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| Sammy Davis, Jr. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Samuel George Davis, Jr. December 8, 1925 Harlem, New York, U.S. |
| Died | May 16, 1990 (aged 64) Beverly Hills, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Singer, tap dancer, actor, musician |
| Years active | 1928–1990 |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Spouse(s) | Loray White (1958-1959) May Britt (1960-1968) Altovise Davis (1970-1990) |
| Children | Tracey (b. 1961) Mark (b. 1964) Jeff (b. 1965) Manny (b. 1988) |
| Parents | Sammy Davis, Sr. (father) Elvera Sanchez (mother) |
| Website sammydavis-jr.com | |
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis, Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16,
1990) was
an American entertainer.
Primarily a dancer and singer, Davis was a childhood vaudevillian,
and became
internationally famous for his performances on Broadway and in Las
Vegas, as a recording artist, television and film star, and the only
black
member of Frank
Sinatra's "Rat Pack".
At the age of three Davis began his career in vaudeville with his
father and "uncle" as the Will Mastin Trio,
toured nationally, and after military service, returned to the trio.
Davis
became an overnight sensation following a well received nightclub
performance at
Ciro's after the 1951 Academy
Awards, with the trio, became a recording artist, and made his first
film
performances as an adult later that decade. Losing his left eye in a car
accident in 1954, he converted to Judaism and appeared in the first Rat Pack movie, Ocean's
Eleven, in 1960. After
a starring role on Broadway in 1956's Mr
Wonderful, Davis returned to the
stage in 1964's Golden Boy,
and in 1966 had his own TV
variety show, The Sammy Davis Jr. Show. Davis's career slowed in
the late
sixties, but he scored a hit record with "The Candy Man", in
1972, and became a star
attraction in Las Vegas.
As an African-American, Davis was the victim of racism throughout his
life,
and was a large financial supporter of various civil rights causes.
Davis had a
complex relationship with the black community, and attracted criticism
after
physically embracing Richard Nixon in 1970. One day on a golf course
with Jack Benny, he was
asked what his
handicap was. "Handicap?" he asked. "Talk about handicap — I'm a
one-eyed Negro
Jew."[1][2] This was to
become a signature comment, recounted in his autobiography, and in
countless
articles.[3]
After reuniting with Sinatra and Dean Martin in 1987,
Davis toured with them and Liza Minnelli internationally, before dying of throat cancer in 1990. He died heavily
in debt
to the Internal
Revenue Service, and his
estate was the subject of complicated legal battles.
Davis was awarded the Spingarn Medal by
the NAACP,
and was nominated for a Golden Globe and an
Emmy
Award for his television performances. He was
the recipient of the Kennedy Center
Honors in 1987, and in
2001, he was posthumously awarded the Grammy
Lifetime Achievement
Award.