The Birth Of Frank Sinatra's American Cultural Symbol

Frank Sinatra (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - Who doesn't know Frank Sinatra? This American singer and film actor has a long career and a very open personal life.

Sinatra is becoming one of the most sought-after performers in the entertainment industry. He is also often hailed as the greatest US singer in 20th century popular music. Through his life and art, Frank Sinatra has become one of the most recognizable symbols of American culture.

Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915. Sinatra's father, Martin, was a tavern owner and part-time worker and her mother Natalie had a dominating influence both in local politics and in her son's life and career.

Hearing Bing Crosby's recording as a teenager, Sinatra was inspired to choose music as a way of life. He joined the local singing group, the Hoboken Four, winning a talent competition in 1935 on a popular radio program. The group toured around, but Sinatra was the only member with serious musical ambitions and they quickly disbanded.

Launching Britannica, Saturday 12 December, over the next several years Sinatra sang with local bands and for radio broadcasts.

In 1939, while singing and waiting for a table at the Rustic Cabin in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Sinatra was found and hired by trumpeter Harry James, who had recently quit the Benny Goodman Orchestra to start his own band.

His solo career for Columbia Records began in earnest in November 1944, when he made up for lost time by recording over a three month period.

Songs such as If You Are But a Dream, There No You, I Fall in Love Too Easily, Nancy, and his then theme, Put Your Dreams Away, were some of the first records that fans would later come to know as the Columbia era.

Not only music, Frank Sinatra also joined the acting world. Sinatra appeared in several films throughout the 1940s, the best of which was the musical he played with Gene Kelly. Among these, Anchors Aweigh (1945) and Take Me Out to the Ballgame (1949) are great entertainment, while On the Town (1949) are among the greatest musicals.

His good looks and universally praised earned Frank Sinatra an Oscar for best supporting actor. Sinatra went on to become one of the top film stars of the 1950s and 60s, and gave good looks in quality films such as Suddenly (1954), Young at Heart (1954), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), Guys and Dolls (1955), The Joker Is Wild (1957), Pal Joey (1957), and Some Came Running (1958).

In 1971, Sinatra announced that he would retire from the world of music. But in 1973 he made another recording.

In his last two decades as a singer, he chose his projects carefully and released only seven albums of new material. His voice became increasingly harsh and harsh, the result of years of smoking and alcohol.

Despite his restricted recording activities, Sinatra was close to retiring from filming during his later years.

He concentrated on live performances and gave hundreds of international concerts from the late 1970s, with his last public appearance in 1995. Sinatra then began to lose his memory and experience various physical weaknesses. On May 14, 1998, Frank Sinatra passed away.