Frank Sinatra.

Frank Sinatra. Frank Sinatra (1915-1998), Italian American singer and motion-picture actor, one of the most famous American entertainers of his generation. Francis Albert Sinatra was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, the only child of Italian immigrant parents. Though his parents wanted him to become an engineer, young Sinatra preferred athletics to academics and participated in a variety of sports, including boxing. As a teenager he worked for the Jersey Observer newspaper, often writing about school sporting events in which he was also a participant. Sinatra began singing in neighborhood amateur shows while still in his teens. His first professional contract came as a singing waiter and master of ceremonies at a club in Englewood, New Jersey, in 1938. After attending one of his performances at the club, trumpet player Harry James recruited Sinatra to be the lead singer in his band, the Music Makers. Sinatra sang with the big bands of James and Tommy Dorsey in the late 1930s and early 1940s (see Jazz: The Big Band Era). Influenced by American singers Bing Crosby and Billie Holiday, Sinatra anticipated the decline of big-band instrumental jazz music and helped generate an enthusiastic audience for popular singers (see Popular Music). In the 1940s Sinatra embarked on a solo career and became the idol of so-called bobby-soxers, teenage girls who swooned over his crooning, soft-voiced singing. His popularity drew the attention of Hollywood, and Sinatra appeared in such film musicals as Anchors Aweigh (1945), Till the Clouds Roll By (1947), and On the Town (1949). Later he took on dramatic roles, winning an Academy Award for his nonsinging performance in From Here to Eternity (1953). His acting performances in The Manchurian Candidate (1962) and The Detective (1968) were also highly regarded. During the 1950s and 1960s Sinatra teamed with a number of talented jazz arrangers, including Nelson Riddle, Neal Hefti, Quincy Jones, and Billy May. These partnerships produced a number of albums now regarded as classic recordings, including Swing Easy (1955), In the Wee Small Hours (1955), Songs for Swingin' Lovers (1956), Come Fly with Me (1958), Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely (1958), Nice 'N' Easy (1960), and Strangers in the Night (1966). In the 1960s he also recorded with the big bands of American jazz musicians Count Basie and Duke Ellington. After a brief retirement from 1971 to 1973, Sinatra resumed his singing career, continuing to tour and appearing frequently in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 1993 he released the album Frank Sinatra Duets, on which many of his standard songs were engineered as duets with other famous singers. Contributors to the album included American singers Barbra Streisand and Aretha Franklin, Latin American recording star Julio Iglesias, and Bono, lead singer of the Irish rock group U2. The album sequel Duets II (1994), which won Sinatra a Grammy Award, includes collaborations with country-and-western star Willie Nelson, jazz singer Lena Horne, and pop singer and songwriter Neil Diamond. Sinatra was also well respected as a jazz singer. The natural swing feel and jazz-style phrasings of his singing, including his use of dynamics and delayed rhythms, have influenced numerous musicians. Many songs recorded by him, such as "All of Me" (1952), "Come Fly with Me" (1958), "All the Way" (1957), and "I've Got You Under My Skin" (1956), are still widely performed, although they remain firmly associated with the distinctive style in which he performed them. Sinatra's professional awards and accolades include nine Grammy Awards, three Academy Awards, a Presidential Medal of Freedom (1985), and a Congressional Gold Medal (1997). Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.