By Frank Roberts

This go-’round I will write about my friend Sinatra and another old friend, Tarzan’s grandson.

Sinatra first. Note that I just used the last name. Ray Sinatra is the crooner’s second cousin.

Ray’s father was a cousin of Frank’s father. It must be mentioned that F. never helped R. My Sinatra did it his way.

His first big job was working for MGM, where he met Mario Lanza, and their wives became friends.

I got to know Ray during my early teen years, thanks to a guy I didn’t like. Bootsie’s mother and my mother were close friends. They had gone to nursing school together, so I was stuck with Boots whenever the mommas got together.

He lived near me for many years, eventually leaving my middle-class New York neighborhood for the upscale community of Forest Hills.

As luck would have it, they happened to move next door to Ray Sinatra. He had two boys, and Ray Jr. was my age. That’s how I met the “other” Sinatra. Junior and I became good friends.

Ray Sr. was Lanza’s music director, working with him in concerts and on recordings. If you want to see him “in action” check YouTube. There are two very good offerings. “Take It Easy,” features vocalist Marion Colby. The other features the maestro on piano with a fine swinging piece, “Boogie Woogie Upstairs.”

From ’66 to ’68, he was a music director in Vegas at the prestigious Sands Hotel, working with such folk as songwriter Jimmy McHugh, Danny Thomas and, best of all, the Copa Girls.

Sinatra also worked at another Vegas hot spot, the Tropicana. Otherwise, he worked in orchestra pits for Broadway musicals.

That brings me to my fave R.S. story. One of the Vegas clubs wanted to hire him, put his last name on the marquee in big, bold, black letters and then letter his first name much smaller. Ray, being the decent gent he is, declined.

Incidentally, he arranged some songs for cousin Frank, but nothing heavy. He worked with some other famous folks, conducting for Allan Jones (Jack’s dad), Connee Boswell, Duke Ellington, Mary Martin, Shirley Ross and Bing. At one point, he was one of the orchestra conductors for “Your Hit Parade.”

And, of course, he swung from tree to tree.

Whoops, that was Tarzan, and here’s the connection.

Tarzan was created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose stories were popular around the world.

The author and his daughter, Joan, gave a party, and one of the attendees was James Pierce, a 6-foot-4-inch husky athlete. Father and daughter had their eyes on the big guy, and Mr. Burroughs decided he would make a heckuva Tarzan.

These were the silent flick days, and some Tarzan movies already had been made. The writer wanted Big Jim for the next one. Joan, as it turned out, wanted him as her husband. Both got their wish.

James and Joan went on to portray Tarzan and Jane on a radio series, and they remained hitched until her death in 1972.

Their tombstones are marked “Tarzan” and “Jane.”

They had a daughter, Joanne, and a son, James “Mike” Michael, who died in 1985. That’s where I come in.

Mike had no show business aspirations. When I met him he was stationed at a small Marine base near my home and, until he got re-assigned, we were good friends.

He was a pleasant, soft-spoken guy, and I always enjoyed his company.

If you want to see Mike’s dad with Jab, a scene-stealing lion, search YouTube for “Tarzan and the Golden Lion” which, in spite of its primitivism, is quite good. His salary wasn’t — $75 a week.

Big Jim made many, many movies, mostly westerns and once played Flash Gordon. He was also a pilot, active with the National Airmen’s Reserve, the forerunner of today’s Air National Guard.

He was also an All-American center for the Indiana Hoosiers football team, and he coached football at Glendale High in California. One of his players also appeared, later, in westerns, a guy named John Wayne.

So there you have it — I’m the long-lost connection between Sinatra and Tarzan.

During a 60-year career spanning newspapers, radio and television, Frank Roberts has been there and done that. Today, he’s doing it in retirement from North Carolina, but he continues to keep an eye set on Suffolk and an ear cocked on country music. Email him at froberts73@embarqmail.com.