The Joker Is Wild
Frank Sinatra plays Joe E. Lewis, a famous comedian of the 1930s-50s. When the movie opens, Lewis is a young, talented singer who performs in speakeasies. After he bolts one job for another, the mob boss who owns the first speakeasy has his thugs try to kill Lewis. He survives, but his vocal cords are cut and he cannot sing. Several years later, his buddy tracks him down and tries to help him, with little success. That attempt, though, leads to Lewis meeting Letty Page (Jeanne Crain). They fall in love and she inspires him to follow up on an offer to become a comedian (a result of his buddy's failed attempt to rejuvenate his singing career). Lewis has problems, though. The assault that nearly cost him his life also helped turn him into an alcoholic and an inveterate gambler. These two character defects become the basis for his act and help to make him a smash success. Unfortunately, they also work to wreak havoc in his personal life.
8 May 1907, New York, USA
2 November 1899, San Francisco, California, USA
26 January 1891, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
March 14, 1917 in Chicago, Illinois, USA
3 December 1900, Illinois, USA
3 January 1908, Concho, Arizona, USA
January 5, 1905 in Chicago, Illinois, USA
4 July 1904, Massachusetts, USA
22 May 1929, USA
22 May 1917, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
24 July 1936, Los Angeles, California, USA
5 August 1900, Pallagorio, Italy
4 September 1931, Chicago, Illinois, USA
April 7, 1931 in Newark, New Jersey, USA
1925, Brooklyn, New York, USA
21 February 1910, Manhattan, New York, USA
August 21, 1879 in New York City, New York, USA
26 October 1914, Los Angeles, California, USA
10 February 1936, New York City, New York, USA
1 July 1903, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
7 March 1909, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
June 19, 1916 in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
May 31, 1894 in Redondo Beach, California, USA
February 11, 1906 in New York, New York, USA
16 September 1908, Paterson, New Jersey, USA
May 5, 1912 in Brooklyn, New York, USA
