Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. are known primarily for their singing, dancing and acting abilities.  But each worked at other jobs in their early lives, with the exception of Sammy, who was an entertainer through his entire life, from the time he was a little boy. 

Frank, born in Hoboken New Jersey as Francis Albert Sinatra, once delivered copies of the Jersey Observer newspaper, worked as a riveter at a local shipyard, and even waited tables at a New Jersey restaurant, also singing there, in the job that led to his being discovered for his vocal talent.  He never served in the military due to a perforated ear drum.

Dean, born in Steubenville Ohio as Dino Paul Crocetti, once delivered bootleg liquor, worked in a steel mill, and was a blackjack dealer and roulette stickman at local underground casinos.  Plus, he had a short boxing career under the name “Kid Crochet”.  He was drafted into the army in 1944 and served for a year in Akron Ohio.

Sammy, born in Harlem as Samuel George Davis Jr., never knew any kind of work other than performing on stage, starting with his father at the age of five.  He also served in the army, but even there he was assigned duty involving his awesome skills as an entertainer.  If he ever tried another occupation, it might have been photography, which was a passion of his.  He was said to always carry a camera, and even had a book of photographs printed, with his favorite subjects being his fellow performers, like Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman, Jerry Lewis, and of course, his Rat Pack pals, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. 

This article printed in association with a  Rat Pack Impersonators Tribute site.

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“.

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.

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.

In 1937, a musical called Babes In Arms featured a song that would become a staple for Frank Sinatra, not to mention Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. and the Rat Pack.  The song was The Lady is a Tramp, by the Broadway songwriting team of Rodgers and Hart.  It was recorded by Lena Horne in 1948, and she performed it in a film about the two famous songwriters, called Words and Music.

In the 1957 film Pal Joey, Frank Sinatra serenades Rita Hayworth with the song, and soon afterwards, it became a regular part of Frank’s nightclub and concert shows.  Though it started out with a mellow arrangement with a piano lead-in, in later years the song got a new treatment with a bold horn introduction, and became one of the most exciting numbers in the Sinatra show. 

Sammy also liked singing the song and performed it regularly during his concert appearances.  And Dean did it too, but his version was a comical parody in which he sings the gentleman is a tramp, as part of the opening of his time on stage.

Throughout the years, The Lady is a Tramp was also associated with Ella Fitzgerald, who sang the song many times, including as a duet with  Frank on one of his TV specials.  And it was recorded by the Supremes in an album of Rodgers and Hart songs.  Most recently, it was heard sung by two of the main characters on an episode of the TV series Glee.  And there were recordings of The Lady is a Tramp by the group Yes, They Might Be Giants, and even Alice Cooper.  But it will always be most associated with Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack. 

To see Frank’s performance of The Lady is a Tramp in Pal Joey, visit Rat Pack Remembered at YouTube, and to see Frank’s duet of the song with Ella Fitzgerald, visit the Frank Sinatra Tribute, also at YouTube.

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.

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 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.

Written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne in 1945, the song was first recorded by Vaughn Monroe that year, and reached number one on Billboard’s music chart in 1946.  More recently, the Vaughn Monroe recording was used in the first two Die Hard movies.

Dean Martin’s version is featured on his many Christmas albums including Christmas With Dino, My Christmas Album, My Kind Of Christmas, The Dean Martin Christmas Album and Season’s Greetings from Dean Martin, plus Christmas With The Rat Pack.  Although it’s one of the most popular songs every holiday season, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow never actually mentions Christmas. 

The song can be heard in the Dean Martin style at Christmas-time during Rat Pack shows performed by Las Vegas Rat Pack Impersonators.

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.