Sammy David Jr
Samuel George Davis, Jr. was born on December 8, 1925 in Harlem, New York. Sammy was known as a dancer, singer, multi-instrumentalist (playing vibraphone, trumpet, and drums), impressionist, comedian, and actor. His parents were Vaudeville dancers, an influence that soon reached little Sammy.
His parents split up when Sammy was three and his father took him on tour because he feared losing custody of his son. Sammy learned to dance with his father and his adopted uncle, Will Mastin, the head of the troupe for which his father worked.
Sammy joined the act as a child and they were baptized the Will Mastin Trio. He left the trio when during World War II and served in the United States Army, where he faced cruel racial prejudice and was often beaten by white soldiers.
After his army service, he rejoined the Will Mastin Trio as the head of the group and started to achieve success in night clubs and in the early days of television, with his impressions of screen stars and singers.
After a great performance at Ciro’s Nightclub in Hollywood, he signed with Decca Records in 1951. In the same year, he was involved in a serious car accident in which he lost his left eye.
Sammy debuted on Broadway in 1956 in a musical titled "Mr Wonderful." His feature film debut was in 1955 in "The Benny Goodman Story." By then, Sammy already was a successful artist and continued acting in Otto Preminger's "Porgy and Bess" (1959).
In the same year, he became a charter member of the Rat Pack, led by his old friend, Frank Sinatra. Other Rat Pack members included Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, and Shirley Maclaine. Sammy also starred in films such as "Ocean's Eleven" (1960), "Sergeants Three" (1962), "Robin and the Seven Hoods" (1964), "Salt and Pepper" (1968), and giving serious performances in "Anna Lucasta" (1958) and "A Man Called Adam" (1966). He won nominated for a Tony for his powerfully dramatic performance in the 1964 musical version of Clifford Odets' 1930s Group Theater hit, "Golden Boy."
Sammy was a long-time supporter of the civil rights movement and humanitarian causes, as well as a "Renaissance man” of show business. He used to call himself a “multi-minority figure,” since he was a black man, Jewish and handicapped. He had several problems with racism during his life, along with serious problems of heavy drinking and drug use, but his success continued even so.
Sammy returned to the stage in 1978 in a revival of the Anthony Newley-Leslie Bricusse musical "Stop the World, I Want to Get Off," from which his hit song "What Kind of Fool Am I?" had originated.
By the dawn of the 80s, Sammy was suffering from several physical problems, but he never stopped until the 1990s when he developed throat cancer. He could have had surgery, but choose not to because he would lose his voice. He ended up dying as a result of his disease on May 16, 1990.
As for his personal life, in the mid-1950s, Sammy was involved with Kim Novak, who was a valuable star under contract to Columbia Studios. The head of the studio, Harry Cohn called one of the mob bosses, who was asked to tell Sammy that he had to stop the affair with Miss Novak.
In 1960, Davis caused controversy when he married white Swedish-born actress May Britt. The couple had one daughter and adopted two sons. Davis performed almost continuously and spent little time with his wife. They divorced in 1968, after Davis admitted to having had an affair with singer Lola Falana. That year, Davis started dating Altovise Gore, a dancer in "Golden Boy". They were wed in 1970 by Jesse Jackson. They remained married until Davis' death in 1990.