Anthony Martin Sinatra

Anthony Martin Sinatra
Born Saverio Antonino Martino Sinatra
(1892-05-04)May 4, 1892
Lercara Friddi, Province of Palermo, Sicily, Kingdom of Italy
Died January 24, 1969(1969-01-24) (aged 76)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Resting place Desert Memorial Park, Cathedral City, California
Spouse(s) Natalie "Dolly" Garaventa (m. 1913)
Children Frank Sinatra

Anthony Martin Sinatra (born Saverio Antonino Martino Sinatra,;[1]:22 May 4, 1892 – January 24, 1969) was an Italian-American Hoboken city fireman, professional boxer, bar owner, and father of singer and actor Frank Sinatra.

Biography

On December 21, 1903, he emigrated to New York City from Palermo, Sicily, on the SS Città di Milano with his mother Rosa Saglimbeni Sinatra and his sisters Angela and Dorotea, as well as his brother. His father Francesco, born in Lercara Friddi,[2] was already in the city working in a pencil factory earning eleven dollars a week, and his mother went on to own and operate a small grocery shop. Sinatra himself apprenticed as a shoemaker, until he started prize-fighting, calling himself Marty O'Brien, because Italians were not welcomed in the fight game.[3][4]

On February 14, 1914, Sinatra eloped with Natalie Garaventa[1]:25 (also known as "Dolly"), to Jersey City, New Jersey, as Dolly's parents refused to host a wedding and did not approve of Marty, as he was illiterate, inferior at boxing, and was a Sicilian, whereas the Garaventa family were Ligurian.

The couple eventually moved to 415 Monroe Street, Hoboken, New Jersey. Their only child, Francis Albert Sinatra, was born on December 12, 1915.

Sinatra continued his boxing career, until he broke his wrists after 30 professional fights. He then attempted to find marine work, but was rejected due to asthma. 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 without having to take any formal exams.

While still a Captain in the fire department, Sinatra and his wife opened a tavern, called Marty O'Brien's. With sufficient income, the family of three moved to a three-bedroom apartment, only a few blocks away from Monroe Street, but well out of Little Italy, at 703 Park Avenue.

Sinatra suffered a fatal heart attack in 1969 at a Houston hospital.[5] He was buried at the Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California; other family members, including Frank Sinatra and Anthony's wife are buried nearby.[6]

In the 1992 CBS miniseries Sinatra (a series about the life of his son Frank), he was portrayed by Joe Santos.

References

  1. 1 2 Summers, Anthony; Swan, Robbyn (2005). Sinatra: The Life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-375-41400-2.
  2. ↑ https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-27311-11205-85?cc=1947613&wc=MM54-MF8:1985475368
  3. ↑ http://sinatrafamily.com/nancysbook/ Frank Sinatra: My Father
  4. ↑ http://www.njboxinghof.org/cgi-bin/henryseehof.pl?420 New Jersey Hall Of Fame
  5. ↑ Kelley, Kitty (10 November 2010). His Way: An Unauthorized Biography Of Frank Sinatra. Random House Publishing Group. p. 334. ISBN 978-0-307-76796-7.
  6. ↑ Brooks, Patricia; Brooks, Jonathan (2006). "Chapter 8: East L.A. and the Desert". Laid to Rest in California: a guide to the cemeteries and grave sites of the rich and famous. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press. p. 245. ISBN 978-0762741014. OCLC 70284362.
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