The Rat Pack

The Rat Pack is the nickname given to a group of popular entertainers most active between the mid-1950s and mid-1960s. Its most famous line-up featured Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop, who appeared together in films and on stage in the early-1960s. Despite its reputation as a masculine group, the Rat Pack did have female participants, such as movie icons Shirley MacLaine, Lauren Bacall, and Judy Garland.

The group was informally organized by Humphrey Bogart. The group had just returned from Vegas and Lauren Bacall said, "You look like a bunch of worn out Rats." Thus the term "Rat Pack" was formed.

In David Niven's autobiography "The Moon's Balloon", he named others that were associated with the original group. They included himself, Spencer Tracy, George Cukor, Katherine Hepburn, Nathan Benchly, Swifty Lazar, and Jimmy Van Heusen. It is noted that Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin were not mentioned as members by Niven. This was in the 1950's.

The 1960's version was made up of Martin, Sinatra, Davis, Bishop, and Lawford. There were others that were considered as "mascots" to the group. they were Juliet Prowse, Angie Dickinson, and Shirley Maclaine. Oddly enough, the members never called themselves by that name. they called themselves the "clan" or the "Summit."