Sinatra

by Anthony Summers

  278 lamb’s head episode: ints & corr. Melville Shavelson, M/G int. of Shavelson. The authors found Shavelson entirely credible, but it proved impossible to date the lamb’s-head incident. Shavelson’s colleague Jack Rose died in 1995, so could not be interviewed. Shavelson’s best estimate was that the incident occurred in early 1961, and Sinatra did play the Fontainebleau—soon after the January inauguration—from February to March 13 that year (FS at Fontainebleau—corr. Ric Ross, Sinatra, Legend, 156).

  278 horse’s head tradition: Sifakis, 159–, Sinatra, Legend, 110, and see note at p. 460– supra.

  278 “sheep with its throat cut”: Hess, 114, int. Gino Spezia. There is some evidence that Giancana used symbols. He is believed to have had one of his men killed in 1948, for bungling a murder by leaving behind evidence pointing to Giancana. The one item found on the corpse was a comb—a reference, investigators believed, to the man’s failure to “comb clean” the body of his victim. Other murders covered by Giancana’s biographer involved instances of a nickel left in the hand of a suspected informer, a valentine tossed on a corpse, and tiny coffins mailed as threats to a man who was eventually killed (Brashler, 156–); (FS not abide smell) undat. National Enquirer series, 1990, by former Sinatra valet Bill Stapely; (back to wall) int. Brad Dexter; (what he did) Sinatra with Coplon, 77.

  Chapter 26: Friends Fall Out

  279 FS and inauguration: (evening at RFK’s/“a god”/“That’s enough”) Joan Braden, Just Enough Rope, New York: Villard, 1989, 146–, Heymann, 197; (previousnight) (LA) Mirror, Jan. 18, 1961, Arthur Schlesinger, A Thousand Days, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965, 166; (gala success/only three thousand) LAT, Jun. 21, 1998, NYT, Jan. 20, 1961, Taraborrelli, 238–; (Jacqueline not approve/on arm) Braden, 110, Heymann, 175, Sarah Bradford, America’s Queen, London: Penguin, 2001, 219; (“indebted”) Kennedy remarks, JFK inaugural concert, videotape in authors’ collection; (area set aside) Reeves, 36; (FS not there/“Frank didn’t want”) Spada, Lawford, 238.

  280 drunk/“There was a stand”: Henry Rogers of the Rogers & Cowan public relations firm later recalled trying, on Sinatra’s instructions, to get the Daily News to retract the story, pointing out that Sinatra had watched the inauguration on TV at his hotel. Neal’s account would indicate that Sinatra first visited Capitol Hill and then returned to his hotel suite at the Hilton, which adjoined Neal’s. The Daily News did not retract the story. The authors could not locate the original story, and concluded that it appeared in an edition not filed at the Library of Congress (Henry Rogers, Walking the Tightrope, New York: William Morrow, 1980, 164, int. Bob Neal).

  280 FS dinner: LAT, Jun. 21, 1998, Bradford, 224; (boxes) int. Brad Dexter; (“very much on edge”) Brownstein, 159; (“Tell him”) int. Mel Shavelson, Shavelson, 167–.

  280 FS not to Palm Beach/“Tony and I”: int. Janet Leigh. A contemporary newspaper report, probably based on an advance press release, said Sinatra did make the journey. ([LA] Mirror, Jan. 21, 1961, and see Gehman, 85).

  280 FS movie and Maltz: The movie in prospect was an adaptation of William Bradford Huie’s bestseller The Execution of Private Slovik, the story of the real-life execution of an American World War II deserter. The project was shelved (O’Brien, Film Guide, 207); (announced/conservative press) Science & Society, Fall 2002, Wiener, 267, Miami Herald, (NY) Daily Mirror, Apr. 1, New York Journal-American, Apr. 2, LAT, Apr. 8, Variety, Apr. 13, 1960; (FS fought) Variety, Mar. 28, 1960, Los Angeles Examiner, Mar. 31, 1960; (dropped Maltz) (LA) Mirror-News, Apr. 9, Variety, Apr. 11, 1960; (pressure from Joe and Bobby) Sinatra with Coplon, 68, and see Gehman, 188; (FS got drunk) Jacobs and Stadiem, 145.

  281 Democratic concern re FS: (“Jack Pack”) Spada, Lawford, 226, and see HollywoodCitizen-News, Oct. 13, 1960; (“It is hoped”) Wilson, Sinatra, 169; (word passed) Braden, 110, Heymann, 175.

  281 FS, Davis & Kennedys: (booed) Los Angeles Examiner, Aug. 20, 1960, Davis, Boyar, and Boyar, Yes, I Can, 556, Haygood, 304.

  281 press suggested/asked Davis to postpone: Davis, Boyar, and Boyar, Yes, I Can, 565–, (LA) Mirror, Oct. 26, 1960, Fishgall, 165. Sinatra’s daughter Nancy has said Joe Kennedy pressured her father to get Davis to postpone the marriage. According to George Jacobs, Davis put off the wedding as “a huge favor” to Sinatra. In his memoirs, Davis wrote of the episode as though the decision was his alone (Nancy on pressure—Sinatra, Legend, 150; “favor”—Jacobs and Stadiem, 146; Davis memoirs—Davis, Boyar, and Boyar, Yes, I Can, 566–, and Why Me, 116–); (“he does not want”) Davis, Boyar, and Boyar, Why Me, 130; (Lawford call) Sinatra, Legend, 151.

  281 FS appalled: Sinatra, My Father, 145. Though not excusable, Kennedy’s action should be seen in the context of the bigotry of the day. “There were tensions behind the scenes no one would have guessed,” said the copyist Vern Yocum, who traveled to the capital with Frank and the Nelson Riddle orchestra to work on the inauguration gala. “They [Sinatra and Riddle] had a room in one of the best hotels in Washington. In the band we had two black musicians, a saxophone player and a bass player. So they housed us across the river in a motel.” The restaurant staff refused to serve the two black men, and at Frank’s urging the entire party walked out and ate elsewhere. Such episodes were common in 1960 (Vern Yocum taped recollections); (FS quarreled) Sinatra with Coplon, 76; (MLK benefit/FS drinking) int. Peter Levinson, Levinson, September, 146.

  281–82 difficult FS/Kennedy relations: (phoned occasionally) e.g., int. Mickey Finn, 1983, “Correlation Summary,” Jun. 8, 1964, FSFBI; (“Happy Birthday!”) Show Business Illustrated, Sep. 5, 1961; (White House visit once) Sinatra with Coplon, 78; (Joe Kennedy and film) Spada, Lawford, 290; (Côte d’Azur/“no room”) LAT, Aug. 3, 9, Limelight, Aug. 24, New York Daily News, Hollywood Citizen-News, Aug. 4, Los Angeles Examiner, Sep. 10, 1961, Chicago’s American, Oct. 1, 1966, int. Bob Neal; (FS at compound) Manchester Union Leader, Sep. 26, U.S. News & World Report, Oct. 16, 1961; (alcohol/“whores”) Manchester Union Leader, Sep. 26, 1961, Frank Saunders, Torn Lace Curtain, New York: Pinnacle, 1982, 79–; (“loud & obnoxious”) Barbara Leaming, Mrs. Kennedy, London: Orion, 2001, 177, 175; (Salinger) Michael Beschloss, The Crisis Years, New York: Edward Burlingame, 1991, 312, Kelley, 293; (FS “is also coming”) Elise Kirk, “Music at the White House,” JFK Library reprint, Jun. 29, 2001; (“showing off”) Smith, Grace & Power, 231; (“All the work”) Kelley, 292; (“was in a snit”) Granata, 151; (not to Florida/bad throat) Shaw, Sinatra, 308.

  282–283 No JFK stay at FS house: (extensive construction) Chicago Tribune, Jan. 7, 1961, New Yorker, Nov. 3, 1997, Sinatra, Legend, 160; (“He spent thousands”) Star, Dec. 16, 1975; (parties/guest lists) Jacobs and Stadiem, 163.

  283 at Crosby’s ranch: LAT, Mar. 24, 1962. The president’s aide Kenneth O’Donnell insisted later that the decision not to stay at Sinatra’s home was dictated by security concerns. The Secret Service is said to have thought the house vulnerable because it was alongside a golf course. Crosby’s home, by contrast, was more isolated and easier to guard. A memoir by former Air Force One pilot Ralph Albertazzie suggests the Secret Service did make such a recommendation. If so, it was convenient. The break with Sinatra was driven by more serious concerns (O’Donnell insisted—O’Donnell and Powers with McCarthy, 379; memoir—J. F. terHorst and Ralph Albertazzie, The Flying White House, New York: Bantam, 1980, 175, and see Bacon, Hollywood, 256, Reeves, 292; (Lawford delivered/FS tore phone) Jacobs and Stadiem, 163; (“Frank grabbed”) int. Sonny King, Van Meter, 186.

  283 (Lawford expelled) Star, Dec. 16, 1975, (Long Beach, CA) Southland, Nov. 19, 1972, Collier and Horowitz, 428, Christopher Lawford, 41, 197. According to Christopher Lawford, Sinatra “summoned” his father to Palm Springs years later, not long before Lawford’s death in 1984, “to make peace, claiming through an intermediary that there were no hard feelings. . . . [But Frank] was the king, never really looking at my dad and granting one-syllable responses.” (Christopher Lawford, 42).

  283 FS laid blame: ints. Milt Ebbins, Shirley MacLaine. The publ
isher Walter Annenberg later said it was Joe Kennedy who advised the president to “brush the Dago off.” Though in character, this would be plausible only if Joe had offered the advice before December 19, 1961. He suffered a devastating stroke that day, and could not speak for months afterward (“brush the Dago”—John Clooney, The Annenbergs, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982, 263–; stroke—Whalen, 479–); (“He was madder”) int. Shirley MacLaine; (FS spoke fondly/mementos)ints. Tony Oppedisano, Rock Brynner, Sinatra, Legend, 179, Ladies’ Home Journal, Dec. 1975; (red phone) Look, Nov. 30, 1965.

  283 “Jack, you can’t have”: Skolsky, 51–. This exchange likely occurred during a visit by the president to Los Angeles on the weekend of November 18–19, 1961. He and Monroe were at the Lawford beach house on the 19th, and he had seen Sinatra at a public function the previous day. There was a press rumor that week that the president had decided to distance himself from Sinatra (Nov. 18–19 — NYT, Nov. 19, 1961, Summers, Goddess, 227, 228n; rumor—New York Journal-American,Nov. 15, 1961, and see Photoplay, Mar. 1962); (“Johnny, you just can’t”) Collier and Horowitz, 371; (Feldman) Brownstein, 164.

  283 “It meant nothing”: ibid., 166. Former White House aide Dave Powers claimed years later that Kennedy would have been “displeased” by the suggestion that he had disassociated himself from Sinatra. There were some further contacts in the latter part of the presidency, but they were limited, so far as one can tell, to polite correspondence (LAT, Jan. 19, 1976).

  283 “I don’t know”: int. Shirley MacLaine.

  283 “Peter told him”: int. Sonny King. Lawford, and Kennedy’s former press secretary, Pierre Salinger, later acknowledged that this was indeed the gist of the message (Star, Dec. 16, 1975, Feb. 17, 1976, int. Pierre Salinger, in Sinatra: Good Guy, Bad Guy, Hart Ryan Productions, for ITV [London], 2000); (“It was a question”) Brownstein, 164.

  Chapter 27: Paying the Price

  285 pursuit of organized crime: (RFK announcing victories) LAHE, Mar. 24, LAT, Mar. 25, 1962; (indicted/convicted) appen., HSCA, vol. 9, 20; (D’Amato reminded) Hellerman with Renner, 106; (D’Amato indicted) Hersh, 101; (expel Costello/Rosselli) Katz, 201, Rappeleye and Becker, 261, Mahoney, 97.

  285 Marcello: Though deported less than three months into the presidency, Marcello sneaked back in within weeks (appendix., HSCA, vol. 9, 70–).

  285 action against Giancana: (vigorously pursued) Director to SAC Las Vegas, Apr. 13, 1961, FBI 92-3171-196, Evans to Parsons, May 1, 1961, FBI 92-3171-211, and May 18, 1961, FBI 92-3171-240, Director to SAC Chicago, Jun. 22, 1961, FBI 92-3171-272, and Jun. 22, 1962, FBI 92-3171-626; (RFK surprised) Mahoney, 103; (“highly concerned”) Director to SAC Chicago, Feb. 8, 1962, FBI 92-3171-613; (“hoodlum lawyer”) int. Marion Phillips, 1983; (“unfair”) Hersh, 101; (“instructions”) Director to SAC Miami, Jul. 6, 1961, FBI 92-3024-25, “Title: Joseph Fischetti,” Aug. 24, 1961, FBI 92-3024-27.

  286 FS spoke for Marcello: Report of SA Furman Boggan, Jan. 14, 1963, HSCA Subject Files, LCN, Main File, 90- 6054, JFK, appen., HSCA, vol. 9, 70. According to this report, Sinatra spoke on Marcello’s behalf on the initiative of Florida boss Santo Trafficante, whom he had met by the early 1950s. Trafficante, who suffered from baldness, reportedly used a hair-transplant surgeon recommended by Sinatra (Trafficante initiative—appendix, HSCA, vol. 9, 70, Report of SA Furman Boggan, Jan. 14, 1962, HSCA Subject Files, LCN, Main File, 92:6054, section 12; had known/hair transplants—int. Joe Nellis; “Supplemental Correlation Summary,” Feb. 25, 1969, FS FBI, and see Ragano and Raab, 20, 115, 188, 214–; surgeon—ibid., 82); (Giancana/Rosselli and Castro) “Alleged Plots Involving Foreign Leaders,” Interim Report, Select Committee to Study Government Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities, 94th Cong., 1st sess., Nov. 1975, 74–; (“working for the government”) Schlesinger, RFK, 495, Rappeleye and Becker, 231; (“Sinatra went to”) Cohen as told to Nugent, 235.

  286 “ ‘Johnny, I took Sam’s name’ ”/“ ‘One minute he tells me’ ”: The source the authors have used is the thirty-six-page FBI transcript of a series of conversations picked up by an FBI bug on the night of December 6–7, 1961. Giancana’s interlocutor in this particular conversation is identified on the tape only as “John,” and published sources differ as to his identity. The authors agree with those who conclude it was Formosa. Previous books, meanwhile, have referred to a conversation in which there was talk of “hitting” or “whacking” Sinatra and other Rat Pack members— language some have taken to refer to killing him. FBI transcripts at the National Archives contain no such dialogue. The “whacking” reference first appeared in a 1977 biography of Giancana, and may derive from the inexact memory or notes of Agent William Roemer, a lead member of the FBI’s Chicago surveillance team. Roemer was probably misremembering Giancana’s talk about giving Sinatra or Martin a “headache.” The transcripts seen by the authors were not available until recently (Dec. 6 conversation—log of conv., Dec. 6, 1961, Misc. ELSUR Refs., vol. 1, HSCA Subject Files, Frank Sinatra, JFK; sources differ—e.g., Blakey and Billings, 383, Mahoney, 125, Ronald Goldfarb, Perfect Villains, Imperfect Heroes, New York: Random House, 1995, 137, Roemer, Mob, 189–; “hit”/“whack”—ibid., Brashler, 212–, and authors’ corr. William Brashler, and see Blakey and Billings, 383).

  287 “punch the [obscenity]”/“They don’t want him”: log of conv., Dec. 21, 1961, Misc. ELSUR Refs., vol. 1, HSCA Subject Files, Frank Sinatra, JFK.

  287 “Lying [obscenity]!”: log of Jan. 4, 1962, Misc. ELSUR Refs., Frank Sinatra, vol. 1, HSCA Subject Files, JFK, SAC Chicago to Director, Jan. 10, 1962, FBI 92-3171-58—the FBI thought the other associate was possibly Nick Civella. However great Giancana’s frustration, the fact remained that Sinatra was an entrée to the Kennedys. As late as 1963, the mafioso would order an associate to pass a message to FBI agents outside his headquarters: “If Bobby Kennedy wants to talk to me, he knows who to go through.” The associate made it clear that Giancana was referring to Sinatra (Director to Attorney General, Jul. 9, 1963, FBI 92-3171-1070, and see Roemer, Mob, 263).

  287 Joe K. felled: Whalen, 479; (“Why oh why?”) Jacobs and Stadiem, 165.

  287 “Peel the banana”: NYT, Apr. 14, 1976.

  287–88 McMillan probe: The authors had access to McMillan’s final Sinatra memorandum, which was submitted in early 1964. Thirteen other related memos are still withheld. Though some details of the attorney’s efforts to have Sinatra investigated have leaked out over the years, he has always been close-mouthed. McMillan gave limited interviews to the authors in 1983 and in 2002, and a longer interview—for the TV documentary linked to this book—in 2004 (Dougald McMillan to William Hundley, “Subject: Francis Albert Sinatra,” Jan. 3, 1964, Department of Justice, Organized Crime Division—referencing eleven previous Sinatra memos, and two with the subject heading “Max Eder,” also ints. Ron Goldfarb, Mrs. Edwyn Silberling, Robert Blakey, Messick with Nellis, 238–); (“Sinatra’s affiliation”) int. Dougald McMillan; (Silberling/Campbell/grand jury) NYT, Apr. 12, 14, 1976; (“considered Sinatra”) Brownstein, 162; (“I believe there was”) int. Dougald McMillan for PITV; (“between a rock”) int. Dougald McMillan.

  288 FS and Fischetti: (saw time and again) Burke to SAC Newark, Mar. 13, 1962, FBI 137-3514-234, SAC Miami to Director, Mar. 5, 1962, FBI 92-3024-38, “Joseph Fischetti,” Apr. 24, 1962, FBI 92-3024-46, and Oct. 29, 1962, FBI 92-3024-55; (“Fischetti is”) “Joseph Fischetti,” Jun. 18, 1962, FBI 92-3024-51.

  288 FS and Giancana together: (“in a private”) Van Meter, 194; (“the unlisted number”) “Samuel M. Giancana,” Oct. 11, 1962, FBI 92-3171-904; (“Frank Sinatra’s residence”) ibid.

  288 Villa Venice/capacity crowds: Brashler, 213–, Giancana and Renner, 108–; “File Review & Summary Check: re Dean Martin,” Feb. 2, 1974, FBI 62-4881-3, and see re Giancana’s ownership role, “Special Summary Report, Samuel M. Giancana,” May 5, 1961, FBI 92-636-3, FBI int. of Frank Sinatra, Jan. 17, 1963, FBI 92-962. A Sinatra attorney later denied claims that his client performed for free a
t the Villa Venice, saying he had been paid $15,000. A Nevada State Gaming Control Board investigator who checked the records testified that this appeared to be the case. Chicago FBI agent William Roemer and Sinatra’s friend Sonny King concluded that he was paid “scale” or “minimum.” Tina Sinatra said her father “mollified” Giancana by performing, but not “out of fear.” Her sister, Nancy, said the appearances were to pay the mobster back for his help in the 1960 election (free?—e.g., LAHE, Jan. 18, 1981; $15,000—Vincent Chieffo and Agent Weyland testimonies, Nevada State Gaming Control Board, Feb. 11, 1981; “scale”—Roemer, Mob, 191; “minimum”—int. Sonny King; “mollified”—Sinatra with Coplon, 76; payback?—Sinatra, Legend, 168).

  288–89 Acapulco: int. Rock Brynner, Rock Brynner, Yul: The Man Who Would Be King, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989, 148–; (“Dr. Moody”) Giancana’s most common nickname was “Mooney.” He used many aliases, and sometimes the title “Dr.” In Mexico, Brynner thought, he called himself either “Moody” or “Goody” (“Mooney”—Brashler, 28–, 106; aliases—e.g., “Special Summary Report, Samuel M. Giancana,” May 5, 1961, FBI 92-636-3; used “Dr.”—e.g., int. Dan Arney, Fisher, 255; “Moody”/“Goody”—ints. and corr. Rock Brynner, Brynner, 148–); (dined NY) “Samuel M. Giancana,” Apr. 30, 1963, FBI 92-3171, section 17; (Palm Springs) Exner as told to Demaris, 275–; (Hawaii/J. J. Bracket) SAC Honolulu to Director, Jun. 13, 1963, FBI 92-3171-1027, and Jul. 19, 1963, FBI 92-3171-1124; (Perno) SAC Honolulu to Director et al., Jun. 14, 1963, FBI 92-3171-1043, and Jun. 26, 1963, FBI 92-3171-1069; (Giancana to NJ) extract, Ralph Salerno summary re organized crime for HSCA, obtained by author.

  289 Cal-Neva: (described) Anthony Summers’s visit, 1983.

  289–90 Joe K. and Lodge: Sally Denton and Roger Morris, The Money and the Power, New York: Knopf, 2001, 173, 183–, 187, Russo, 376–, “General Survey, Miami,” Feb. 16, 1944, Joseph Kennedy FBI file rereviewed and released to authors, 2003; (FS never acknowledged) FS testimony, Nevada State Gaming Control Board, Feb. 11, 1981, “Nevada Gaming Industry, Cal-Neva Lodge,” Jan. 18, 1963, FBI 190-HQ-1046581; (Giancana true owner/admitted) M/G int. of Joseph Nellis, int. Joe Shimon, 1985, ints. Robert Blakey, Tony Montana, John Smith, Demaris, Mafioso, 101, log of conv., Dec. 6, 1961, Misc. ELSUR Refs., vol. 1, HSCA Subject Files, Frank Sinatra, JFK, “Supplemental Correlation Summary,” Feb. 25, 1969, FSFBI, SAC Chicago to Director, Aug. 31, 1962, FBI 92-3171-859, Russo, 389–; (third season) (Tahoe) Daily Tribune, Jun. 26, 29, 1962, Bethel Van Tassel, Wood Chips to Game Chips, self-published, 1985, 37–; (prostitution)Edward Olsen Oral History, 1972, University of Nevada, Reno, 371–; (D’Amato brought in) ibid., 374, Demaris, Boardwalk, 33; (Rosselli seen) “File Review & Summary Check,” Mar. 26, 1970, FBI LA 100-41413-179, SAC Las Vegas to Director, Jul. 6, 1962, FBI 62-9-65-243; (Formosa seen/role) Report of SA James Doyle (FBI), Dec. 19, 1962, HSCA Subject Files, LCN, Main File, 92:6054, section 12; (“the skim run”/“They’d call up”) int. Dan Arney; (“Giancana gave Joe”) int. Tony Montana and see re Pignatello background, Farrell and Case, 46–; (Monroe was there) Summers, Goddess, 395.