The Man Who Kept FRANK SINATRA'S SECRETS

PUBLICIST JIM MAHONEY HELPED GOLDEN AGE CELEBRITIES SHINE IN A BRIGHTER LIGHT

- Louise A. Barile, reporting by Lindsay Hoffman

Late one winter night in 1963, a ringing phone woke up publicist Jim Mahoney. "Frank Sinatra's attorney said, 'You have to get up to Reno as fast as you can. Frankie, the kid, has been kidnapped."" The abduction and ransoming of Frank's 19-year-old son was just one of the difficult situations the celebrity publicist navigated. Over his 60-year career, Jim, the author of the recent memoir Get Mahoney!, helped guide Frank, Judy Garland, Johnny Carson and more through fame's media minefield.

The night of the kidnapping, Jim got busy fielding phone calls.

"Frank was smoking so much, his voice didn't sound like himself," Jim tells Closer, explaining that friends like Judy Garland, Debbie Reynolds and Peter Lawford offered support. Jim also answered calls from the secretary of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and a mysterious man called Momo. "Frank said, 'I'll take Momo.' Turns out that Momo was Sam Giancana, the biggest mobster in the country!