Frank Sinatra Has A Cold - Assignment

Assignment

Talese had spent the first ten years of his career at The New York Times. He felt restricted by the limitations of newspaper writing and began searching for jobs with magazines. In 1965, he signed a one-year and six-story contract with Esquire magazine. His first assignment from Esquire editor Harold Hayes was to write a profile of Frank Sinatra. It was a difficult assignment; Sinatra had turned down interview requests from Esquire for years.

Sinatra was about to turn 50 and was heavily in the spotlight. Sinatra's relationship with 20-year-old Mia Farrow was constantly in the news. A CBS television documentary had upset Sinatra, who felt that his life was being pried into and was unhappy about speculation in the documentary about his connection to mafia leaders. He was also worried about his starring role in an upcoming NBC show named after his album, A Man and His Music and his various business ventures in real estate, his film company, his record label and an airline. At the time, Sinatra maintained a personal staff of 75.

Sinatra refused to be interviewed for the profile. Rather than give up, Talese spent the three months, beginning in November 1965, following Sinatra and observing everything he could and interviewing any members of his entourage who were willing to speak. Esquire paid nearly $5,000 in expenses over the duration of the story. Talese vacillated on whether the story could be finished but ultimately concluded, in a letter to Harold Hayes, that "I may not get the piece we'd hoped for—the real Frank Sinatra but perhaps, by not getting it—and by getting rejected constantly and by seeing his flunkies protecting his flanks—we will be getting close to the truth about the man." Without Talese ever receiving Sinatra's cooperation, the story was published in April 1966.