Born Nancy Barbato, she was the childhood sweetheart of Frank Sinatra who became the first of his four wives and the mother of his three children. She met Sinatra, then a little-known jazz singer from Hoboken, N.J., in the summer of 1934 in Long Branch, N.J., and they were married on Feb. 4, 1939. They moved into a tiny apartment in Jersey City, N.J. and a few months later the singer enjoyed a huge career boost when he cut his first record with famed trumpeter Harry James. The Sinatras' first two kids were each born in Jersey City: Nancy on June 8, 1940, and Frank Jr. on Jan. 10, 1944. Later in 1944, the family moved west to Toluca Lake, Calif. and daughter Tina was born on June 20, 1948. The Sinatras separated in September 1950. Just days after their divorce was finalized, Frank married actress Ava Gardner on Nov. 7, 1951. Nancy Sinatra never remarried. In December 1963, the family endured a terrible ordeal when Frank Jr., then 19, was kidnapped from a hotel room in Lake Tahoe and held for a $240,000 ransom. He was released unharmed. For nearly half a century — from the end of their marriage in 1951 until his death, at 82, in 1998, she remained her ex-husband’s cherished friend and quiet confidante. She died of age-related natural causes.
Born Nancy Barbato, she was the childhood sweetheart of Frank Sinatra who became the first of his four wives and the mother of his three children. She met Sinatra, then a little-known jazz singer from Hoboken, N.J., in the summer of 1934 in Long Branch, N.J., and they were married on Feb. 4, 1939. They moved into a tiny apartment in Jersey City, N.J. and a few months later the singer enjoyed a huge career boost when he cut his first record with famed trumpeter Harry James. The Sinatras' first two kids were each born in Jersey City: Nancy on June 8, 1940, and Frank Jr. on Jan. 10, 1944. Later in 1944, the family moved west to Toluca Lake, Calif. and daughter Tina was born on June 20, 1948. The Sinatras separated in September 1950. Just days after their divorce was finalized, Frank married actress Ava Gardner on Nov. 7, 1951. Nancy Sinatra never remarried. In December 1963, the family endured a terrible ordeal when Frank Jr., then 19, was kidnapped from a hotel room in Lake Tahoe and held for a $240,000 ransom. He was released unharmed. For nearly half a century — from the end of their marriage in 1951 until his death, at 82, in 1998, she remained her ex-husband’s cherished friend and quiet confidante. She died of age-related natural causes.
