Frank Sinatra
Singer, actor, nightclub entertainer
Born: Dec. 12, 1915, in Hoboken, New Jersey
Died: May 14, 1998, in Los Angeles
New Jersey Hall of Fame, Class of 2008: Performing Arts & Entertainment

In the galaxy of 20th-century entertainers, there was no bigger star than New Jersey’s own Frank Sinatra.

Described by The New York Times as “the first modern pop superstar,” Sinatra reigned supreme on the music charts, in movie theaters, and on concert stages during a 60-year career. Over his lifetime, he evolved from swoon-inducing teen idol to sophisticated interpreter of the Great American Songbook to introspective musical elder statesman. Alternately known as “The Voice,” “The Chairman of the Board,” and “Old Blue Eyes,” Sinatra was also a prototypical American success story.

Sinatra was the only child of Italian immigrant parents. His father, Antonino Martino “Marty” Sinatra, was a tavern-keeper and bantamweight boxer. His mother, Natalina “Dolly” Garaventa, was a tough and ambitious woman who became influential in the local Democratic party and helped Marty land a job in the Hoboken Fire Department; he worked his way up to captain.

Born in the family’s tenement apartment on Monroe Street in Hoboken, Sinatra was delivered with damage to his left ear, cheek, and neck—scars that stayed with him throughout his life. (His punctured eardrum would keep him out of service during World War II.)

An indifferent student, Sinatra dropped out of high school after only 47 days and took jobs as a newspaper delivery boy and shipyard worker. By this time, the young Sinatra knew he wanted to be a singer. He began performing at church-basement dances and in local social clubs. Hooking up with a vocal trio called the Three Flashes, he auditioned for “Major Bowes’s Original Amateur Hour,” an influential radio program of the day. Renamed the Hoboken Four, the combo won first prize and joined Bowes on tour.

After several months, Sinatra came home to New Jersey, and at age 22, landed his first significant solo gig as a singing waiter at the Rustic Cabin, a roadhouse in Englewood Cliffs. It was there that trumpeter Harry James discovered Sinatra and hired him to sing with his big band for $75 a week. Within six months, Sinatra joined the more-established Tommy Dorsey band. Six months later, Sinatra had his first No. 1 hit, the ballad “I’ll Never Smile Again.”

In September 1942, Sinatra set out on his own, signed a recording deal with Columbia Records, and made his solo concert debut at Newark’s Mosque Theater. By December, he made history with a sold-out performance at New York’s Paramount Theatre, inspiring hysteria among the teen girls—known as bobby soxers—in the audience. An extended stay at the Paramount—and more bobby-soxer hysteria—followed in 1944. (By that time, Sinatra was living in Hasbrouck Heights with his first wife, Nancy.)

By 1946, Sinatra, at age 31, was at the peak of his popularity, with a steady stream of hit songs and successful concert appearances. He also had made numerous films, including “Anchors Aweigh,” the first of his three musicals with Gene Kelly. But before the decade ended, Sinatra’s success hit a wall. Tastes were changing, the bobby soxers grew up, and Sinatra’s appeal as the sensitive, blue-eyed boy next door began to fade.

But Sinatra was far from finished. His remarkable comeback began with the release in 1953 of “From Here to Eternity,” a dramatic film about American soldiers in Hawaii on the eve of World War II. Sinatra won raves as the cocky, but vulnerable Maggio; the performance earned him an Academy Award and alerted audiences to the breadth of Sinatra’s artistry.

At about the same time, Sinatra found a new recording home at Capitol Records. The new longform vinyl album format proved perfect for Sinatra, who mined the deep veins of the American Songbook to record broadly appealing, often conceptually themed collections that showcased his ability to personalize popular songs. The albums—with titles such as “Songs for Swingin’ Lovers” and “Come Fly With Me”—as well as his concert and TV performances of this era remade Sinatra as a more mature, urbane, cocktail-toting, man of the world. That made him a perfect fit for Las Vegas, which was just emerging as a new center for glamour and top-shelf entertainment.

Having established himself as the world’s most popular vocalist, Sinatra continued his successful film career. He starred in hit musicals, including “Guys and Dolls,” “High Society,” and “Pal Joey,” and critically acclaimed dramas, such as “The Man With the Golden Arm,” “Some Came Running,” “The Manchurian Candidate,” and “Von Ryan’s Express.”

Sinatra continued to flex his strength as a recording artist in the 1960s, despite the rock ‘n’ roll revolution and the ascendance of the Beatles. In 1966, the romantic ballad “Strangers in the Night” became Sinatra’s first No. 1 single in 11 years; the following year, he went to the top of the charts again with “Somethin’ Stupid,” a duet with his daughter, Nancy Sinatra.

Two classic Sinatra hits of the period, “It Was a Very Good Year” (1965) and “My Way” (1969), suggested a more reflective artist looking back on a life well-lived. But Sinatra was far from finished. He continued to record and perform (especially in Las Vegas showrooms) throughout the coming decades. In 1993, at the age of 77, he enjoyed a last hurrah on the pop charts with “Frank Sinatra Duets,” a compilation of new recordings pairing the singer with a range of fellow musical icons from Bono to Barbra Streisand.

In addition to his Oscar for “From Here to Eternity,” Sinatra earned four Golden Globes, 10 personal Grammys, an Emmy, a Cecil B. DeMille Award, a Peabody, a Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and a 1983 Kennedy Center Medal of Honor. Sinatra was also known for his lifetime of philanthropy and his activism on both ends of the political spectrum. His early support for civil rights is evident in “The House I Live In,” a 10-minute film promoting racial and religious tolerance. The modest, ground-breaking piece earned Sinatra a special Academy Award in 1946.