Frankie Burke, Bed-Stuy Heartthrob
by Sherry Post
Francis Vaselle Aiello came into this world on a hot, muggy Sunday the sixth day of June, only 15 years into the 20th Century. World War 1 was raging on in Europe, a huge upset in the New York sports world had occurred when the Chicago Cubs beat the New York Giants 8-6 and there was a large earthquake in shaky 'ole San Francisco. It's unknown how long Marie (Visalla) Aiello labored as her husband Carmello and their four other children - Richard, Jennie, Helen and Clara - waited with anticipation for the newest addition 
to their family inside of their apartment at 512 Flushing Avenue in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York, but bringing this special human being into this life must not have been easy for her. Though every child is a precious gift, especially to their parents, I don't think anyone knew just how special this particular child was to become.
He attended P.S. (Public School) number 25 elementary school on Throop Street - a few long blocks away for a little guy. I can almost see little Frankie, trudging through the ice and snow during one of those sometimes brutal New York winters, walking to school in nappy wool knickers, long stockings with button-top boots, sporting a little newsboys cap and carrying his books with a buckled leather strap. He would probably be wearing his older brother Richard's hand-me-down wool coat, since his father was a tailor and could have fitted it for him.
Older, Frankie attended Alexander Hamilton High School, 150 Albany Avenue, some distance further from home. It is assumed that Frankie graduated, since he had plenty of time at home to do so. Some Hollywood press claimed that Frankie left home at 14, which is false. Frankie was a private guy - he probably didn't want the world knowing his business (which makes me feel sort of guilty for publishing this bio. But it's okay, Frankie - I'm not telling them everything). Also the fact that Carmello was a tough man, holding high standards for his family. Maybe a little too tough, sometimes, but I imagine it wasn't easy holding down a business, taking care of five children after Marie passed into the hands of God when little Frankie was just a boy.
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