Sammy Davis, Jr.

Entertainer

• Born: December 8, 1925
• Birthplace: Harlem, New York
• Died: May 16, 1990
• Place of death: Beverly Hills, California

Davis’s career was notable not only for his extraordinary talent as a singer, dancer, actor, and impersonator but also for his successful efforts to bring integration and religious tolerance to the entertainment industry.

Early Life

Samuel George Davis, Jr., was born on December 8, 1925. His parents were Sammy Davis, Sr., an African American, and Elvera Sanchez, a Puerto Rican. Both were performers in a traveling vaudeville troupe, Will Mastin’s Holiday in Dixieland, which comprised seven men and seven women. When Davis was born, he was cared for until the age of two by his paternal grandmother, then became part of his parents’ vaudeville act. Because of child labor laws, he was sometimes billed as forty-four-year old “Silent Sam the Dancing Midget.”

With his exceptional talent as a singer, dancer, and mime, Davis was an asset to the vaudeville troupe. When his parents separated, his father gained custody and kept him performing. Consequently, Davis never went to school and picked up only rudimentary reading skills during his early life. In those years, however, he mastered many skills as an entertainer: impressions, musicianship (he played several instruments), tap dancing, comedy, and singing. At the age of seven, he was cast in a short film, Rufus Jones for President, with singer-actorEthel Waters.

During the Great Depression, films began to reduce the popularity of vaudeville. Will Mastin’s Holiday in Dixieland was downsized to the Will Mastin Trio, comprising Mastin, Davis, and Davis’s father. The trio performed until 1943, when Davis was inducted into the U.S. Army. His Army years were difficult: For the first time, he was exposed to the racism that was rampant in America at the time. He got in many fights with white soldiers in the integrated barracks in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he was sent for basic training. His nose was broken twice in such altercations. Relief came in the form of an African American sergeant, who took a liking to Davis and helped him with his reading, lending him books in an attempt to distract him from his anger and humiliation. Eventually, Davis was transferred to a special services entertainment regiment, where he performed for his fellow soldiers. Davis realized his talent could be used to fight racism and discrimination.

In the years immediately following World War II, Davis was the featured performer with the Will Mastin Trio and toured for six months with Mickey Rooney. In 1945, they played a three-week engagement in a bill with Frank Sinatra at the New York Capital Theater. As the trio grew more popular, they were booked in a Bob Hope benefit show, at Ciro’s in Hollywood, on Eddie Cantor’s television show The Colgate Comedy Hour, and at the Copacabana in New York. Davis began including celebrity impressions in his performances and soon became the trio’s clear headliner. Davis’s father and Mastin simply provided background tap dancing and soft-shoe routines. It was inevitable that Davis would become a solo performer.

Life’s Work

In 1946, Metronome magazine named Sammy Davis, Jr., its “Most Outstanding New Personality.” By 1951, he had fully launched his solo career, opening in the famous Ciro’s nightclub for actor-singer Janis Paige on the night of the Academy Awards. He made his first solo album, Starring Sammy Davis, Jr., in 1954 for Decca Records, followed by the well-received Just for Lovers (1955). Both albums increased his visibility and popularity.

In 1954, Davis was driving to California from Las Vegas when he had an automobile accident that left his facial bones fractured and cost him his left eye. During his lengthy convalescence, he began his conversion to Judaism. When he recovered, he was in great demand to perform at clubs all over the country. He went back to work, with an eye patch and a battered face, more popular than ever.

During the 1950’s, even though Davis was a headliner at such venues as the Frontier Casino, he was not allowed stay at any of the hotels on the Las Vegas Strip. There were no accommodations for black performers—no dressing rooms and no lounge where they could relax between sets. They could not gamble in the casinos or eat and drink in the hotel restaurants or bars. As Davis’s celebrity grew, however, he found he had the power to refuse to work in venues that practicedracial discrimination. It was largely because of his efforts that the nightclubs in Las Vegas and Miami Beach eventually integrated. Davis was particularly proud of this accomplishment. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) awarded him the Spingarn Medal in 1968 for his efforts to fight racism.

The 1950’s were triumphant years for Davis. In 1955, he acted in a film, The Benny Goodman Story, playing musician Fletcher Henderson. In 1958, he played a bigger, more dramatic role in the film Anna Lucasta. His most critically praised film role was as Sportin’ Life in the 1959 film Porgy and Bess. In 1956, Davis had his Broadway debut, starring in a role tailored for him in Mr. Wonderful. The show ran for 383 performances. Davis made thirteen recordings during the decade for Decca Records, including tracks from Mr. Wonderful and from Porgy and Bess.

In 1959, Davis became a member of the “Rat Pack,” an informal group of entertainers headed by his friend Sinatra. The fast-living group regularly performed together in Las Vegas clubs. Davis was the Rat Pack’s only African American member.

The 1960’s were even more successful. Davis recorded more than twenty albums for the Decca, Reprise, and Verve record companies. He made twelve films during the decade, including three with his fellow Rat Pack members: Ocean’s Eleven (1960), Sergeants Three (1962), and Robin and the Seven Hoods (1964). He received a Tony nomination for his role in the Broadway production of Clifford Odets’s play Golden Boy (1964), which had been adapted as a musical. He played himself on The Patty Duke Show on television in 1965 and on I Dream of Jeannie in 1967. In collaboration with writers Burt and Jane Boyar, he wrote his first autobiography, Yes, I Can (1965).

While Davis’s career had surged, his personal life was less successful. Davis had been married in 1958-1959 to a young African American dancer named Loray White. Rumors at the time suggested that the marriage was arranged by Hollywood studio executives concerned that Davis’s romantic relationship with white actor Kim Novak, one of the film industry’s up-and-coming stars, would jeopardize her commercial viability. Davis’s marriage to White eliminated that concern, but it lasted barely a year.

When Davis married Swedish actor May Britt, there was a racial backlash severe enough to require them to hire bodyguards and rarely go out in public together. A daughter, Tracey, was born in 1961, and two sons, Mark and Jeff, were adopted in 1964 and 1965. While Davis pursued his career and civil rights efforts, his family life suffered. His performance schedule and Rat Pack commitments took him away from home so much that he and Britt divorced in 1968. He married African American dancer Altovise Gore in 1970; that marriage lasted until his death in 1990. He and his wife adopted another son, Manny.

Davis’s busy performance schedule, his many involvements in commercial and civic endeavors, and a lifestyle filled with drugs and alcohol led to many serious health problems. Liver and kidney ailments sent him to a hospital for several months. In 1974, he suffered a heart attack. In 1985, he had reconstructive hip surgery. In 1989, he contracted throat cancer and underwent radiation treatment that led to a brief remission. Davis refused surgery because it would have rendered him unable to speak. When it became obvious that his condition would not improve, his friends put on a television special to honor him. He died a few weeks later, on May 16, 1990, and the lights on the Las Vegas Strip were darkened for ten minutes, a memorial gesture previously made only after the deaths of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Significance

Aside from being a phenomenally talented performer, Davis was a hardworking professional who used his popularity to open doors for other African American performers. He was an important force in fostering racial and religious tolerance in the entertainment industry. His support of civil rights and humanitarian causes is often linked to the many advances African American performers made in the years during and after his half-century-long career. Davis received many awards and honors, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2001), induction into the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame (2008), the 1989 NAACP Image Award, the 1968 NAACP Spingarn Medal, and a 1987 Kennedy Center Honor.

Bibliography

Birkbeck, Matt. Deconstructing Sammy: Music, Money, and Madness. New York: HarperCollins, 2009. Details Davis’s life and career, as well as his financial troubles, mob connections, political friendships, and what happened to his estate.

Fishgall, Gary. Gonna Do Great Things: The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr. New York: Scribner, 2003. A chronological survey of Davis’s life, with anecdotes from friends.

Haygood, Wil. On Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr. New York: Billboard Books, 2005. Discusses how Davis’s early life with his grandmother and father may have contributed to his confusion about his role as a black man and his desire not only to be white but also to be loved and the center of attention.

Levy, Shawn. Rat Pack Confidential. New York: Doubleday, 1998. Discusses the members of the Rat Pack with some attention to Davis’s “lifelong struggle against racism.”