Political life of Frank Sinatra 27, 1961, Sinatra played a benefit show at Carnegie Hall for Martin Luther King, Jr. and led his fellow Rat Pack members and Reprise label mates in boycotting hotels and casinos that refused entry to black patrons and performers. He often spoke from the stage on desegregation and repeatedly played benefits on behalf of King and his movement. According to his son, Frank Sinatra, Jr., King sat weeping in the audience at one of his father's concerts in 1963 as Sinatra sang "Ol' Man River", a song from the musical "Show Boat" that is sung by an African-American stevedore. His
Frank (given name) in the United States arose again in the 20th century as a short form of Francis (which is itself a shortening of "Franciscus", i.e. "the Frenchman", in reference to Saint Francis of Assisi), as popularized by Frank Sinatra (born Francis Albert Sinatra, 1915–1998). Also see Frank in fictional characters Frank (given name) Frank is a masculine given name. Ultimately from the Germanic tribal name of the Franks, in the early medieval Frankish Empire, the status of being "a Frank" became synonymous with that of a free man; hence also the English adjective "frank" (Middle English, from Old French "franc", 12th