Frank Sinatra was born into a working-class, Italian-American family in Hoboken, New Jersey, and his childhood was marked by a difficult birth, a resilient mother, and an early passion for music that led him to drop out of high school to pursue a singing career.
Born on December 12, 1915, Sinatra was an overdue, 13.5-pound (6.1 kg) baby delivered with forceps, which caused permanent scarring to his left cheek, neck, and ear, as well as a punctured eardrum. He was initially thought to be stillborn until his grandmother resuscitated him. He was an only child, often thin and small, which he later joked about.
His father, Marty Sinatra, was a former bantamweight boxer who worked as a firefighter. His mother, Dolly Sinatra, was a strong-willed midwife and local political figure who doted on her son but could also be physically abusive. The family was able to afford Sinatra expensive clothes and gave him his own bedroom, leading some neighbors to call him the “best-dressed kid on the block.”
Sinatra showed little interest in academics and was known for being rowdy. He dropped out of A. J. Demarest High School after just 47 days, reportedly expelled for general misbehavior. He briefly attended business school to please his mother but left to pursue his true ambition: singing.
His passion for music was ignited by listening to big band and jazz radio broadcasts, especially idolizing Bing Crosby. His maternal uncle gave him a ukulele for his 15th birthday, and he began performing at family gatherings and on street corners for spare change.
To support his dreams, his mother helped him secure early jobs, including as a newspaper delivery boy and a shipyard riveter. He began performing in local social clubs and eventually joined a group called the Hoboken Four, which won a spot on the national radio show Major Bowes Amateur Hour in 1935, a pivotal moment that launched his career.
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