The Boy They Called Scarface

The Boy They Called Scarface

From the time he was a child, Francis Albert felt that the world was against him. When his mother went into sudden labor, he refused to be born. A doctor used forceps to yank him out, and that violent process tore open the left side of his face and ear. He was deposited in a kitchen sink while the doctor labored to save his mom’s life. An aunt finally dunked the baby’s lifeless body in cold water. Everyone was stunned when he screamed.

Years later, Francis bitterly confided to a lover, “They ripped me out and tossed me aside to die.” Mostly he hated the scars left by the forceps. Later, he suffered more disfigurement from a botched mastoid operation. As a teen, his face was further scarred by cystic acne. He never got over the shame of his classmates calling him Scarface.

His stage mother forced him to enter talent shows, determined that his golden voice would lift his family out of poverty. Francis resented the fact that he could never do enough to please her. After kicking around as a small-time vocalist, he became the lead singer for the Tommy Dorsey Band. Years before the Beatles, his crooning caused teenage girls to scream and faint.

During World War II, Francis tried to join the army but was rejected as emotionally unfit. It was widely thought that he used his celebrity to shirk his duty.

Columnist Walter Winchell reported that Americans hated Francis more than Hitler. Yet he landed a starring role in an epic war movie and won an Oscar. It was rumored that Francis got his part because a Mafia boss made the director an offer he couldn’t refuse. Senator Joseph McCarthy called him a Communist. J. Edgar Hoover was convinced that he had ties to organized crime. Francis felt like the whole world was conspiring against him.

But his star rose in Las Vegas, and John F. Kennedy began to court him. Francis worked tirelessly to get the senator elected US president, only to feel the familiar sting of rejection when the Kennedy family decided Francis was politically toxic. He never recovered from the way he was tossed aside.

You remember Francis by his stage name, Frank. Ol’ Blue Eyes made the whole world sing, but his personal life was tragic. He lived in fear of disappointing others and yet trusted no one. He was so embarrassed by his scars that he caked his face in Max Factor makeup. One of his wives said that he took twelve showers a day and constantly changed his clothes and makeup. He obsessed about people who had betrayed him. He alienated his kids and plowed through four marriages.

Daughter Nancy said, “Too bad my dad lived so much of his life before they came up with Zoloft.” Francis was a control freak who carefully managed relationships to avoid being hurt again. His biggest hit summed up his life: “I Did It My Way.” Those who knew Frank Sinatra best said that he died a lonely man, enslaved to a lifetime of resentments. His sad story sings a final warning:

When you try to control everything, you end up enjoying nothing.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

1 John 4:18, ESV