Friday, January 18, 2008

1971 Frank Sinatra PHOTOGRAPHER


January 17, 2008 -- AFTER Frank Sinatra took photos of the first Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier bout for Life magazine in 1971, Ol' Blue Eyes presented a poster-size, autographed print of the pugilists to his pal, restaurateur Jimmy Weston, who proudly displayed it on the wall at his legendary saloon on East 54th Street until the place closed in 1989. When the former cop died in 1997, his daughter, Jaime Weston, inherited the 2-by-4-foot photo. "In 1998, I had an opportunity while working for Ermenegildo Zegna to meet Mr. Ali and have him sign it. We were dressing him for the GQ Men of the Year Awards," Weston recalls. "I walked in to his hotel room with his tuxedo in one hand and this huge photo in the other." On Monday, after Page Six reported Frazier would be attending a party to promote Saturday's Roy Jones Jr.-Felix Trinidad fight, Jaime, now an NFL executive, carried the jumbo print into Pop Burger on East 58th Street, where Smokin' Joe graciously signed it after asking, "Where am I in this picture?" Now the circle is complete. When it was suggested to Weston that she immediately auction the triple-signed photo on e-Bay, she said, "My father told me never to sell it."