December 8, 1963: Given the people he is alleged to have known, kidnapping Frank Sinatra's son was only slightly less stupid than kidnapping Liam Neeson's daughter in the 2008 film Taken. And yet, it happened.
Frank Sinatra Jr. is kidnapped.
Frank Sinatra had 3 children, all with his 1st wife, Nancy Barbato: Nancy Sandra Sinatra, born on June 8, 1940 in Jersey City, New Jersey, next-door to Frank's hometown of Hoboken; Francis Wayne Sinatra, a.k.a. Frank Sinatra Jr., born on January 10, 1944 in Jersey City; and Christina Sinatra (no middle name), a.k.a. Tina, born on June 28, 1948 in Los Angeles.
Because of Frank Sr.'s traveling, the children did not see him much growing up. Nevertheless, Nancy Jr. and Frank Jr. both wanted to be entertainers themselves. In 1960, Nancy Jr. married singer Tommy Sands, and was also involved in Frank Sr.'s TV special with Elvis Presley. She later made a film with him, Speedway -- not one of his good ones.
On December 8, 1963, Frank Jr., only 19 years old, was kidnapped from Room 417 at Harrah's Lake Tahoe in Nevada, and held for ransom. He was released 2 days later, after his father paid the $240,000 ransom demanded by the kidnappers -- about $2.3 million in 2022 money. Frank Sr. had offered $1 million, but the kidnappers declined the larger offer.
The kidnappers demanded that all communication be conducted by public telephone. During these conversations, Frank Sr. became concerned that he would not have enough coins, which prompted him to carry 10 dimes with him at all times for the rest of his life.
Frank Jr. was taken to Los Angeles, and released. He was found in Bel Air after walking a few miles and alerting a security guard. To avoid the press, he was put in the trunk of the guard’s patrol car and taken to his mother Nancy’s home. He described what he knew to FBI agents, but he had barely seen two of the kidnappers, and only heard the voice of the third conspirator.
In a 2002 interview with radio show host Ira Glass, the mastermind of the kidnapping, Barry Keenan, said that he initially intended to earn back the ransom over years, and pay it back to Frank Sr. His co-conspirators were Joe Amsler, like him 23 years old, and a high school classmate; and Johnny Irwin, a 42-year-old house painter.
Irwin broke first, spilling the beans to his brother, who called the FBI office in San Diego. Hours later, Keenan and Amsler were captured, and nearly all of the ransom was recovered.
Keenan was sentenced to life plus 75 years in prison, but was later adjudged to have been legally insane at the time of the crime, and hence not legally responsible for his actions. Each kidnapper served only 4 1/2 years.
Keenan went on to become a successful real estate developer, and died in 2022. Amsler died in 2006. I can find no evidence of whether Irwin is still alive as of December 8, 2022, but, if he is, he would be 91 years old.
Shortly after his release, Frank Jr. was hired as the vocalist for Sam Donahue's band. He also learned a lot about music and its business while working with Duke Ellington, a friend of his father's. He built his own band and appeared in Las Vegas, and crowds came to see him, knowing full well which Frank Sinatra they were seeing. Like his father, he turned to acting; like his father, he played men on each side of the law, including 3 episodes of Adam-12 as Officer Tom Boyd.
He never achieved the fame of his father Francis Albert, or even that of his sister Nancy. Musically speaking, though the man billed as Frank Sinatra Jr. may have been the most talented one in the family, to the point where, in 1988, Ol' Blue Eyes asked him to conduct his orchestra. As Rod McKuen put it:
As the senior Sinatra outlived one by one all of his conductors and nearly every arranger, and began to grow frail himself, his son knew he needed someone that he trusted near him. [Frank Jr.] was also savvy enough to know that performing was everything to his dad and the longer he kept that connection with his audience, the longer he would stay vital and alive.
In 1997, Frank Jr. was offered the role of holographic Las Vegas lounge singer Vic Fontaine on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He was a Trekkie, but he turned the role down, saying that he only wanted to play an alien. The role went to a contemporary of his, James Darren. In 2000, Frank Jr. played himself in an episode of The Sopranos, not objecting when Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri called him "the Chairboy of the Board."
Francis Albert Sinatra died in 1998. Among the items he was buried with in Palm Springs, California were a bottle of Jack Daniel's whiskey, a pack of Camel cigarettes, a Zippo lighter, cherry Life Savers, Tootsie Rolls, a dog biscuit, and 10 dimes.
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December 8, 1963 was a Sunday. These games were played in the NFL:
* The New York Giants beat the Washington Redskins, 44-14 at Yankee Stadium.
* The Baltimore Colts beat the Minnesota Vikings, 41-10 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
* The Detroit Lions beat the Cleveland Browns, 38-10 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.
* The Chicago Bears beat the San Francisco 49ers, 27-7 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The football version of the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-14 at the 1st Busch Stadium, formerly the last Sportsman's Park, in St. Louis.
* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Dallas Cowboys, 24-19 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
* And the night before, the Green Bay Packers beat the Los Angeles Rams, 31-14 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
In the American Football League:
* The New York Jets lost to the Buffalo Bills, 45-14 at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo.
* The Boston Patriots lost to the Houston Oilers, 46-28 at Jeppesen Stadium (later Robertson Stadium) in Houston.
* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Denver Broncos, 52-21 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.
* And the Oakland Raiders beat the San Diego Chargers, 41-27 at Frank Youell Field in Oakland.
There were 2 games in the NBA. The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Cincinnati Royals, 126-116 at the Cincinnati Gardens. And the San Francisco Warriors beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, 114-112 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
And the NHL's entire "Original Six" were in action:
* The New York Rangers and the Boston Bruins played to a tie, 2-2 at the old Madison Square Garden.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-3 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.
* And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-0 at the Chicago Stadium.
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