The Childhood Classic Dish Frank Sinatra Had For His Last Meal

On the evening of May 14, 1998, the world-renowned singer Frank Sinatra ate his last meal. Ol' Blue Eyes, as the Italian-American crooner was known, loved pasta and other Italian staples like eggplant parmesan, but none of these made up his final repast. When Sinatra was in Las Vegas, he had a favorite steakhouse where he'd chow down on clams casino and New York strip, but not that night. It wasn't even his favorite dessert that he often had delivered from a local grocery store — Entenmann's coffee cake. No, on that evening, Sinatra had a classic childhood dish.

Not long before Sinatra had a heart attack at his Beverly Hills home, he had eaten a grilled cheese sandwich. Perhaps the 82-year-old's many medical issues — heart problems, dementia, pneumonia, and bladder cancer, among other issues — blunted his well-known appetite, for he had only gotten through half the sandwich. Paramedics rushed him to Cedars-Sinai Hospital where he died about two hours later.

We may never know why Frank Sinatra chose a grilled cheese sandwich that evening, in what turned out to be the last thing he ate. But most people would likely agree that this crispy, cheesy, warm, and gooey sandwich is a go-to comfort food, especially paired with a steaming bowl of soup. Sinatra's final meal didn't include the classic pairing of grilled cheese and tomato soup, a combo that became popular shortly after World War II, when pre-sliced bread, Kraft singles, and a need for a cheap but nutritious meal combo came together to make this popular pairing.

Sinatra may have inadvertently helped the trend along, thanks to his hit 1956 version of the tune "Love and Marriage." The Campbell Soup Company reworked the song lyrics to "Soup and Sandwich" for a series of well-known commercials beginning in the early 1960s. The crooner may have loved Italian food and a good juicy steak, but it was a simple all-American classic that he turned to in the end.