Flashback, Clint and Maggie at the Frank Sinatra Retirement Concert, June 13th 1971

On June 13, 1971 at a concert in Hollywood to raise money for the Motion Picture and TV Relief Fund Frank Sinatra at the age of 55, announced that he was retiring, bringing to an end his 36-year career in show business. This concert was held at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. The Program began with Princess Grace of Monaco (the former Grace Kelly) giving the opening remarks followed by the concert. Frank Sinatra was introduced by Rosalind Russell and began his performance by singing All or nothing at all, followed by I’ve got you under my skin, I’ll never smile again, a moving rendition of Ol’ man river, That’s life, Try a little tenderness, Fly me to the Moon, Nancy, My way, The Lady is a Tramp and concluding his performance with Angel eye. His performance was reported as by far the best of the evening. All of the best known entertainers of the time were on the program, not to mention celebrities like Clint Eastwood and his wife Maggie, Robert Wagner, Lucile Ball, David Jansen and Don Knotts that would be in the audience. By all accounts, it was a great show, although Frank Sinatra made his comeback a little more than a year later! It was also memorable for Sinatra’s mic cutting out half way through his opening number, apparently due to someone backstage tripping over the wire and pulling its plug from the socket. Hey, it could happen to the best of em, right?