The co-star who berated Frank Sinatra for his unprofessionalism: “He got really touchy”
Comfortable in his position as someone so famous that they bordered on untouchable, Frank Sinatra never felt compelled to pay much attention to things like timekeeping, professionalism, and following the established rules of an industry to which he dedicated a lot of time.
‘Ol’ Blue Eyes’ was one of the most famous people in the world, a bestselling crooner who never played to anything less than a packed house, an Academy Award-winning actor, and a person who had connections that ran from the criminal underworld to the White House, which meant he lived life by his own mandate.
Sometimes, it made him a pain in the arse to work with. He could have played Jack Lemmon’s iconic role in Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot, but he didn’t even bother showing up to a pre-arranged meeting with the legendary filmmaker to discuss the part, and his short fuse had a habit of pissing off his co-stars.
Because he was Sinatra, though, those on the lower rungs of the celebrity ladder rarely felt like speaking up. However, after repeatedly grinding the production of the 1954 war drama Never So Few to a halt with his tardiness, Gina Lollobrigida decided she’d had enough and called him out in front of everyone.
In hindsight, it’s a remarkably star-studded affair. Sinatra was a superstar, Lollobrigida was an international sex symbol, director John Sturges would go on to direct The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape, and the ensemble was packed with names at the beginning of their careers who’d go on to become household names.
Never So Few gave Steve McQueen only his fourth credited role in a picture; it was the ninth film in which Charles Bronson had been billed under his stage name, while future Star Trek favourite George Takei and the endlessly prolific James Hong played uncredited roles as Japanese military personnel.
Thanks to his hard-partying lifestyle, everyone grew accustomed to waiting around for Sinatra to show up, which got under Lollobrigida’s skin. “Sinatra would start working at noon, because he liked to have fun at night,” she told Variety. “He would drink quite a lot.”
“One day he showed up at 1pm, and, since I like to joke around, I said to him: ‘Frank, next time you’re late, call me, so I can go back to bed too,” the actor continued. “He got really touchy about that. Sinatra was so touchy, I have to tell you. Zero sense of humour.”
The leading man’s lateness may have been caused by the personal strife he was going through, which was admittedly his own fault. Sammy Davis Jr was initially in line to play the role that was eventually filled by McQueen, but Sinatra allegedly had him forcibly removed from the picture after he caught wind of his ‘Rat Pack’ cohort badmouthing him in a radio interview.
He felt betrayed by one of his friends and booted them off Never So Few, which might have made him more susceptible to staying out a little longer than usual every night. Still, Lollobrigadia had no issues putting him in his place.
