Barbara Sinatra was 'Queen of Belmont Shore'

Barbara Sinatra has kept a lower profile than other philanthropist wives of powerful men. Now, she sits down with The Desert Sun for a rare interview that comes with the release of her biography, "Lady Blue Eyes,"released by Crown Archetype and available at Apostrophe Books on 2nd Street.

Excerpts in the story include this early detail decades before she was married to Sinatra:

Born: Barbara Blakely, Oct. 16, 1926, in Bosworth, Mo., where her father ran a general store.

First recognition: Named the Queen of Belmont Shore in 1948 when she was modeling in Long Beach.

First marriage: In 1948 to Bob Oliver, a singer who thought he sounded like Frank Sinatra. Barbara opened her Barbara Blakely School of Modeling and Charm in Long Beach in 1950 when his singing career didn't take off. She gave birth to their son, Bobby, on Oct. 10, 1950. She then helped launch the Miss Universe pageant, developed a cosmetics line, turned “Barbara Blakely and Her Cover Girl Models” into a one-year TV series and divorced Bob.

Read more at:  http://www.mydesert.com/article/20110724/LIFESTYLES01/107230341/Frankly-speaking?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CFrontpage%7Cp