The original British Rat Pack tribute show, Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy.The very simple question of who was in the Rat Pack has a very simple and definitive answer. All five members of the Rat Pack, from left, Peter Lawford, Frank Sinatra. Comedian Joey Bishop, who wrote most of the groups material but never considered himself 'a full-fledged rat,' was dismissed from the group.

They told stories, made spontaneous jokes at each other's expense, casually dropped names of other entertainers who were friends or rivals, but (obviously) not cool enough to be in the Pack.There were downsides to the Rat Pack, for sure - they were social bullies, they didn't respect women. The Rat Pack had their own drinks tray, rolled out on stage during performances. The marquee at The Sands Hotel would often read, вЂњDEAN MARTINвЂ”MAYBE FRANKвЂ”MAYBE SAMMY.вЂќRat Pack shows were popular not just for the quality of the entertainment, but also for the glimpse into showbiz's most exclusive fraternity. No, now we're on to the cast of The Dirty Dozen (1967), which was definitely not a Rat Pack movie, even though it sort of has a number in the title.Although the group didnвЂ™t always perform together, when one member of the Pack was scheduled for a live show, there was always a chance that one or two others might join them onstage. Kennedy, Sammy Cahn, Cesar Romero, Mel Torm Г© , Jerry Lewis, Don Rickles, Buddy Hackett, Trini Lopez, Lee Marvin, Telly Savalas. This Mandela Effect might include Bing Crosby, Tony Bennett, Tony Curtis, President John F.

The couple hosted many late-night parties where several of HollywoodвЂ™s mainstream movie stars and entertainers could be found including Judy Garland, Angie Dickinson, David Niven and his wife, talent agent Swifty Lazar, restaurateur Mike Romanoff, and of course, Frank Sinatra. It all started in the home of Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart, who lived in Holmby Hills, in western Los Angeles, near Beverly Hills. They were rich, flashy, macho and unapologetically hedonistic - what we fondly remember as 'swagger' might go by less flattering names if we experienced it today.What most donвЂ™t realize about the Rat Pack is how the group came to be created.

Sid Luft, 'Cage Master.' Luft was a former boxer who worked in the Hollywood film industry, and was Judy Garland's husband from 1952 to 1965. Nicole Bassing, 'Den Mother.' Bassing does not seem to have been in show business. Judy Garland, the 'First Vice-President' She stopped and said to them, 'You look like a pack of rats.' The name stuck.Stephen Bogart, son of Humphrey and Lauren, lists the members of the original Rat Pack as follows, with titles as appropriate:

Nathaniel Benchley's most enduring book is probably Bright Candles: A Novel Of The Danish Resistance , which is read by many junior high and high school students to this day. Benchley was a writer, son of Algonquin Round Table co-founder Robert Benchley and the father of Peter Benchley, who wrote the shark-hunt novel Jaws. Nathaniel Benchley, Historian. Swifty Lazar, 'Recording Secretary and Treasurer.' Lazar was a Hollywood super-agent whose clients included Bogey and Bacall.

They preferred 'The Summit' or 'The Clan.' Sinatra, Martin, Davis, Lawford and Bishop were called the Rat Pack by outsiders or paparazzi - but privately, Sinatra hated the name.It's also said that Davis, understandably, wasn't too jazzed about being in a group called The Clan. One of the peculiarities of the Rat Pack story is that the 1960s quintet did not call themselves the Rat Pack. Following Bogart's death in 1957, Sinatra took over as head of the Rat Pack (and briefly dated Bacall), but it wasn't until Sinatra and his buddies became fixtures in Vegas that the five-man lineup was formalized as the second Rat Pack.Except it wasn't. Mike Romanoff, owner of the famous Beverly Hills restaurant Romanoff's.As you can see, the original Holmby Hills Rat Pack was a much larger club, and it was co-ed. Van Heusen was a composer who teamed with lyricist Sammy Cahn to write numerous hits for Sinatra and other crooners.

As a teen, he was involved in illegal activities which included transporting liquor across state lines during prohibition and working as a card dealer in local gambling hangouts. He was immensely popular not only as an actor and singer but also as a comedian, starring alongside fellow members of t he Rat Pack in Las Vegas nightclubs and casinos. Although he played up his image as a cocktail-drinking and woman-loving comedian, later in life he claimed it was all about his public presence.

Sinatra, always keen to cultivate friendships with the (ahem) powerful, took to calling his crew the 'Jack Pack' when Kennedy was among them. Kennedy wasn't in the Rat Pack, he was related by marriage to Lawford and did enjoy hanging out with the boys when he came to Vegas. Sinatra: The Chairman Of The BoardThough John F. In 1995, at the age of 78, he passed away on Christmas Day of respiratory failure brought on by emphysema.

Sinatra, who had ties to mobster Sam Giancana, was no longer the ideal drinking buddy for the President. Attorney General, very publicly declared war on organized crime and the Mafia. Kennedy's brother, Bobby, who was the U.S.

Sinatra had him replaced in the next quasi-Rat Pack movie, Robin And The 7 Hoods (1964) - with Bing Crosby.

Original Members Of The Rat Pack