Sinatra Jr. speaks frankly about his battle with cancer

WHEN FRANK SINATRA JR. made his introductory remarks at Friday night's Parx Casino bash honoring local radio titan Sid Mark's 58th year spinning Ol' Blue Eyes' records, he obviously noted the day was an important one, as it would have been his father's 99th birthday.

But Dec. 12 was doubly significant: He revealed that it had been two years to the day since he was diagnosed with Stage 4A throat cancer (the "A" meant it had metastasized).

Sinatra, 71 next month, spent about a year undergoing grueling radiation and chemotherapy, and eating through a tube inserted in his stomach. But the harrowing tale has a happy ending: He said he is completely cured.

"The big boys and big girls at UCLA Medical Center were open for business," he exclusively told the Daily News. "They said they weren't going to cure [the cancer], they were going to kill it."

Sinatra, who lost 47 pounds during his treatments, credited state-of-the-art medical technology for a recovery achieved without surgery on his larynx - meaning he's still able to sing.

"When I went into therapies at the end of 2012 and beginning of 2013, the oncologist and radiologist told me the therapies they were going to use did not exist in 2011," he said, adding that he hopes his story encourages others facing a cancer diagnosis.

Sinatra also told Temporary Tattle that he will be back on the road next year with "Sinatra Sings Sinatra," a multimedia extravaganza celebrating his dad's centennial.

We asked Junior how he felt about Bob Dylan's plan to release a Sinatra tribute album early next year.

"He was one of the strongest Frank Sinatra fans of all time," he replied. "Bob Dylan knew Sinatra. They used to talk now and again. They'd run into each other. Dylan would ask him for advice.

"Bob wants to do music that talks to people. Right now, the music he wants to talk to people with is the music of Frank Sinatra. I wish him the best, and I think it's a terrific tribute."

Well, the Sony hacking kerfuffle is officially a media circus: The Rev. Al Sharpton has gotten into it.

Sharpton, who never met a publicity opportunity he didn't like, will sit down in New York with embattled Sony Entertainment co-chair Amy Pascal. On the agenda is a discussion of leaked emails between Pascal and producer Scott Rudin, which, shall we say, did little to further interracial harmony and understanding.

According to the New York Post's Page Six, Pascal reached out to the MSNBC opiner late last week after emails between her and Rudin - which nastily speculated on what flicks President Obama enjoys, among other things - were made public by a group calling itself Guardians of Peace.

"I told her how offended I was, I felt it was outrageous," Sharpton told the Gotham tabloid. "She said it didn't reflect her [true feelings]. I told her, when you look at the lack of diversity in Hollywood, and her own company and the context and language [in the emails], how could I not feel offended?"

* Barbara Walters has decreed George Clooney's wife, Amal Alamuddin Clooney, to be 2014's Most Fascinating Person.

But, in her not-so-breathlessly-awaited pronouncement, Walters downplayed the attorney's work as human-rights crusader, proclaiming instead she is the author of one of the "greatest achievements in human history" because she got the longtime bachelor down the aisle.

* It's been a pretty unshabby December for the latest in the never-ending procession of Impossibly Talented Brit Actors.

Yesterday, Eddie Redmayne, being lionized on both sides of the Atlantic for his portrayal of super-genius Stephen Hawking in "The Theory of Everything," exchanged vows with longtime love Hannah Bagshawe.

Us Weekly reports the couple did their knot-tying at the Babington House in Somerset, England, which was done up in a "Winter Wonderland" motif.

* Christina Hendricks, a/k/a the curvaceous Joan Harris on "Mad Men," has been added to the cast of the pilot of "Roadies," which director Cameron Crowe ("Almost Famous") is mounting for Showtime.

Hendricks will play a touring rock band's production manager in the one-hour comedy that co-stars Luke Wilson.

- Daily News wire services contributed to this report.