The new rock royalty Nov 30, 2008
Ever since the '50s, thanks to the obnoxious likes of Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop and the beleaguered Sammy Davis jnr, it has helped if the group can be defined by a moniker that rhymes with Rat Pack. So in the '80s, there was the Brat Pack, comprising Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Andrew McCarthy, Molly Ringwald and Rob Lowe who - if you were of a certain age in that era - made big hair with extreme side parting (for girls) and headbands and... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
The Fives: Joe the Plumber meets Willie Horton and other non-politicos who shaped politics Oct 20, 2008
" The story of a dog and his master warmed the hearts of enough people that President Dwight Eisenhower, which wasn't that fond of Nixon anyway, decided not to ditch him and kept him on as vice president even through his re-election campaign several years later.And while the Checkers story had legs, it failed to carry to him victory against John F. Kennedy in 1960. Still, never had something so apolitical as a dog help save such a storied political career as Nixon's.And speaking of JFK ...At the... (Rapid City Journal, SD)
Baron Cohen to play Holmes Jul 2, 2008
He has been portrayed on screen by an eclectic roll-call of actors that runs the gamut from Charlton Heston and Christopher Lee through to Roger Moore and Peter Lawford. The classic Basil Rathbone pictures updated his adventures from Victorian London to the dark days of world war two, while Barry Levinson's Young Sherlock Holmes re-branded him as a plucky boy investigator. (Guardian Unlimited -- Film)
New DVD releases May 14, 2008
The Rat Pack Ultimate Collector's Edition features four Sinatra romps with such regular cronies as Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford in the original Ocean's 11, plus 4 for Texas, Robin and the Seven Hoods and Sergeant's 3. The Golden Years set has Sinatra's The Man With the Golden Arm, None but the Brave, Some Came Running, The Tender Trap and Marriage on the Rocks. (AZCentral -- Entertainment)
FRANK SINATRAS FILM CLASSICS ON DVD May 11, 2008
Finally, there's a new collectors' edition of four "Rat Pack" comedies with Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop - including the debut of "Sergeants 3," a mock Western long unavailable because it plagiarized "Gunga Din" without permission. SHARE BOX Show your support. (New York Post -- Entertainment)
A-listers spring up to state their case Apr 19, 2008
John F. Kennedy, with the help of Rat Packers Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and brother-in-law Peter Lawford, gave the presidency a swagger and made it hip to be commander-in-chief. "In some ways, when we talk about celebrities, it's really a consequence of the age of mass media," Mr. Kaplan said. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
Milton Ebbins, liaison for JFK, Hollywood Apr 8, 2008
For more than 30 years, he was the personal manager of actor Peter Lawford. Through Lawford, who was married to Patricia Kennedy, a sister of John F. Kennedy's, Mr. Ebbins became a favorite of JFK's and a frequent guest at the White House and on Air Force One. (Boston Globe)
Talk of the Town: I’ve got the Easter bonnet blues Mar 21, 2008
The movie also starred Peter Lawford, as Jonathan Harrow III and was Jules Munshin s film debut. (Although Munshin was in successful MGM musicals such as Easter Parade and Take Me Out to the Ball Game, audiences would always remember him as one of the trio of sailors including Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra singing New York, New York, it s a Wonderful Town in the hit On the Town. (Green Valley News & Sun, AZ)
Cool blast from Vegas past Mar 21, 2008
To this day, the freewheeling nightclub act that combined the talents of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop remains the epitome of effortless cool. These guys sold out the town, said Sandy Hackett. (Scranton Times, PA)
ABC wants Crawford for 'Good,' 'View' Mar 4, 2008
Mexico/Guadalajara Intl. Miami International Film Festival. (Variety)
Paul Anka: The granddaddy of swoon Feb 23, 2008
But Anka never surrendered himself to that artificial universe constructed by Sinatra and the Rat Pack in Las Vegas, when they'd smoke and drink and gamble until dawn, and Peter Lawford would line up eight showgirls at a time to service the voracious appetite of his brother-in-law, Jack Kennedy, a rising politician visiting for the day. "I kept my nose clean," Anka says. (Globe and Mail)
Year of the Rat recalls some of Rat Pack's best Feb 7, 2008
The coolest cats, er, rats of the late 1950s and early 1960s made up a loose confederation of entertainers led by Frank Sinatra and included Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop ... Peter Lawford plays an aristocratic British commando commander who, along with battle-hardened vets of the European battlefield, travels with a bagpipe player. (The Augusta Chronicle)
Author shares stories of 'Old Hollywood' Feb 7, 2008
Did you know that Peter Lawford and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. were sent to the Hollywood School for Girls as punishment for misbehavior. One wonders if this plan to humiliate and embarrass the young actors worked. (Los Angeles Daily News)
'Chairman of the Board's' Stamp Image Previewed Today Dec 13, 2007
Sinatra formed his own recording company, Reprise, in late 1960, and around this time became known as the "Chairman of the Board." Now in his late '40s, Sinatra was famous not only for his musical talent and acting ability, but as the central figure in the so-called "rat pack," a professional and personal circle that included Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop. During this period, Sinatra became closely identified with Las Vegas, which he helped to popularize as an... (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
Crazy Tuesday Nov 15, 2007
Lawford (right, with FoundCare Development Director Steven Stolman), son of actor Peter Lawford and Patricia Kennedy Lawford, talked about his struggles with addiction -- "A gorilla will dance when it wants to, in the White House and the poor house; my gorilla was doing the full Macarena" -- until one day he had what psychologists call a "psychic change" and decided to quit drugs and alcohol. But there are millions like him, he said, who turn to crime, can't be productive and destroy their... (The Palm Beach Post)
Last member of Rat Pack bows out Oct 20, 2007
The way they were from left, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop ... The way they were … from left, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Joey Bishop, Vegas gang's final survivor, is gone at 89 Oct 20, 2007
The Rat Pack (from l.): Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop ... He had the lowest profile in the quintet, which also included Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford. (New York Daily News)
Comedian Joey Bishop, 89, last of 'Rat Pack' Oct 19, 2007
He achieved his greatest fame in the 1960s, as master of ceremonies for President Kennedy's inaugural gala and a member of the famed Rat Pack that also included Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Peter Lawford. The five frequently appeared onstage at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. (Boston Globe)
Joey Bishop dead at 89 Oct 19, 2007
Peter Lawford died in 1984, Sammy Davis Jr. in 1990, Dean Martin in 1995, and Sinatra in 1998. Bishop died Wednesday night of multiple causes at his home in Newport Beach, publicist and longtime friend Warren Cowen said. (AZCentral -- Entertainment)
'Rat Pack' member Bishop dies Oct 19, 2007
Besides Bishop and Sinatra the group included Sammy Davis Jr, Dean Martin and Peter Lawford. Bishop began as a stand-up comic before moving on to film and television. (BBC News -- Entertainment)
Why did we love Bugs? Because we knew every part by heart Oct 19, 2007
Comedian was last of Rat Pack that included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford and Sammy Davis Jr.. International Festival of Authors. (Globe and Mail -- Entertainment)
Rat Pack's Bishop dies Oct 19, 2007
LOS ANGELES The Rat Pack once was the coolest group of entertainers on the planet Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis Jr. Oh, yeah, and a stone-faced comedian named Joey Bishop. Although not as widely appreciated, it was Bishop with his deadpan delivery, dead-on timing and bottomless pit of jokes, who was "the hub of the big wheel," according to Rat Pack leader Sinatra himself. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Joey Bishop, 89 Oct 19, 2007
Peter Lawford died in 1984, Sammy Davis Jr. in 1990, Dean Martin in 1995, and Sinatra in 1998 ... shows, from left, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop. (Globe and Mail)
Popular Paramount show is back Oct 7, 2007
The Rat Pack Sinatra, Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and non-singing sidekicks Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop kept crooning alive in the 50s and 60s, but the easy listening kind of music declined in the 70s and 80s. Crooning is for hand-holding, slow dances and other quiet moments shared by a generation or two removed from today's pop music stylists. (Austin Daily Herald, MN)
Maureen Dowd on Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr's journals Oct 5, 2007
Maureen Dowd on Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr's journals - International Herald Tribune. Maureen Dowd, an Op-Ed columnist for The Times, is the author of "Bushworld" and "Are Men Necessary?". (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
Ratner, Tucker reteam for 'Sinatra' Sep 20, 2007
Stadiem, a longtime chronicler of old Hollywood, has been tapped to write the screenplay, which weaves in celebrity anecdotes involving Marilyn Monroe, Peter Lawford, the Kennedys, Ava Gardner, Humphrey Bogart, Mia Farrow, Elvis Presley, Swifty Lazar and Marlene Dietrich, among others. Rat Entertainment's Jay Stern also will produce alongside Adam Fields ("Donnie Darko"). (Variety)
Television movies for the week of Sept. 2 Sep 2, 2007
TV Movies: Sept. 2-8. G = General audiences PG = Parental Guidance PG-13 = Not recommended for preteens R = Restricted audience. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
Esther Williams splashes it up again, this time on DVD Aug 4, 2007
Williams plays a movie star who falls in love with the smitten Navy lieutenant (Peter Lawford) who kidnaps her and flies her to a remote tropical island for the slow dance she earlier had refused him. "Neptune's Daughter" (1949) is something of a return to shapely form. (Scripps Howard News Wire)
Talkin' 'bout my generation Aug 3, 2007
Rat Pack: The nickname for the group of entertainers including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop. Nehru jacket: A hip-length jacket with a stand-up collar around the neck, based on Indian fashion and popular in the U.S. and England in the '60s. (Pensacola News Journal)
'Ocean's' sinks 'Pirates' at box office Jun 11, 2007
The film catches a wave of nostalgia for the Las Vegas "Rat Pack" that made the 1960 film 'Ocean's Eleven': Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr and Dean Martin. The suited gangsters shoved 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End' to second place, despite a booty of $21. (iAfrica.com)
'Hostel: Part II': Gore Gore Girls, By Kurt Loder Jun 8, 2007
That film presented Frank Sinatra and his drinking cronies (Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis Jr. and so on) as the incarnation of up-to-date, wise-cracking hipness. What they really were, though, in the parlance of the period, was "swingers," a more raucous and rather less-cool thing. (VHI.com -- Music News)
Why Clooney is (almost) as cool as Sinatra Jun 5, 2007
Clooney has resurrected Sin City, only instead of Peter Lawford, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop following him around, hes got his own crew of fun-loving stars, including Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle and the rest of the boys from the Oceans films ... According to legend, he used his reported Mob ties to line up labor union support for John F. Kennedy in key Democratic states like Illinois and West Virginia, tipping the election Kennedys way; then he organized... (MSNBC -- News)
Mystery Solved May 31, 2007
Thursday, May 31, 2007 Last Update: 06:40 AM EDT NYC Weather:69. SUPREMELY CONFUSING TRANSIT. (New York Post -- Gossip)
Ocean's Thirteen: Dead in the Water May 25, 2007
" Another, unquestionably, would be George Clooney. He has all the old qualities: classically handsome but not intimidatingly so, looking perfect and comfortable in a tuxedo, and so at ease with his natural appeal his Georgeness that he needn't rev up or Method up a performance to screaming volume. After all, he came out of TV, where the goal is to be ingratiating, not from the stage or indie films, where the goal is threefold: sulk, simmer and explode. Clooney glides and purrs through his... (Time.com)
Bright times ahead for Emerson May 14, 2007
"I made a stupid mistake," says the Kennedy kin whose dad, Rat Packer Peter Lawford, costarred in the original with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. "It's my favorite of all my father's movies, and Steven Soderbergh was kind enough to give me a small role." So what's the problem. Lawford was in the middle of a few other projects, and decided to turn down the Oscar-winning director. (Boston Globe)
Rewind: Vegas Films 'Lucky' Enough To Make Our Top 10 May 1, 2007
"Ocean's 11" (1960) and "Ocean's Eleven" (2001) Let's face it: Vegas is all about swagger, and no film ever swaggered swankier than the Rat Pack's 1960 heist opus, "Ocean's 11." Frank Sinatra plays Danny Ocean, a cool cat in an orange cashmere sweater who leads his Army buddies (including Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop for giggles) in an elaborate plot to rob five Las Vegas casinos at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. The movie's no "Godfather," but only the... (VHI.com -- Music News)
Community Calendar Apr 24, 2007
LASALLE This month s Movie at the Mansion is the 1948 Easter Parade, starring Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Peter Lawford and Ann Miller. The event will be at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Hegeler Carus Mansion, 1307 Seventh St., LaSalle. (Princeton Bureau County Republican, IL)
Detailed report implicates Kennedy kin, psychiatrist in plot 'to induce' suicide Mar 18, 2007
The report, hidden as a classified document for over 40 years, details Kennedy's on-and-off affair with Hollywood actress and discusses an alleged conspiracy, apparently managed by Robert Kennedy's brother-in-law, actor Peter Lawford ... "Robert Kennedy made a telephone call from St. Charles Hotel, San Francisco, to Peter Lawford to find out if Marilyn was dead yet," the unnamed special agent wrote. (WorldNetDaily)
Suicide pack? Mar 17, 2007
Critically, it raises an alleged conspiracy, apparently overseen by Hollywood actor Peter Lawford, for Monroe to unwittingly commit suicide with the drug Seconal, a barbiturate used to treat insomnia and to relieve anxiety ... It states in part: "Peter Lawford knew from Marilyn's friends that she often made suicide attempts and that she was inclined to fake a suicide attempt in order to arouse sympathy" ... " It goes on to say that on the same day, Kennedy had booked out of the Beverley Hills... (The Age, Australia -- Breaking News)
FBI file links Kennedy to Monroe's death Mar 16, 2007
The detailed three-page report implicates the Hollywood actor Peter Lawford, Monroe's psychiatrist, staff and her publicist in the plot ... It states in part: "Peter Lawford, [censored words blacked out] knew from Marilyn's friends that she often made suicide attempts and that she was inclined to fake a suicide attempt in order to arouse sympathy. "Lawford is reported as having made 'special arrangements' with Marilyn's psychiatrist, Dr Ralph Greenson, from Beverley Hills ... " It goes on to say... (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
How Bobby betrayed Marilyn Mar 16, 2007
The report outlines a conspiracy involving Robert Kennedy, the actor Peter Lawford and others to induce Monroe to "suicide" ... He then made a phone call from the hotel "to Peter Lawford to find out if Marilyn was dead yet" ... The housekeeper called Monroe's psychiatrist on her behalf, after she had "taken the bottle of pills", and the psychiatrist "left word for Marilyn to take a drive in the fresh air, but did not come to see her until she was known to be dead. Marilyn received a call from... (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
Sammy Davis Jr. Feb 18, 2007
The Rat Pack's Peter Lawford, married to John and Robert Kennedy's sister, Patricia, offered Davis entry into the inner circle and, while there are no candid shots of JFK, his photos of Jacqueline Kennedy are poignant. Davis' conflicted personal life included marriage to May Britt, a Swedish actress. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
