The Rat Pack

Guide Note

The Rat Pack consisted of a group of stage and film entertainers including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop, and (for a brief time) Norman Fell, most active between the mid-1950s and mid-1960s.

Fast Facts

1. Originally referred to a group of Hollywood friends of Humphrey Bogart
   1. Frank Sinatra (pack master)
   2. Judy Garland (first vice-president)
   3. Lauren Bacall (den mother)
   4. Sid Luft (cage master)
   5. Humphrey Bogart (public relations)
   6. Swifty Lazar (recording secretary and treasurer)
   7. Nathaniel Benchley (historian)
   8. David Niven
   9. Katharine Hepburn
   10. Spencer Tracy
   11. George Cukor
   12. Cary Grant
   13. Jimmy Van Heusen
2. Later included Marilyn Monroe, Angie Dickinson, Juliet Prowse and Shirley MacLaine
3. Garland had stick pins made for the group in the shape of rats with rubies for eyes
4. Sinatra rejected the use of the term 'Rat Pack', preferring use of the terms Summit or Clan
5. Instrumental in the rise of Las Vegas as an travel destination and its desegregation in the early 1960s

Demise

As a result of Lawford's relationship as brother-in-law to John F. Kennedy, Sinatra's alleged Mafia connections to the Mafia, and the campaign role the group played in the 1960 Kennedy election, the Rat Pack had political inflence in addition to their influence entertainment and social circles. Sinatra expected to be part of Kennedy's circle after he entered the White House, but was excluded. This led to Peter Lawford's exclusion from the group after 1962. His role Robin and the Seven Hoods was given to Bing Crosby. The Rat Pack gradually faded in popularity with the rise of the 1960s counterculture, although a 1987 World Tour featuring Sinatra, Davis and Martin entitled Together Again played to packed houses.

Revival

The Rat Pack was a 1998 made for TV movie featuring Ray Liotta as Frank Sinatra, Joe Mantegna as Dean Martin, Don Cheadle as Sammy Davis, Jr., Bobby Slayton as Joey Bishop, Angus Macfadyen as Peter Lawford, and William Petersen as John F. Kennedy. Renewed interest in the group led to a remake of Ocean's Eleven starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts, Bernie Mac, and Carl Reiner, and a sequel, Ocean's Twelve, with the same cast as well as Catherine Zeta-Jones. Ocean's Thirteen, a second sequel, features the original cast (except Roberts and Zeta Jones) as well as Ellen Barkin and Al Pacino.