Page 67 - All About History - Issue 18-14

My Way: Frank Sina ra Dark

paid but his career was not his own. If he broke “ Misty-eyed tough guys would give
his contract he would owe considerable chunks
of his income to Dorsey for the next decade: a him pocket money for his renditions of
clause Sinatra naturally found unsavoury. Lawyers
desperately searched in vain for any loopholes in sentimental popular songs of the day”
the deal that would allow Sinatra to walk free, and
it looked like Dorsey would keep his biggest star. eardrum. Whatever the reason, pictures of him US. Journalist Norman Mailer quickly established
However, he was quickly persuaded to change at home, cigarette in one hand and drink in the that considerably more than $2m fits easily in an
his mind. Sinatra always denied it, but Dorsey’s other, surrounded by beautiful women and living attaché, debunking ‘Old Blue Eyes’ argument.
version of the story was that he found himself the superstar lifestyle, did not endear him to those If there was doubt about what was in the
visited by Willie Moretti and two sharp-suited in uniform and their families. case, Sinatra’s presence at the mob shindig was
henchmen. “Willie fingered a gun and told me However, that controversy was a drop in the inarguable. Sinatra was close to Joe Fiscetti, who
he was glad to hear I was letting Frank out of our ocean compared to the furore that erupted when was a talent agent for mob-owned clubs all over
deal”, Dorsey recalled. “I took the hint.” Sinatra was photographed in Cuba in 1947 at a the US, and had agreed to the impromptu Havana
The young crooner made the most of his mob celebration for Lucky Luciano’s release from trip while holidaying with his wife Nancy across
opportunity and the next few years saw jail. The incriminating pictures showed Sinatra the water in Miami. Once in Cuba, Sinatra claimed,
‘Sinatramania’ grip the US, as the singer recorded with his arm around Luciano on a hotel balcony; he learned the embarrassing truth that he was
hit after hit, played to sell-out crowds, caused with Luciano at a Havana nightclub; and with the ensconced at a Mafia convention, and reasoned
near-riots wherever he went, became a ubiquitous Fischetti Brothers at the airport, disembarking a it would be impolite – not to say dangerous – to
presence on television and launched a film plane with a case in hand. Why would he have make excuses and leave. He stayed and performed
career. There was also resentment, though, as been carrying his own luggage? Comedian and for the goodfellas, but several witnesses confirmed
with the advent of World War II, he somehow movie star Jerry Lewis (the former partner of Rat that he displayed little reserve in accepting the
avoided military service. Rumours were rife that Pack lieutenant Dean Martin) later alleged that mob’s hospitality, which included hotel-room
he had paid his way out of the war – although Sinatra used to carry money for the mob. Sinatra orgies with ‘planeloads’ of call girls. It was as if
the FBI never found any evidence of this – while claimed the case was full of art supplies, and Sinatra felt right at home, and many of his Havana
other sources suggest he was deemed unfit on that he couldn’t have physically carried the $2 acquaintances would remain with him during his
psychological grounds and because of a perforated million he was accused of trafficking out of the later Las Vegas years.

Showbiz Industry
With the money flowing through One of the American Mafia’s most
USA’s show-business lucrative schemes was its infiltration
industry it was and eventual swallowing of the
inevitable that the Mafia labour unions. For many years, union
would be interested in leaders were habitually threatened
owning a piece of it. In the and paid off, meaning the Mafia
first half of the 20th century could essentially control entire work
their ownership of nightclubs forces, slowing down or stopping
in places like Las Vegas and work if developers and contractors
New York meant practically every didn’t toe their line. At their height,
famous name in music at some point the Mafia could have completely
played in mob-owned establishments, halted construction and shipping
and their control of most of the USA’s under way in the US. This is why
jukeboxes meant they often dictated trade unions, which exist to protect
which records would be successful. workers’ rights, are to this day
They maintained a presence in regarded with such suspicion and
Hollywood for some years too, hostility in the USA.
extorting studios for protection.
Some mobsters, like Johnny Roselli,
even became producers. Politics
If the Mafia could control the law,
Gambling theyhadaneasiertimegettingon
with their business. Payoffs and
With gambling illegal in many states, the Mafia threats achieved results within the
obviously owned a large stake in what was often US (and Italian) political systems
a clandestine industry. Where it was legal, the as they did in all other areas of
Mafia still maintained a presence, not least in society. In fact the mob have even
Las Vegas. The state of Nevada decriminalised occasionally involved themselves in
gambling in 1931, effectively making it the gaming presidential elections. Gangster Sam
capital of the whole country. Gangsters such as Giancana is thought to have played
Bugsy Siegel, Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky a large part in delivering significant
rushed to cash in, either building or owning large seats in West Virginia during the
stakes in casinos like the Sahara, the Sands and Democratic campaign for eventual
the Flamingo. president John F Kennedy.

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