Stardust Memories:

May I Recommend...

• Frank Sinatra visually stimulating and animated site for Ol' Blue Eyes.
• the Rat Pack Just a little more info.

"...the Rat Pack, those avatars of a moment when smoke, booze, broads and plenty of linguine on the side were all of life worth living."

~ Nick Tosches, "The Death, And Life, Of the Rat Pack." The New York Times, January 7, 1996

..Humphrey Bogart's "Holmby Hills Rat Pack" consisted of himself, Lauren Bacall, Judy Garland and her husband, Sid Luft, David Niven, Nathaniel Benchley, Jimmy Veusen and Frank Sinatra, amongst others. Frank carried on the tradition with what was originally known as his "Clan," but when Sinatra threw himself into JFK's Presidential campaign in 1959, the aperture was later changed to the "Rat Pack" to disassociate itself from their white-hooded contemporaries, the Ku-Klux Klan. Frank's version of the Rat Pack included himself, Joey Bishop, Sammy Davis, Jr. , Peter Lawford, Dean Martin and Shirley MacClaine.

..The group had grown out of a gradual working relationship that the individuals had developed since the early 1950s. The first time Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra worked together was on March 15, 1951 when Frank appeared as a guest on the first TV telethon being hosted by Martin and his partner at the time, Jerry Lewis. The first Dean Martin Show appeared on October 5, 1957 and the second show featured the host and his new friend Frank performing their rendition of Elvis' Jailhouse Rock. The first true semblance of the Rat Pack came into national prominence in 1959 when Sinatra conducted Dino's Sleep Warm album, they both starred along with Shirley MacClaine in Some Came Running and Dino joined Frank on stage at the Sands.

..To follow for Martin and Sinatra, were regular joint stage appearances, recording sessions together on Frank's Reprise label, and a few films which featured the entire group including Oceans 11 (1960) and Robin and the Seven Hoods (1964). Martin and Sinatra continued to solidify their reputation as a team by making television appearances together, such as the one on the Judy Garland Show on February 25, 1962