11/16/2024
Barbara Sinatra: “One of the best things about my husband was: if something went wrong in your life, boom, he was there. And if you had him on your side, it was like having an army at your disposal. Furthermore, he was on your side if you were right or wrong, and that is something very special in a friend; you don’t find that so often. Gregory Peck and Frank had always been close, and Frank called him Ahab after his character in Moby Dick. When Greg’s son Jonathan died, in 1975, Frank was one of the first at his side. He did the same for Dean Martin twelve years later when his son Dino was killed in a plane crash. When Sammy Davis, Jr. lost an eye in a car accident; Frank went to see Sammy in the hospital and then brought him back to Palm Springs to recuperate. Sammy loved Frank, so even though he was depressed, just being with his hero helped get him through that terrible time. Frank took friendship and loyalty very seriously and believed that true friendship could only be tested in times of need. People just had to get word to him and he’d drop what he was doing and go spend time with them. He’d travel long distances to brighten someone’s day, and I went with him to numerous hospitals and homes for retired singers and actors to cheer up old friends. He took me to see Gene Kelly in Santa Monica when he was first sick and to the bedside of John Wayne when he was dying. ‘The Duke’ and Frank had been friends for years and were as close as brothers, even though they were diametrically opposed politically and kidded each other constantly about it. Frank and Gene Kelly had been in several films together, and for Anchors Aweigh Gene taught Frank how to dance outside studio hours. Frank called Gene ‘the Irish taskmaster’ but he never forgot that kindness. Thanks to Gene, Frank could really move. He could even jump up in the air and click his heels together, and he loved to do that. He was also a terrific ballroom dancer, which was terribly romantic.
