A Night That Turned Ugly...And Almost Deadly
The Polo Lounge was famous for glamour, cocktails, and star sightings—not blood on the carpet. But on June 8, 1966, a birthday celebration for Dean Martin turned into one of Hollywood’s most notorious brawls. As one columnist later quipped:
“It wasn’t music or martinis that rang out that night—it was a telephone.”
Setting the Scene
The Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel was the Rat Pack’s playground. Celebrities rubbed shoulders, deals were cut, and Sinatra’s crew ruled their corner booth. Each table had its own pink telephone, which Time described as “whimsical props for the powerful”—but one became a weapon.
Architectural and Building Press New York, Wikimedia Commons
Dean Martin Turns 49
On June 7, 1966, Dean Martin marked his 49th birthday. By the next evening, the party hadn’t slowed. Sinatra, Martin, Jilly Rizzo, and actor Richard Conte filled their booth with laughter and scotch. “Dean’s parties could run for days, but they weren’t supposed to end in ambulances,” remembered one insider.
Dell Publishing, Wikimedia Commons
Enter Frederick Weisman
At a nearby table sat Frederick Rand Weisman—the 54 year old retired president of Hunt Foods, and avid art collector. To most, he was quiet and refined. But that night, his clash with Sinatra’s crew turned him into a tragic headline.
Charles Haynes from Bangalore, India, Wikimedia Commons
A Clash of Vibes
The Rat Pack’s table was raucous—leading Weisman to complain. Later reports claim Sinatra snapped back with barbs of his own. A Los Angeles Times snippet described it simply: “Noise, liquor, and tempers combined to spark one of Beverly Hills’ most violent nights.”
Words Get Heated
Conflicting accounts abound. Sinatra claimed Weisman cursed at him; others say Sinatra’s insults came first. Either way, Beverly Hills police confirmed: “Tempers flared. Insults were exchanged.”
Dean Tries to Cool It Down
Dean Martin, always the smoother of the two, tried to break the tension. Jerry Lewis once said of him: “Dean was allergic to conflict. He wanted the golf course, not the courthouse.” But Dean’s calming didn’t work this time.
Sinatra Loses Control
Witnesses recalled Sinatra’s voice booming. Known for his charm one minute and fury the next, he reportedly rose from his seat, fists clenched. A later biographer described him as “a man who could go from crooner to combatant in sixty seconds.”
Fists Fly
The first shove was followed by punches. Weisman lunged, Sinatra swung, and chaos erupted. Time noted: “Chairs scraped and voices rose; it was not a lounge but a battlefield.”
The Infamous Pink Telephone
At the height of the fight, someone grabbed the pink table phone. Some insist Sinatra wielded it, others finger Jilly Rizzo. It's been put bluntly in some publications: “The phone came down on Weisman’s head again and again.”
A Sickening Sound
The receiver cracked across Weisman’s skull. Blood spilled. Patrons gasped. As one onlooker later said: “You could hear the thud, and suddenly everyone knew—it had gone too far.”
Dean Gets Dragged In
Dean Martin caught a stray fist. He left with a black eye and bloodstained shirt. A Rat Pack associate recalled: “Even on his birthday, Dino couldn’t escape Frank’s mess.”
NBC Photo by Elmer Holloway, Wikimedia Commons
Sinatra’s Injuries
Sinatra himself was battered—sporting a black eye and sling. Pilot Clay Lacy remembered picking him up at Burbank Airport: “Frank had his arm in a sling, Dean had a black eye, and they were going to hide out for a few days.”
Weisman Down for the Count
Weisman was rushed to Mt. Sinai Hospital. Surgeons performed a two-hour brain operation. Police reports noted: “Subject arrived unconscious with severe head trauma.”
“He Could Have Died”
Weisman slipped into a coma. Beverly Hills Police Chief Clinton Anderson told reporters: “Mr. Weisman has not regained consciousness since his admission Wednesday night.”
Panic Among the Rat Pack
Sinatra and Martin skipped town. Their absence sparked speculation. A gossip columnist wrote: “They vanished like guilty men, though neither had yet been charged.”
NBC Television, Wikimedia Commons
Police Get Involved
Police questioned both stars. Sinatra told Time: “He lunged at me. I defended myself, naturally.” He denied hitting Weisman. But the “telephone” story spread faster than the official line.
A PR Nightmare
For Sinatra, this was a disaster. Headlines painted him violent, reckless. A reporter quipped: “Ol’ Blue Eyes had a black eye of his own, and his image took one too.”
CBS Television, Wikimedia Commons
Dean’s Dilemma
Dean Martin loathed the scandal. As one biographer put it: “Dean hated fights. He hated drama. He just wanted to have a drink, sing a song, and go home.”
NBC Photo-NBC, Wikimedia Commons
The Pink Telephone Becomes Legend
The Polo Lounge’s whimsical phones turned infamous. As one Hollywood Reporter columnist later joked: “Only in Beverly Hills could murder nearly be committed with a pastel prop.”
Who Really Hit Weisman?
The central mystery lingers: was it Sinatra, Rizzo, or someone else? Although there are those who insist Sinatra did it. Sinatra told Time: “I never saw anyone hit him.” The truth remains contested.
Philippe Halsman, Wikimedia Commons
Lawsuits Avoided
Remarkably, no charges were filed. Weisman couldn’t remember the fight. Sinatra’s lawyer Mickey Rudin reportedly ensured, “It never saw a courtroom.”
Brandonrush, Wikimedia Commons
Hollywood Shrugs It Off
In 1966, stars held sway. A columnist later reflected: “If any other man had fractured a skull with a phone, he’d be in prison. Sinatra had another martini.”
Photograph taken by George Hurrell for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)., Wikimedia Commons
Sinatra’s Temper Confirmed
This wasn’t Sinatra’s first brawl. He’d swung at photographers before. Gay Talese once said: “With Frank, the fight was never far from the song.”
Dean Distances Himself
Though they remained friends, insiders noticed a shift. One friend said: “Dean loved Frank, but he didn’t love Frank’s trouble.”
Distributed by Warner Bros., photographer uncredited and unknown., Wikimedia Commons
Weisman’s Recovery
Against the odds, Weisman survived. Later, he became a giant in the art world. An art critic once wrote: “His collection was legendary—but so was the night he nearly lost it all.”
Weisman Never Remembered
Weisman himself claimed he remembered nothing. “It’s a blank,” he reportedly told friends—a merciful gap in memory.
Sinatra’s Black Eye in Photos
Photos of Sinatra’s swollen face ran in papers. They were proof, as one headline read: “Chairman of the Board Gets Decked.”
Nickolas Muray, Wikimedia Commons
The Rat Pack Image Hardens
The brawl cemented the Rat Pack’s wild reputation. A historian noted: “They were loved because they lived like outlaws in tuxedos.” And as one columnist summed it up: “The fun was real, but so was the violence.”
inkknife_2000 (7.5 million views +), Wikimedia Commons
A Story That Won’t Die
Books, biographies, documentaries—it’s retold endlessly. Sinatra’s biographer James Kaplan said: “There’s truth and myth, and with Frank, they were always intertwined.”
Armchair Voyager, Wikimedia Commons
The Lasting Question
Even now, fans debate: was Sinatra guilty, or was he shielded? As one writer observed: “The only man who knew for sure was unconscious in a hospital bed.”
Rat Pack Lore Forever
The 1966 Polo Lounge fight became legend. Today, it’s remembered as one of Hollywood’s wildest nights—when a birthday party nearly turned to murder, and a pink telephone became a weapon of myth.
Irv Glaser, Lou Blackburn, William Warren, Wikimedia Commons
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