I frequently opened for fellow Philadelphian Joey Bishop at clubs in Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York City from 1967 to 1969 when I went into the Army. Joey and I met through another fellow Philadelphian, singer/jazz pianist Buddy Greco. Joey was the person who introduced and recommended me to Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. I occasionally opened for Dean and Sammy when their regular opening acts (comedian Leonard Barr for Dean and Hines, Hines & Dad for Sammy) were unavailable. The only negative thing I can say about Joey was that he was extremely competitive with other comedians, but since I was a vocalist, Joey and I never had any problems between us. I will admit that, though I met Frank Sinatra occasionally when I was opening for Dean or Sammy, I never saw Frank at any of the club dates I had with Joey.
Insightful reply. Show biz tiffs easily turn into feuds, it seems. Having never been in the biz myself, it’s interesting to me to hear different points of view. Peace. Out.
Frank was old school. In fact. he attended the school that stood before the old school was built! Loyalty is everything to the old-school crowd. That didn’t make Frank wrong, it made Joey expendable!
Look back at the footage...Sinatra was a great singer...but he wasn't the King of Cool! That's why he wanted Dino in his Rat Pack! Sinatra didn't have the Charm, Looks and Comedic delivery of Dino! Dino was One Of A Kind!!!
Frank Sinatra was the greatest pop singer of the 20th century. Martin was a part of the Rat Pack because he was a good friend of Sinatra, as was Sammy Davis Jr.
@@jamesanthony5681 No one will ever top Sinatra, not dean martin, nat king cole, or anyone else. This of course is only my opinion, I’m sure there are others who won’t agree with me, but I don’t care.
@@chuckc7375 No, that's an accurate statement. Sinatra had a 60+ year career that was unmatched as a singer, actor (musicals, comedies, dramas), philanthropy. If others don't agree, then they don't know Sinatra's history.
@@jamesanthony5681 You’re right, they probably don’t know his history, but I do. I started listening to him when I was a young teen, and I’m 77 years old now. That’s a long time.
Sinatra was once engaged to Lauren Bacall after her husband, Humphrey bogart, died of cancer. She made some idle comment to someone at a club that she and Sinatra were thinking about getting married, and Sinatra considered that a deadly breach of his privacy, he didn't want ANYONE to know ANY of his plans, ever. He just instantly cut her out of his life and never spoke to her again, after a fifteen year friendship. He never explained or told her why and it was extremely traumatizing for her. Just losing a husband and then a best friend with no explanation shattered her. Sinatra was so megalomaniacal by then, that he expected everyone around him to take care of his every need, anticipating his every thought, etc., just a real shlemiel....
@@NoOne-kr4jc Don't know. However, I just got finished reading *Frank: The Voice* by James Kaplan (excellent read) and Frank struck me as being manic about his privacy and not wanting people to know his business.
Here is the problem with this story. I have known/followed the rat pack since my dad introduced me to them as a kid. I had heard the stuff about Frank following out with Peter Lawford, over JFK, etc. However, I did not hear about this supposed split with Bishop, over the nightclub work, until after Joey died. Now, it seems everyone has known this for years? I just wonder.
Judy, there were times Frank could be a bully,but there are many good things Frank did. There were people who were in the hospital and could not pay their medical bills. Frank would just right a check. Frank helped end segregation in Vagas in part because Frank had A lot of African American friends, Sammy Davis, Quincy Jones, Nat King Cole and others. When a factory was about to close which would cause workers to loose their jobs Frank again wrote a check. Almost everyone who worked with Joey Bishop said Joey was an ass hole. If you needed money, Joey wouldn't give you a dime.
@@jamesanthony5681 Frank could be a real ass whole at times, on the other hand Joey was an ass whole 24,7. Joey couldn't help it, he was an arrogant, mean SON OF OF A BITCH. This was just his natural personality.
The RatPack didn’t begin with Sinatra, Davis and Martin. They were the second generation RatPack. The original RatPack was comprised of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, Errol Flynn, Carey Grant, Caesar Romaro and Nat King Cole. Sinatra also ejected Peter Lawford from the pack after the 1960. Presidential election as Peter Lawford was married to President Kennedy’s sister Patricia Kennedy Lawford and threw Lawford out of the pack because he felt slighted as he’d campaigned for JFK and was disinvited from the Inauguration Events because of his ties to organized crime. He didn’t speak to Lawford again until Frank Sinatra Jr was kidnapped and called Peter Lawford to ask him for help in getting the FBI to investigate the kidnapping.
Sinatra was at the Inauguration events. Sinatra was pissed because President Kennedy cancelled his stay at Sinatra's house in California and gave a lame excuse that it was because of security concerns. He stayed with Bing Crosby instead of Sinatra. It was a myth that he didn't stay with Sinatra because of mob ties. The real reason was that Jackie Kennedy didn't want him to stay with Sinatra. Lawford got the short end of the stick because it was easier to blame him.
There are some people who you meet in life who become obvious snakes. Cut them off. Sinatra was smart. So was Carson when he cut off Skitch Henderson. Skitch who? Joey who? That's right.
Mr. Sinatra was and Mr. Carson were both correct to do that. I have always admired them both for their ability to help a lot of people and never wanted it known that they were the ones that did it. Both were incredible human beings. I miss them both.
Joey was a self centered fool who believed he was in some way equal to Sinatra & the rest...he WASN'T. And, when the guy (Sinatra) who has given you your career/stardom asks for a favor (esp. in a difficult time) you DON'T quibble over shekels - YOU GO and you do whatever needs to be done. In that way you not only don't piss off the guy who pretty much made you but you also earn his gratitude and continued friendship - which would only lead to further success/riches. Joey cut off his nose to spite his face and could not see that playing the "long game" would have been much better, kept him in the limelight and kept the money rolling in.
You obviously haven’t seen his WML appearances which resulted in him getting the White House Correspondents dinner the first year of President Kennedy’s term. Which led to him guest hosting for Jack Parr which led to him getting his own show.
Because he was never funny! Another Catskill regular, who needed Vagas.and celebrities in the audience, to work off. Same act can't live on TV for long, pop up every 3 years on Carson.the not so good comedians, the Allen king, Robert kline type that End up in plays on Broadway. Celebrity name! The once ed Sullivan, twice a year, hope you didn't see the first show, show, plus a little more.
