Sinatra Will Mark 81st Birthday at Home With Family and Friends

On Thursday, Frank Sinatra plans to celebrate the birthday that fans around the world thought the singer might never see.

His publicist, Susan Reynolds, said that Sinatra--whose hospitalization last month led to unconfirmed news reports that he was near death from pneumonia and a possible heart attack--will mark his 81st birthday with family and friends at his Beverly Hills home.

Reynolds said that Sinatra, who spent eight nights at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, is “honored” by the hundreds of get-well letters and cards that he continues to receive each week.

“He appreciates them and enjoys them,” she said. “He respects the fact that people are taking the time to wish him well.”

While Reynolds wouldn’t amplify on her original announcement that Sinatra checked into the hospital because of a pinched nerve, several of the singer’s friends scoffed at reports that he was critically ill.

George Schlatter, an Emmy-winning television producer who has worked with Sinatra over the years and has visited him often since the singer was discharged on Nov. 9, said his longtime friend “looks good and sounds good.”

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Of the heart attack and pneumonia stories, Schlatter said: “I don’t know how that [expletive] . . . got started. The guy I see is pretty much the same guy who was there before. . . .

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“I called him a few days after he got out of the hospital . . . and they said he was out by the pool, smoking a cigarette. If you’ve had pneumonia or a heart attack, you don’t smoke.”

Because of the media speculation that Sinatra may have been dying, his hospital stay touched off an outpouring of concern from fans around the world.

Since then, singer and longtime Sinatra compatriot Steve Lawrence said he has been stopped almost daily by fans asking for a report on his friend’s condition.

“They’re very anxious to know that he’s well because they love him,” Lawrence said. “And why not? The man has given this beautiful gift to people all over the world. Everybody relates to him on one level or another. Musically, he’s touched everybody.”

Sinatra, in turn, has been moved by the public outpouring, Schlatter said.

“I don’t think you can take a guy who’s had so much attention over the years from Popes and Presidents and expect him to be overwhelmed by it, but I do think he was genuinely touched,” the producer said.

“It’s one thing [for a fan] to buy a ticket and stand and cheer. It’s another thing to write him the kind of letters he’s received. He really appreciates it,” Schlatter said.

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Besides reading fan letters, Sinatra has spent much of his time since returning home working with his wife, Barbara, on various charity projects, including the Jan. 31-Feb. 1 Frank Sinatra Celebrity Golf Tournament in Rancho Mirage, whose benefactors include the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center at Eisenhower Medical Center.

Last year, Sinatra celebrated his 80th birthday with a star-studded ABC television special, produced by Schlatter, in which the singer was saluted by a variety of pop and rock performers, including Bruce Springsteen, Tony Bennett, U2’s Bono and Bob Dylan.

But Sinatra apparently has no plans to share this birthday with the public. He did not attend Saturday night’s black-tie charity gala in Rancho Mirage to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center.

“After so many years on the road,” Reynolds said, “he’s enjoying spending some time at home with his wife, doing many of the things that the rest of us take for granted.”