Rumours and truths: This week marks the 100th anniversary of Frank Sinatra’s birth

This week marks the 100th anniversary of Frank Sinatra’s birth.

To celebrate the life of one of the world’s greatest entertainers, here are some facts you probably didn’t know about Ol’ Blue Eyes — from his strange backstage demands to his links with Scooby Doo.

SINATRA WAS GIVEN UP FOR DEAD AT BIRTH

The delivery of the 13lb baby in his parents’ New Jersey kitchen on December 12, 1915, was traumatic. When he finally emerged, there were no signs of life. So the doctor put him to one side to attend to his mother, Dolly.

It was only when the child’s grandmother picked up the baby, ran cold water over him and slapped his back that he started breathing.

HE WAS CALLED FRANK AFTER A MIX-UP

He was supposed to be called Martin after his father, but the priest who conducted his baptism accidentally named him after Frank Garrick, the family friend who was there as the baby’s godfather.

Sinatra’s mother chose to stick with the name, believing the mistake must be a good omen.

HIS TEEN NICKNAME WAS SCARFACE

The forceps used during his birth had left scars on the side of his face, and adolescent acne added further marks. Throughout his life, Sinatra wore make-up to hide the scars — and even then hated being photographed on his left side. (The forceps also punctured his eardrum — during World War II this was the reason he was ruled unfit for military service.)

THE FIRST GIRL FANS WERE PAID TO SCREAM

The young singer certainly had appeal — but George Evans, his publicist, wasn’t taking any chances. He auditioned girls to find those who could scream the loudest, then paid them $5 to sit at carefully chosen points in the audience, so creating even more of a frenzy.

HE MADE SEVERAL SUICIDE ATTEMPTS

Frank's stormy relationship with actress Ava Gardner upset him so much that on more than one occasion he tried to kill himself.

Gardner once walked into the bedroom to find him holding a gun to his head. As she struggled to take the weapon from him it went off, but the bullet missed them both.

Another attempt came during Sinatra’s dip in popularity in the Fifties. Walking through New York’s Times Square, he saw a crowd of girls waiting to see new showbiz sensation Eddie Fisher.

He went back to his apartment, turned on the gas stove and waited to die. Fortunately, he was found by a friend.

Band of brothers: The 'Rat Pack' aka Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop always preferred to call themselves ‘The Summit’

HE LOATHED HIS CLASSIC HIT MY WAY

It became one of his most famous songs, but according to his daughter Tina, he ‘always thought that song was self-serving and self-indulgent’. But it ‘stuck and he couldn’t get it off his shoe’.

IT'S THE NEW YORK, NEW YORK YANKEES

The New York Yankees baseball team play his signature song New York, New York after every home game in the Bronx.

For a while they played Sinatra’s version only after victories — following a defeat they would play Liza Minelli’s rendition. But when Minelli complained bitterly they stopped the practice.

AT 5ft 7in, HE WORE LIFTS IN HIS SHOES

Sensitive about his modest height of 5ft 7in, the singer used what Americans call ‘elevator shoes’, some of them the work of celebrity Los Angeles shoemaker Pasquale di Fabrizio.

HE INSPIRED THE NAME SCOOBY DOO . . .

Scooby Doo was originally going to be called Too Much. But during a flight to a development meeting, CBS executive Fred Silverman heard Sinatra’s recording of Strangers In The Night.

The ‘dooby do’ lyrics at the end gave him the idea for the cartoon hound’s new name.

... AND A SUCCESSFUL BRITISH POP GROUP

In 1972, Belgian artist Guy Peellaert (who designed album covers for David Bowie and the Rolling Stones) published a book called Rock Dreams.

It told the story of popular music in 125 paintings. One depicted Sinatra’s move from singing into acting as a newspaper article headlined Frankie Goes Hollywood.

The Liverpool band added the extra word ‘to’ to form their name Frankie Goes To Hollywood and had a string of hits including Relax and Two Tribes.

Tragic: Frank's relationship with Ava Gardner upset him so much that he attempted suicide

J.F.K. DIED AS HE FILMED A FUNERAL

The movie Robin And The 7 Hoods was a re-telling of the Robin Hood myth featuring Chicago gangsters. While shooting a scene at a funeral in 1963, the cast and crew received news that John F. Kennedy had been shot and killed. Sinatra, who had been friends with the President, was traumatised.

HE WAS ALWAYS READY FOR A KIDNAP

As if the JFK coincidence wasn’t spooky enough, Sinatra learned during the filming of a kidnap scene in Robin And The 7 Hoods that his own son, Frank Jnr, had been kidnapped. (The scene was cut from the final version of the movie.)

Following the abduction on December 8, 1963, Sinatra received a ransom demand of $240,000, together with the instruction that he must only call the kidnappers from pay phones. In the middle of one call, he ran out of money, and panicked that the error had cost his son’s life. But after payment of the ransom, Frank Jr was released. His father vowed he would never be caught without coins again and always carried a roll of 10 cent coins.

THE RAT PACK DIDN'T USE THAT NAME

Sinatra’s famous gang of friends — which included singers Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr, comic Joey Bishop and actor Peter Lawford — were given their famous nickname by Hollywood star Lauren Bacall. But they always preferred to call themselves ‘The Summit’, after a 1960 meeting of world leaders in Paris.

HIS HOTEL SPANNED TWO U.S. STATES

At one time, Sinatra was part-owner of the Cal Neva Lodge resort and casino in Lake Tahoe. The resort was so-called because half of it was in California and half in neighbouring Nevada.

SINATRA HATED THE GODFATHER

In the classic Mafia novel The Godfather, later made into an Oscar-winning series of films, the entertainer Johnny Fontane receives help with his career from organised crime figures.

Although the book’s author, Mario Puzo, denied that the character was inspired by Sinatra, the singer — always surrounded by rumours of Mafia links — took it as an insult.

When the two met in Los Angeles restaurant Chasen’s in 1970, Sinatra screamed: ‘I ought to break your legs!’

HE WAS A FUSSPOT ABOUT RED CARPETS

HIS contracts always specified that the red carpet leading from his dressing room to the stage must be anchored by tacks no more than 18in apart.

Broadcaster Clive James introduced Sinatra at a 1988 concert to mark the opening of the Sanctuary Cove resort in Queensland, Australia. He witnessed the singer’s lawyer bending down with a tape measure to ensure that the clause had been complied with.

HIS TIPPLE WAS JACK DANIEL'S

‘This is a gentleman’s drink,’ he said of the his favourite drink, Jack Daniel’s. He always had two fingers of whiskey, four ice cubes and a splash of water.

For some reason, Sinatra would never touch the rim of the glass — he cupped it in his hand, protected by a cocktail napkin.

HE NEVER LEARNED TO READ MUSIC

Though he began performing professionally as a teenager in the late Thirties — as a singing waiter at the Rustic Cabin club in Englewood, New Jersey — he never learned formally to read music, instead relying on a good ear to help him hold a tune.

HIS LAST WORDS WERE ‘I'M LOSING’

Ol’ Blue Eyes suffered a heart attack on May 14, 1998. His journey to hospital was through empty streets because most people were at home watching the final episode of the TV comedy Seinfeld.

Sinatra’s life couldn’t be saved. His last words were: ‘I’m losing.’ The Empire State Building was lit up in blue in tribute.

BURIED WITH BOOZE AND CIGARETTES