Frank Sinatra’s 4 Marriages: From Ava Gardner to Mia Farrow, Meet His Wives
Ol’ Blue Eyes had four great loves—learn all about the women who married Frank Sinatra and their romances
Frank Sinatra was as smooth with his jazz as he was with the ladies. The crooner became one of the world’s most influential musicians and entertainers, rising to fame in the 1940s. Known as Ol’ Blue Eyes, Sinatra was known for his distinctive voice and catchy tunes, but the singer was equally recognized for his multiple marriages and relationships outside of them. However, he has also been known to maintain a friendship with each of his exes. Get to know the singer’s serious relationships and the women he went on to marry.
Nancy Barbato: Sinatra’s childhood sweetheart
Sinatra’s first wife, Nancy Barbato, was the legendary singer’s childhood sweetheart. The two met before Sinatra’s success in 1934 when Barbato was a mere 17 years old and he was 19. Their meeting occurred in Long Branch, New Jersey, where both Barbato’s family and Sinatra’s would vacation during the summers.
Barbato was staying in a house across the street from Sinatra’s and one day she was giving herself a manicure on the front porch when Sinatra came over and began serenading her on the ukelele.
It wasn’t until they were 22 and 24 that they tied the knot in 1939 and quickly began expanding their family. Their first child, daughter Nancy Sandra Sinatra, was born in 1940, followed by son Francis Wayne Sinatra Jr. (best known as Frank Sinatra Jr.) in 1944 and their daughter Christina “Tina” Sinatra in 1948.
Sinatra wasn’t always faithful to his first wife, as he famously had an affair with actress Ava Gardner during his marriage. However, Nancy wouldn’t grant Sinatra a divorce and the two remained married for a few more years. According to a 1950 interview with Nancy in The New York Times, she was aware of the affair. “I have something too fine and precious to give up,” she explained at the time.
Eventually, though, Barbato and Sinatra divorced, and the singer married his second wife just days later. While Sinatra had gone on to marry three more times, Barbato remained unmarried for the remainder of her life. Her granddaughter, A.J. Lambert, opened up about their love in a Vanity Fair story.
“I know he never stopped loving her. And I know she never stopped loving him,” Lambert wrote. “Thank God I never re-married,’ [Nancy] said. ‘I was never even close. I would have had to be in love, and I would never fall in love again.’”
The two remained close friends and Barbato was still a confidante for Sinatra. Over the years, the former couple even briefly rekindled their romance at some point during the 1970s, but eventually split up yet again.
Ava Gardner: A torrid love affair
Film actress Ava Gardner and Sinatra first met in 1943 while she was at a club with her then-husband, actor Mickey Rooney. Sinatra was also married at the time to his first wife, Nancy. The two, however, didn’t reconnect or begin a romance until a few years later in the late 40s while on set at MGM. This would be the start of their affair.
According to Gardner’s biography, Ava Gardner: A Life In Movies, Sinatra was very vocal about his attraction to the actress.
“I looked at her and said, ‘Jesus, you got prettier since last time I saw ya,’” Sinatra said, according to the biography. “This was not the young girl from Carolina at the studio. This was a woman who was glorious.”
At the time, Sinatra was still married to Barbato while Gardner had been divorced twice since their last meeting, first from Rooney and then from Artie Shaw. Despite warnings not to get involved with one another from MGM executive Louis B. Mayer, the two began to engage in an affair. At this point, Sinatra was 33 while Gardner was only 26.
Barbato eventually gave Sinatra a divorce and he wed his second wife just 72 hours later, on November 7, 1951. Their marriage, however, hit quite a few rough patches and didn’t last very long. Both spouses had multiple affairs throughout the union and while Gardner was becoming a rising star, Sinatra was experiencing financial turmoil.
In 1953, the couple announced they were getting a divorce, which wasn’t finalized until 1957. Gardner remained unmarried for the rest of her years, while Sinatra remarried twice after. The two remained good friends until the actress’ passing in 1990.
Mia Farrow: a May-December romance
Sinatra’s next romance was one with a large age gap. The “Fly Me To The Moon” singer began dating actress Mia Farrow, with whom he had a 30-year age gap. Farrow met Sinatra when she was only 19 years old—coincidentally the age Sinatra was when he met his first wife—and he was nearly 50.
They dated in secret for about a year before going public with their romance, which they decided to do at a benefit gala in 1965. In 1966, the couple announced their engagement, which was previously blessed by Farrow’s mother, actress Maureen O’Sullivan.
“I told my mother right away I was seeing Frank,” Farrow shared. “She approved.” Upon announcing their engagement, O’Sullivan herself said, “I couldn’t be more delighted. Frank is a wonderful person, and I know they will be very happy.”
And they were — at least for a short while. The couple married on July 19, 1966, and had a lovely celebration. “He looked very handsome, and he was beaming,” Farrow recalled of their wedding. “I can’t remember saying the actual vows. I felt dazed.”
But in 1968, Sinatra filed for divorce from Farrow, and she explains it was mostly due to their significant age gap. “I was less mature than any other 19-year-old I’ve ever known,” she explained. “Poor Frank, saddled with such a child.”
The two remained good friends after their split, with both Sinatra and Farrow remarrying. The actress still shares sweet memories from their time together on her social media pages.
Barbara Sinatra: Till death do us part
Sinatra met his fourth and final wife, Barbara Blakely, much later in life, but both he and Barbara met while in other marriages. The two first locked eyes when they lived next door to each other. He was married to his second wife, Ava Gardner, while Barbara was married to Zeppo Marx of the Marx Brothers. Gardner asked Barbara to be her doubles partner, which sparked a connection between Barbara and Sinatra and the two began seeing each other in secret.
However, the two didn’t marry until years later, as Sinatra married Mia Farrow and Barbara remained with her husband until 1973. On July 11, 1976, Barbara Marx became Barbara Sinatra at a wedding attended by major stars, including Elvis Presley, Ronald Reagan and Sammy Davis Jr.
The Sinatras became activists and philanthropists after marrying, founding the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center in California, which supports victims of abuse. To raise money for the Children’s Center, they later founded The Frank Sinatra Celebrity Invitational Golf Tournament.
The two were together for the remainder of Sinatra’s life. He passed in 1998 at age 82, while Barbara died in 2017 at age 90.
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