# Mia Farrow says her child with Woody might be Sinatra's **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 2, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214 "2013-10-02T21:32:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214/1 "2013-10-02T21:32:46Z")
This is a MPIMS, but since it involves show people (like unto whom are no people I know) I’ll put it here. Mia Farrow’s son, born Satchel Allen but now known as Ronan Farrow, has long been hailed as Woody Allen’s only biological child (he has other adopted children with Farrow and her former daughter/his current wife Soon Yi). Now Farrow states that Ronan, a child prodigy turned up-and-coming lawyer and pundit at 25, might have resulted from her ongoing relationship with her ex-husband Frank Sinatra: > [@](#): > > [From here](http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/mia-farrow-hints-frank-sinatra-may-be-father-to-son-ronan-farrow-2013210): > “Speaking with [_Vanity Fair_, Farrow] confided to the magazine that the paternity of her son Ronan Farrow, 25, might still be up for debate. Although long believed to be the only biological child of Farrow and beloved director Woody Allen, Farrow replied that another ex, Frank Sinatra, could “possibly” be Ronan’s father.” Nitpick: Is “confided” really an accurate word when you’re giving an interview to a magazine? Ordinarily I would think that it was extremely tacky and more than a bit trashy to publicly admit your grown son was conceived in a tryst with your 78 year old ex-husband long after he remarried and while you were involved in a long term relationship with another man. However, I think an exception can be made when the “another man” is Woody Allen, as I believe in an America where all children should be able to sleep each night secure in the knowledge that Woody Allen might not be their biological father. Nancy Sinatra, while not confirming it, definitely hinted at the possibility. > [@](#): > > Nancy Sinatra, the crooner’s oldest daughter, who tells Vanity Fair that Ronan “is a big part of us, and we are blessed to have him in our lives.” The best line is Ronan’s. One June he tweeted “Happy father’s day, or, as we call it my family, ‘Brother-in-law Day’”. About the Sinatra possibility he tweeted: > [@](#): > > Listen, we’re all _possibly_ Frank Sinatra’s son. Whoever fathered him, this is a kid I’d want to take credit for if I was a possible sperm donor. Since he’s definitely not mine, I wouldn’t mind shagging him as he’s rather adorable. [A side by side pic of him and Sinatra.](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10350935/Mia-Farrow-Woody-Allens-son-Ronan-possibly-Frank-Sinatras.html) ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214/2 "2013-10-02T21:42:23Z")
Oh, sorry, but looking at that side-by-side picture, I can’t imagine how this could be considered a ‘possibility’ and not ‘pure fact.’ Damn, he _is_ pretty cute! And funny, too, judging from the tweets. Hey, **Sampiro** , if it turns out that he’s totally into middle-aged happily married women, will you give me a heads-up? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214/3 "2013-10-02T21:44:56Z")
He looks exactly like a Sinatra/Farrow spawn should look like. I don’t think there is any doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214/4 "2013-10-02T21:45:04Z")
[QUOTE=shantih] Hey, **Sampiro** , if it turns out that he’s totally into middle-aged happily married women, will you give me a heads-up? [/QUOTE] As long as you’ll do the same if he’s into middle-aged 'few extra pounds" he-Dopers. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214/5 "2013-10-02T21:45:59Z")
When was the last time that Woody caught a break? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214/6 "2013-10-02T21:48:19Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > When was the last time that Woody caught a break? This morning. He woke up a free multimillionaire instead of as a convicted child molester. ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214/7 "2013-10-02T21:53:39Z")
> [@](#): > > Farrow first came to prominence as a child prodigy[19] when at age 11 he became the youngest student to attend Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Although Simon’s Rock specializes in teaching “younger scholars”, most of its incoming first-year students are age 16. After receiving his AA degree, Farrow transferred to Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, where he moderated in the biology department and ultimately completed his senior thesis project in political science and philosophy. He went on to become the college’s youngest graduate ever at age 15.[20] > At age 15, Farrow was accepted into the Yale Law School, in New Haven, Connecticut. However he deferred his admission until the fall of 2006 in order to work as an adviser to Richard Holbrooke, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, and also to work with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Holbrooke would later appoint Farrow as a key member of his team upon his return to government as Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2009. Farrow was among the close staffers reported to have been present the night of Holbrooke’s death in December 2010. During his time at Yale Law School, he was a summer associate at New York-based law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell. In 2008, he headed a study for the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya, which focused on post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from Kenya’s election violence.[10] Brilliant, talented, and cute as all get out. Sinatra, not Allen, for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214/8 "2013-10-02T21:54:11Z")
I remember Farrow once said, shortly after Sinatra’s death, that while she was going through the very public break-up with Allen and the accusations about him were flying that Sinatra called her up and offered to have “a friend” get some thugs to beat the hell out of him. She declined (which to me is the biggest evidence the child molestation charges were exaggerated), but if Ronan is his son it explains why he made the offer to an ex-wife. Jackie Mason (himself a ‘detached’ father) said that Sinatra had him beaten up back in the '60s when he told jokes about Sinatra and Farrow’s marriage. IIRC the joke was about their wedding night: “She puts her hair in curlers, he puts his on the dresser, she puts in her retainer and he takes out his teeth.” ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214/9 "2013-10-02T21:58:01Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > This morning. He woke up a free multimillionaire instead of as a convicted child molester. I don’t get it. Soon Yi was 19 when their relationship started. Am I missing something else? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214/10 "2013-10-02T22:04:31Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > I don’t get it. Soon Yi was 19 when their relationship started. Am I missing something else? He was accused of behaving improperly with Farrow’s [daughter Dylan](http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2013/10/02/mia-farrow-daughter-opens-up-about-alleged-child-molestation-from-woody-allen/) as well. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214/11 "2013-10-02T22:06:24Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > He was accused of behaving improperly with Farrow’s [daughter Dylan](http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2013/10/02/mia-farrow-daughter-opens-up-about-alleged-child-molestation-from-woody-allen/) as well. Thank you. I didn’t know about that accusation. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214/12 "2013-10-02T22:07:41Z")
He resembles Farrow more than either putative father, but he’s closer to looking like Sinatra. Then again, he’s even closer to looking like Brando, who was alive then, albeit really fat. And hey, Mia had a thing for old, Italian entertainment legends… ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214/13 "2013-10-02T22:15:56Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Then again, he’s even closer to looking like Brando, who was alive then, albeit really fat. And hey, Mia had a thing for old, Italian entertainment legends… Random observation: a hypothetical child of Brando and Farrow would have about 30 siblings. (Farrow has had 4 biological and 11 adopted children, Brando had somewhere between 10 and 20 depending on the source [and fat and old as he was, Brando had at least 3 kids younger than Ronan].) ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214/14 "2013-10-02T22:27:16Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > He resembles Farrow more than either putative father, but he’s closer to looking like Sinatra. > > Then again, he’s even closer to looking like Brando, who was alive then, albeit really fat. And hey, Mia had a thing for old, Italian entertainment legends… With those pale blue eyes, lighter than even her mother’s, let alone Brando? Either Sinatra or Paul Newman, if we are going for celebrities. (But clearly Sinatra. I mean, come on.) ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214/15 "2013-10-02T22:30:48Z")
At least he seems pretty well-adjusted in spite of all his family issues. And yes, he’s pretty hot. ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214/16 "2013-10-02T22:35:39Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > At least he seems pretty well-adjusted in spite of all his family issues. > > And yes, he’s pretty hot. Well-adjusted? I’d say that he’s got a more impressive resume at 25 than several millions of people combined would ever heave. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214/17 "2013-10-02T22:41:10Z")
> [@Palo\_Verde](#): > > Brilliant, talented, and cute as all get out. Sinatra, not Allen, for sure. Sure Sinatra had a natural singing talent and he was a decent actor but Woody Allen has him beat in the brilliant and talented department hands down. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214/18 "2013-10-02T22:48:34Z")
Sinatra also had a very long on-again-off-again romance with Ava Gardner after their divorce, and in her final years he financially supported her. Very complicated dude: women and men who knew him well seemed to both love and hate him. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214/19 "2013-10-02T22:52:34Z")
Man, that was one messed-up household. Woody’s hankering after the daughters, Mia’s boinking The Chairman. It’s amazing all those kids don’t have their very own season of _Celebrity Rehab_. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214/20 "2013-10-02T22:52:58Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > He resembles Farrow more than either putative father, but he’s closer to looking like Sinatra. > > Then again, he’s even closer to looking like Brando, who was alive then, albeit really fat. And hey, Mia had a thing for old, Italian entertainment legends… If you had asked me, I’d have guessed his father was Vince Vaughn. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mia-farrow-says-her-child-with-woody-might-be-sinatras/670214.md?page=2)