SINATRA: Zitate über Sinatra

Zitate von Freunden, Kollegen und Zeitgenossen:

Jo Stafford über Sinatra´s Eintritt in die Dorsey-Band:
"We were all sort of sitting back - like "Oh yeah, who are you?" Then he began to sing. After four bars I thought, Wow! This is an absolutely new, unique Sound. In those days most male singers tried to sound as much like Bing as possible. Well, he didn´t sound anything like Bing. He didn´t sound like anybody else that I had ever heard."

Gene Kelly über Sinatra´s Wirkung auf das weibliche Geschlecht:
"During those days of the Forties, Francis Albert was the idol of american womanhood - not just the young girls, but the old as well. I always ribbed Frank about his strange effect on the female sex. Then one night at my house, my infant daughter started to bawl blue murder. My wife Jeannie tried to quiet her, but to no avail. Frank, as a last resort, reached out and took her in his arms and started to sing to her. Her face turned from rage to wonderment - she opened her big eyes and stared at him, and smiled and smiled - and at the end of a chorus and a half, she was blissfully asleep. I never kidded Frank again about his effect on women."

Orson Welles über Sinatra´s Eintreten für Minderheiten:
"We drove to his uncle´s house for calamari and on the way back we stopped for coffee. Our driver, as it happened, was a black man and the guy in the diner wouldn´t serve him. Frank reached across the counter and grabbed this nine-foot-giant by the front of his shirt and said: "You´re serving coffee for three" After a beat the man said "Yes". No sporting event here. It was a mosquito versus a gorilla. Frank made the score with sheer force of character."

Ava Gardner über ihr Verhältnis mit dem verheirateten Sinatra:
"When Nancy said "My married life with Frank has become unhappy and almost unbearable" the shit really hit the fan. In the next few weeks, I received scores of letters accusing me of being a scarlet woman and worse. One correspondent addressed me as "Bitch-Jezebel- Gardner", the Legion of Decency threatened to ban my movies, and Catholic priests found the time to write me accusatory letters. I even read where the Sisters of Mary and Joseph asked their students at St. Paul the Apostle School in Los Angeles to pray for Frank´s poor wife. I didn´t understand then and still don´t why there should be this prurient mass hysteria about a male and a female climbing into bed and doing what comes naturally."

Nelson Riddle über die Arbeit mit Sinatra:
"He undoubtly brought out my best work. Frank is stimulating to work with. You have to be right on your mettle all the time. The man somehow draws everything out of you. He has the same effect on the boys in the band, they know he means business, so they pull everything out. And he´d never give out compliments. He just isn´t built to give out compliments. He expects your best."

Frank Sinatra jr. über den neuen Sinatra-Sound bei Capitol:
"Nelson began to bump a little more power into the sound Instead of sounding like that silky-smooth crooner of the forties, now Pop was putting more energy into it, belting a little more. His voice lowered, too, got better, lost some of its sweetness. His whole attitude was becoming a little more hip now. The curly-haired bow-tied image was gone. Now there was the long tie - and the hat."

Doris Day über Sinatra:
"Despite Frank´s sure and rather cocky exterior, I always felt there was a sad vulnerability about him."

Bing Crosby über Sinatra:
"A talent like that comes along once in a lifetime. Why in my lifetime?"

Marlene Dietrich über Sinatra:
"He is the gentlest man I have ever known, the Mercedes-Benz of men."

Bill Davidson über Sinatra:
"There is a generous Sinatra and there is a cruel Sinatra. There is a Sinatra who fights for the underdog and a Sinatra who bullies his underlings. There is a cocky Sinatra, a scared Sinatra, a gay Sinatra, a brooding Sinatra. There is Sinatra the devoted family man and Sinatra the libertine."

Frank Capra über Sinatra:
"He´s a great singer and he knows it. The excitement of moving and reaching the hearts of
live audiences with his lyrical virtuosity makes his blood run hot. Sinatra is also a great actor, and he knows that too. But he cannot bewitch an audience of dispassionate cameramen, soundmen, scriptgirls, make-up people, deadpan electricians who have seen it all before.
If directors keep him busy, he maintains an easy truce, for having started something, Sinatras next goal is to finish it - but fast. He bores easily, can´t sit still or be alone, must be where the action is."

Raquel Welch über Sinatra:
"I think Frank is suspicious of most women. He thinks they only go for him because of who he is. That´s why he likes Nancy, his first wife. She knew him when he was nothing and he trusts her absolutely."

Mia Farrow über die Ehe mit Sinatra:
"Lookin back, I think that for us our ages finally mattered...We had a great amount of love between us, but we lacked understanding in every-day life as well as of the major, deeper themes."

George Schlatter über Sinatra:
"Frank himself is an event. He´s more than a singer, more than a person. There is that energy he exudes. He´s one of our national treasures. Anywhere you go in the world, when you talk about America, they know Coca-Cola, they know the Statue of Liberty, they know Sinatra. And yet, with all that, there is an innocence to him. He loves cherry bombs. He loves birthdays. He loves Christmas. He´s patriotic. And he loves to laugh!"

John Wayne über notwendige Dinge bei Film-Dreharbeiten:
"On locations I use a mobile home to travel to the set. The first requisite is not coffee or tea or an air conditioner or a heater, but a selection of Sinatra tapes for our recorder."

Kirk Douglas über Sinatra:
"I admire his guts. I am rather astounded at the number of investigations that take place on Frank Sinatra. I find him guilty of being impulsive and a great artist."

Barbra Streisand über Sinatra:
"He was the epitome of what singing was all about: beautiful sound, smooth as silk, effortless, impeccable phrasing, intelligent and full of heart."

Sammy Davis jr. über Sinatra:
"I love Frank and he was the kindest man in the world to me when I lost my eye and wanted to kill myself. But there are many things that he does that there are no excuses for. Talent ist not an excuse for bad manners. I don´t care if you are the most talented person in the world. It does not give you the right to step on people and treat them rotten. That is what Frank does, occasionally."

Frank Sinatra jr. bei einem Auftritt in Florida in den 60er Jahren:
"I´m going to devote exactly five minutes to my father because, as he once confided in a moment of weakness, that´s exactly how much time he devoted to me."