Rat Pack Facts and Photos

frank sinatra, dean martin & peter lawford

The Rat Pack onstage at the Sands Las Vegas

frank sinatra, dean martin, sammy davis jr., peter lawford & joey bishop

RAT PACK FACTS
AND PHOTOS

(Click on images for larger picture)

Frank Sinatra Born: 12/12/1915 Died: 05/14/1998

Dean Martin               Born: 06/07/1917       Died: 12/25/1995

Sammy Davis, Jr.       Born: 12/18/1925       Died: 05/16/1990

Peter Lawford            Born: 09/07/1923       Died: 12/24/1984

Joey Bishop Born: 02/13/1918 (only surviving member)

Frank Sinatra had been a part of a Hollywood drinking group that gathered around Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall and were known as the 'Holmby Hills Rat Pack'. After Bogart's death, Sinatra held court with his own friends: Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, and Shirley McLaine who became known as 'The Clan'.

Dean Martin, although close to Sinatra, was never dependent upon him. Dean never liked being "one of the guys" but he liked performing with Sinatra.

The Rat Pack came to prominence in January 1959, the year Sinatra conducted the orchestra on Dean's album 'Sleep Warm'; the film 'Some Came Running' with Sinatra, McLaine and Martin opened; and, on January 28th, Sinatra joined Dean onstage at the Sands Hotel and Casino for the first time. It would become a routine and they would become legends in Las Vegas.

Sinatra changed the name from 'The Clan', with its racist connotations, to the 'Rat Pack'. When Sinatra was courting the Kennedy clan in 1960, John Kennedy came to see them perform at the Sands and was royally entertained. The Pack sang the national anthem to open the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles where Kennedy was nominated for President. They christened their Sands performances 'Rat Pack Summits' in honor of the Kennedy-Kruschev Summit.

'Ocean's Eleven', the Pack's film legacy, was shot in Las Vegas. They all had parts. Sinatra produced it and starred as Danny Ocean, the mastermind of a five-casino heist carried out with his World War II buddies. From January 26th - February 16th, the Rat Pack filmed by day and took to the stage at the Sands by night, much to the delight of the Sands executives.