Written By: Ben Cosgrove
“Forget the movie, let’s pull the job!”
That, legend has it, is what Frank Sinatra joked upon hearing the plot for Ocean’s 11, the 1960 Vegas heist flick that went on to become the Rat Pack’s signature big-screen adventure.
It’s no wonder Sinatra and his kindred crew of high-living, hard-drinking, skirt-chasing buddies Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., especially were gassed to make such a movie: just like their characters, they loved a good caper. From the late ’50s until they began to splinter apart in the mid-’60s, they were showbiz’s unrivaled kings of swing, quick-with-a-quip cats who could swagger into any joint from the Sands to Sardi’s and make it the most.
[Buy the LIFE book, The Rat Pack: The Original Bad Boys.]
LIFE magazine’s photographers trailed the Pack through those smoky, magical years, coming away with priceless material for some of the best celebrity photo-essays the magazine ever ran. But of the thousands of shots taken, many were never published until now. Here, in celebration of sharkskin sits, Scotch on the rocks, smoke-filled rooms and fedoras tilted just so, LIFE presents a slew of rare photos of the Rat Pack, together and apart, during their boozy heyday.
[MORE: See the gallery, “LIFE With Sinatra: Portraits of ‘The Voice’ in 1965.”]
Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin Record Sleep Warm
Allan Grant Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Dean Martin, 1958
Allan Grant Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin in the recording studio
Allan Grant Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Frank Sinatra at the Sands Hotel and Casino 1964
John Dominis Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Frank Sinatra and Joe E. Lewis
John Dominis Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Sammy Davis Jr. Eats Spaghetti
Leonard McCombe Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Sammy Davis Jr. on the Set
Allan Grant Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Dean Martin On The Cat Walk in 1958
Allan Grant Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Frank Sinatra Runs the Party in Sammy Davis Jr’s Golden Boy Dressing Room
John Dominis Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Sammy Davis Jr. in Golden Boy
Leonard McCombe Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Sammy Davis Jr. With Trumpet
Leonard McCombe Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Sammy Davis Jr. Clowns Backstage
Leonard McCombe Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Sammy Davis Jr. rests in a New York City Hotel in 1964.
Leonard McCombe Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Sammy Davis Jr. backstage in Golden Boy in 1964
Leonard McCombe Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Dean Martin gets a massage at The Sands
Allan Grant Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Frank Sinatra Steams and Shaves
John Dominis Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, Warner Bros.
John Dominis Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra Crack Up
Allan Grant Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Frank Sintra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. on stage in 1960.
Allan Grant Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
