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EXCLUSIVE: By the time Joey Bishop passed away in 2007 at age 89, the last surviving member of the Rat Pack had been seemingly forgotten - and "the Frown Prince" had plenty to scowl about.
Authors Richard A. Lertzman and Lon Davis recently teamed up to release a new book titled "Deconstructing The Rat Pack: Joey, The Mob and the Summit." It aims to take a new look at the celebrated music sensation of the ‘60s that rocked Sin City. It features conversations with those who knew the group over the years, as well as one of the last interviews Bishop gave before his death.
The Rat Pack is celebrating its 60th anniversary and Bishop would have turned 102 on Feb. 3.
"Bishop was a very bitter person," Lertzman told Fox News. "At the end of his career, he had burned a lot of bridges and stepped on a lot of toes. The last four years of his life, Joey felt he was the hub of the Rat Pack and didn’t get the kind of recognition he would have liked."
Portrait of American actor and comedian Joey Bishop wearing a tuxedo and gesturing towards himself, circa 1948. The Rat Pack would forever change his career. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
"It took him some time to get comfortable in talking about the Rat Pack years again," Lertzman continued. "He came across as an angry individual who felt that the entertainment industry had wronged him. He resented the Rat Pack for overshadowing the other achievements he made in his career."
According to Lertzman’s book, Sands Casino publicist Al Freeman was looking to revamp the Las Vegas Strip as a party destination. Headliners Jimmy Durante and Cyd Charisse were considered "old hat" while Elvis Presley was cementing his role as the king of rock ’n’ roll. In four years, The Beatles would arrive in New York City.
Frank Sinatra, who was reportedly looking to stay relevant as a sought-after artist, was intrigued by the concept and started assembling what Lertzman described as "a boy band." Sinatra had just completed filming "Some Came Running" with Dean Martin and asked him to join. Sammy Davis Jr. was also given an invite after losing an eye in a car accident.
Bishop, who was regularly opening for Sinatra and became known as "Sinatra’s comic," was an ideal fit to help warm up a late-night crowd. Peter Lawford, John F. Kennedy’s brother-in-law, would later join. He also provided a script for the heist movie "Ocean’s 11," which further sealed the deal.
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Authors Richard A. Lertzman and Lon Davis recently teamed up to release a new book titled 'Deconstructing The Rat Pack: Joey, The Mob and the Summit.' (Al Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
"People were becoming interested in Las Vegas as a destination site," Lertzman explained. "It was close to Los Angeles, in comparison to New York City or Miami. A lot of money was put into Vegas. Frank saw it as an opportunity to reinvent himself as a performer during this time in music that was changing."
Sinatra came up with a plan: The group would shoot "Ocean’s 11" in the casino by day and do two shows at night in February, an event titled "The Summit," the New York Post reported. And it was a smash hit. According to the outlet, The Sands, which had 2,800 rooms, received a whopping 35,000 reservation requests that month. Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland made special appearances.
The outlet also noted that the press would call the performers the "Rat Pack," a name originally coined by Lauren Bacall to describe her husband Humphrey Bogart and his Hollywood retinue, which included Sinatra. While Sinatra reportedly despised the name, it stuck.
"The Summit" was scripted by TV writer Don Sherman. His daughter Amy Sherman-Palladino would go on to create "Gilmore Girls" and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel."
Frank Sinatra had his eyes on Las Vegas to help revamp his career. (Martin Mills/Getty Images)
"Freeman was a brilliant publicist," said Lertzman. "To this day, people still believe these were a bunch of guys in their 40s partying and getting loads of girls. On stage, you saw them freely improvising, womanizing and drinking it up. Dean was always the happy drunk. But in reality, he was sipping on apple juice. His daughter Deana Martin described Dean as very much a family man who came home to his children."
The Sands, which had 2,800 rooms, received a whopping 35,000 reservation requests that month, all thanks to the Rat Pack. Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland also made special appearances. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
"The stories of these guys partying it up and then hitting the stage spread like wildfire," Lertzman continued. "However, it would have been impossible for these 40-45-year-old guys to be in the makeup chair at 6:00 a.m. to shoot, do all this partying and drinking, and then give these excellent performances at night. The truth is these were businessmen who saw a giant payday."
Martin, in particular, had no intention of changing his lifestyle after joining the Rat Pack.
"If there was a party at Dean’s house, he would leave at 8 p.m., go up to his bedroom, get into his pajamas and watch Westerns," said Lertzman. "If the party became really loud, he would call up the Beverly Hills Police and report his own party."
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Dean Martin was secretly drinking apple juice during his performances. (Getty Images)
Even Bishop once said, "Are we remembered as being drunks and chasing broads? I never saw Frank, Dean, Sammy, or Peter drunk during performances. That was only a gag! And do you believe these guys had to chase broads? They had to chase 'em away!"
Even Kennedy, who had announced his presidential run, became associated with the Rat Pack to help further boost his campaign appeal.
So what went wrong?
"Joey had worked really hard - since the ‘30s - to get to where he was," Lertzman explained. "Then all of a sudden, everything hit. Instead of appreciating what he got, Joey became carried away with himself. He developed a swelled head. Frank had called him one day, and when Frank calls for a favor, you better do it because loyalty meant everything to him. He asked Joey if he could fill in for him at the Cal-Neva Lodge because he had another engagement. Frank owned a piece of the Cal-Neva Lodge. So then all of a sudden, Joey started giving him a list of demands - including $50,000 and a private jet."
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Joey Bishop's (right) friendship with Frank Sinatra reportedly never recovered. (Fred Hermansky/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)
"Now Frank is starting to feel like a secretary," Lertzman continued. "Frank felt he was responsible for Joey’s success so the fact that he was now making all these demands did not sit well with him. You don’t offend the Chairman. Not only did he hung up on Joey, but he completely cut him from the Rat Pack.
"Joey was supposed to appear in ‘Robin and the 7 Hoods’ with the guys. He’s immediately replaced. He’s no longer seen with the Rat Pack. Joey cut his own throat with Frank. And with Frank, if you get on his bad side, there’s just no turning back. He never forgets. And they never really reconciled after that."
Bishop would later claim that despite being a pro comedian in his own right, he was portrayed as the expendable member who somehow got lucky.
"One guy wrote that I worked with the Rat Pack occasionally," Bishop said, as quoted by Time magazine. "Occasionally! Another talks about how I kissed Frank’s a—. That hurt me a little bit. I know I sound bitter, but I have a right to."
Joey Bishop posing with a photo of Frank Sinatra and himself on May 16, 1998 at his home in Newport Beach, CA, two days after Frank Sinatra's death at age 82. (Simon Cobb/Getty Images)
During the height of the Rat Pack’s success, Bishop was granted a sitcom titled "The Joey Bishop Show" in 1961. By 1964 it was canceled, the New York Times reported. While CBS took over the series, it was canceled again in 1965.
According to the outlet, Bishop never regained the popularity he had in the ‘60s.
Still, Lertzman said that even in his later years, it was clear Bishop had great love for Sinatra. And he hopes his book will shed light on the complexities of their relationship.
"He would always stand up for Frank," he said. "He was just frustrated that he was seen as an extra component of the Rat Pack. Whenever people talked about the Rat Pack, it was always Frank, Dean and Sammy. He was somehow forgotten."
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Members of the Rat Pack (L-R): British actor Peter Lawford (1923 - 1984), American actor, singer, and dancer Sammy Davis Jr. (1925 - 1990), actor and singer Frank Sinatra (1915 - 1998), actor Joey Bishop, and actor and singer Dean Martin (1917 - 1995). All are wearing dark suits, and all but Bishop are holding drinks. (Photo by Jack Albin/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
"There were all these books, tributes, even an HBO movie," shared Lertzman. "Yet he was always overlooked. And for all the work he achieved in his career, that hurt. But I also don’t think he faced the other aspects of the situation. It’s sad, really."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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