The Rat Pack Goes To College

 

The Rat Pack’s lasting impact on Las Vegas not only permeates the Strip, but even stretches to UNLV, the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, where a great web resource celebrates Frank, Dean, Sammy and company.  It’s called the UNLV Libraries Special Collections, featuring some great photos of the Rat Pack performing, along with some rare candid shots of the guys backstage.  There’s also a glimpse of Jack Entratter the legendary Sands Hotel executive who hosted the Rat Pack during the glory years of the early 60′s, who’s seen with the guys in several of the shots.

The photos came directly from the Sands office of publicity and advertising, which donated them in 1980, several years before the historic landmark was imploded in 1996.

To view those great photographs, visit UNLV’s page saluting The Rat Pack.  And while you’re there, you might want to peruse some of the other collections of Las Vegas history on display at UNLV’s University Libraries.

The Rat Pack is also remembered in live shows performed by Rat Pack Tribute performers, also known as “Rat Pack Impersonators“.

The Original Rat Pack Tribute

In 1987, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. reunited to announce they would be performing together again, reviving their Rat Pack glory days of the 60′s.  But instead of taking the stage in a Las Vegas showroom as in times gone by, they would tour the U.S. in large concert halls.  And at their press conference, Frank made it clear that the words Rat Pack would not be in the title, expressing his dislike for the term when a reporter brought it up.  The tour would be called Together Again. 

Frank felt it would be good for Sammy, who had been experiencing financial difficulties, and good for Dean, whose emotional state had suffered since the loss of his son in a plane crash earlier in the year.  As the tour started, there was some friction between Frank and Dean, and Dean’s health was declining, so it was not totally surprising when Dean dropped out of the tour after only four performances.

But instead of scrapping the whole project, a replacement for Dean was brought in.  Frank and Sammy were joined by Liza Minnelli and the tour was renamed Frank, Liza and Sammy, The Ultimate Event.

It was a good mix, and went on to become a success for Frank, Sammy and Liza.  Liza had been around Frank all of her life and said that she had first seen him on stage when she was four years old.  And she said about Frank “He may be Frank Sinatra to most people, but he’s Uncle Frank to me”.

Not too long after the road trip concluded, Sammy passed away, and it’s said he was buried with a gold watch given to him by Frank at the conclusion of the Ultimate Event tour.

Today, audiences can see a Rat Pack Tribute show peformed by Las Vegas Rat Pack Impersonators, but Frank, Dean and Sammy’s Together Again was the original Rat Pack Tribute.

Never seen Rat Pack Photos

According to one of America’s top Rat Pack Tribute groups, Life Magazine has unveiled a collection of photos of the Rat Pack that include rare shots of Frank, Dean and Sammy, plus some of their Rat Pack associates.  The magazine that used to sell widely at newsstands, lives on today as a great Web resource with one of the finest photo collections around.  At Life Magazine on the Web, you’ll find photos from politics, sports, science, the arts and entertainment, and even from today’s headlines.  The exclusive Rat Pack photo series is called The Rat Pack: 25 Never-Seen Photos.

Among the shots are Dean in his dressing room before a show, Frank taking a shortcut through the kitchen to get to the stage of Miami’s Eden Roc Resort, and Sammy laughing over dinner with his wife May Britt.

Other shots include Peter Lawford in the barber chair, Frank and Dean together in a recording studio and in wardrobe on a movie set.  And there are still many more fascinating pictures.  All of the photos have a candid, real-life feel and are accompanied by memorable quotes associated with the Rat Pack stars.

To see The Rat Pack: 25 Never-Seen Photos, click on this link to go to Life.com.

Portraits Of The Rat Pack

There are many photos, posters and paintings perpetuating the images of the Rat Pack members, both individually and together.  One unique collection of Rat Pack images are the work of a fine artist in California named Ms. Bruni Sablan.  She has created over 1300 paintings of famous music stars and musicians, among them Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.  The artist calls her collection the Jazz Masters Series, and it includes the portrait of Dean Martin seen above.

Along with her portrait of Dean, Ms. Sablan created a couple of portraits of Sammy, one of which is shown here.  And by the look of his derby hat and body language, he appears to be performing his classic song and dance number Mr. Bojangles. 

Although the artist only displays one work of Dean and two of Sammy, her collection of Frank Sinatra portraits is quite extensive.  They show Frank at many different ages, from the young crooner to The  Chairman of the Board and Ol’ Blue Eyes.  And each one of the Sinatra paintings is named for a popular Sinatra song, like the one shown here, called Too Marvelous For Words.

For a complete look at Bruni Sablan’s Jazz Masters Series and her numerous other works, visit her on the Web at brunijazzart.com.  And visit the home of a popular Rat Pack Tribute Show, also helping to perpetuate the images of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

A Classic Rat Pack Photo

It’s one of the most widely seen images of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., and it’s been reproduced as an art poster and even embellished by artists with colors and additional imagery.

Here’s the where, when and why of the photograph.  It was January 27th, 1961, and Frank, Sammy and Dean were at Carnegie Hall in New York for a benefit performance in honor of  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Sammy was instrumental in getting the Rat Pack involved in the event, which poet Maya Angelou helped organize.  In this famous photo, the Rat Pack members are seen backstage at the historic concert setting.  Today, in addition to seeing the original, you’ll sometimes see this photo re-created by Rat Pack Impersonators to promote a Rat Pack Tribute Show.

Also entertaining at that Carnegie Hall fundraiser were  Tony Bennett and comedians Nipsey Russell and Jan Murray.  In fact, there’s another version of the photo that’s rarely seen, which shows Jan Murray actually seated next to Dean.

The Rat Pack in St. Louis

On June 20th, 1965, the Rat Pack took the stage at the Kiel Opera House in St. Louis for a fundraiser to benefit Dismas House, the first halfway house for ex-convicts.  Frank,  Dean and Sammy were joined by Johnny Carson as emcee, filling in for Joey Bishop, who was out with a bad back.

The performance that night was captured on film but was lost for over 45 years until a TV producer and vintage TV expert, Paul Brownstein tracked down a print of the show that had been sitting in a closet in St. Louis.  Soon afterwards, it was released on DVD as part of the Ultimate Rat Pat Collection:  Live & Swingin”.

Johnny Carson surprised the audience and his co-stars alike with some pretty good vocals during the musical finale of Birth of the Blues.  Other highlights of the show include some hysterical physical moves by Dean, and some playful heckling of Frank from backstage as he tries to get through a solo.  Frank customized his hit My Kind of Town by changing the lyrics to salute St. Louis instead of Chicago.

And there’s a pretty good little practical joke played on Frank by Dean.  When Frank performed I’ve Got You Under My Skin, it was the second time the audience heard it that night because Dean inserted it into his set preceding Frank’s. 

The lineup of solo sets by Dean, Sammy and then Frank, followed by group numbers involving all three is followed today by many Rat Pack Impersonators. 

The Rat Pack’s St. Louis show is available for viewing on YouTube, including the great closing number, Birth of the Blues, at the Rat Pack Impersonators site.

A Rat Pack Member’s Racial Struggles

It wasn’t easy to make it to the top for Sammy Davis Jr. back in the 50′s and 60′s.  He had the talent of a superstar, but  being a young  black man subjected him to humiliations that civil rights campaigns had only started to address.  And it hit Sammy hard.  Segregation was prevalent in many of the places Sammy performed, including Las Vegas.  Back in the 50′s a casino called the Moulin Rouge was practically the only place in Las Vegas where African Americans could gamble and stay.

One  particularly troubling incident for Sammy occurred at the 1960 Democratic convention, at which John F. Kennedy won the presidential nomination with help from Frank Sinatra and friends, including Sammy.  As Sammy was introduced, boos erupted from the Alabama and Mississippi delegations.  During that campaign, instead supporting Sammy, the Kennedy camp was worried about the consequences among voters in the South among others, and actually put pressure on Sammy to keep a low profile.  They even wanted him to put off his upcoming marriage to a white woman, May Britt, until the voting was over.  Frank refused to ask that of Sammy, but Sammy felt obligated, and so, for Frank and the campaign, he postponed the wedding.

Although it tooks years, Sammy eventually did get to see the times change and racial relations improve in America, although he didn’t stay with us long enough to see Barack Obama elected president.  That, Sammy would have loved. 

Sammy’s experiences are well documented in the book Rat Pack Confidential by Shawn Levy.  And Sammy’s on-stage personality is re-created in today’s Rat Pack tribute shows, featuring some of America’s top Rat Pack Impersonators.

The Second Rat Pack Movie

Frank, Dean, Sammy, Joey and Peter followed up Oceans 11 with a film called Sergeants 3, which was a remake of the 1939 film Gunga Din.  The remake, set in the American West, was supposed to be known as Soldiers 3, but that title was already owned by another film studio.

Also appearing in the movie were Oceans 11 stars Henry Silva and Buddy Lester, plus actress Ruta Lee and three of Bing Crosby’s sons, Dennis, Phil and Lindsay.

In Sergeants 3, Frank, Dean, Joey and Peter play cavalry officers, with Sammy as a cavalry bugler, and all of them are up against hostile Indians.  The inspiration for Sergeants 3, Gunga Din was a dramatic film, but much of the action in Sergeants 3 is for laughs. 

Although there were two more Rat Pack films after this one, Sergeants 3, along with Oceans 11 were the only Rat Pack films that featured all five Rat Pack members, with Frank, Dean and Sammy re-created on stage today by groups like this  Rat Pack Tribute Cast.

The Rat Pack’s Home in Las Vegas

During the Rat Pack heyday of the 60′s, if you got to see Frank, Sammy and Dean perform together in Las Vegas, it was at the Sands Hotel.  And when they weren’t there, you might see stars like Judy Garland, Jimmy Durante, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Milton Berle, Peggy Lee or Bobby Darin on the Sands showroom stage. 

The Sands opened way back in 1952 with a casino and just a couple hundred hotel rooms.  The showroom was named the Copa Room after the famous Copacabana in New York.  The first entertainer to appear at the Sands was comedian Danny Thomas.  It was ten years later, in the 60′s, when five hundred more rooms were added in the form of the well-known circular tower.

In 1960, the Sands was the location for filming of the original Ocean’s Eleven, where the Rat Pack filmed by day, and then assembled on the Copa Room stage and performed together at night in a gathering of talent Frank Sinatra named “The Summit”. 

 In 1996, after forty-four years as a Las Vegas landmark, the Sands was demolished in a much-publicized implosion to make way for the Venetian, which marks the spot today.  And although the Rat Pack isn’t around any more, their shows are re-created by Rat Pack Impersonators, like these performers of a tribute to The Rat Pack. 

Michael Jackson and The Rat Pack

From The Rat Pack Tribute:  Michael Jackson respected Rat Pack members Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr., and was a big fan of Sammy in particular.  Both Michael and Sammy stood out as singers and dancers and both had started performing on stage as young children. 

Shortly before Sammy’s death in 1990, he was honored with an all-star TV special saluting his 60 years in show business.  Michael was there along with Frank and Dean and many other stars.  Sammy also respected Michael, and used to get a big reaction imitating Michael on stage with a little moonwalking and a trademark MJ gesture or two.

In the cast photo above from Sammy’s TV salute, he’s surrounded by stars including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Clint Eastwood, Goldie Hawn, Whitney Houston, Richard Pryor, Dionne Warwick and many others.  And standing right beside Sammy is Michael.