So what was it like to be the daughter of famed crooner Frank Sinatra? Here's what his daughter, Nancy, told The Guardian in 2008: "He wasn't quite on the map when I was a baby. He was on the road all the time with the band. We were living in a flat in New Jersey when I was born. They didn't have any money. But once he hit, he really hit. Later, we move to Hasbrouck Heights (New Jersey) and had a lovely little house there, but you could get to the windows from the street there, they would come to get a glimpse, which worried my mother because I was a tiny little toddler, and she didn't want anybody stealing me the the front yard."
Nancy Sandra Sinatra was born in Jersey City, New Jersey on June 8, 1940. She the eldest of the three children of singer/actor Frank Sinatra (1915-1998) and his first wife Nancy Barbato Sinatra (1917-2018). Her brother, singer Frank Sinatra Jr., was born in 1944 and died in 2016. The youngest Sinatra, sibling, Tina, was born in 1948. Tina is a businesswoman, producer, actress and singer.
Below is a portrait of the Sinatra family in 1949.
The family eventually moved to Toluca Lake, California to accommodate Frank's Hollywood career. From the age of six, Nancy studied music. She spent many years learning piano, dance and drama, as well as undertaking voice lessons. In June of 1958, she graduated from University High School in Los Angeles. She studied music, dancing and voice at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCL A), but dropped out after one year.
Nancy launched her career as a singer in 1957, when she appeared on her father's ABC television series, The Frank Sinatra Show. At first she only received popularity in Europe and Japan. However, in early 1966, she enjoyed a transatlantic number one hit with what was to become her signature song, "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'." The song was a refection of the Swinging Sixties, the age of go-go girls in high boats. It was written by Lee Hazelwood, who wrote and produced most of her hit songs. Hazelwood also joined her in several duets. Nancy and Lee collaborated on such hits such as"Sugar Town" (1966), "Jackson" (1967), "Summer Wine" (1967) and "Some Velvet Morning".(1967).
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| Nancy and Lee |
In 1967, Nancy had a hit song with her father. The song was "Somethin' Stupid," written by American singer/songwriter Carson Parks. Parks had recorded it with his wife, Gaile Foote. However, their version was not released as a single. It was Frank Sinatra who thought the song would be great for his daughter to record. He took the song to Lee Hazelwood. According to Hazelwood, "Frank called me to his office and told me he had found the song, but Nancy wouldn't work with any producer but me. He played me the demo of "Somethin' Stupid" and said 'Do you like it?' I said ' love it, and if you don't do it with Nancy, I will. He said, "We're gonna do it. Book a studio.'"
Nancy Sinatra has been a vocal critic of Donald Trump. In 2017, after learning that her father's classic :"My Way" might be played at Trump's inauguration, she wrote on Twitter, "Just remember the first line
Nancy Sinatra has been married twice. On September 11, 1960, Nancy married singer/actor and teen idol Tommy Sands. Nancy regrets the marriage. In her 2008 interview with the Guardian, she said, "I wanted to continue my classical education in college, but instead I got married like a fool." The couple divorced in 1965. Below is a photo of Nancy with Tommy Sands on the set of The Longest Day in 1962.
On December 12, 1970, Nancy wed Hugh Lambert, a producer, dancer and choreographer. The couple wed in Cathedral City, California. They had two daughters. Angela Jennifer "AJ" Lambert was born on May 22, 1974. Her younger sister, Amanda Kate Lambert, was born on March 17, 1976. Hugh Lambert died of cancer on August 18,1985. He was 55 at the time of his death.
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| Hugh and Nancy |
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| More recent photo of Nancy |
END NOTES
* On August 4, 2007, Lee Hazelwood died of renal cancer in Henderson, Nevada. He was 78 years old at the time of his passing.
* On March 16, 2016, Frank Sinatra Jr. passed away suddenly of cardiac arrect at the age of 72. He had been on tour in Daytona Beach, Florida. In 1963, 18-year-old Frank Jr. was kidnapped from a Lake Tahoe casino. He was released two days later after his father paid a $250,000 ransom.
* Nancy played Cary in a 1963 episode of The Virginian. She also portrayed secretary Jill Stacy in a 1963 episode of Burke's Law.
* Nancy made three guest appearances on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, (two in 1969 and one in 1970).
*In 2007, Nancy appeared as herself in an episode of The Sopranos.
* Nancy was the first American singer to perform the title song for a James Bond film - "You Only Live Twice" (1967). That same year she performed "Somethin' Stupid" with her brother, Frank Jr., on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
* Nancy became a grandmother for the first time when her daughter AJ. gave birth to a daughter, Miranda Vega.
* On May 11, 2006, Nancy received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording.
SOURCES: American Songwriter, "On This Day in 1967, Frank and Nancy Sinatra Made Father-Daughter Chart History With a Song That Nicole Kidman Took to No. 1 Decades Later," by Clayton Edwards, April 13, 2026; The Guardian, "'I wish I'd been a bad girl," by John Patterson, June 2, 2008; Independent, "Frank Sinatra 'loathed' Trump, singer's daughter Nancy tells MAGA supporter," by Tom Murray, December 7, 2025; IMDb. Wikipedia
- Joanne
