Years before he became the biggest singer in the world, Frank Sinatra was arrested on an arcane charge on November 27, 1938.
The then 22-year-old was arrested in New Jersey on the charge of seduction.
The charging documents stated the singer was “alleged to have engaged in sexual intercourse under promise of marriage with the Complainant, an unmarried woman of good repute”.
The complainant in question was a jilted ex-girlfriend who was angry with Sinatra.
Sinatra had told her that he was going to marry someone else, Nancy Barbato.
But the charge of seduction, little used at the time, was dropped once it was revealed his ex-girlfriend was already married.
Having an affair disqualified his ex from being “an unmarried woman of good repute” as far as the law was concerned.
Instead Sinatra was charged with adultery.
That charge was later dismissed.
In the end Sinatra spent only a few hours in jail.
Despite his well-known connections to the mob, this was the only time Sinatra was arrested.
His mugshot later became a popular image used in posters, T-shirts and other merchandising.
The image shows his distinctive facial scarring, which came from a damaging forceps delivery during a difficult birth.
The fuss did not hinder Sinatra’s career, which took off several years later.
Much of his initial success stemmed from being a handsome young man at a time where most other men his age had been drafted.
Sinatra was not able to serve in World War II because of an eardrum injury he had suffered in childbirth.
He would marry Nancy Barbato, and their first child Nancy Sinatra became a huge pop star in her own right.
But the marriage didn’t last, and he would wed three more times in his life.
