WEIRDLAND: Was Humphrey Bogart aware of Lauren Bacall & Frank Sinatra's 'real relationship'?

Thursday, July 07, 2011

Was Humphrey Bogart aware of Lauren Bacall & Frank Sinatra's 'real relationship'?

Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart in "To have and have not" (1944) directed by Howard Hawks

"Bogart had been happily married to Bacall for nine years, he wasn't a casual womanizer. His self-control where women were concerned, thought Bacall, puzzled and fascinated Frank. "He just didn't understand how a man could be not only talented but so intelligent, and also have a family and not fuck around. He just didn't understand how anyone could do that, because all he did was fuck around". Frank Sinatra was "wildly attractive, electrifying", "there must have always been a special feeling alive between Frank and me", said Bacall.

Singer Frank Sinatra and actress Lauren Bacall attend a party for the musical 'Pal Joey' on October 10, 1957 in Los Angeles, California.

Peggy Connelly suspected that Frank and Bacall began an affair before Bogart died. "Frank loved Bogart", she said, "but this woman was just something else". The affair with Peggy would last for much of 1957. Frank even proposed again, but she again declined. She wanted to pursue her singing career, moreover, and he did not want her to work.

Bogart did not know about his wife's "real relationship" with Frank, Verita Thompson said. The actor William Campbell, however, thought Bogart had been uneasy on that score. "That's the way I picked it up... Because there was some relationship there, more on her part than his. And I think Bogart was aware of it". Bogart was still worrying about it only months before he died.

Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Kathryn Grayson in "Anchors Aweigh" (1945)

In January 1957, in his last hours of full consciousness, Bogart watched Frank's 1945 movie Anchors Aweigh on television. When he died, thirty-six hours later, Frank was in New York playing the Copacabana. He canceled performances and locked himself in his room, avoiding calls from everyone except Bacall". -"Sinatra: The Life" by Anthony Summers (2006)

4 comments :

Marcos Callau said...

Great story. Sorry but my English is quite bad.

Como sé que entiendes el Castellano... La historia entre Sinatra, Bacall y Bogart es tremenda. A mí me da cierta lástima por Humphrey. Saludos.

Elena said...

tu inglés es bueno, Marcos, muchas gracias por pasarte! he leído la historia de este "triángulo" en varias biografías (como la de Bacall "By Myself") y lo mismo que tú, siento cierta pena por Bogie, pienso que Sinatra y Bacall eran jóvenes y no pensaban con toda claridad. Un beso!

Anonymous said...

I love that story. Bacall was a beautiful woman and Bogart was the luckiest guy alive. Sinatra loved Bogart and Bacall and Bogey new it so I wonder if Bogart gave his blessings to them both... I reckon he did. That's what Bogart would do...

Unknown said...

That story is not true. Bacall explained through her representative to have been asked marriage by Frank Sinatra, and all the Media claimed it on their covers. Frank Sinatra become so angry to that, that declined to talk to Lauren in more than six years. In fact, Bacall explained in her biography, that he had a very bad behabiour to her, ignoring her including when they were in the same party. Frank Sinatra publicly humiliated her. On my opinion, Frank Sinatra were geolous of Bogart, as he was and represented everything he was not. Bacall played the whole thing in a very wrong way. Once again, we can see the incredible man, Bogart was.