Did Frank Sinatra’s movies influence Lee Harvey Oswald to assassinate JFK? 

Sinatra was a friend and loyal supporter of John F. Kennedy. The popular singer and actor campaigned for JFK and encouraged many of his friends in entertainment to do the same. Yet, he found himself in not one, but two films that were believed to have inspired Oswald to assassinate (or take part in the assassination) of the president. 

The first, Suddenly, is a little known 1954 thriller in which Ol’ Blue Eyes plays the head of a gang who comes to town to take some shots at the president’s motorcade. The role was very much against type for the crooner, whose portrayal of a vicious killer earned him accolades at the time. The second, and much better known film, The Manchurian Candidate, was a 1962 political thriller in which Sinatra plays the hero trying to foil an intricate plot to assassinate a presidential candidate and put a communist stooge in the White House. 

After Kennedy’s murder, rumors circulated that Oswald had seen both films repeatedly and even took notes. These rumors were later cast aside as part of the conspiracy hysteria surrounding the assassination. Some say that it was all just a bizarre coincidence, a quirk of history. Whether true or untrue, it adds another layer to a real-life murder mystery that will never be solved to everyone’s satisfaction.