Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra, born on 12 December 1915 in Hoboken (New Jersey) and died on 14 May 1998 in Los Angeles (California) at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, is an American singer, actor and record producer.

Born to Italian parents (a father of Sicilian origin and a mother from Liguria), Sinatra is one of the major figures of American music. A world-renowned crooner, he was nicknamed "The Voice" or the "Hoboken gangster", owing to his ties with the mafia.

He is one of the most influential singers of the 20th century, his popularity comparable to that of fellow Americans such as Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby or Michael Jackson. American music critic Robert Christgau even called him "the greatest singer of the 20th century". His repertoire includes more than 2,000 songs, for around 150 million records sold. Over the course of his career, he recorded 59 studio albums.

His career began in the swing era, as a singer in the jazz orchestras of Harry James and Tommy Dorsey. He found success from 1943, after signing with Columbia Records. Having become the idol of the bobby-soxers, he released his first album in 1946, The Voice of Frank Sinatra. In 1953, he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in From Here to Eternity. That same year, he signed with Capitol Records and recorded several hit albums (In the Wee Small Hours, Songs for Swingin' Lovers!, Come Fly with Me, Only the Lonely and Nice 'n' Easy). In 1961, he founded Reprise Records, his own label, and undertook an international tour. A founding member of the Rat Pack, alongside Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., he mixed with numerous celebrities and statesmen, including John F. Kennedy.

In the 1960s, he recorded his two biggest hits, Strangers in the Night (1966) and My Way (1969). He first retired in 1971 after a few unsuccessful albums and films, but returned in 1973 and found fame again performing the song New York, New York, taken from the soundtrack of the Martin Scorsese film of the same name (the original version being performed by Liza Minnelli). Living in Las Vegas, where he performed every night in the biggest casinos, he also undertook numerous tours across the United States and the rest of the world until 1995. During his film career, he was also directed by some of the greatest directors of Hollywood's golden age, including Otto Preminger, John Huston, Frank Capra, Vincente Minnelli and Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

Politically engaged, he was a strong supporter of the Democratic Party from 1944 to 1970, before backing the Republican camp, notably his friend Ronald Reagan. Married four times, including to actresses Ava Gardner and Mia Farrow, he had three children, among them singer Nancy Sinatra. In the 1990s, an investigation revealed that Sinatra had ties to Italian-American mafia bosses such as Carlo Gambino, Sam Giancana and Lucky Luciano.