About to Have a Rumble," _Variety,_ March 21, 1952; "Hollywood Stars Get Involved in Fight for Union Title," _New York Times,_ April 3, 1952. "When it's an 'H,' it's a B.": "In the Heart of Show Biz, You Won't Find a Higher Grade of Lush 'Ladies' than the 'Ladies' at Ciro's," _Los Angeles Times,_ June 8, 1957. "I just had to have you—for me.": _A Star Is Born._ As she drove off. "It's for you": Ibid. "Don't ever talk to me again.": "Frank Sinatra: I'll Never Smile at Another Studio Story," _Los Angeles Times,_ September 27, 1950. "Frankie, you didn't hear what he said.": Author interview with Nancy Sinatra. "They say I'm a real asshole, but.": Letter from Jules Stein to James Lydon, August 24, 1951, courtesy of _New York Post._ A studio attorney. "The way to build respect for your company": _Los Angeles Times,_ September 28, 1950. "A big star is a star": _New York Post,_ September 26, 1950. "In case of illness, please contact . . .": Letter from MGM to Frank Sinatra, October 19, 1950, courtesy of _New York Post._ She received two marriage proposals: _A Star Is Born._ "When a big star marries a little star.": _Photoplay,_ November 1951. She appeared on "The Kate Smith Show" in a black sequined gown. _Los Angeles Times,_ April 22, 1952. "I was just trying to make a cheap film.": _Life,_ September 5, 1951. "He started swearing and screaming at me.": _New York Post,_ October 8, 1952. He said it "stunk": Author interview with Nancy Sinatra. He had grown angry. "Get the hell out of my dressing room.": Author interview with Nancy Sinatra. "He used to say, 'If I can't have you, nobody can.' ": _A Star Is Born._ ## _10. What Did You Do with My Pajamas?_ She saw only her friends: _A Star Is Born._ But the publicity stoked gossip. "Sinatra Weds Young Comedienne," _Los Angeles Times,_ June 13, 1953. "Nancy made a bad deal.": _A Star Is Born._ "What does it feel like to sleep with a big star?": Ibid. "I couldn't go on the way I was.": Ibid. "I'll be there in 20 minutes.": Ibid. "And what happened?": Ibid. "It was like sleeping with your aunt.": Ibid. "Frank is a lovely person," Nancy replied: Author interview with Nancy Sinatra. She was not as amused as he was: Ibid. In the end, the two wound up married: _A Star Is Born._ "We were so lucky," Nancy remembered. "At first he was the most wonderful person in the world. Then we broke up, but, you know, we started all over again.": Author interview with Nancy Sinatra. "I told myself I'd only be with them," she remembered. "After a while, I didn't want to go out and see anyone who was around that time. I didn't want to talk about it. And I wasn't happy in my marriage. I found my mother had remarried her father's business manager—the guy she hated. So I felt really alone, and very alone.": Ibid. "I would have given anything to be in a gangster movie.": _The Joker Is Wild._ With the help of Judy: _A Star Is Born._ "Sinatra's Girlfriends in Hollywood.": _Life,_ June 9, 1953. In a move Frank had suggested: Ibid. In November 1953: Ibid. He offered the girl money to leave. "I want to help you any way I can.": Ibid. His marriage to Nancy also took a dive. He was seeing Lana Turner, Judy Campbell, Carole Landis, and, according to Sinatra, a "girl in the next town.": _A Star Is Born._ "I was completely in love with him": Author interview with Nancy Sinatra. They spent the day and night together at the Desert Inn. "Frankie was completely crazy about her.": Ibid. "He was so kind and loving and gentle": Ibid. "And she was a real beauty.": _New York Post,_ April 12, 1954. After all the fighting in Hollywood: _Los Angeles Times,_ November 9, 1953. "When the sun comes up": Ibid. "When he gets back from Korea.": _Los Angeles Times,_ January 6, 1954. "It was like a big family reunion": Ibid. "If he had no one to make out to," she recalled. "I wasn't trying to seduce him. It just happened. He's just one of those men.": Ibid. "Can you imagine your wife being unfaithful to you?": Author interview with Nancy Sinatra. "How do you feel about the Sinatras?": _A Star Is Born._ According to her mother, he was "absolutely devastating.": Author interview with Nancy Sinatra. "Frankie was always saying to himself, 'I wish I could do that again.'": _A Star Is Born._ Away from work: _Photoplay,_ February 1954. That fall, on the set of _The Man with the Golden Arm._: _Los Angeles Times,_ December 15, 1953. But the only thing she knew how to do was hold a camera. "I want you to try to talk without moving your lips.": _Life,_ January 16, 1954. She and her mother would sometimes sit up with him. "I was so happy and so close to my family," Nancy remembered. "When I look back on that period of my life now, I think, 'God, I wish I could do it all over again. It was so perfect.'": Ibid. To make matters worse, she had just been fired from the film: _Los Angeles Times,_ January 6, 1954. "I'm not being funny," she remembered. "There was something missing in my life and I think I tried to fill it in with Frankie.": Ibid. "All the time, Frank and I were being broken up by things like marriage and contracts and movies," she said. "We kept breaking up and breaking up": Ibid. "Frank Sinatra says he'll marry Lana Turner": _Life,_ December 14, 1953. It didn't take much to get him going. "I love him as a person and a singer, but I'm mad about him as a man. He's what you call an old-fashioned sort of guy.": _Life,_ February 5, 1954. "I was having dinner with John Wayne at the El Capitan.": _Los Angeles Times,_ February 6, 1954. "So Frank and I were hanging out at the El Capitan.": Ibid. "I made a mistake with one of the kids' mothers.": _Life,_ February 5, 1954. "Let's forget all about Nancy.": _New York Post,_ January 25, 1954. Her career, too, was on the rise: _Life,_ April 22, 1954. "Well, she wasn't a bit good," she recalled. "Frankie was furious. He called me a liar and said all kinds of nasty things. He hated that I was a star and hated that he was married to someone who was a star. It was all such a shock.": _Los Angeles Times,_ October 15, 1954. It would eventually cost her her career: _New York Post,_ January 25, 1954. "I didn't want any part of it.": Ibid. On Thanksgiving Day in 1951: Ibid. She knew he had once been in love with her mother. "I didn't have any love for her, but I don't know. I'd heard about her for a long time, but I'd never met her. I didn't know how to deal with it. It hurt me more than it hurt her. My mother once said she loved Sinatra. I didn't care for him. I didn't like his attitude toward women. My father hated him.": Author interview with Nancy Sinatra. "It made Frank very, very angry.": Ibid. "I tried to explain to him.": Ibid. "It doesn't do a girl much good": _New York Post,_ January 25, 1954. "We had become quite close by then.": Ibid. "I don't have anything to say": Ibid. "Do you know how many people are sleeping with Frank Sinatra?": Ibid. "It was a great shock for me.": Ibid