Page 29 - ARUBA TODAY

A29
PEOPLE & ARTS Wednesday 26 July 2017
Barbara Sinatra, Frank’s 4th wife and philanthropist, dies

By JOHN ROGERS ried her husband in 1976, 1986.
Associated Press when he was 60 and she “Frank would come over
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bar- 49. They remained wed un- and sit and read to the
bara Sinatra, the fourth til his death at 82 in 1998. kids,” Thoresen said of the
wife of legendary singer It was her third marriage, sometimes volatile enter-
Frank Sinatra and a promi- Sinatra’s fourth and the tainer.
nent children’s advocate most enduring union for “But the best way she used
and philanthropist who both. She met Sinatra Frank,” he added with a
raised millions of dollars to through her second hus- chuckle, “was she would
help abused youngsters, band, Zeppo Marx of the say, ‘I need a half-million
died Tuesday. She was 90. famous Marx Brothers com- dollars for this, so you do a
Sinatra died of natural edy team. The couple had concert and I get half the
causes at her Rancho Mi- been close friends and money.’”
rage, California, home neighbors with Sinatra in She remained active at the
surrounded by family and Rancho Mirage until she left center until recently, push-
friends, said John Thore- Marx for the singer in 1973. ing for creation of the vid-
sen, director of the Barbara Frank Sinatra, then single, eo program just last year,
Sinatra Children’s Center. had previously been mar- raising funds and dropping In this July 11, 1996 file photo Frank Sinatra and his wife Barbara
With her husband’s help, ried to his teenage sweet- by often to make sure the arrive at Our Lady of Malibu church to renew their wedding
she founded a nonprofit heart Nancy Sinatra, the children had what they vows on their 20th wedding anniversary in Malibu, Calif.
center in Rancho Mirage mother of their children needed, Thoresen said. Associated Press
in 1986 to provide therapy Nancy, Tina and the late Already a socialite in the Bosworth, Missouri, she re- talking about as a 15-year-
and other support to young Frank Jr.); Ava Gardner, Palm Springs area through called growing up poor old butcher’s daughter,”
victims of physical, sexual who died in 1990; and Mia her marriage to Marx, Sina- and friendless. she said.
and emotional abuse. Farrow. A notorious wom- tra mingled with such ce- She moved with her family Her first marriage, to a Sina-
In the years since, Thoresen anizer throughout much of lebrities as Dinah Shore, to Wichita, Kansas, when tra-style singer, was brief as
said, more than 20,000 chil- his life, Frank Sinatra didn’t Marilyn Monroe and Tony she was 10 and to Long he struggled to find work.
dren have been treated at ask his fourth wife to marry Curtis, raising money for nu- Beach, California, at 18. It They split shortly after the
the center and hundreds of him until she threatened merous charitable causes was in Wichita where, like birth of her son and she
thousands more worldwide to leave if he didn’t, she before establishing the chil- millions of other teenage married Marx in 1959.
through videos it provides. recalled in her 2011 mem- dren’s center. girls in the 1940s, she fell in She is survived by her son,
A former model and Las oir, “Lady Blue Eyes: My Life Those years were a far cry love with a voice on the Robert Oliver Marx, and a
Vegas showgirl, Barbara With Frank Sinatra.” from earlier, more modest radio. “Frank Sinatra had grand-daughter, Carina
Sinatra was a prominent Both played prominent ones she described in her always been part of my life Blakeley Marx.
Palm Springs socialite in her roles at the children’s cen- memoir. — from when I first heard Funeral arrangements are
own right before she mar- ter after she founded it in Born Barbara Blakely in the singer everybody was pending.q

‘Jersey Boys’ nostalgia fades, but the ‘Hit Men’ play on

By DAVID PORTER ences,” said David Filner, his vocals on the Four Sea-
Associated Press vice president for musical sons hit “December 1963
CRANFORD, N.J. (AP) — operations at Artis_Naples, (Oh What A Night), left the
Five years ago, some musi- in Naples, Florida, which has group last year. Don Cic-
cians who had played with booked the Hit Men several cone, also one of the Four
Frankie Valli and the Four times. “They put on a great Seasons in the ‘70s, helped
Seasons during his come- show, and they have a very form the Hit Men and per-
back in the 1970s rounded interesting story because formed with them until his
up some of their friends, they’ve been involved in so death last year at age 70.
slicked back what hair many super groups.” The group also lost Larry
they had left and set out Songs from some of those Gates, a friend of Shap-
on a tour to capitalize on collaborations form the iro’s since childhood and
the success of Broadway’s backbone of the shows, a longtime session bassist
“Jersey Boys.” each accompanied with a who backed Carole King
“It was kind of, ‘Let’s see if backstory. Guitarist Jimmy and numerous others, to
this works. If not, we’ll have In a photo taken Thursday, July 20, 2017, Jimmy Ryan of The Hit Ryan, for example, recounts multiple myeloma last De-
fun; it’ll be great, and we’ll Men plays at the Axelrod Performing Arts Center in Deal Park, how his interest in a female cember. His replacement,
try it a couple of times,’” N.J. co-worker at a Greenwich Jeff Ganz, has a lengthy
keyboardist Lee Shapiro Associated Press Village record store was musical resume that in-
said this week as the group Along the way, they’ve perience and musicianship thwarted because she was cludes playing with the
prepared to play a show at overcome the deaths of honed while touring and dating his boss. But the two late, legendary blues gui-
the New Jersey shore. two group members and recording with a who’s who kept in touch and when the tarist Johnny Winter and
Today, the Hit Men are the fading of the “Jersey of rock’s golden era. It’s a co-worker, Simon, needed disco icons The Village
showing no signs of slowing Boys” phenomenon to list that includes Elton John, a guitar player for her first People.
down. They have played carve out a niche in the Carly Simon, Todd Rund- album, she reached out, Drummer Steve Murphy
hundreds of shows across lucrative pop music nostal- gren, Journey, Cheap Trick, beginning a musical part- and singer-keyboardist Rus-
the country — including at gia universe. “Jersey Boys” Rod Stewart, the Ramones, nership that lasted more sell Velasquez knew each
President Donald Trump’s is a jukebox musical chroni- Lou Reed, Jim Croce and than 20 years. other from extensive vocal
Mar-a-Lago resort — and cling Valli’s career. Chicago. Shapiro is the group’s last session work in New York
have gigs booked through The calling card of the Hit “It’s a type of music that’s direct link to Valli. Drum- doing commercial jingles
next May. Men is their decades of ex- very popular with our audi- mer Gerry Polci, famous for and other projects.q