Mia Farrow and Frank Sinatra might have only been married for two years, but the pair shared a friendship that lasted until the singer’s death in 1998.
After meeting on the 20th Century Fox lot in 1964 when Farrow was 19 and Sinatra was almost 50, they quickly fell in love. They wed two years later at a Las Vegas hotel in 1966, when Farrow was 21.
However, their union ended in 1968 after Sinatra served the actress with divorce papers on the set of her film Rosemary’s Baby. Still, that didn’t mean that Farrow and Sinatra completely parted ways. While speaking to Vanity Fair in 2013, the actress admitted that the former couple “never really split up.”
The two enjoyed a long-lasting friendship until his death, and in the years since, Farrow has paid homage to her late ex-husband on social media. In December 2023 she celebrated what would have been the singer’s 107th birthday with a sweet Instagram post captioned in part, “I will always love you.”
From their early days to what Farrow has said about their split, here’s a look back at Mia Farrow and Frank Sinatra’s relationship.
They met in 1964 on the 20th Century Fox filming lot
Farrow and Sinatra met for the first time in 1964 when they were both filming at 20th Century Fox. At the time, Farrow was shooting Peyton Place and Sinatra was filming Von Ryan’s Express. The actress later told DuJour Magazine, “We were filming the show on a soundstage at 20th Century Fox.”
She added, “I told my mother right away I was seeing Frank. She approved.”
They had a 31-year age gap
When they met, Farrow was 19 years old and Sinatra was almost 50. In 2007, Farrow told The Guardian that their age difference was a factor in the relationship ending. As she put it, “I was less mature than any other 19-year-old I’ve ever known. Poor Frank, saddled with such a child. I would be falling asleep at the table at Las Vegas, trying to talk to people about their cats. He was very patient with me.”
Farrow and Sinatra married in 1966
Farrow and Sinatra married in 1966 at a hotel in Las Vegas. The union was Farrow’s first and Sinatra’s fourth.
In 1997, Farrow told Howard Stern that Sinatra pulled out all the stops early on in their relationship, and even flew the actress and her cat to his home in Palm Springs.
She said, “I got there and he showed me around the house. He had a separate room for me. I was holding the cat and I said, ‘I better get a cat box,’ because we’d flown all the way from L.A. … And he gave me a really great kiss. He took the cat out of my arms, he was real romantic, and he put it on the floor.”
They divorced in 1968
The pair’s marriage ended two years later in 1968, with Sinatra serving her divorce papers on the set of Rosemary’s Baby.
During a November 2024 episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, Farrow said their split happened because she “wouldn’t leave the movie when he told me to leave it” after he had a “dispute with the head of the studio.”
“When he told me to leave it, I said, ‘How can I leave it?’ You know, I’m the daughter of a director and an actress … my mother was Maureen O’Sullivan and my father was a movie director, and I couldn’t leave a movie,” she said,
Farrow added, “And I was in every shot, and it was almost [done]; I had one more month. I just thought it wouldn’t happen, but it did — his lawyer came on set, served me with divorce papers.”
Years later, Farrow admitted to the Los Angeles Times that she wouldn’t “want to repeat” the marriage. She added, “I was too immature to handle that situation. … I became very withdrawn and tried to find other values in life.”
The actress also said that the two disagreed about her career during their relationship. “In terms of what Frank would say, I shouldn’t have done any movies. He’s on the record saying, ‘I’m a pretty good provider. I can’t see why a woman would want to do anything else,’ ” she told Vanity Fair in 2013. “That’s the way men thought, and you felt pretty guilty wanting something for yourself.”
They stayed friends after their split
After their divorce, both moved on to different relationships: Sinatra wed Barbara Marx in 1976, and Farrow married composer André Previn and had a relationship with Woody Allen. Still, Sinatra and Farrow remained friends until his death in 1998.
In December 2023, Farrow celebrated what would have been Sinatra’s 107th birthday on Instagram. She captioned a photo of Sinatra, “I bet he has those angel choirs singing some great new songs! This was the first photo i took with the Rolleiflex camera he bought for us. He was teaching me how to use it.”
“Happy Heavenly Birthday C.B. I will always love you,” Farrow added before she explained, “only close friends know this but i called him ‘Charlie’ – Charlie Brown in full.”
Farrow said her son Ronan “could possibly” be Sinatra’s
Farrow is a mom to 14 children, including son Ronan Farrow, who was born on Dec. 19, 1987, when the actress was in a relationship with Allen. However, a theory that Farrow and Sinatra remained romantically involved long after their divorce made headlines in 2013 when the actress was asked by Vanity Fair if Sinatra could be Ronan’s father. “Possibly,” she replied.
Years later in 2021, author Tony Oppedisano, who penned the memoir Sinatra and Me: In the Wee Small Hours, wrote that he was in a position to “tamp down” the “rumors.” According to Oppedisano, Sinatra had surgery for diverticulitis in late 1986 and wore a colostomy bag while he recovered.
“There are only two ways Frank could have fathered Ronan, both absurd,” he wrote. “Either Mia made a secret trip to shack up with Frank in his California home with [fourth wife] Barbara present, or Frank, wearing his aways romantic colostomy bag, made a quick trip to Connecticut between his Atlantic City performances.” The writer also claimed that if Ronan was Sinatra’s son, the singer “would have acknowledged him.”
When asked about the rumors in 2013, Ronan told Vulture, “You know, that story has been out there for years. It was somewhat surprising to see it break in such a huge way of late… I appreciate how hilarious it is.”
Farrow considers Sinatra the great love of her life
Farrow attended Sinatra’s funeral in 1998 alongside her son, Ronan, Nancy Sinatra, Jr., and Nancy Sinatra Sr. She told Vanity Fair that she and the two women left quite a few items inside his coffin, including “a small bottle of Jack Daniel’s and a dime, because he always told us never to go anywhere without a dime. ‘You never know who you’ll have to call.’ ” She also left her wedding ring.
When the outlet asked if Farrow thought Sinatra was “the great love” of her life, she replied simply, “Yes.”
Source: People
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