The Last Hours of...Frank Sinatra

On May 14th 1998 the world was saddened by news that the singer and actor Frank Sinatra had died. Arguably the most popular entertainer of the 20th century, he had been at the forefront of the american consciousness for 60 years by the time of his death from heart attack. He overcame birth trauma and a chaotic and lonely childhood to win the hearts of people around the world with his emotional delivery of songs, and his charismatic performances on screen. A heart-throb, Frank was the embodiment of sex appeal, but that didn’t mean he escaped the traumas of love. His second marriage to Ava Gardner ended following infidelity, and several suicide attempts by Frank. At around this time in his life he started drinking Jack Daniels, a habit which would result in a decades long alcohol dependency. He also smoked and had a famously short temper. When he died at age 82 of a heart attack, the causes of his heart failure appeared transparent. But Dr Michael Hunter believes that Frank’s fate was far from inevitable, and that there was an event in Frank’s life which could have caused him to turn his life around.