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How Did the Members of the Rat Pack Get Famous? Inside the Group’s Path to Hollywood Stardom

Entertainment

Aug 18, 2023 10:45 am·

By Closer Staff

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In the 1960s, a group of five entertainers — Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop — took Hollywood by storm with their movies centering around the Las Vegas casino scene, like Ocean’s 11. They were known as the Rat Pack. But before the Rats ever hit a movie set as a Pack, each of them was a seasoned professional who had logged plenty of time in front of a camera.

Scroll down to learn about the Hollywood icons’ lives.

1 of 5

Frank Sinatra

Sinatra had made his mark in musicals, including On the Town (1949), Guys and Dolls (1955) and Pal Joey (1957). And the singer had conquered drama as well, winning an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in From Here to Eternity (1953).

2 of 5

Dean Martin

Martin starred in 16 films with Jerry Lewis between 1949 and 1956 before the pair broke up. The crooner did a serious turn in Howard Hawks’ acclaimed Western Rio Bravo (1959) playing “Dude,” the town drunk and former sheriff’s deputy. He earned raves for his performance alongside costars John Wayne, Angie Dickinson and Ricky Nelson.

3 of 5

Sammy Davis Jr.

Davis Jr. first appeared on the silver screen in 1933’s Rufus Jones for President. By 1959, he had graduated to playing Sportin’ Life in Porgy and Bess, with the acclaimed director Otto Preminger. The New York Times called it a “stunning, exciting and moving film,” though many African Americans had declined to act in the picture because of what they saw as racial stereotyping.

4 of 5

Peter Lawford

The debonair Lawford had worked in films since he was a child, and at one time was one of Hollywood’s hottest leading men in movies like Easter Parade (1948) and Royal Wedding (1951).

5 of 5

Joey Bishop

Bishop mostly appeared on television, though he did have some notable small film parts, including one in The Naked and the Dead (1958).

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