I am a big Sinatra warts & all fan, and I'd say that he was very rude
to Lena Horne on that 1960 Timex show. I have read about the benefit
at Carnegie Hall in 1963 and it sounds more like Sinatra being
Sinatra. He was a no rehearsal type of performer who merely learned
his songs and did them. In Sinatra's mind, he gave a better show
with less or no rehearsal. He may have also enjoyed the fact that
this pissed Lena Horne off.

I'd urge you see the Timex show again. Look at his face while she's
singing, he might as well be saying out loud, hurry up bitch! I
have seen just about every show of his and have never seen him treat
a guest like that. In fact, since Sinatra was a tireless supporter
of civil rights from the beginning of his career, you'd think he'd be
frightened of being called a racist by treating a black singer less
than cordially. He said all of the correct words but his tone of
voice revealed something else. He looked bored and uninterested
which is not his usual manner.

A new book called Mr S, My Life with Frank Sinatra, by his valet 1953-
1968, briefly mentions Sinatra's dislike of Lena Horne, saying "He
often dumped on her, which is strange for the normally gracious Mr.
S" The only women Sinatra dumped on in public were journalists,
where he would make fun of their looks (Dorothy Kilgallen) or, in
later years, make rude comments about their sexuality (Liz Smith).
For Sinatra to have publicly dissed any female performer in this
manner would have been completely out of bounds, so I assume the
author means in private. Sinatra did make critical comments about
the singing of Judy Garland and Ella Fitzgerald in the infamous 1965
Life Magazine article, but would never have criticized them
personally in a public forum, or, especially with these two, act less
than gentlemanly on TV. To be fair, Sinatra never took a personal
shot at Lena Horne in public. The author of the Mr S book, George
Jacobs, writes that Sinatra was rejected after making a pass and
that's why his dislike of Lena was so personal, but I don't buy that
either. I also believe Sinatra was afraid of her, maybe because he
knew she was not afraid of him.

There is a new DVD called Sinatra: The Classic Duets, which is the
same show PBS was running last year, and it includes the Timex duet
between Sinatra and Lena Horne. I recommend the VHS copy of the
entire show over this because it includes 3 very nice solos of
Lena's, "Ring the Bell", "But Beautiful" (both from the 1959 Burke &
Van Heusen Lp) and "From This Moment On". The new DVD does contain
some info that was not in either the VHS or the PBS show.

In the DVD, the Sinatra children offer additional commentary. Nancy
Jr says she met Lena Horne as a youngster. She says she would often
accompany Lena and her mother Nancy Sr on shopping trips, and Lena
was the first woman she ever saw who did not wear a bra or underwear,
and thought it was "cool". This sounds silly, but it is true. You
may have noticed that most of her life off camera and sometimes on,
Lena does not wear a bra. The point is that she was a friend of the
Sinatra family in Hollywood early in her career. The plot
thickens...this is very complicated.

The only Perry Como Shows I have seen are kinescopes and it looks
doubtful that the restored color video will be available any time
soon. On one of these programs, Lena Horne flawlessly and
dramatically performs the song "What Is There To Say", in the manner
of her later singing style, in an extreme close-up. I would love to
see it in its original color video form. I know of 2 people who sell
them, the kinescope versions that is, on both DVD and VHS, if
interested contact me at @yahoo.com.

If anyone knows the answer to my questions about the DVDs of The Best
of The Dean Martin Show, I would appreciate it. I already have
copies of the entire Martin shows that contain all of the Sinatra
appearances.