Judy's friend, Frank Sinatra

I feel it is time for me to write another blog. Before I left home I watched a television special on my local PBS station featuring Frank Sinatra and I realized that I had not written much about his friendship with Judy.

Frank Sinatra had a two week run at Carnegie Hall in the mid 1980s and he recorded one of these nights to give as a Christmas gift to his family and friends, and it had not been shown on television before.   One of his songs was "The Man (Gal) that Got Away" (Gershwin/Arlen) and although I do not usually like ANYONE singing one of Judy's songs, this particular version was absolutely beautiful.  He combined it with "It Never Entered my Head" (Rogers/Hart). I feel that as Sinatra grew into his older years he brought a greater sensitivity to his music.

Sinatra had great respect for composers and arrangers and made certain he gave them credit either before or after each song.  This was something I noticed when I took my children to see him at the Circle Star Theater, near San Francisco in the mid 1980s.  I loved his relaxed chats with the audience; accepting flowers and a bottle of Jack Daniels from fans. He seemed to be very happy then and I remember him saying that this (singing) was really all he wanted to do.

Of course singing was really all Judy wanted to do also.  They both loved to entertain. Although they had never appeared in a movie together (except perhaps in one of those mega star movies) they were great friends and often performed on radio programs together and this is where you can find their duets.

I love the photo taken at a night club where a very young Sinatra is kneeling talking to an equally young Judy who is sitting at a table with Van Johnson, I believe.  Sinatra is the person who called Judy every day when she was at Peter Bingham Hospital in Boston towards the end of her stint at MGM.  He sent a record player, records and flowers.

He was also the one who hired a bus and took a group of her friends to see her perform in Long Beach for a benefit for handicapped children in 1955.  There is a audio of the show floating around the fan base--and at the end of the show Judy must have gone off to change and Sinatra brings all the stars on the stage and introduces them.  There is some talk of someone singing and Sinatra says "I'm not following that!" and suggests that Dean Martin or Sammy Davis Jr. entertain.  He thoroughly understood her genius and once commented words along the lines "that when we have all been forgotten, Judy will not".