Frank Sinatra takes photos of the 1971 Frazier-Ali fight at Madison Square Garden for LIFE magazine
Even before Mario Puzo’s novel was published, many assumed that the Johnny Fontane subplot was loosely based on the real-life Frank Sinatra drama when he was trying to earn a role in From Here to Eternity. Puzo successfully avoided running into Sinatra until one night in Los Angeles in 1970, when a friend of Puzo’s insisted on introducing him to Sinatra. After Sinatra refused to meet Puzo and the friend broke down in tears, Puzo uttered, “It’s not my fault.” Sinatra thought he was apologizing for the Fontane character in the book and began to scream at Puzo. The incident made the news and became a public-relations disaster. Later, when Francis Ford Coppola signed on as director, he had a run-in with Sinatra that was more cordial.