I will admit that I only vaguely remember the Rat Pack. In fact, it is the most vague of memories and most don’t include all four members of the Rat Pack (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop), but rather the members of the Rat Pack in separate endeavors.
But, that doesn’t mean that I cannot appreciate the ultimate coolness of the Rat Pack. When I’ve seen television footage of their Vegas show, they always seem like they are having such a great time together. And each person in the audience must have felt as if, at least for a few hours, they were part of this secret, mega-cool club. Alas, all the Rat Packers have gone on to that ultra lounge in the sky except for Joey Bishop. Frankly, I never understood why he was in the Rat Pack anyhow. He was definitely the most low-key member, which may explain his longevity.
I do however remember the Brat Pack, a name given to a group of young, seemingly obnoxious Hollywood actors. Not that they often hung out together off screen, but I believe they were grouped together more because they appeared in so many movies together, with St. Elmo’s Fire being the epitome of Brat Pack films. Now this was before the Lindsay Lohan/Britney Spears/Paris Hilton scandals. The Brat Packers – Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy – may have seemed somewhat annoying at the time, but oh, if Hollywood only knew what was coming! Of the Brat Pack, only Demi Moore went on to superstardom, but most of the Brat Pack is still around acting today, which goes to show you that while they may have been Brats, they were also decent actors.
And now, there is a new group – the Frat Pack. Even I wasn’t aware of this one until my hubby told me about it. Who is in the Frat Pack? Some of the funniest guys in comedy today – Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Jack Black, and Steve Carell. These guys often appear in films together, even if it is a small cameo role, and well, most of their humor is fraternity level if that mature. But, I will admit, I still love most of their movies.
And there you have it. So now, if someone is confused over the various “Packs” around Hollywood, you can set them straight!