Who was the PR agent who helped bring Frank Sinatra’s reputation and career back to life? That would be Lee Solters.
One of my heroes passed away this week. Lee Solters, 89, was part of the world of Broadway “flacks” in the ’40s and ’50s, getting his shows and clients mentioned in the newspaper columns that everyone was reading. And he would come up with great ideas…
My favorite was something he did with Frank Sinatra. When I was a kid, my mother once told me that I shouldn’t believe all the bad things you hear about Sinatra. She said that he often gave money to worthy charities, but he wouldn’t let anyone know that he was the donor. My mother explained to me that he was a “man’s man who didn’t want people to know he had a soft heart.” Well, that might have been true. But the reason my mother thought that was because of Lee Solters.
When Sinatra’s career and image needed a boost, Lee told him to give him a bunch of money to donate to charities. Lee would tell them that the money was really from Sinatra, but it had to be anonymous. If asked, Sinatra was supposed to deny that he gave the money. Naturally, no one could keep that a secret. The word kept getting out, but whenever Sinatra was asked if he was really the donor, he would say, “No comment.”
It worked wonders! Sinatra got good press, because he acted like he didn’t want good press! People like my mother firmly believed in Sinatra’s generous spirit. Lee Solters was brilliant.
Even though I was a journalist, Lee fascinated me. It was because I ran my own publishing company, and I knew how important it was to get good press. During the years I produced the Bammie Awards, I used many ideas that Lee created. Then, to my delight, I was able to hire Lee, my hero, to be the PR agent for the Bammies for a year. Lee actually was my inspiration for wanting to run a PR agency.
I want to thank Lee Solters for being my hero and an amazing person, and I wish him peace.
Dennis,
Nice thoughts, thanks.
JF