Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Frank Sinatra shrugs off death-bed rumors, wife says he’s doing well

"It doesn't bother him anymore. I guess he's used to it. You just roll with the punches," Barbara Sinatra said during a telephone interview from the couple's Beverly Hills home.

The 82-year-old entertainer hasn't been seen in public since before a January 1997 heart attack, which led to tabloid reports that Sinatra was gravely ill and had been given "last rites" by the Catholic church on several occasions.

"The rumors are just crazy. You can't believe it. He's doing very well. You'd think they'd just stop with it," Mrs. Sinatra said during an interview to promote the upcoming Frank Sinatra Las Vegas Celebrity Classic charity golf tournament. "He's strong and walking around. We're enjoying friends."

Sinatra even soaks up the sun at his Beverly Hills and Malibu homes, his wife of 22 years said before adding, "He's a very private man. He feels very strongly about his private life and his financial life being kept private."

Next month's four-day team-scramble golf tournament has evolved into a citywide extravaganza celebrating Sinatra, his music and philanthropy. The May 28-31 event at the Stallion Mountain Country Club will be broadcast on ESPN.

"Somehow it just kind of evolved into a tribute to his philanthropy and his music. It's really exciting. Everybody in Vegas seems to have gotten behind it, which is wonderful," Mrs. Sinatra said. Sinatra hasn't ruled out attending the event.

When he first performed in Las Vegas at the Desert Inn in 1951, reviewers predicted Ol' Blue Eyes had a "good future."

Mrs. Sinatra and Wayne Newton are set to host the celebration, including appearances by Jack Lemmon, Gregory Peck, Dennis Franz, Angie Dickinson, astronaut Buzz Aldren and others.

The tournament benefits the Barbara Sinatra Children's Center at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage and the Las Vegas Opportunity Village.

When the Sinatras opened the Barbara Sinatra Children's Center in 1986 to treat and counsel abused children, they promised that no child who needed help would be turned away because they lacked money. The annual budget is $1.8 million.

"We deal mostly with below poverty families," Mrs. Sinatra said of the center, which helps about 1,000 children and their families a year in the Coachella Valley desert area 120 miles east of Los Angeles. "Your heart really goes out to them."

The Rancho Mirage facility, as well as the Las Vegas Opportunity Center, treats child victims of emotional and physical abuse as well as teen-age pregnancies. The Las Vegas golf tournament was expected to raise up to $600,000, which will be split between the facilities.

"I didn't think it was right to go into a city and take funds out and not leave some there," Mrs. Sinatra said.

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