.Frank Sinatra
Sinatra worked hard to Americanize his voice in order to sound like a formally trained European singer. He did this because he wanted to have an eloquent style when singing and giving interviews or speeches. Whenever he wasn’t in the spotlight and was instead with friends, he would return to talking like a New Jersian and sounded more like an Italian. I think this is important because it helped him to become a powerful figure in America. Sinatra crosses the race line constantly. He was able to put Italian-American ethnicity on the map. Sinatra was one of the first people to cultivate ethnic identity that was not “white bread” identity, and still be able to become main stream.
Sinatra began signing professionally as a teenager, but did not get his first break until 1935. He worked with many different groups including the 3 Flashes, Harry James band, and with Thomas Dorsey in The Fabulous Dorseys. After 1942 he believed he needed to go solo. On December 30, 1942, Sinatra had his "legendary opening" at the Paramount Theater in New York. He soon topped the male singer polls in Billboard and Down Beat magazines.
Due to his perforated eardrum he was not acceptable to serve in World War II. This rubbed many Italian-Americans the wrong way. Why do their sons have to get deployed to war and Sinatra didn't. Some people did not want to view him as Italian anymore. More of a fake-Italian. None the less, this was a small majority. Sinatra actually appeared in a small clip called "The House I Live In". This was a sort of propaganda video for the United States. Sinatra’s little speech to the kids I thought was very important and was needed to be said. In the end even though we are all different ethnicities we are all still American. However, this little speech also showed the reality of what America was at the time. There was a new concept of who is included in the “we”. Sinatra mentioned the Irish, Italians, other European groups, but excluded African Americans and Japanese as well. I thought that this was very ironic since the speech was trying to encourage unity and respect. However, this irony is understandable during wartime as there was a lot of anxiety with loyalty to country during this time.
Sinatra went on to continue making hits in his full career from 1953-1981. During this time, Sinatra appeared on radio talk shows, television, and movies. This had a huge impact on the Italian-American community. There finally was an Italian that broke through the stereotypes and discrimination. There was finally an Italian figure that was famous and can be looked up to by other Italians. He had a huge influence on the Italian-American community. The fact that Italian-Americans always claimed that they had a connection to the Sinatra family during that time shows his influence. He was a local boy who made good. Today, there is not a single individual who has had as much an impact on a community as Sinatra did. No one comes close to Sinatra. No one received as much attention as Sinatra either. Sinatra was everywhere; on the radio, on the television, his music in the air around you, he had a true Hollywood persona. He found the perfect blend of becoming "white" and staying Italian.
