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name. His boxing career
left Marty with broken wrists. He attempted to find
work in the shipping industry based in Hoboken,
but was rejected due his
asthmatic condition. Dolly
helped him find work as a
fireman, and he was eventually appointed to the
Hoboken Fire Department
in 1927, where he attained
the rank of Captain. While
still a captain in the fire
department, Sinatra and
his wife opened a tavern,
called Marty O’Brien’s. He
died in 1969 of a heart attack.
Natalina was born on December 26, 1896, in Genova. She immigrated to
the United States with her
family when she was two
months old. When she
was a child, her pretty face
earned her the nickname
“Dolly.” In February, 1913,
Marty eloped with Dolly to
Jersey City, New Jersey.
Dolly’s parents did not
approve of Marty, as he
was Sicilian. They refused
to sanction the marriage.
Dolly became involved
in politics and worked as
a midwife. She became
very influential among the
Italian community in Hoboken. She died in a plane
crash in 1977.
The story of the artistic
life of Frank Sinatra is
self-explained by his nickname, “The Voice”: he
really was an icon of the
show business for several
years, wasn’t he?
December 12, 2015 will
mark the 100th anniversary of Frank Sinatra’s birth. While the nation will
not celebrate this date as
a national holiday, we, as
Italian Americans, should
celebrate the life and legacy of America’s greatest
entertainer, whose career spanned 61 years over
seven decades. At 66 years over 8 decades, the
remarkable Tony Bennett
(Anthony Dominick Benedetto) has surpassed Sinatra’s longevity, but his outstanding career does not
compare equally to that of
Sinatra’s.
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