Anthony Martin Sinatra

Anthony Martin Sinatra was a Hoboken city fireman, professional boxer, bar owner, and father of singer and actor Frank Sinatra.

In 1903, he immigrated to New York City from Italy on the SS Città di Torino, with his mother Rosa Saglimbeni Sinatra and his sisters Angela and Dorotea. His father Francesco, born in Lercara Friddi, was already in the city working in a pencil factory earning eleven dollars a week, and his mother went on to own and operate a small grocery shop. Sinatra himself apprenticed as a shoemaker, until he started prize-fighting, calling himself Marty O'Brien, because Italians were not welcome in the fight game.

On February 14, 1914, Sinatra eloped with Natalie Della Garaventa (also known as "Dolly"), to Jersey City, New Jersey, as Dolly's parents both refused to host a wedding and did not approve of Marty, as he was illiterate, inferior at boxing, and was a Sicilian, whereas the Garaventa family were Genoan.

The couple eventually moved to 415 Monroe St, Hoboken, New Jersey. Their only child, Francis Albert Sinatra, was born on December 12, 1915.

Sinatra continued his boxing career, until he broke his wrists after 30 professional fights. He then attempted to find marine work, but was rejected due to asthma. Dolly helped him work as a firefighter, and he was eventually appointed to the Hoboken Fire Service in 1927, where he attained the rank of Captain without having to take any formal exams.

While still a captain in the Fire Brigade, Sinatra and his wife opened a tavern, called Marty O'Brien's. With sufficient income, the family of three moved to a three-bedroom apartment, only a few blocks away from Monroe St, but well out of Little Italy, at 705 Park Avenue.

Sinatra suffered a heart attack in 1969 and his son was present when he died.

In the 1992 CBS miniseries Sinatra (a film about the life of Frank Sinatra), he was portrayed by Joe Santos.