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Jason Russell

Intermediate Composition

Professor Aaron Kerley

Annotated Bibliography

19 September 2018

Frank Sinatra and Mob Ties: An Annotated Bibliography

Altschuler, Glenn C., and James Kaplan. "'Frank': The Man, The Voice, The Mafia Ties." NPR,

NPR, 9 Nov. 2010, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=131169574.

This source is a book review on James Kaplan's "Frank: The Voice." The review

mentions how Sinatra's plan was to push anyone out of his way and use anyone he could,

including the mafia, to get to the top. The review also talks about some of the allegations of

Sinatra's ties with mob including the speculation that the mob scared Harry Cohn, head of

Columbia Pictures, into giving Sinatra a role in "From Here to Eternity."

This review seems to be just an elaboration on some of the topics in Kaplan's book. The

writer seems to mention the dark side of Sinatra, which is typical in the documents regarding his

mob ties, but it is not typical of documents that are based on Sinatra's music alone.

Bone, James. "'Godfather' tale was a myth based on Mob links; Frank Sinatra: 1915-1998."

Times [London, England] 16 May 1998: 4. Business Insights: Global. Web. 23 Sept. 2018.
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This newspaper article is based on the idea that the movie "Godfather" is based on Frank

Sinatra's mob ties. The article points out the many allegations of Sinatra's ties with the mobs, and

what the director had to say when asked if Sinatra was his motivation for the movie. The director

pleaded that many of the scenes in his movie, such as the horse's head in the producer's bed, was

strictly from his imagination. However, the director did admit that Sinatra was his overall

inspiration to make the movie.

This article shows no bias towards the allegations against the movie director or Sinatra

are true. However, in most of the documents regarding Sinatra, there are so many allegations that

Sinatra participated in criminal activity that it seems that the authors are hinting that the

allegations could be true, but they never actually say what they believe.

Dodd, Ros. "Ol' Blue Eyes looking a touch bloodshot; Was Frank Sinatra a Mob man after all?

Ros Dodd investigates." Birmingham Post[England] 10 Dec. 1998: 11. Business Insights:

Global. Web. 23 Sept. 2018.

This article investigates the FBI evidence that was released regarding Sinatra's mob ties.

The article also mentions the allegations that Sinatra was a Communist. The evidence was

released by the FBI after Sinatra's death following requests made under the freedom of

information laws. The article mentions more about Sinatra's involvement with both the mob and

John F Kennedy.

This article is like the others because the writers discuss Sinatra's allegations as no more

than allegations. There seems to be no bias and all the allegations are strictly gossip. The article

is useful because it uses actual FBI evidence, and there is information about Sinatra and

Kennedy.
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"Frank Sinatra's Mob Ties and Other Secrets from His FBI File." History.com, A&E Television

Networks, www.history.com/news/frank-sinatra-mob-ties-fbi-file.

This article is from History.com. This article focuses on the FBI's documents regarding

Frank Sinatra's ties with the American mob. The FBI's investigation with Sinatra took place after

supposedly Sinatra paid a doctor $40,000 to declare him unfit for war service. Sinatra always

denied being a part of the mob, but he was always seen in public with mob members, such as

Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana.

The focus of this article is on the FBI files regarding Frank Sinatra. There seems to be no

bias in the article regarding whether Sinatra participated in any criminal activity himself.

Sinatra's ties with the media are mentioned in almost every document regarding Sinatra. The

takeaway from this article is that Sinatra's ties with the mob were obvious, but the FBI never

could tie him to criminal activity. This article is useful because it refers to the evidence of the

FBI investigation.

Elsworth, Catherine. Messenger for the Mob?: Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra Alleges

Ties with Mafia. Journal-Bulletin Wire Reports, 9 May 2005.

This article discusses Sinatra's mob ties and uses an interview of Rat Pack member Jerry

Lewis. Lewis said the Sinatra carried mob money several times, and he even got caught one

time, but the search was aborted due to the crowd. Lewis said that Sinatra knew that the mob was

expanding, and he wanted to help them, so he could expand with them.

The writer of this article seems to believe that the allegations are true based solely on the

fact that a Rat Pack member is saying they are true. The quotes of Jerry Lewis in this article are

useful because it's hard to believe they are not reliable considering Jerry was very close to
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Sinatra. Other articles used FBI investigations, but this article includes evidence from someone

that knew Sinatra first hand.

"PEOPLE Frank Sinatra Mentioned in Mob Trial, OC Millionaire to Win Award, Signed JFK

Business Card found .." Orange County Register, Apr 15, 1993, pp. a02. ProQuest,

https://search-proquest-com.proxy.libraries.uc.edu/docview/272710261?accountid=2909.

This article discusses the mob trial in which Sinatra's name came up in a taped

conversation. Three mobsters were on trial when a taped conversation was used as evidence. Part

of the conversation was Lorenzo Mannino asking Guiseppe Gambino if he would "talk to Frank

Sinatra (about) getting a few jobs for Al Martino in Las Vegas. Mannino and Guiseppe were on

trial for racketeering, murder, and drug trafficking. Sinatra's publicist made no comment on the

incident.

This article is very useful because it includes actual evidence in a trial of mobsters. Most

articles on Sinatra only refers to the allegations and includes no actual evidence used by the FBI

or in case trials.

"Frank Sinatra." Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 28 Apr. 2017,

www.biography.com/people/frank-sinatra-9484810.

This article is a biography on Sinatra and talks about his personal life and his music. The

article includes sections on his best albums, his early career, and his family. Sinatra was born in

New Jersey and he rose to fame singing in the '40s and '50s. Sinatra is known to be the first pop

artist.
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This article is not very useful because it only talks about his family and his music. There

is no only one sentence regarding Sinatra's mob ties. This article seems to attempt to "protect"

Sinatra's legacy and not tarnish it.

Hoggart, Simon. "Sinatra and the Mob." Spectator, 6 Aug. 2005, p. 44+. Opposing Viewpoints

in Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A135339315/OVIC?u=ucinc_main&sid=OVIC&xid=ffc6d5f

6. Accessed 23 Sept. 2018.

This article is a review on a program ran on Frank Sinatra. The author of this review

mentions how they were not a fan of Sinatra's music and his actions, so they were not a huge fan

of the program. The writer says that Sinatra came off as arrogant to them. The author also seems

to think that some of the allegations about Sinatra's ties to the mob, such as Bugsy Siegel's

missing head, were true.

There is obviously some bias in this article considering the author directly said that he

was not fond of Sinatra's music. This is the first article I have read that wasn't pro-Sinatra or

neutral. After the first three paragraphs, this article wasn't very useful because it veered off from

the Sinatra topic.

Holden, Stephen. "Frank Sinatra Dies at 82; Matchless Stylist of Pop." The New York Times,

The New York Times, 16 May 1998,

archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/1212.html.

This is a piece written in a newspaper obituary written after Frank Sinatra's death. The

author first talks about the cause of death, and then goes on to talk about the rest of Sinatra's life.

He starts by talking about his amazing career. The author splits his career into different
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categories. They talk about how great Frank's career was and all the popular songs/albums that

Sinatra released.

The author clearly has a positive bias towards Sinatra because the article is mostly a

tribute to Sinatra's success. The article does include a section about Sinatra's personal life and in

it, the author talks about Sinatra being known for socializing with mobsters like Lucky Luciano.

However, the author does not mention much else about Sinatra's ties with mobs. Like many other

articles, I believe the author does not want to mention the questionable parts of Sinatra's life.

Gopnik, Adam. "Frank Sinatra and the Scandalous but Scholarly Biography." The New Yorker,

The New Yorker, 19 June 2017, www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/frank-sinatra-and-the-

scandalous-but-scholarly-biography.

This is a review of James Kaplan's book on Frank Sinatra. The author has a lot to say

about the way that James Kaplan portrayed Sinatra. The author believes that Kaplan should've

emphasized the negative parts of Sinatra's life more. They compare biographies of Elvis with

Kaplan's.

In terms of investigating Sinatra's mob ties, this article is very useful. Unlike most other

documents about Sinatra, this one has mostly a negative bias towards Sinatra. In the third

paragraph Adam, the writer, states, "He did hang out with and cultivate mobsters, real killers…"

Adam goes on to mention the speculation that Sinatra had the mobsters threaten a movie

producer to give Sinatra a role in a movie. Not many writers ever use a negative connotation

when talking about Sinatra even once, but in this article, Adam has many negative things to say

about Sinatra. Then in a few paragraphs after Adam states that Sinatra had anger issues and that

he threw a telephone at a man so hard that fractured the man's skull. This is one of the few
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articles with negative bias and it provides a lot of insight towards the negative, less portrayed

parts of Frank Sinatra's life.

Gregg, Brandon. "Frank Sinatra – Dark Star" YouTube, YouTube, 15 June 2015,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu37xtJtECc&t=304s.

This a documentary on Frank Sinatra that focuses on the dark sides of Sinatra. The

documentary is about the many speculations and events that occurred that portrayed Sinatra's ties

with the mob. The documentary mentions the speculation that Sinatra once delivered 2 million

dollars to Lucky Luciano in Cuba. The documentary talks about how the mafia owned Sinatra

and used them to improve their casino and club businesses. It was said that if someone was

winning at the casino, the mob would use Sinatra to keep the player playing until he or she loses.

There were multiple cases where the mob made Sinatra sing at their clubs.

This documentary is very useful because it shows the darkness that followed Sinatra

regardless of the light in his music career. Having a documentary that solely focuses on Sinatra's

mob ties provides a lot of useful information on this specific topic. Most other documentaries

follow the same biography template, and they focus mostly on his music and acting career. So,

this documentary is unlike the others of its genre.

Gregg, Brandon. YouTube, YouTube, 1 May 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEyFdhkj8p8.

This is a documentary about the life of Frank Sinatra. The documentary stars with

talking about how Sinatra started his career, and then it goes on to talk about how his career blew

up. Many times, this documentary describes Sinatra as one of the greatest pop singers of all time.

The documentary focuses on the evolution of Sinatra's music. This documentary does not

mention anything about Sinatra's mob ties. Instead, it focuses only on Sinatra's music. Because of
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this video is not useful for this topic. This video is like others of its genre because it has that

positive bias and it follows the biography outline. The discourse of this documentary and the

others like it is to praise the legacy of Frank Sinatra.

"Frank Sinatra." Newsmakers, Gale, 1998. Biography in Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/K1618002574/BIC?u=ucinc_main&sid=BIC&xid=12a39765

. Accessed 14 Dec. 2018.

This is a biography on Frank Sinatra. The biography starts with a brief overview of the

entirety of Sinatra's career, and then it starts from the beginning in more detail. The biography

talks about his come up in the 1940s and his downfall up until 1953 when his comeback began

after he had better music and better movie roles. The biography talks about Sinatra being from

New Jersey and how he got his first gig in 1939.

The biography fails to mention any of Sinatra's ties with the mob, but it does mention

some of Sinatra's political views. This biography is not useful regarding the topic of mob ties.

This biography is like others of its kind because it does follow the typical biography outline. It

starts with the early years, and the moves in chronological order.

staff, CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com. "Tina Sinatra: Mob Ties Aided JFK." CBS News,

CBS Interactive, 25 Dec. 2000, www.cbsnews.com/news/tina-sinatra-mob-ties-aided-jfk/.

This piece is an article that includes a 60 minutes interview with Sinatra's daughter Tina.

In the interview, Tina talks about how her father and Sam Giancana used mafia muscle to help

deliver union votes for John F. Kennedy's campaign. She said that Kennedy approached her

father because he knew that he had access to Giancana. Kennedy winning the election backfired

on Sinatra and the mob because the Kennedy's would then go on to crack down on organized
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crime. Giancana was not happy about this so he made Sinatra play in his club. Tina also talks

about how her father was a courier for the CIA.

This article is very useful because there is a very reliable source providing quality

information of Sinatra's mob ties. This article could make it easy for someone to believe the

speculations placed on Sinatra. There are not too many articles that focus strictly on Sinatra's

mob ties, and this one contains many of the same speculations as others of its kind. This article

focuses on how the mob speculations affected Sinatra mentally, and how it affected his family.

Kelley, Michael B. "The Crazy Story of Frank Sinatra Playing A Club for A Week Straight

Because Chicago's Mob Boss Was Mad At JFK." Business Insider, Business Insider, 21 Nov.

2013, www.businessinsider.com/frank-sinatra-the-kennedys-and-the-chicago-mob-2013-11.

The point of this article is to shine a light on the mob, and Sinatra's contributions to John

F. Kennedy's campaign. The article talks about how mob boss Giancana funneled cash to buy

votes for Kennedy's campaign. Kennedy went to Sinatra in order to get to Giancana, and this

backfired for Giancana. After Sinatra and Giancana helped Kennedy get elected, Kennedy's

appointed attorney general cracked down on organized crime, which was not good for Giancana.

To repay Giancana, Sinatra and the Rat Pack had to play at Giancana's clubs. and eventually, he

worked his way back into the mob bosses' good graces. There are other articles like this one that

also talks about Sinatra's relations with the Kennedy's. There seems to be no bias in this article it

is simply just stating information provided by certain sources. This is a useful source for this

topic because it provides even more insight into the sketchy relationship between Sinatra and

Kennedy.
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"Special Report | 1998 | 05/98 | Sinatra | Frank Sinatra Obituary." BBC News, BBC, 16 May

1998, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1998/05/98/sinatra/67911.stm.

The purpose of this piece is to pay tribute to Sinatra's life. It mentions both his personal

life and his music career. The article is meant to praise Sinatra for his accomplishments and to

secure his spot as one of the best entertainers of all time. You will hardly ever see anything too

negative about someone in an obituary piece. and that is the case in this piece. The article partly

talks about the downs of Sinatra's career, but the way the author does it makes it easy to overlook

them. The author covers them with the many ups of Sinatra's life like his music and his acting.

The author mentions the speculated mob ties in one sentence, but they do not go into detail.

Because of this, the article is similar to others of the genre because it is used more to pay tribute

than provide information.

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