Rat Pack Confidential: Frank, Dean, Sammy, Peter, Joey and the Last Great Show Biz Party
Shawn Levy
Sep 2019 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Mike Chamberlain
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11 hr 36 min
Unabridged
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January 1960. Las Vegas is at its smooth, cool peak. The Strip is a jet-age theme park, and the greatest singer in the history of American popular music summons a group of friends there to make a movie. One is an insouciant singer of Italian songs, ex-partner to the most popular film comedian of the day. One is a short, black, Jewish, one-eyed, singing, dancing wonder. One is an upper-crust British pretty boy turned degenerate B-movie star actor, brother-in-law to an ascendant politician. And one is a stiff-shouldered comic with the quintessential Borscht Belt emcee's knack for needling one-liners. The architectonically sleek marquee of the Sands Hotel announces their presence simply by listing their names: Frank Sinatra. Dean Martin. Sammy Davis, Jr. Peter Lawford. Joey Bishop. They call themselves The Clan. But to an awed world, they are known as The Rat Pack.
They had it all. Fame. Gorgeous women. A fabulous playground of a city and all the money in the world. The backing of fearsome crime lords and the blessing of the President of the United States. But the dark side—over the thin line between pleasure and debauchery, between swinging self-confidence and brutal arrogance—took its toll. In four years, their great ride was over, and showbiz was never the same.
They had it all. Fame. Gorgeous women. A fabulous playground of a city and all the money in the world. The backing of fearsome crime lords and the blessing of the President of the United States. But the dark side—over the thin line between pleasure and debauchery, between swinging self-confidence and brutal arrogance—took its toll. In four years, their great ride was over, and showbiz was never the same.
January 1960. Las Vegas is at its smooth, cool peak. The Strip is a jet-age theme park, and the greatest singer in the history of American popular music summons a group of friends there to make a movie. One is an insouciant singer of Italian songs, ex-partner to the most popular film comedian of ...
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About the author
Shawn Levy was educated at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Irvine. He has been writing for The Oregonian since 1992. Before that, he was a senior editor of American Film magazine and an associate editor of Boxoffice magazine. He has written about film, pop culture, books and sports for numerous publications including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Guardian of London, the Independent of London, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Village Voice, and the Hollywood Reporter. He has written numerous books including The Last Playboy: The High Life of Porfirio Rubirosa; Ready, Steady, Go!: The Smashing Rise and Giddy Fall of Swinging London; Rat Pack Confidential: Frank, Dean, Sammy, Peter and Joey and the Last Great Showbiz Party; and King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis.
Mike Chamberlain is an actor and voice-over performer, as well as an AudioFile Earphones Award-winning audiobook narrator. Along with animation and video game characters, Mike performs narration and voices promos for television. He lives with his wife and daughter in Southern California.
Shawn Levy was educated at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Irvine. He has been writing for The Oregonian since 1992. Before that, he was a senior editor of American Film magazine and an associate editor of Boxoffice magazine. He has written about film, pop culture...
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