Product Description

George Jacobs is generally considered 'the last of the Rat Pack', a member of the exclusive club that has fascinated us for decades. He was Sinatra's valet and confidant from 1953, when Ava Gardner had just left him, until the end of his marriage to Mia Farrow in 1968. Racy and revealing, this is a record of one of the longest and most outrageous mid-life crises ever as George helped Sinatra juggle his many mistresses - women like Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Grace Kelly and Peggy Lee. Hollywood stars and Mafia bosses, the Kennedys and European royalty also all had a major part to play in Frank's glory years. But above all there was the Rat Pack who accepted George as one of their own. Dean Martin tried his comedy routines out on him and Peter Lawford did his drugs in front of him. MR S gives an insider's view of the highs and lows of life with the Rat Pack - the spectacle, the sex, the unrecounted brawls, violence, tensions and hatreds among the revellers at the wildest moveable feast of the century.

'Explosive' Mail on Sunday

'Scorching' Sunday Mirror

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24219 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

About the Author

After leaving Sinatra George Jacobs worked for Steve McQueen, George Hamilton and Bill Cosby before settling down in Palm Springs and becoming a carpenter. William Stadiem is an award-winning writer whose previous books include the international bestseller Marilyn Monroe Confidential.

Customer Reviews

A sordid read
Being a big Sinatra fan, this was a book I had to read. It's short, easy to read and actually a little sordid by the end. The trouble is its constant referalls to Sinatra's circle's sex lives and their treatment of anyone they didn't like. I don't think we can blame Jacobs for this. If he is writing what he saw, it's hardly his fault if h saw a lot of unpleasant things.

If you are a Sinatra devotee, there are some nice personal insights, but in the main this book inevitably relies on the more unpleasant side of Sinatra to sell itself.

The Last Word?
This is one of those books which does exactly what it says on the tin: this is a no-holds-barred account of fifteen hectic years in the life of one of the biggest superstars the world has ever seen. George Jacobs was Frank Sinatra's valet for fifteen years, years in which Mr S went through one of the biggest mid-life crises it's possible to imagine. We have a detailed glimpse into Sinatra's day-to-day life, a life which included dealings with Mafia king-pins and Kennedys, as well as the usual hangers-on. There is much to surprise here: Sinatra hated drugs, and anything to do with the youth counter-culture of the sixties - which makes it all the more strange that he married one of its main examplars, Mia Farrow. There is little specific about Sinatra's connections to organized crime. Jacobs's view is that the mob used the Rat Pack as a walking drinks advertisement. Be that as it may, Sinatra was certainly furious when JFK, for whom he and his mob cronies had bought the Presidency, dropped him, and even more so when Robert Kennedy began investigating both organized crime and Sinatra himself. What comes across most clearly throughout this well-written book, is Sinatra's overwhelming passion for Ava Gardner, and the extent to which Sinatra was a broken man when she left him and refused to go back to him, though she remained a friend. We also see how easily Frank could turn against people he had been close to for a long time. It even happened to the author himself, though Jacobs seems refreshingly free from spite. I doubt that it is possible for there ever to be a "last word" on such a complex character as Frank Sinatra, but this is certainly a good place to start to get an intimate, yet balanced, picture of the Chairman.

Interesting insight into the legend that was Frank Sinatra
I'm not a book reader but my wife recommended i read this book after she'd finished it.It's easy reading and lightweight to start but becomes more interesting as you progress.George Jacobs gives an up-close-and personal view of Sinatra.Lots of conquests,mafia,JFK and endless ladies of the night show how the rich and famous often live a life unknown to the rest of us.It's well written and once started you won't want to put it down.