Frank Sinatra's Aussie daughter: ‘Don't call me a love child!'

Deana bravely shares the heart-wrenching anguish of being shunned by her famous father

- Craig Bennett

Deana Sinatra’s blue eyes begin to gently tear up at the mention of her iconic dad – the late, legendary crooner Frank – and the painful fact they never got to meet.

“It has forever left a gaping hole in my heart. To never have your father wrap his arms around you, to never hear him say, ‘I love you’, is beyond devastating,” says Deana, 63. “Then to be blithely branded as a ‘love child’ cuts deep. I may have gone unrecognised by the Sinatra family, but I know I am his daughter.”

Deana’s story began when her mother, Hungarian-born actress Eva Bartok, met Ol’ Blue Eyes at a Hollywood party in 1956.

“My mother was a classic beauty. Her heyday was the ’50s and ’60s, when she made movies in Britain and America,” she explains.

“Mum met Frank after her fourth marriage, to actor Curd

Jurgens, had ended. Frank was separated from Ava Gardner. As my mother regaled, they had a torrid four-month romance.