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By Root 1705 0

refused to board the plane until they had been cleared from the runway. But the newsmen refused to move, and so Frank sprinted past them to the plane. The enterprising journalists had already found out that he had booked reservations in the names of A. L. Guest (Ava Lavinia, who was to be his guest) and Bob Burns (Frank’s manager). At a layover in El Paso, the couple were again surrounded by the press. By the time Frank and Ava arrived in Mexico City, Frank was seething.

“Why can’t you guys leave us alone?” he shouted. “This is silly. You can tell stateside for me that what we do is our own damn business. It’s a fine thing when we can’t go on vacation without being chased.”

When a photographer took his picture in Acapulco, he exploded. His Mexican bodyguard, later identified by the United Press correspondent as a killer with a long record of murders, threatened to shoot the newsman if he didn’t give up the camera.

A policeman took the camera and gave it to Frank, who destroyed the film and threw the camera back to the photographer.

“I told you guys to leave me alone,” he screamed. “This is a private affair of my own. I don’t have to talk to anyone. It wasn’t the press who made me famous. It was my singing and the American public.”

Frank turned on a reporter who was still taking notes.

“You son of a bitch,” he yelled.

“Careful, Frankie,” said the reporter. “We’ll print this in the States.”

“You miserable crumb … print that, you son of a bitch.”

“We’ll be glad to,” said the reporter.

The story appeared in the United States the next day, which further infuriated Sinatra, and, after three days, he and Ava cut short their stay and returned.

By the time their private plane landed at Los Angeles International Airport, the Hollywood press corps was waiting for them.

After clearing customs, he and Ava rushed for the black Cadillac convertible that Bobby Burns had left at the airport for them. “Kill that light,” Frank screamed at the photographers. “Kill that light.”

Jumping into the car, he started the engine, then headed straight for the reporters. The tires screeched. He almost hit several of them as he careened toward the runway, throwing airport officers into a panic. As he reached the airport gate, a photographer named William Eccles was standing with his camera cocked. Sinatra steered the car directly at him, grazing his leg with the bumper of the car.

“Next time I’ll kill you,” Frank screamed out the window. “I’ll kill you.”

“He turned the car into me and tried to scare me away,” said Eccles. “I figured he’d swerve away from me, so I shot the picture and I didn’t move. He slammed on the brakes, and at the last minute I jumped. I went up over the fender and rolled off on my stomach, dropping my camera. It was a hit-run case. I could have sued for money, but I wasn’t after that. I was after respect for the press. I demanded a letter of apology. We got the letter a few days later.”

Frank explained: “Maybe my car did brush a photographer’s leg. I don’t know. It was a madhouse. All we were trying to do was get away and they rushed the car. It was lucky someone didn’t get killed.”

Days later, Frank was in Reno establishing Nevada residency and singing at the Riverside Hotel. He’d also accepted a two-week engagement at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. He was determined to force Nancy’s hand by getting a Nevada divorce at the end of six weeks. On this trip, he made a concerted effort to get along with the press. In fact, he astounded Reno reporters by inviting all of them to his hotel suite, where he announced his plans. A few days later, Ava arrived to stay with him, and again he invited the press in to say that they would be married as soon as he got a divorce.

Over the Labor Day weekend, the couple went to Lake Tahoe with Hank Sanicola and his wife, Paula. Late in the evening of August 31, 1951, after a few hours of drinking and gambling at the Christmas Tree restaurant, Frank and Ava had another one of their terrible fights. It ended with Ava’s hurrying back to Hollywood while Frank, despondent and depressed, returned