Nancy Sinatra Sr., first wife of Frank Sinatra, dead at 101

Nancy Sinatra Sr. is flanked by her daughters, Nancy Sinatra Jr., left, and Tina Sinatra. The Sinatra matriarch died Friday. She was 101.

 

 

Nancy Sinatra Sr., the first of entertainer Frank Sinatra's four wives and mother of their three children, died Friday, according to The Hollywood Reporter. She was 101.

Her death was announced on Twitter by her daughter Nancy, who tweeted "My mother passed away peacefully tonight at the age of 101. She was a blessing and the light of my life. Godspeed, Momma. Thank you for everything."

Nancy Barbato was born March 25, 1917, in Jersey City, New Jersey. She met Sinatra in the summer of 1934 and married her high school sweetheart five years later. The couple's first two children were born in Jersey CIty: Nancy, who sang the 1966 hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" in 1940, and Frank Jr. in 1944. The family moved to California in late 1944, and daughter Tina was born in Toluca Lake in 1948, the Hollywood Reporter said.

Their marriage ended in 1951 after Sinatra's affair with actress Ava Gardner, CNN reported. Sinatra married Gardner days after the divorce was final.

After he divorced Gardner, Sinatra went on to marry Mia Farrow in 1966 and Barbara Marx in 1978.

He died in 1998 at the age of 82.

Nancy Sinatra Sr. never remarried, The Hollywood Reporter said.