Frank Sinatra was looking out for Mia Farrow when she was embroiled in a long custody battle with Woody Allen in the early 90’s after his relationship with Soon-Yi was discovered.
In his new book, “Taking the Stand,” high-powered lawyer Alan Dershowitz, who represented Farrow in her case, reveals that Sinatra personally called him to offer his help.
Dershowitz writes of Sinatra’s call, “He immediately got down to business. ‘I love Mia. We were married, you know. She’s a great girl. Woody’s trying to bully her. He can’t be allowed to get away with that. What can I do to help?”
Dershowitz says he responded that he had it under control, to which Sinatra added, “Well, beyond the legal case, what can I do to call Woody off?”
Aware of Sinatra’s tough-guy reputation, Dershowitz says, “I nervously told him to leave it to the lawyers, and that any approach to Woody Allen would be used against Mia and would likely backfire.”
Woody lost the case and — according to reports has not since seen any of the children — including his son Ronan Farrow. In a recent Vanity Fair story, Mia dropped the bombshell that Ronan could “possibly,” be Sinatra’s son — which might explain his interest in the custody case.
The book also recounts some of the lawyer’s experiences including working on the defense teams for Julian Assange, O.J. Simpson, Mike Tyson and Patty Hearst.
He recalls how Marsha Clarke, the head prosecutor in OJ’s trial, cheekily tried to distract the lead defense lawyer. “As Johnnie Cochran was about to make his closing argument, Marsha went over to him and whispered, “When you’re up there, I want you to think of only one thing: I’m not wearing any underwear.”
And shortly after he became prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu invited Alan him to his office. “There’s been something I have been waiting to ask you,” he said “I expected him to asked my advice on some critical security issue. He put his arm around me and whispered in my ear, “So, did O.J. do it?”