New Photography Book Brings Rat Pack To Life

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jan 17th 2011 at 4:00PM

The legendary Rat Pack is celebrated in a new luxury book by Reel Art Press that brings you inside the inner circle of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford. The limited-edition volume includes photographs from the Cal Neva Resort in North Lake Tahoe and parties at Peter Lawford's Santa Monica beach house. Hollywood and Las Vegas images also feature many of the glamorous women surrounding these gentlemen such as Ava Gardner, Marilyn Monroe and Lauren Bacall.

The LA Times reports that editor and Reel Art Press co-founder Tony Nourmand worked with Andy Howick of the MPTV photo agency to trace shots from the entertainers' glory days unearthing unprinted negatives and rarely seen images. The book starts at $650 for the Masters Edition and $1,650 for the Deluxe Edition, which includes a wooden slip case and a bonus image of Sinatra and Martin signed by the photographer, Gerald Smith. The customizable, $4,000 Heritage edition, which is limited to 30 copies adds in a rare, vintage photograph of your choice and signatures from Nourmand, Levy and art director and designer Graham Marsh. Certain rare photographs are also being sold individually. The images are well worth a look: there's a great sequence of the Rat Pack goofing around in a hotel room taking a swing at each other. The book can be ordered off the Reel Art Press website.

Tags: art books, frank sinatra, photographs, rat pack