Frank Sinatra played Detective Joe Leland from the novel "The Detective" by
Roderick Thorp. Thorp wrote a sequel ("Nothing Lasts Forever") in which Leland is trapped in a Claxxon Oil Corporation skyscraper after it's taken by German terrorists and must rescue his daughter and grandchildren. Twenty years later the novel was filmed with some changes: the daughter became his wife, Claxxon became the Nakatomi Corporation, Joe Leland's name was changed to John McClane, and the film was released under the title
Die Hard (1988). Because of a clause in Sinatra's contract for "The Detective," which gave him the right to reprise his role in a sequel, he was actually the first person offered the McClane role even though he was 73 years old at the time. Also, coincidentally,
Bruce Willis (who played McClane) made his movie debut in
The First Deadly Sin (1980), walking out of a bar as Sinatra walked in. Additionally, Lloyd Bochner played Dr. Wendell Roberts in this movie. His son,
Hart Bochner, played Harry Ellis in
Die Hard (1988). Finally, Jacqueline Bisset's then partner, Alexander Godunov, played a villain in Die Hard.
