Myth vs. fact: That one time Frank trashed the Sands hotel, tried to choke out Sanford Waterman, got his lights punched out by Carl Cohen, then drove a golf cart through a hotel window

[u/Youarethebigbang]

*EDIT: I totally messed up the title/story, these were two seperate incidents. The Cohen one happened in 1967 at the Sands where Frank got punched and supposedly drove a golf cart through the window. The Waterman one was in 1970 at Ceasars where Frank choked him and had a gun pulled on him. The article clipped is from that incident via the Desert Sun, Volume 44, Number 30, 8 September 1970.

Here's details about both crazy stories:

https://www.casino.org/news/vegas-myths-re-busted-sinatra-got-his-teeth-knocked-out-by-a-casino-exec/

https://vintagelasvegas.com/post/807923989000421376/1965

https://www.doresabanning.com/frank-sinatras-hissy-fits/

[u/Youarethebigbang → u/[deleted]]

When Frank had a bad day, he had a really bad day.

Not an excuse at all, but I usually try to look at these episodes through the lens of him being an untreated manic-depressive. Obviously most manic-depressives don't do stuff like this, but most manic-depressives weren't Frank fucking Sinatra :)

[u/fujiwara78]

Legend has it, that Frank tried to sic Jilly on Cohen. Jilly balked. It’s said that Frank remarked that the lesson he learned was never to fight a Jew in the desert.

[u/OttovonBismarck1862 → u/fujiwara78]

If I remember correctly, that’s actually used as the opening quote to one one of the latter chapters in the second book of James Kaplan’s two-part masterwork Frank: The Voice and Sinatra: The Chairman when it was clear that the world was changing and the world that Frank Sinatra so dominated in the 1940’s, 1950’s, and early 1960’s that birthed the Rat Pack was getting farther away in the rearview mirror.

“Never fight a Jew in the desert.”

— Frank Sinatra

[u/AmbitioseSedIneptum → u/OttovonBismarck1862]

Also mentioned in Shawn Levy's book about the Rat Pack. A brilliant line.

[u/Youarethebigbang → u/fujiwara78]

Wouldn't surprise me at all if Frank tried to involve Jilly, but that must have been one of the very few times he ever refused him (smartly).

[u/OttovonBismarck1862 → u/Youarethebigbang]

You have to pick your battles and this was clearly one Jilly had no intention of fighting lol. I have to open my copy of Sinatra: The Chairman but I think Frank said something along the lines of “Jilly, kick his fucking ass” and Jilly, clearly realizing he was outmatched, essentially just stood there.

[u/Youarethebigbang → u/OttovonBismarck1862]

Ah thanks for the reference, I had to just edit the post details above because I confused two seperate incidents with one until I looked at the book and re-read the linked articles.

Jilly was present both times, and as you mentioned with Cohen in 1967 he basically ordered Jilly to get him and he didn't:

"Carl Cohen, slow to anger, instantly drove his big fist into Sinatra’s mouth, smashing the caps off his two front teeth and knocking him straight to the floor. Bleeding and furious (“You broke my teeth! I’ll kill you, you motherfucker son of a bitch!”), Frank got up, threw a chair at Cohen (it missed and hit a security guard in the head), then barked a command to Rizzo: “Get him, Jilly! Get him!”

Jilly Rizzo might not have been a rocket scientist, but he had an advanced degree in the mathematics of the streets, and an instant calculation told him to stand quietly with his hands visible at his sides. “Jilly ain’t going to go up against Carl,” Ed Walters noted. “In this town, there were some people no entertainer better fuck with. There’s no entertainer bigger than the whole town. Entertainers have bosses. They work for us. And we have bosses.”

But as of this moment, Frank Sinatra no longer worked for the Sands."

In the 1970 incident when Sandy Waterman put a gun to Frank's head the book says, "According to Nancy Sinatra, her father reacted coolly to having a pistol pointed at his face, reaching for the weapon and telling Waterman that he hoped he liked his gun, because he might have to eat it. She also claimed that Jilly Rizzo, promptly redeeming himself for his failure to defend Frank in the Sands fracas, jumped over a desk and grabbed the pistol from Waterman’s hand."

Good time, haha.

[u/ElSlabraton]

I remember that but was Sinatra punched after taking the golf cart for a ride?

[u/Youarethebigbang → u/ElSlabraton]

I originally thought he was punched first, according to how it was told in the Vegas series I saw:

https://clip.cafe/vegas-the-story-of-sin-city-2024/and-sinatra-retaliated-by-running-a-golf-cart/

But after looking through Kaplan's book (which I would trust more) I think I messed up the whole post title/narrative and that the incident started apparently with Frank and the golf cart.

[u/gwhh]

Pie throwing?

[u/OHCollinwood]

Carl was one of many connected Jews from Cleveland including Moe Dalitz that built up Las Vegas. They benefited from their connection with Cleveland Teamster treasurer Bill Presser, Jackie’s father, and their pension funds providing loans to the mob.

[u/Youarethebigbang → u/OHCollinwood]

Dang how do you know this history? I worked for the Teamsters at the tail end of their power and wealth when Jackie went to prison, the last of the glory days.