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BIOGRAPHICAL DATA Francis Albert Sinatra, generally known as Frank Sinatra, was born December 12, 1915 or 1916, according to his Selective Service file, andi on December 12, 1917, according to public source material. He was reportedly born in Hoboken, New Jersey, the son of Martin (also reported as Anthony) am Natalie Garavanti Sinatra, who were both born in Italy. His father has been a professional bantam weight boxer, boilermaker, shipyard worker during World War I, and subsequently became a Captain in the Hoboken Fire Department. Sinatra received his public school education in Hoboken and left the Demaret High School in 1935 to work ac a helper on a delivery truck for the "Jersey Observer" and contrary to publicity reports, did not serve as a sports writer for this paper. He is also reported to have taken some engineering courses at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken and in other reports is supposed to have attended the Drake Institute, dates of attendance not given. Sinatra started his singing career in 1935 after winning an amateur contest. He subsequently won a prize on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour and toured with a unit of this company for three months. Ry 1939 he was singing on eighteen sustaining eee cee the wast a a. an 2 T programs on the radio, reportedly without financial remuneration. In June, 1939, he gave up his job with a New Jersey roadhouse, The Rustic Cabin, to appear with Harry James's Bami. About December, 1939, he joined Tommy Dorsey's Band amd stayed with him until the summer of 1942, when he returned to radio work and personal appearances, Sinatra was the singing star of the Lucky Strike Hit Parade radio program from February, 1943, to January, 1945. During this period he began his screen work and also appeared in the Wedgewood Room of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.