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• 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
  2. 1. Frank Sinatra (pack master)
  3. 1. Judy Garland (first vice-president)
  4. 1. Lauren Bacall (den mother)
  5. 1. Sid Luft (cage master)
  6. 1. Humphrey Bogart (public relations)
  7. 1. Swifty Lazar (recording secretary and treasurer)
  8. 1. Nathaniel Benchley (historian)
  9. 1. David Niven
  10. 1. Katharine Hepburn
  11. 1. Spencer Tracy
  12. 1. George Cukor
  13. 1. Cary Grant
  14. 1. Jimmy Van Heusen
  15. Later included Marilyn Monroe, Angie Dickinson, Juliet Prowse and Shirley MacLaine
  16. Garland had stick pins made for the group in the shape of rats with rubies for eyes
  17. Sinatra rejected the use of the term 'Rat Pack', preferring use of the terms Summit or Clan
  18. 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.

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Las Vegas | Frank Sinatra | Dean Martin | Sammy Davis, Jr. | Peter Lawford | Joey Bishop | Shirley MacLaine | Perry Como | Katharine Hepburn | Spencer Tracy | Michael Romanoff | Jimmy Van Heusen | Angie Dickinson | Juliet Prowse | Lauren Bacall | Judy Garland

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