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# 74 •DECEmBER 14 , 2015
prime, continued fighting
and suffered savage beatings in the ring. His purses were mismanaged
and siphoned by his managers and handlers.
Sinatra and Louis were
very close friends since
the 1940s. When Louis
suffered
cardiovascular
problems, some of which
ultimately damaged his
speech and his ability to
walk, Sinatra called Louis’
wife Martha and told her
not to worry about the
cost of his medical care.
He insisted that the Louis
receive the best medical
care and had Louis flown
in his personal jet to Houston, where he was operated on by the renowned
cardiac surgeon Michael
DeBakey. Sinatra also arranged for Louis to get
various jobs and, as a final
act of respect, he paid for
Louis’ funeral costs.
He was also a very active
social activist, right?
When it came to social
activism, Sinatra was ahead of his time. He was an
(Eleanor) Roosevelt Democrat who believed in
helping the downtrodden
and
underrepresented.
Sinatra’s parental upbringing in Hoboken, especially by his politically active his mother, did much to
shape his “common man”
persona. As a kid, he was
often bullied and beaten
by Irish American kids who
did not like the “wops”
and “dagos” who “infiltrated” their town. Thus was
shaped his lifelong desire to always help those
“bullied” or “beaten” for
ethnic, racist, religious, or
economic reasons.
brity would dare take on
the subject of anti-Semitism. Not even the heads
of Hollywood’s studios,
all of whom were Jewish,
would even broach the
subject for fear of alienating the predominantly
WASP viewing audience.
If you have never viewed
this documentary, you can
download it on the internet. When you do, listen
to the words Sinatra directs at the boys, which
are far more important
than his signature song,
“The House I Live In.”
Here are some of the most
notable examples of Sinatra’s social activism:
1) “The House I Live In”
– The most famous and
well-known of Sinatra’s public/political statements
about discrimination and
prejudice, in this case religious. This 1945 short documentary earned Sinatra
a Special Academy Award
Oscar, which today would
be categorized under
the “Best Documentary Short” category. Sinatra
was ahead of his time. In
the 1940s, no other singer, actor, or other cele-
Note: After the release
of “The House I live In,”
right-wing papers started
calling Sinatra “a pawn of
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