Paul V. Coates – Confidential File, July 19, 1960

July 19, 1960: Paul Coates talks to Father Dismas Clark, founder of Dismas House in St. Louis, a halfway house for ex-convicts. "Christ himself is an ex-convict," Dismas says. "Square people don't like to hear that."

Comments

[Chris Morales]

There is a historic footnote to Dismas House. The only filmed appearance of The Rat Pack took place in St. Louis in 1965.

The show was broadcast via closed circuit to theatre audiences across the U.S.

Frank Sinatra was a big supporter and he gathered up Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. to join him (along with a young M.C. named Johnny Carson) onstage for a performance to benefit Dismas House.

The tape of the show was put away and re-discovered in a closet about 10 years ago; great fun and a relic of history.

According to Google, Dismas House is still going strong too!