Q1 – Frank Sinatra was born December 12, 1915  in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian immigrants. He almost died at birth.

True – Frank almost died during childbirth – the doctor had trouble removing the 13 ½ pound baby Frank from his mother, scarring him with forceps and puncturing his eardrum. Frank’s grandmother, Rose, noticed the baby wasn’t breathing and held him under cold running water until he finally began to breathe. Because of his eardrum he would not be allowed to serve in the military.

Q2 – Amazing as it sounds Franks Sinatra and Bing Crosby never met.

False – Frank knew he had to be a singer after seeing Bing Crosby live at Loew’s Journal Square in New Jersey. Also, he first appeared on-screen with his hero Bing Crosby in the 1956 movie High Society, which also marked Grace Kelly’s final performance before she became Princess of Monaco.

Q3 – Sinatra had his first musical break with local music group The Hoboken Four in 1935, winning the popular Major Bowes and His Original Amateur Hour radio contest.

True – After his radio success he was able to sign a contracts. in the swing era, with bandleaders Harry James and Tommy Dorsey. The rest was history and he went on to sell 150 million records worldwide.

Q4 – Frank Sinatra was not allowed to entertain the troops for most of World War II.

True – He did travelled to Europe to entertain the U.S.O. troops during World War II in 1945, with Phil Silvers. However, the FBI prevented Frank from traveling on previous tours. Briefly, there were rumors reported by columnist Walter Winchell that Sinatra paid $40,000 to avoid the service, but the FBI found this to be without merit.

Q5 – Frank Sinatra Jr. was kidnapped and held for ransom in December of 1963.

True – Frank Sr. paid a ransom of $240,000 to free the then 19 year-old Frank Jr. from kidnappers. After being held for several days, Frank Jr. was released safely. The FBI eventually caught the kidnappers and recovered most of the ransom money.

Q6 – Sinatra never did as much as people thought. In truth he really had just a few hit songs and made two movies (High Society and From Here to Eternity).

False – Whoa, that was really false! He performed on more than 1,400 recordings in a 6-decade career, appeared in more than 60 films, and produced 8 movies. He actually won an Academy Award for, From Here to Eternity, he starred in The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), and received critical acclaim for his performance in The Manchurian Candidate (1962). The awards and accolades are too many to list here. You can go to this page to learn more.

Q7 – Frank Sinatra raised millions of dollars for his work with various charities.

False – Throughout his life, Frank Sinatra raised more than one billion dollars for charities around the world. How about that?!

This Week’s Podcast:

On the podcast this week we have something special from Frank Sinatra, have a story about a terrible murder committed in the 1940’s and much more! You can listen to this podcast on Thursday at Ron’s Amazing Stories, download it from iTunes, stream it on TuneIn Radio or listen to it on your radio Saturday night at 6pm Eastern time. Check your local listing or find the station closest to you at this link.

The Calendar:

June 29 – C-Chute – (RAS290)
July 06 – Replay Cypherus Canyon With Jim Harold
July 13 – Tale From Development Hell – (RAS291)
July 20 – Stagecoach Stop – (RAS292)
July 27 – The Black Dahlia – (RAS293)
August 03 – RAS294 or HE16?