Frank Sinatra married Mia Farrow

Frankly Wrong

It was one of show businesses more unusual pairings. On this day in 1966 the 51 year-old Rat Pack legend Frank Sinatra married the 21 year-old star of TV soap Peyton Place, Mia Farrow. It all seemed very wrong for a number of reasons. He’d previous bedded and wedded a series of voluptuous sex sirens including Marilyn Monroe, Ava Gardner and Lauren Bacall. Mia had never even had a boyfriend. He was a life-loving drinker and smoker.

She was a vegetarian into yoga and spiritual fulfilment.Despite warnings from friends (Dean Martin allegedly said ‘I’ve got Scotch older than her’) they wed in secret, due to opposition from Sinatra’s kids, some of whom were older than his new bride. But it was soon apparent that Farrow couldn’t live in Sinatra’s glitzy Vegas world. After he tried and failed to get her to give up acting and abandon her career-defining role in Rosemary’s Baby, he filed for divorce in 1968. Despite the acrimony, the two eventually renewed their friendship and remained close until the singer’s death in 1998.