Biography for
Sammy Davis Jr. More at IMDb Pro »

Date of Birth

8 December 1925, Harlem, New York, USA

Date of Death

16 May 1990, Beverly Hills, California, USA (complications from throat cancer)

Nickname

Smoky

Height

5' 5" (1.65 m)

Mini Biography

Sammy Davis Jr. was often billed as the "greatest living entertainer in the world". The son of vaudeville star Sammy Davis Sr., he was known as someone who could do it all--sing, dance, play instruments, act, do stand-up--and he was known for his self-deprecating humor; he once heard someone complaining about discrimination, and he said, "You got it easy. I'm a short, ugly, one-eyed, black Jew. What do you think it's like for me?" A short stint in the army opened his eyes to the evils of racism--a slight man, he was often beaten up by bigger white soldiers and given the dirtiest and most dangerous assignments by white officers simply because he was black--and he helped break down racial barriers in show business in the 1950s and 1960s, especially in Las Vegas, where he often performed; when he started there in the early 1950s, he was not allowed to stay in the hotels he played in, as they refused to take blacks as customers. He also stirred up a large amount of controversy in the 1960s by openly dating, and ultimately marrying, blonde, blue-eyed, Swedish-born actress May Britt.

He starred in the Broadway musical "Golden Boy" in the 1960s. Initially a success, internal tensions, production problems and bad reviews--many of them directed at Davis for playing a role originally written for a white man--resulted in its closing fairly quickly. His film and nightclub career were in full swing, however, and he became even more famous as one of the "Rat Pack", a group of free-wheeling entertainers that included Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford.

A chain smoker, Davis died from throat cancer at the age of 64. When he died, he was in debt. To pay for Davis' funeral, most of his memorabilia was sold off.

IMDb Mini Biography By: rocknrollunderdawg

Spouse

Altovise Davis	(11 May 1970 - 16 May 1990) (his death)
May Britt	(13 November 1960 - 19 December 1968) (divorced) 1 child
Loray White	(10 January 1958 - 23 April 1959) (divorced)

Trade Mark

His glass eye (the left eye)

Trivia

TV composer Morton Stevens ("Hawaii Five-O" (1968), "Police Woman" (1974)) was Davis' musical director between 1950 and 1960 before moving into television music composing. He then returned as music director for Sammy, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Liza Minnelli in the late 1980s.

Singer/dancer/actor.

Member of the "Rat Pack" with Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop. All appear in Ocean's Eleven (1960).

Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California, USA, Garden of Honor, next to his father Sammy Davis Sr..

Son of Sammy Davis Sr. and Elvera Davis.

Starred in the 1964 Broadway Musical "Golden Boy" for which he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor (Musical) in 1965; he lost to Zero Mostel for "Fiddler on the Roof." "Golden Boy" also featured many then unknown or relatively unknown talents such as Roy Glenn who later portrayed the father of John Prentice/Sidney Poitier in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967); other talents included then very young performers Lola Falana, Louis Gossett Jr., who later won an Oscar for his performance in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982); and Johnny Brown who is best remembered for his portrayal of "Nathan 'Buffalo Butt' Bookman" on the popular television sitcom "Good Times" (1974). A then unknown performer named Ben Vereen was Davis' understudy in "Golden Boy."

Always articulate, he never attended school of any kind; performing since the age of five, he was largely self-taught.

He lost his left eye in a car crash when he was his way to record the theme song for the Tony Curtis film, Six Bridges to Cross (1955). He wore an eyepatch for sometime after that, but Humphrey Bogart ultimately convinced him to unmask when he told him that he didn't want to be known as the kid with the eyepatch.

Smoked 4 packs of cigarettes a day during his lifetime.

Long-time friend Bill Cosby wore a small button with the letters "SD" on episodes of "The Cosby Show" (1984) after his death in 1990 as a tribute.

During his childhood as a vaudeville entertainer, he often appeared in states and cities with strict child labor laws. To get around these laws, he was billed as "Silent Sammy, the Dancing Midget", and conspiciously walked around backstage with a rubber cigar in his mouth and a woman on each arm.

His mother, Elvera Davis, was born Elvera Sanchez, of Puerto Rican ancestry.

Died the same day as Jim Henson.

Once took Donald Rumsfeld to visit Elvis Presley after one of his concerts in Las Vegas.

Was given a gift, of a black sapphire ring, by Elvis Presley , who told him, "This is the biggest black star I've seen, so I'm giving it to the biggest black star I know."

He was a regular at many of Elvis Presley's concerts in Las Vegas.

Filmed a cameo appearance for the James Bond movie Diamonds Are Forever (1971). The scene was ultimately cut, but can be seen in the DVD of the movie.

In 1972, Davis told his manager he wanted to leave Reprise Records but was informed that he was obligated to record one more song for the label before he would be able to leave. He showed up at the recording studio neither knowing nor caring what song he was to record, just wanting to get it over with so he could get out of his contract. Producer Mike Curb handed him the lyrics to a song that had been recorded by another singer but that Curb wasn't satisfied with. Davis looked at it, pronounced it to be the stupidest song he had ever seen and predicted that it wouldn't sell a single copy, but agreed to do it in order to fulfill his contract. The song was "Candy Man," which turned out to be the biggest hit record of his career and the one song he will always be identified with (and the song wasn't, as has been long rumored, about cocaine. Davis did have a cocaine problem at the time he recorded it, which led to the rumors, but he wasn't the first singer to record the song, which was from the soundtrack of a children's movie and was about exactly what it said it was about--candy).

Father of Mark Davis.

He and the other members of the Rat Pack were banned from Marilyn Monroe's funeral by Joe DiMaggio

Described himself as "a one-eyed Jewish Negro."

Was a acquaintance of Ron Perlman.

Was the childhood idol of director Tim Burton, who wanted to cast him as the title character in Beetle Juice (1988), but Warner Bros. ultimately refused.

According to the "Fastest Gun Who Ever Lived," Bob Munden, Davis was the second-fastest draw in Hollywood, trailing only Jerry Lewis. Davis presented Munden with a customized Colt Peacemaker in recognition of Munden's skill after they appeared together on "The Mike Douglas Show" (1961).

Father of Tracey Davis, who co-wrote the book: "Sammy Davis Jr.: My Father" with Delores Barclay.

Despite being 64 at the time of his death, he was survived by his mother Elvera Sanchez (1905-2000) and his grandmother, Elvera's mother Luisa (who died in 1996 at 112).

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 235-237. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.

Portrayed by Don Cheadle in The Rat Pack (1998) (TV). Cheadle went on to appear in the remake, Ocean's Eleven (2001).

Had a relationship with Kim Novak in the 1950s.

When he married Swedish actress May Britt in 1960, unions between whites and non-whites were still banned in 30 US-states.

Converted to Judaism in the 1950s.

Shortly before his death surgeons removed his voice box in a larengectomy, but the cancer had spread.

Campaigned for Richard Nixon in the 1972 presidential election.

Inducted into the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2005.

Personal Quotes

Being a star has made it possible for me to get insulted in places where the average Negro could never hope to get insulted.

[when asked what his golf handicap was] My handicap? Man, I am a one-eyed black Jew! THAT'S my handicap!

I'm colored, Jewish and Puerto Rican. When I move into a neighborhood, I wipe it out!

You have to be able to look back at your own life and say, "Yeah, that was fun." The only person I ever hurt was myself and even that I did to the minimum. If you can do that and you're still functioning, you're the luckiest person in the world.

I'm 64 years old, but I feel I've lived the life of a person at 164.

[on Richard Burton] There is nothing he can't do. He is a wonder and a joy to watch.

[on Laurence Olivier] If you had to worship something mortal on Earth, I would go and bow twice a day to wherever Olivier was standing.

Salary

Ocean's Eleven (1960)	$125,000
Anna Lucasta (1959)	$50,000

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