Rat Pack

“Forget the movie, let’s pull the job!” Frank Sinatra joked upon hearing the plot for Ocean’s Eleven, the 1960 Vegas heist flick which went on to become the Rat Pack’s signature big-screen adventure.

It’s no wonder Sinatra and his kindred crew of high-living, hard-drinking, skirt-chasing buddies – Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop – were gassed to make such a movie: Just like their characters, they loved a good caper.

From 1958 until they began to splinter apart in the mid-60s, they were showbiz’s kings of swing, quick-with-a-quip cats who could swagger into any joint and make it the most.

They lived high on the hog in Hollywood and Vegas, throwing parties, flying in broads, making smash box office movies and turning the stage at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas into their own cigarettes-and-Jack Daniels lounge party.

They ruled the roost like a West Coast mini Mafia, and – certainly, in Sinatra’s mind – they were the rulers of the showbiz world.

Sinatra became Chairman of the Board (“Yeh Frank, you’re the chairman, and we’re bored,” Dino would quip) and friends and losers were afforded the titles “Clydes” or “Harveys” as part of a bespoke language where God was “the big G”, death “the big casino”, and anywhere but Vegas was “Dullsville, Ohio”.

On stage, it was always goof-off party time, with racist jokes abounding. When the lights dimmed, Sinatra would turn to Sammy Davis Jr, and say, “You better keep smiling, Smokey, so we can see where you are”.

The press covered everything they did, including Frank’s visits to the White House and the Kennedy family home. They missed Peter Lawford’s pimp trips to the White House with new girls for Jack. Mrs Kennedy knew what was going on, but out of affection for the “brother-in-Lawford” she blamed Frank and had him banned from the White House.

The koo-koo lingo of the Rat Pack

Bag – An area of interest, as in “what’s your bag?”

Big Casino – Death. “He bought the big casino”.

Bird – The male member.

Broad – An affectionate term for “woman”. Less uncouth than “Dame”.

Charlies – A Lady’s bosom.

Clyde – A catch-all term. If you want someone to pass the salt, you say, “pass the clyde”. “I don’t like her clyde” can mean “I don’t like her voice”. If you don’t want to attend a party, you can declare, “I don’t want to go to the clyde”.

End, The – The best. Denotes extreme approval. “That broad is the end, man”.

Fink – A loser. A guy who would rat on or double-cross his own friends. Not a good person.

Gasser – Applied to a person. A big-leaguer, the best.

Harvey or Harv – A square. A rube. A tourist.

Hey-hey – Fun, often physical as in “a little hey-hey”.

Koo-koo – A catch-all adjective denoting the hip and crazy.

Rain – To be used when exiting unfavourable social proceedings: “Gotta go, I think it’s gonna rain”.

Ring-a-ding-ding – Extraordinarily good. Used to show extreme approval.