Frank Sinatra by artist Diane Keller was located in South Philadelphia. This mural is a tribute to “Ol’ Blue Eyes,” the “Chairman of the Board,” who loved Philadelphia and whom Philadelphia loved. It all began when the Philadelphia Daily News started a campaign to raise money for a Frank Sinatra mural after his death in May 1998. After the Philadelphia Daily News agreed to sponsor the mural, Keller had just two weeks to come up with a design. Then, the newspaper led a fund-raising campaign and sent out invites to Sinatra’s family to attend the dedication. The 63’ x 48’ wall needed to be re-stuccoed before painting, so Keller had just two months to work on the mural. Mr. Sinatra is pictured as he appeared during the “sing era” of the 1940s and 1950s. During the ‘50s, Sinatra was soaring professionally, yet personally miserable over his relationship with Ava Gardner (whom Sinatra married in Philadelphia in 1951).
Keller wanted the mural to echo the mood of Sinatra’s 1955 album In the Wee Small Hours, which Sinatra recorded shortly after he and Gardner separated. This mural won both praise and criticism from fans. During the painting, some drove by hollering at Keller to fix his mouth, soften his lips, make his nose smaller, his face happier. “They wanted a lovable Frank Sinatra they could keep in their wallet,” says Keller. Carlo Morelli, a South Philadelphian described by critics as a cross between a young Sinatra and a latter day Bobby Darin, thrilled the large crowd at the nationally televised dedication ceremony which was attended by Sinatra’s daughters, Nancy and Tina, and the wife of the late great Sammy Davis, Jr.
Location Note: Mural no longer on view at this location (partially covered by adjacent construction in 2012; building demolished in 2014).
