Today, December 12th, pause a moment to remember the birthdate of one of show business’ legendary performers, Mr. Frank Sinatra.  In addition to his legendary musical career, Sinatra — who died 8 years ago — could be, as all movie morlocks know, a tremendous presence onscreen, starting out from his first major role in 1943’s Higher and Higher. 

From tough dramatic roles, like his turn in 1953’s From Here to Eternity, to bouncy and hilarious romps like 1949’s On The Town, Sinatra proved time and again that the same emotion and intelligence he brought to his song interpretations made him an accomplished actor.  And thinking about Sinatra’s life just before From Here to Eternity, the early 1950s were a dicey time for Sinatra.  He was in a career slump, slowly recovering from serious throat problems that threatened to derail his singing career, and his movie career had gone from the heights of MGM musical stardom to the tired Double Dynamite from 1951, so-named in honor of Jane Russell’s headlights. 

Even more damaging to Sinatra’s public acceptance was his affair with ravishing Ava Gardner, a relationship with broke up his long marriage from first wife Nancy.  So as the 1950s began, he was not quite the hot stuff that drove the teenage girls wild a decade before; he was an almost-washed-up singer who couldn’t sing, with a girlfriend whose career was doing better than his, and a heap of bad publicity following him around.  Sinatra’s divorce from Nancy was finalized at the end of October 1951, and he wed Ava on November 7, just a week later. 

We’ve all heard how Frank lobbied hard for the part of Maggio in From Here to Eternity, and his persistence and faith in his abilities paid off.  He won an Oscar for his searing supporting role in the movie, and deserved it.  His movie career was back on track, and though every movie wasn’t a triumph, he gave Hollywood a solid string of entertainment, including several true classics like The Manchurian Candidate, Ocean’s Eleven, and The Joker is Wild. 

Ava and Frankie had some good times, but their tempestuous, passionate marriage was to only last a little over six years.  He went on to marry twice more, to Mia Farrow and finally Barbara Marx, and died on May 14, 1998, at the age of eighty-three.  He was one of the truly immortal performers, and it all started in Hoboken on December 12, 1915.