DON ALTOBELL
Frank Sinatra onstage, in 1960.
On Dec. 9, three days before the 100th anniversary of Frank Sinatra’s birth, NJTV will present a new half-hour program, “Atlantic City Nights: Strictly Sinatra,” exploring Ol’ Blue Eyes’ connections to New Jersey’s leading resort town — a place he performed in during every phase of his career — among other topics.
Among those who will be interviewed are Frank Sinatra Jr., who is continuing to sing his father’s music on tour; Paulajane D’Amato, daughter of Skinny D’Amato, who owned Atlantic City’s 500 Club, where Sinatra performed in the ’50s and ’60s; Resorts International entertainment executive Richard Helfant; and Sid Mark, who has hosted Sinatra radio shows for close to 60 years in South Jersey and Philadelphia.
“The men in the orchestra used to wonder what he was gonna do different,” says Frank Sinatra Jr., who conducted his father’s orchestra on tour for many years. “They used to have a saying about him. They used to say, ‘Sinatra doesn’t do anything the same way … once.’ ”
“I walked in and there’s Frank, Sammy Davis, Dean Martin and my father,” Paulajane D’Amato says at one point. “And they’re playing grown-up cowboys and Indians.”
The show premieres at 8:30 p.m., and will be rebroadcast Dec. 11 at 2:30 a.m. and Dec. 13 at 5:30 p.m.
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