Sinatra, Frank (Francis Albert) (1915-1998)

US singer and film actor. Celebrated for his phrasing and emotion, especially on love ballads, he was particularly associated with the song ‘My Way’. His films included From Here to Eternity (1953), for which he won an Academy Award, The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), Some Came Running (1959), and the political thriller The Manchurian Candidate (1962).

Sinatra returned to recording in the 1950s with a contract with Capitol that marked the heyday of his recording career. He enjoyed a string of popular successes, many of them orchestrated by Nelson Riddle (1921-1985). It was a musical partnership that would pioneer the LP album and produce classics such as ‘Come Fly With Me’, ‘In the Wee Small Hours’, and ‘Songs for Swingin' Lovers’. In the cinema, Sinatra also had several hit musical films such as Guys and Dolls (1955), High Society (1956), and Pal Joey (1957).

By the 1960s Sinatra had gathered around himself a coterie of friends and fellow-performers, who became known as the ‘rat pack’ and included Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, and Peter Lawford. Together they made several films, including Oceans 11 (1960).

From 1943 to 1945, he was a soloist on Your Hit Parade, earning even wider popularity.

In the 1940s he sang such songs as ‘Night and Day’ and ‘You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To’ with Harry James's and Tommy Dorsey's bands. In 1961 he established the record company, Reprise.