship (her marriage to Lee Farr) called Denise, who would become Lemmon's stepdaughter.

Death

Jack Lemmon died of colon cancer and metastatic cancer of the bladder on June 27, 2001. He had been fighting the disease, very privately, for two years before his death. He was interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, California where he is buried near his friend and co-star, Walter Matthau, who died almost exactly one year before Lemmon. In typical Jack Lemmon wit, his gravestone simply reads "JACK LEMMON in". After Matthau's death in 2000, Lemmon appeared with friends and relatives of the actor on a ''Larry King Live'' show in tribute. A year later, many of the same people appeared on the show again to pay tribute to Lemmon.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1949	''''	Plasterer	Uncredited
1954	''It Should Happen to You''	Pete Sheppard
1954	''Phffft!''	Robert Tracey
1955	''Three for the Show''	Martin 'Marty' Stewart
1955		Ens. Frank Thurlowe Pulver	Academy Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
1955		Robert 'Bob' Baker
1955	''Hollywood Bronc Busters''	Himself
1956	''You Can't Run Away from It''	Peter Warne
1957		Tony
1957	''Operation Mad Ball''	Pvt. Hogan
1958		Frank Harris
1958		Nicky Holroyd
1959	''Some Like It Hot''	Jerry - 'Daphne'	BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleGolden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated — Academy Award for Best Actor
1959	''It Happened to Jane''	George Denham
1960	''''	C.C. Baxter	BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleGolden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated — Academy Award for Best Actor
1960	''Stowaway in the Sky''	Narrator	voice
1960		Himself	Cameo appearance as Daphne
1960	''''	Lt. Rip Crandall
1962	''''	William 'Bill' Gridley
1962		Joe Clay	San Sebastián International Film Festival Award for Best ActorNominated — Academy Award for Best ActorNominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
1963	''Irma la Douce''	Nestor Patou / Lord X	Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1963	''Under the Yum Yum Tree''	Hogan	Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1964	''Good Neighbor Sam''	Sam Bissel	Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
1965	''How to Murder Your Wife''	Stanley Ford	Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
1965	''''	Professor Fate / Prince Hapnick	Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1966	''''	Harry Hinkle
1967		Harry Berlin
1968	''There Comes a Day''
1968	''''	Felix Ungar	Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1969	''''	Howard Brubaker
1970	''''	George Kellerman	Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1971	''Kotch''	Sleeping bus passenger	uncredited
1972	''''	Peter Edward Wilson
1972	''Avanti!''	Wendell Armbruster, Jr.	Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1973	''Save the Tiger''	Harry Stoner	Academy Award for Best ActorNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
1974	''''	Narrator	voice
1974	''''	Hildy Johnson	David di Donatello for Best Actor Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1975	''Wednesday''	Jerry Murphy
1975	''''	Narrator
1975	''''	Mel Edison
1976	''Alex & the Gypsy''	Alexander Main
1977	''Airport '77''	Capt. Don Gallagher
1979	''''	Jack Godell	Best Actor Award (Cannes Film Festival)David di Donatello for Best Actor BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleNominated — Academy Award for Best ActorNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
1980		Scottie Templeton
1981	''Buddy Buddy''	Victor Clooney
1982		Ed Horman	Best Actor Award (Cannes Film Festival)Nominated — Academy Award for Best ActorNominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
1984		Father Tim Farley
1985		Robert Traven
1986		Harvey Fairchild	Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1989		Jake Tremont	Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
1991		Jack Martin
1992	''Beyond 'JFK': The Question of Conspiracy''	Himself	also archive footage
1992	''''	Himself
1992		Shelley Levene
1993	''Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman In Carver County''	Himself
1993	''Short Cuts''	Paul Finnigan	Golden Globe Award for Best Ensemble CastVolpi Cup
1993		John Gustafson	Nominated — American Comedy Award for Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture
1995	''''	Dr. Morris Ritz
1995	''Grumpier Old Men''	John Gustafson
1996		Max Mueller / Karl Luger
1996	''My Fellow Americans''	President Russell P. Kramer
1996		Marcellus
1997	''Out to Sea''	Herb Sullivan
1997	''Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's''	Himself
1998	''Puppies for Sale''	Pet Shop Owner
1998	''''	Felix Ungar
2000	''''	Narrator / Old Hardy Greaves	uncredited

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1949–50	''That Wonderful Guy''	Harold
1950	''Toni Twin Time''	Host	Episode dated May 31, 1950
1951	''''	Celebrity Panelist	Ended after 5 episodes
1951–52	''''	Newlywed	in 'The Couple Next Door' sketches
1952	''Heaven for Betsy''	Pete Bell	September 30, 1952 to December 23, 1952
1954	''''	Surgeon	cancelled after a few weeks
1956	''''	John Wilkes Booth	February 11, 1956
1957	''What's My Line?''	Mystery Guest	November 3, 1957 Episode # 388, Season 9, Ep 10
1957–58	''Alcoa Theatre''	Henry CoyleSteve TylerWally MallLieutenant Tony CrawfordEdward King	Episode: "Disappearance"Episode: "Most Likely to Succeed"Episode: "Loudmouth"Episode: "The Days of November"Episode: "Souvenir"
1976	''''	Archie Rice
1987	''Long Day's Journey Into Night''	James Tyrone Sr.	Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
1988	''''	Gov. John Slaton	Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Miniseries or a MovieNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
1992	''For Richer, for Poorer''	Aram Katourian
1993	''''	Robert	Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film
1994	''Wild West''	host
1996	''''	Bud Bailey
1997	''''	Frank Ormand	Voice role; Episode: "The Twisted World of Marge Simpson"
1997		Juror #8	Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Miniseries or a MovieNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television FilmNominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
1998	''''	Thomas Gerrin
1999		Henry Drummond	Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television FilmNominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Miniseries or a Movie
1999		Morrie Schwartz	Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Miniseries or a MovieScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television MovieNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film

Discography

''A Twist of Lemmon/Some Like It Hot'' (1959)

Piano Selections from ''Irma La Douce'' (1963)

Piano and Vocals (1990)

''Peter and the Wolf'' (1991)

Songs and music from'' Some Like It Hot'' (2001)

Bibliography

References

External links

"The Films of Jack Lemmon", compilation of movie clips, 4 minutes

Actor Jack Lemmon dead at 76

Jack Lemmon at the Archive of American Television

Obituary in the Los Angeles Times

Category:1925 births Category:2001 deaths Category:20th-century actors Category:Actors from Massachusetts Category:American film actors Category:American film directors Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:American people of Scottish descent Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Best Actor Academy Award winners Category:Best Foreign Actor BAFTA Award winners Category:Best Miniseries or Television Movie Actor Golden Globe winners Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Supporting Actor Academy Award winners Category:Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Category:Cancer deaths in California Category:Deaths from bladder cancer Category:Deaths from colorectal cancer Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Epic Records artists Category:Genie Award winners for Best Performance by a Foreign Actor Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Screen Actors Guild Award winners Category:People from Newton, Massachusetts Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:Phillips Academy alumni Category:People from Malibu, California Category:United States Navy officers

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Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
birth name	Shirley MacLean Beaty
birth date	April 24, 1934
birth place	Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
occupation	Actress, singer, dancer, author, activist
years active	1953–present
spouse	Steve Parker(m. 1954–82, divorced)
children	Sachi Parker }}

Shirley MacLaine (born Shirley MacLean Beaty, April 24, 1934) is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career. In 1983, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in ''Terms of Endearment''. She was nominated for an Academy Award 5 times before her win.

Early life

Named after Shirley Temple, MacLaine was born Shirley MacLean Beaty in Richmond, Virginia. Her father, Ira Owens Beaty, was a professor of psychology, public school administrator, and real estate agent, and her mother, Kathlyn Corinne (née MacLean), was a drama teacher born in Nova Scotia, Canada; MacLaine's grandparents were also teachers. The family was devoutly Baptist. While she was still a child, MacLaine's father moved the family from Richmond to Norfolk, and then to Arlington, Virginia and Waverly, eventually taking a position at Arlington's Thomas Jefferson Junior High School.

Shirley had very weak ankles as a child, so her mother decided to enroll her in ballet class. Strongly motivated by ballet throughout her youth, she never missed a class. In classical romantic pieces like "Romeo & Juliet" and "Sleeping Beauty," being the tallest in the class, she always played the boys' role due to the absence of males in the class. She eventually got to play a respectable female role — the fairy godmother in "Cinderella." While warming up backstage, she broke her ankle, but decided to dance the role all the way through. Eventually, MacLaine decided that professional ballet wasn't for her: she had grown too tall (being over 6 feet tall en pointe) and did not have the requisite "beautifully constructed feet" (high arches, high insteps). Also, she found ballet too limiting. After leaving ballet, MacLaine pursued Broadway dancing. Eventually, she turned to acting.

She attended Washington-Lee High School, where she was on the cheerleading squad and acted in the school's productions. The summer before her senior year, she was in New York to try acting on Broadway with some success. After she graduated, she returned and within a year she became an understudy to actress Carol Haney in ''The Pajama Game''; Haney broke her ankle, and MacLaine replaced her. A few months after, with Haney still out of commission, film producer Hal B. Wallis was in the audience, took note of MacLaine, and signed her to work for Paramount Pictures. She later sued Wallis over a contractual dispute, a suit that is credited with ending the old-style studio star system of actor management.

Career

MacLaine made her film debut in Alfred Hitchcock's ''The Trouble with Harry'' (1955), for which she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actress. In 1956 she had roles in ''Hot Spell'' and ''Around the World in Eighty Days''. At the same time she starred in ''Some Came Running'', the film that gave her her first Academy Award nomination - one of five that the film received - and a Golden Globe nomination.

Her second nomination came two years later for ''The Apartment'', starring with Jack Lemmon. The film won five Oscars, including Best Director for Billy Wilder. She later said, "I thought I would win for ''The Apartment'', but then Elizabeth Taylor had a tracheotomy". She starred in ''The Children's Hour'' (1961) also starring Audrey Hepburn, based on the play by Lillian Hellman. She was again nominated, this time for ''Irma la Douce'' (1963), for which she reunited with Wilder and Lemmon. Don Siegel, her director on ''Two Mules for Sister Sara'' (1970), in which she starred opposite Clint Eastwood, once said, "It's hard to feel any great warmth to her. She's too unfeminine and has too much balls. She's very, very hard."

In 1975 she received a nomination for Best Documentary Feature for her documentary film ''The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir''. Two years later, she was once again nominated for ''The Turning Point'' co-starring Anne Bancroft, in which she portrayed a retired ballerina much like herself. In 1978, she was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry. In 1980 she starred in ''A Change of Seasons'' alongside Anthony Hopkins. The pair famously didn't get along and Hopkins said “she was the most obnoxious actress I have ever worked with." In 1983 she won an Oscar for ''Terms of Endearment''. The film won another four Oscars; one for Jack Nicholson and three for director James L. Brooks. In 1988, MacLaine won a Golden Globe for Best Actress (Drama) for ''Madame Sousatzka''.

She continued to star in major films, such as ''Steel Magnolias'' with Julia Roberts and many other stars. She made her feature-film directorial debut in ''Bruno,'' MacLaine starred as Helen in this film, which was released to video as ''The Dress Code.'' In 2007 she completed ''Closing the Ring'', directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Christopher Plummer. Other notable films in which MacLaine has starred include ''Sweet Charity'' (1968), ''Being There'' (1979) with Peter Sellers, ''Postcards From the Edge'' (1990) with actress Meryl Streep, playing a fictionalized version of Debbie Reynolds with a screenplay by Reynolds's daughter, Carrie Fisher, ''Used People'' with Jessica Tandy and Kathy Bates, ''Guarding Tess'' (1994) with Nicolas Cage, "Mrs. Winterbourne" (1996), with actress and talk show host, Ricki Lake and actor Brendan Fraser, ''Rumor Has It…'' (2005) with Kevin Costner and Jennifer Aniston and ''In Her Shoes'' with Cameron Diaz.

MacLaine is also set to star in ''Poor Things,'' a drama.

MacLaine has also appeared in numerous television projects including an autobiographical miniseries based upon the book ''Out on a Limb,'' ''The Salem Witch Trials,'' ''These Old Broads'' written by Carrie Fisher and co-starring Elizabeth Taylor, Debbie Reynolds, and Joan Collins, and ''Coco,'' a Lifetime production based on the life of Coco Chanel. She also had a short-lived sit-com called ''Shirley's World.''

MacLaine has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1165 Vine Street.

Personal life

MacLaine was married to businessman Steve Parker until they divorced in 1982. In April 2011 while promoting her new book, “I'm Over All That”, she told Oprah Winfrey that she had an open relationship with her husband. They had a daughter, Sachi Parker (born 1956). Shirley shares a birthday (April 24) with her good friend, Barbra Streisand, and they traditionally spend it together each year.

MacLaine has a strong and enduring interest in spirituality and occultism. Many of her best-selling books, such as ''Out on a Limb'' and ''Dancing in the Light'', have it as their central theme. Her interests have led her to such forms of spiritual exploration as walking ''El Camino de Santiago'', working with Chris Griscom, and practicing Transcendental Meditation.

Her well-known interest in New Age spirituality has made its way into several of her films. In Albert Brooks's 1991 romantic comedy ''Defending Your Life'', the recently deceased lead characters, played by Brooks and Meryl Streep, are astonished to find MacLaine introducing their past lives in the "Past Lives Pavilion." In 1990's ''Postcards from the Edge'' (w/a screenplay by Carrie Fisher), MacLaine, playing a character loosely based on Debbie Reynolds, sings a special version of "I'm Still Here", with customized lyrics created especially for her by composer Stephen Sondheim. One of the lyrics was changed to "I'm feeling transcendental--am I here?" In the 2001 made-for-television movie ''These Old Broads'', starring MacLaine, Debbie Reynolds, Joan Collins, and Elizabeth Taylor, and written by Reynolds's daughter, Carrie Fisher, MacLaine's character is a devotee of New Age spirituality.

MacLaine has serous interest in UFO that she gave numerous interviews to CNN, NBC and FOX news channels on the subject through 2007-2008. In her 2007 released book "Sage-ing While Age-ing" she mentioned about her alien encounters and witnessing of Washington DC UFO incidents in 1950s.

MacLaine found her way into many law casebooks when she sued Twentieth Century-Fox for breach of contract. She was to play a role in a film titled ''Bloomer Girl'', but the production was canceled. Twentieth Century-Fox offered her a role in another film, ''Big Country, Big Man'', in hopes of getting out of its contractual obligation to pay her for the canceled film. MacLaine's refusal led to an appeal by Twentieth Century-Fox to the Supreme Court of California in 1970, where the Court ruled against Fox, calling the studio's alternate role offer "different or inferior" employment. ''Parker v. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation'', 474 P.2d 689 (Cal. 1970).

She also is godmother to the daughter of U.S. Representative, Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat and former mayor of Cleveland, Ohio.

With her younger brother, Warren Beatty, MacLaine used her celebrity status in instrumental roles as a fundraiser and organizer for George McGovern's campaign for president in 1972. That year, she authored the book ''McGovern: The Man and His Beliefs''.Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |- | 1959 | ''Career'' | Sharon Kensington | |- |rowspan="3"| 1960 | ''Ocean's Eleven'' | Tipsy girl | uncredited cameo |- | ''Can-Can'' | Simone Pistache | |- | ''The Apartment'' | Fran Kubelik | BAFTA Award for Best Foreign ActressGolden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyVolpi CupNominated — Academy Award for Best Actress |- |rowspan="3"| 1961 | ''The Children's Hour'' | Martha Dobie | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama |- | ''All in a Night's Work'' | Katie Robbins | |- | ''Two Loves'' | Anna Vorontosov | |- |rowspan="2"| 1962 | ''Two for the Seesaw'' | Gittel Mosca | |- | ''My Geisha'' | Lucy Dell/Yoko Mori | |- | 1963 | ''Irma la Douce'' | Irma la Douce | Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or ComedyNominated — Academy Award for Best ActressNominated — BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress |- |rowspan="2"| 1964 | ''The Yellow Rolls-Royce'' | Mae Jenkins | |- | ''What a Way to Go!'' | Louisa May Foster | Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress |- | 1965 | ''John Goldfarb, Please Come Home'' | Jenny Erichson | |- | 1966 | ''Gambit'' | Nicole Chang | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |- | 1967 | ''Woman Times Seven'' | Paulette/Maria Teresa/Linda/Edith/Eve Minou/Marie/Jeanne | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |- | 1968 | ''The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom'' | Harriet Blossom | |- | 1969 | ''Sweet Charity'' | Charity Hope Valentine | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |- | 1970 | ''Two Mules for Sister Sara'' | Sara | |- | 1971 | ''Desperate Characters'' | Sophie Bentwood |Silver Bear for Best Actress at Berlin |- | 1972 | ''The Possession of Joel Delaney'' | Norah Benson | |- |1975 |''The Other Half of the Sky: A China Memoir'' |Herself |DocumentaryWriter, direct, producerNominated — Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary |- | 1977 | ''The Turning Point'' | Deedee Rodgers |Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress |- | 1979 | ''Being There'' | Eve Rand | Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading RoleNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |- |rowspan="2"| 1980 | ''A Change of Seasons'' | Karyn Evans | |- | ''Loving Couples'' | Evelyn | |- | 1983 | ''Terms of Endearment'' | Aurora Greenway | Academy Award for Best ActressDavid di Donatello for Best Foreign ActressGolden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture DramaLos Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best ActressNational Board of Review Award for Best ActressNew York Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActressNominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role |- | 1984 | ''Cannonball Run II'' | Veronica | |- | 1987 | ''Out on a Limb'' | Herself | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film |- | 1988 | ''Madame Sousatzka'' | Madame Yuvline Sousatzka | Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture DramaVolpi Cup |- | 1989 | ''Steel Magnolias'' | Ouiser Boudreaux | Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role |- |rowspan="2"| 1990 | ''Postcards from the Edge'' | Doris Mann | Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading RoleNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture |- | ''Waiting for the Light'' | Aunt Zena | |- | 1991 | ''Defending Your Life'' | "Past Lives Pavilion" host | |- | 1992 | ''Used People'' | Pearl Berman | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |- | 1993 | ''Wrestling Ernest Hemingway'' | Helen Cooney | |- | 1994 | ''Guarding Tess'' | Tess Carlisle | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |- | 1995 | ''The West Side Waltz'' | Margaret Mary Elderdice | |- |rowspan="2"| 1996 | ''The Evening Star'' | Aurora Greenway | |- | ''Mrs. Winterbourne'' | Grace Winterbourne |Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |- | 1997 | ''A Smile Like Yours'' | Martha | uncredited |- | 1999 | ''Joan of Arc'' | Madame de Beaurevoir | |- | 2000 | ''Bruno'' | Helen |Directed by Shirley MacLaine |- | 2001 | ''These Old Broads'' | Kate Westbourne | |- |rowspan="2"| 2002 | ''Salem Witch Trials'' | Rebecca Nurse | |- | ''Hell on Heels: The Battle of Mary Kay'' | Mary Kay |Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film |- | 2003 | ''Carolina'' | Grandma Millicent Mirabeau | |- |rowspan="3"| 2005 | ''Rumor Has It…'' | Katharine Richelieu | |- | ''Bewitched'' | Iris Smythson/Endora | |- | ''In Her Shoes'' | Ella Hirsch | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion PictureNominated — Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture |- | 2007 | ''Closing the Ring'' | Ethel Ann | |- |rowspan=2| 2008 | ''Coco Chanel'' |Coco Chanel | Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a MovieNominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television FilmNominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie |- | ''Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning'' |Amelia Thomas | |- |2010 | ''Valentine's Day'' | Estelle Paddington | |- |2011 | ''Bernie'' | Marjorie Nugent | |}

TV work

''Shirley's World'' (1971–1972) and a 1977 one hour special.

''Where Do We Go From Here?'' (1978) Winner of the Rose D'Or

''Out on a Limb'' (1987)

References

Bibliography

(Published in Europe as: )

External links

MacLaine's Official Website

Shirley MacLaine interviewed by Ginny Dougary (2005)

Category:1934 births Category:Living people Category:People from Richmond, Virginia Category:Actors from Virginia Category:American Christians Category:Baptists from the United States Category:American comedians Category:American dancers Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American musical theatre actors Category:American people of Canadian descent Category:American spiritual writers Category:American stage actors Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Best Actress Academy Award winners Category:Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:People from Arlington County, Virginia Category:Transcendental Meditation practitioners Category:GLAAD Media Awards winners

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Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
name	Robert Towne
birth date	November 23, 1934
birth place	Los Angeles, California
spouse	Julie Payne (m.1977)Luisa Gaule (1984-) }}

Robert Towne (born Robert Bertram Schwartz; November 23, 1934) is an American screenwriter and director. His most notable work may be his Academy Award-winning original screenplay for Roman Polanski's ''Chinatown'' (1974).

Career

Film

Towne is the author of many notable film scripts, including ''Chinatown'' (1974), for which he received an Academy Award, plus its sequel, ''The Two Jakes'' (1990), and Oscar-nominated screenplays ''The Last Detail'' and ''Shampoo'' as well as the first two ''Mission Impossible'' films. Towne has also a "stellar reputation" in the motion-picture industry as an uncredited script doctor, who has worked in such a capacity for ''The Godfather'', ''Bonnie and Clyde'', ''The Parallax View'', ''The Rock'' and dozens of other Hollywood films.

After working for years on a script of ''Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes'' (1984) he grew dissatisfied with the production and credited his dog, P.H. Vazak, with the script. Vazak became the first dog nominated for an Oscar for screenwriting, but he did not fetch the award. Towne co-wrote the film ''8 Million Ways to Die'' using the alias David Lee Henry.

Towne also wrote and directed ''Personal Best'' (1982), a fictional drama of female track-and-field athletes, and ''Without Limits'' (1998), a biopic based on the life of distance runner Steve Prefontaine. His crime story ''Tequila Sunrise'' (1988) co-starred Mel Gibson as a reformed cocaine dealer and Kurt Russell as a detective, with Michelle Pfeiffer as a woman who becomes romantically involved with both. Towne told ''The New York Times'' that ''Tequila Sunrise'' is "a movie about the use and abuse of friendship."

A project Towne had long sought to bring to the screen came to fruition in 2006 with ''Ask the Dust'', a romantic period piece set in Los Angeles based on the acclaimed novel by John Fante and starring Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek. Towne had found the novel while researching ''Chinatown'', looking for material that would honestly describe that particular era of Los Angeles. He became so entranced by the book that he arranged to meet with its author—himself a screenwriter—in person. "I was an unknown," Towne said. "I hadn't written anything of note." But Fante greeted the young fan with accusations like "What makes you think you're any kind of judge of my work?" ''Ask the Dust'' received mixed reviews and failed at the box office.

Towne has framed several of his signature films as elaborate melodramas. He told ''The New York Times'' "I think melodrama is always a splendid occasion to entertain an audience and say things you want to say without rubbing their noses in it," he says. "With melodrama, as in dreams, you're always flirting with the disparity between appearance and reality, which is a great deal of fun. And that's also not unrelated to my perception of my life working in Hollywood, where you're always wondering, 'What does that guy really mean?'"

In 2006, Towne was the subject of artist Sarah Morris's film, ''Robert Towne''. Morris describes him as an “elliptical figure” whose career exemplifies a certain characteristic mode of working in the film industry, marked by collaboration, shared or changing roles. Morris's painting installation on the ceiling of the Lever House in Manhattan, commissioned by the Public Art Fund, was also titled "Robert Towne".

Television

Towne has also written for television, including an acclaimed episode of the 1962-1963 CBS anthology series ''The Lloyd Bridges Show'' entitled "My Daddy Can Beat Your Daddy," with starring roles for Jeff Bridges and Gary Lockwood.

As performer

On occasion, he has acted on screen, as in 1960's Roger Corman sci-fi film ''Last Woman on Earth'', which Towne also wrote. He also starred in another Corman film, ''Creature From the Haunted Sea''.

Future projects

Towne has been announced as writer-director of ''The 39 Steps'', a 2011 remake of the 1935 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Two Jakes

Robert Towne expressed his disappointment in ''The Two Jakes'' in many interviews. He told writer Alex Simon "In the interest of maintaining my friendships with Jack Nicholson and Robert Evans, I’d rather not go into it, but let’s just say ''The Two Jakes'' wasn’t a pleasant experience for any of us. But, we’re all still friends, and that’s what matters most."

In a November 5, 2007 interview with MTV, Jack Nicholson revealed that Towne had written the part of Gittes specifically for him. In the same interview, Nicholson also revealed that Towne had conceived ''Chinatown'' as a trilogy and that the third film was to be set in 1968 and deal in some way with Howard Hughes.

Personal life

Towne’s parentage was Romanian on his mother’s side, Russian on his father’s. He grew up in San Pedro, Los Angeles, the son of Helen and Lou Schwartz. His father ran a ladies clothing shop called the Towne Smart Shop, and changed the family name to Towne. Lou then moved into real estate and moved his family to the affluent Rolling Hills, a gated community in Palos Verdes, where Robert attended Chadwick School. Robert has a brother Roger, who is six years younger. He is married to Luisa Gaule. His former father-in-law is late actor John Payne, star of the western series, ''The Restless Gun''. Towne's daughter (with actress Julie Payne) is Katharine Towne. He is a former father-in-law of Charlie Hunnam.

He is a graduate of Pomona College in Claremont, California.

Filmography

Credits as Writer-Director

''Personal Best'' (1982) - Also Producer

''Tequila Sunrise'' (1988)

''Without Limits'' (1998)

''Ask the Dust'' (2006)

Credits as Writer Only

''Last Woman on Earth'' (1960)

''The Tomb of Ligeia'' (1964)

''Bonnie and Clyde'' (1967) (credited as 'special consultant')

''Villa Rides'' (1968)

''Cisco Pike'' (1972)

''The New Centurions'' (1972)

''The Last Detail'' (1973)

''Chinatown'' (1974)

''The Parallax View'' (1974)

''The Yakuza'' (1974)

''Shampoo'' (1975)

''The Missouri Breaks'' (1976)

''Orca'' (1977)

''Heaven Can Wait'' (1978)

''Deal of the Century'' (1983)

''Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes'' (1984)

''Tough Guys Don't Dance'' (1987)

''Frantic'' (1988)

''The Two Jakes'' (1990)

''Days of Thunder'' (1990)

''The Firm'' (1993)

''Love Affair'' (1994)

''Mission: Impossible'' (1996)

''Mission: Impossible II'' (2000)

''The Thirty Nine Steps'' (2011) - announced

Awards

Academy Award

*1974: Nominated, Best Adapted Screenplay, ''The Last Detail''

*1975: Won, Best Original Screenplay, ''Chinatown''

*1976: Nominated, Best Original Screenplay, ''Shampoo''

*1985: Nominated, Best Adapted Screenplay, ''Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan''

BAFTA Award

*1975: Won, Best Screenplay, ''The Last Detail'' and ''Chinatown''

Golden Globe Award

*1975: Won, Best Screenplay - Motion Picture, ''Chinatown''

Edgar Award

References

External links

Category:1934 births Category:Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Living people Category:American screenwriters Category:American people of Romanian descent Category:American people of Russian descent Category:Edgar Award winners Category:Pomona College alumni Category:People from Los Angeles, California

de:Robert Towne fr:Robert Towne it:Robert Towne he:רוברט טאון nl:Robert Towne pl:Robert Towne ru:Таун, Роберт sv:Robert Towne

Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
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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