Frank Sinatra - Ol' Blue Eyes

With the help of George Evans (Sinatra's genius press agent), his image was shaped into that of a street thug and punk who was saved by his first wife, Nancy. In 1942 he started his solo career, instantly finding fame as the king of the bobbysoxers - the young women and girls who were his fans - becoming the most popular singer of the era among teenage music fans. About that time his film career was also starting in earnest, striking box-office gold early on with a lead role in Anchors Aweigh (1945), a Best Picture nominee at the 1946 Academy Awards. Sinatra was awarded a special Oscar for his part in a short film against intolerance, The House I Live In (1946). His career on a high, Sinatra went from strength-to-strength on record, on stage and on screen, peaking in 1949, once again with Gene Kelly, in the MGM musical On the Town (1949) and Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949). A controversial public affair with screen siren Ava Gardner broke up his marriage to Nancy Barbato. Record sales dwindled in the early 1950s and although Sinatra continued to act, now, appearing in more dramatic fare such as Meet Danny Wilson (1951), a vocal cord haemorrhage all but ended his career. He fought back, winning the coveted role of Maggio in From Here to Eternity (1953). He won an Oscar for best supporting actor and followed this with a scintillating performance as a deranged assassin in Suddenly (1954) and arguably a career best performance and Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in the powerful drama The Man With the Golden Arm (1955).

Frank Sinatra made his acting debut in 1943. Though he was average build, he was blessed with natural charm. However his whole life was not as glossy as a gossip magazine. In late 40's problems started appearing in Sinatra's life. His marriage was in trouble. His movies proved to be commercially unsuccessful. On top of this he suffered with painful swelling in his vocal chords. However Sinatra's was never daunted by these problems. Instead, he signed a deal with capital records and also accepted the movie 'From Here to Eternity'. This step took his career into a new direction. Not only he got an academy award for the movie but he also went on to act in other movies 'The man with the golden arm' for which he received another Oscar nomination. His success in movies also boosted sales of his records.

Frank Sinatra developed a unique white-blues style, supple enough to express the wide range of his own turbulent emotions. He transformed the tunes of the great writers into something personal by the sincerity of his performance; Sinatra actually seemed to "believe" the words he was singing. Throughout his life, Sinatra had mood swings and bouts of depression, symptoms of bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic depression. He himself acknowledged this fact, telling an interviewer in the 1950s: "Being an 18-karat manic-depressive, and having lived a life of violent emotional contradictions, I have an over-acute capacity for sadness as well as emotion."

Frank Sinatra died at 10:50 pm on May 14, 1998 at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, with his wife Barbara by his side.He was 82 years old. Sinatra's final words, spoken as attempts were made to stabilize him, were "I'm losing." His death was confirmed by the Sinatra family on their website with a statement accompanied by a recording of the singer's version of "Softly As I Leave You." The next night the lights on the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed in his honor. President Bill Clinton led tributes to Sinatra, stating that he had managed "to appreciate on a personal level what millions of people had appreciated from afar." Elton John stated that Sinatra, "was simply the best - no one else even comes close."

Live every day like it's your last. You only live once, and the way I live, once is enough