Editing Frank Sinatra (section)

== Early life ==
{{Main|Early life of Frank Sinatra}}

{{quote box|width=320px|bgcolor=#c6dbf7|align=right|quote="They'd fought through his childhood and continued to do so until her dying day. But I believe that to counter her steel will he'd developed his own. To prove her wrong when she belittled his choice of career{{nbsp}}... Their friction first had shaped him; that, I think, had remained to the end and a litmus test of the grit in his bones. It helped keep him at the top of his game."|source=—Sinatra's daughter Nancy on the importance of his mother Dolly in his life and character.{{sfn|Santopietro|2008|p=427}}}}
Francis Albert Sinatra{{efn|On his original birth certificate, Sinatra's name was recorded incorrectly as "Frank Sinestro", a clerical error. In May 1945, he officially corrected the name on his birth certificate to "Francis A. Sinatra".{{sfnm|1a1=Sinatra|1y=1995|1p=17|2a1=Summers|2a2=Swan|2y=2010|2p=15}}}} was born on December 12, 1915, in a tenement at 415 Monroe Street in [[Hoboken, New Jersey]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1998/05/98/sinatra/67911.stm|title=Frank Sinatra obituary|date=May 16, 1998|access-date=May 15, 2008|work=BBC News|archive-date=April 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411080810/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1998/05/98/sinatra/67911.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Sinatra|1995|p=15}}{{efn|The house at 415 Monroe Street burned down and no longer exists.<ref name="NJ">{{cite web|url=http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2010/03/frank_sinatra_for_hoboken_tour.html|title=Frank Sinatra's dwindling tourist turf in Hoboken|work=The Jersey Journal|date=March 31, 2010|access-date=October 6, 2015|archive-date=November 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110071744/http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2010/03/frank_sinatra_for_hoboken_tour.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The site is marked by a brick archway with a bronze plaque on the sidewalk that reads, "Francis Albert Sinatra: The Voice".<ref name="NJ" /> The building at 417 Monroe Street has a "From Here to Eternity", sign with images of an Oscar statue.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/417+Monroe+St,+Hoboken,+NJ+07030,+USA/@40.7434928,-74.0407959,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c257677ec83b73:0xbff3dba59c2c59bf!8m2!3d40.7434928!4d-74.0386072|title=415 Monroe Street|publisher=Google Maps|access-date=October 6, 2015|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308155540/https://www.google.com/maps/place/417+Monroe+St,+Hoboken,+NJ+07030,+USA/@40.7434928,-74.0407959,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c257677ec83b73:0xbff3dba59c2c59bf!8m2!3d40.7434928!4d-74.0386072|url-status=live}}</ref> It was opened as a museum by Ed Shirak in 2001, but closed after five years due to maintenance issues.<ref name="NJ" />}} the only child of [[Italian People|Italian]] immigrants [[Dolly Sinatra|Natalina "Dolly" Garaventa]] and [[Anthony Martin Sinatra|Antonino Martino "Marty" Sinatra]].{{Sfn|Sinatra|1986|p=3}}{{sfn|Petkov|Mustazza|1995|p=113}}{{efn|Other sources incorrectly say Catania.{{sfnm|1a1=Howlett|1y=1980|1p=5|2a1=Summers|2a2=Swan|2y=2010|2pp=22–25|3a1=Kaplan|3y=2011|3p=8: 415 Monroe Street}}}} Sinatra weighed {{convert|13.5|lbs}} at birth and had to be [[Childbirth#Second stage: fetal expulsion|delivered]] with the aid of [[Forceps in childbirth|forceps]], which caused severe scarring to his left cheek, neck, and ear, and perforated his eardrum—which remained damaged for the rest of his life. His grandmother resuscitated him by running him under cold water until he gasped.{{sfnm|1a1=Kelley|1y=1986|1p=13|2a1=Travis|2y=2001|2p=1|3a1=Turner|3y=2004|3p=4}} Due to his injuries, his baptism at St. Francis Church in Hoboken was delayed until April 2, 1916.{{sfn|Sinatra|1995|p=16}} A childhood operation on his [[Mastoid part of the temporal bone|mastoid]] bone left major scarring on his neck, and during adolescence he was further scarred by [[Acne vulgaris|cystic acne]].{{sfn|Kaplan|2011|pp=4–5}} Sinatra was raised in the [[Catholic Church]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a638/esq1003-oct-sinatra-rev/?click=main_sr|first=Gay|last=Talese|title=Frank Sinatra Has a Cold|work=Esquire|date=October 8, 2007|access-date=October 12, 2010|archive-date=February 28, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150228125520/http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a638/esq1003-oct-sinatra-rev/?click=main_sr|url-status=live}}</ref>

Sinatra's mother was energetic and driven;{{sfn|Kaplan|2011|p=6}} biographers believe that she was the dominant factor in the development of her son's personality and self-confidence.{{Sfnm|1a1=Rojek|1y=2004|1p=25|2a1=Santopietro|2y=2008|2p=15}} Sinatra's fourth wife [[Barbara Sinatra|Barbara]] would later claim that Dolly "knocked him around a lot" when he was a child.{{sfn|Sinatra|2011|p=86}} Dolly became influential in Hoboken and in local [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] circles.{{sfn|Sann|1967|p=351}} She worked as a [[midwife]],{{sfn|Kaplan|2011|pp=8–9}} and according to Sinatra biographer [[Kitty Kelley]], ran an illegal abortion service that catered to Italian Catholic girls, for which she was nicknamed "Hatpin Dolly".{{sfn|Kelley|1986|p=28}}{{efn|Dolly was reportedly arrested six or seven times and convicted twice for providing illegal abortions,{{sfnm|1a1=Kuntz|1a2=Kuntz|1y=2000|1p=36|2a1=Summers|2a2=Swan|2y=2010|2p=16}} the first of which was in 1937.{{sfn|Kelley|1986|p=29}}}} She had a gift for languages and served as a local interpreter.{{sfn|Kaplan|2011|pp=6, 8–9}}

Sinatra's illiterate father was a [[bantamweight]] boxer{{sfnm|1a1=Howlett|1y=1980|1p=5|2a1=Kaplan|2y=2011|2p=7}} who later worked at the Hoboken Fire Department, working his way up to captain.{{sfn|Goldstein|1982|p=2}} Due to his illiteracy, he stressed the importance of a "complete and full" education and had instilled in his son the desire to become a civil engineer and enroll at [[Stevens Institute of Technology]] in Hoboken.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHUEvKyq7Zo|title=Frank Sinatra- Interview (snippet) 1975|date=September 18, 2019 |publisher=YouTube|accessdate=18 May 2024}}</ref> Sinatra spent much time at his parents' tavern in Hoboken,{{efn|In 1920, [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]] of alcohol became law in the US. Dolly and Marty ran a tavern during those years, allowed to operate openly by local officials who refused to enforce the law.{{sfn|Kaplan|2011|pp=9–11}}}} working on his homework and occasionally singing for spare change.{{sfn|Kaplan|2011|p=11}} During the [[Great Depression]], Dolly provided money to her son for outings with friends and to buy expensive clothes, resulting in neighbors describing him as the "best-dressed kid in the neighborhood".{{sfn|Kelley|1986|pp=20–23}} Excessively thin and small as a child and young man, Sinatra's skinny frame later became a staple of jokes during stage shows.<ref name="SS">''Sinatra at the Sands'' (1966), [[Reprise Records]]</ref>{{sfn|Sinatra|2011|p=193}}

At a young age, Sinatra developed an interest in music, particularly [[big band]] jazz{{sfn|Rojek|2004|p=135}} and listened to [[Gene Austin]], [[Rudy Vallée]], [[Russ Colombo]], and [[Bob Eberly]] while idolizing [[Bing Crosby]].{{sfn|Lahr|2000|p=56}} For his 15th birthday, his uncle Domenico gave him a [[ukulele]], with which he performed at family gatherings.{{sfn|Donnelley|2003|p=642}} Sinatra attended David E. Rue Jr. High School from 1928,{{Sfn|Sinatra|1986|p=8}} and A. J. Demarest High School (since renamed as [[Hoboken High School]]) in 1931, where he arranged bands for school dances,{{sfn|Donnelley|2003|p=642}} but left without graduating after having attended only 47 days before being expelled for "general rowdiness".{{sfnm|1a1=Hodge|1y=1992|1p=8|2a1=Rojek|2y=2004|2p=135}} 

To please his mother, he enrolled at Drake Business School, but departed after 11 months.{{sfn|Donnelley|2003|p=642}} Dolly found her son work as a delivery boy at the ''Jersey Observer'' newspaper (since merged into ''[[The Jersey Journal]]''), where his godfather Frank Garrick worked;{{efn|Sinatra's loss of employment at the newspaper led to a life-long rift with Garrick. Dolly said of it, "My son is like me. You cross him, he never forgets."{{sfn|Lahr|2000|p=54}}}} he later worked as a riveter at the [[Tietjen & Lang Dry Dock Company|Tietjen and Lang]] shipyard.{{sfn|Summers|Swan|2010|pp=44, 47}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84026051/|title=Jersey Observer (Hoboken, N.J.) 1924–1951|publisher=Library of Congress|access-date=March 19, 2024}}</ref> He began performing in local Hoboken social clubs and sang for free on radio stations such as [[WNYM|WAAT]] in Jersey City.{{sfn|Kelley|1986|pp=44–45}} In New York, Sinatra found jobs singing for his supper or for cigarettes.{{sfn|Donnelley|2003|p=642}} To improve his speech, he began taking [[elocution]] lessons for a dollar each from vocal coach John Quinlan, one of the first people to notice his impressive vocal range.{{sfn|Kelley|1986|p=45}}