As the story goes, at one particularly loud and carousing night of drinking and partying, Bacall walked in to see Bogart and friends enjoying themselves a bit too much. She stopped and said to them, “You look like a pack of rats.” The name stuck.
nounSlang. a close-knit group of people with common interests who participate in various professional and recreational activities together. Chiefly British. journalists or photographers as a group in relentless pursuit of celebrities.
They originated in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a group of A-list show business friends, such as Errol Flynn, Nat King Cole, Mickey Rooney, Frank Sinatra and others who met casually at the Holmby Hills home of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
Interestingly, the group of 5 guys known as The Rat Pack never called themselves that– and Sinatra, for instance, HATED the name. They called themselves “the Clan” or “the Summit.” However, the media referred to them as The Rat Pack, and that name certainly stuck.
Sinatra was furious, believing that Lawford had failed to intercede with the Kennedys on his behalf, and banished him from the Rat Pack. Sinatra and Lawford's friendship was over. They only spoke when Sinatra called after his son Frank Sinatra Jr.
He also starred in over 50 films. He even won an Oscar for his supporting role in the 1953 film from here to Eternity. He performed in concert for the last time in 1995 and three years later on May 14 1998 Sinatra died of *** heart attack at the age of 82.
Sensitive to ethnic slurs, Sinatra named them “The Summit.” But to all paparazzi and outsiders, they remained the Rat Pack, even though privately Sinatra hated the name. Sinatra championed underdogs and the civil rights movement from the beginning of his career.
Peter Lawford was the aristocrat of the group, who came to be known more as brother in law to President John Kennedy than for his film and television career. The stalwart was Joey Bishop, who was the longest lived member of the group and the least married with a 58-year union that ended in his widowhood in 1999.
During the late 1950s and early '60s, Sinatra frequently appeared on stage and in films with his close-knit band of friends known variously as “The Clan,” “The Summit,” or, most popularly, “The Rat Pack.” Peripheral members included actors Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop, and Shirley MacLaine and honorary member John F.
Shirley MacLaine, along with Dickinson and Prowse, were often referred to as the Rat Pack “mascots” — a select few actresses considered “one of the boys,” by the exclusive group. MacLaine starred in the 1956 movie, “Around the World in Eighty Days,” in which Sinatra had a cameo role.
The accident occurred at a fork in U.S. Route 66 at Cajon Boulevard and Kendall Drive, when a driver, who missed turning at the fork, backed up her car in Davis's lane and he drove into her car. Sammy consequently lost his left eye to the bullet-shaped horn button (a standard feature in 1954 and 1955 Cadillacs).
When They Were Kings. Back in the days when Vegas was dangerous and everybody smoked and drank, the Rat Pack ruled. Contemporary pop culture is still under their influence—in movies, clothes, and music.
Joey Bishop was the last surviving member of the Rat Pack. He was the group's last surviving member. Peter Lawford died in 1984, Sammy Davis Jr. in 1990, Dean Martin in 1995, and Sinatra in 1998.
In April of that year, Davis's lifelong performing friends paid tribute to him with a television special in his honor. A few weeks later, on May 16, 1990, Davis died in his home at age 64.
All five members of the Rat Pack, from left, Peter Lawford, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop, perform at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, Jan. 20, 1960.
1986 and was rushed to the hospital suffering from a severe stomach condition known as acute diverticulitis. Doctors removed a section of the singer's intestine — and attached a colostomy bag that he was forced to wear for several months, the book says.
In 1960, Davis had cemented his close friendship with Frank Sinatra, performing with him on stage in Las Vegas and co-starring with him in the film Ocean's 11. Frank was even the best man at Sammy's wedding that year.
He was buried in Plot B-8 with a bottle of Jack Daniels and a pack of Camel cigarettes tucked into his suit. His head stone reads: 'The Best is yet to come. ' The website has a downloadable map. The cemetery is also home to Sonny Bono, one half of Sonny and Cher and one-time mayor of Palm Springs.
Despite their 20-year age difference, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley became good friends. On hearing of Presley's death, in 1977, Sinatra was genuinely saddened and effusive in his praise of the man they called The King.
The singer looked at the company, and gave his final words. “He just looked up at the two of us and said curtly: 'I'm losing'”. And in a move that was strikingly similar to George Harrison's death in 2001, the singer embraced the end with strength and purpose, understanding the importance of the end.
"Frank felt he was responsible for Joey's success so the fact that he was now making all these demands did not sit well with him. You don't offend the Chairman. Not only did he hung up on Joey, but he completely cut him from the Rat Pack. "Joey was supposed to appear in 'Robin and the 7 Hoods' with the guys.
Sammy Davis Jr. Primarily a dancer and singer, Sammy Davis Jr. was a childhood vaudevillian, and became known for his performances on Broadway and in Las Vegas, as a recording artist, television and film star, and the only black member of Frank Sinatra's "Rat Pack".
