Prior to Frankie and Joe Di Maggio, Italians were considered the dregs of American society. Both came from poor families on opposite sides of the coast: Frankie from Hoboken and Joe from San Francisco's fishing community. Frankie and Joltin Joe were born within months of each other.
Frankie was an exceptional singer and a decent actor, his best performance is in The Manchurian Candidate. He won a Best Supporting Actor for From Here to Eternity. Stories still resonate about the drinking binges he and Montgomery Clift went on. They brought along Burt Lancaster (who rarely drank) for protection. I haven't found a pic of Burt fireman carrying them back to their trailers. No matter how drunk you were, no one fucked with Burt.