Sammy Davis Jr.

Recognized for much of his professional life as "the world's greatest living entertainer," Sammy Davis, Jr. stood out as an exceptionally versatile and crowd-pleasing artist who moved with equal skill between acting, singing, dancing, and impersonations, embodying the complete variety performer of the old school. A core member of the legendary Rat Pack, he ranked among the earliest African-American entertainers to win acceptance from audiences across racial lines and endures as an enduring symbol of effortless style. Born in Harlem on December 8, 1925, Davis first appeared onstage at age three alongside his father in Holiday in Dixieland, the Black vaudeville company directed by his unofficial uncle Will Mastin; billed as "Silent Sam, the Dancing Midget," he drew such strong audience response that the act soon became known as Will Mastin's Gang Featuring Little Sammy. At seven he made his screen debut in the classic short Rufus Jones for President, later studying tap under the renowned Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. In 1941 the Mastin Gang supported Tommy Dorsey at Detroit's Michigan Theater, where Davis met Dorsey's vocalist Frank Sinatra, initiating a friendship that lasted the rest of his life.

Davis entered the U.S. Army in 1943 and confronted persistent racism throughout his service; after his discharge the ensemble was retitled the Will Mastin Trio. Three years later they opened for Mickey Rooney, who urged Davis to incorporate his impersonations into the act. The addition of comedy refreshed the group's previously music-only format, and by the early 1950s they were headlining such rooms as New York's Capitol Club and Ciro's in Hollywood. At Sinatra's invitation they also performed at the newly integrated Copacabana in 1952. Davis signed with Decca in 1954 and reached the top of the charts with his first album, Starring Sammy Davis, Jr. Later that year he lost his left eye in a widely reported car accident, yet when he returned to performing in early 1955 he encountered heightened enthusiasm, fueled by hit singles such as "Something's Gotta Give," "Love Me or Leave Me," and "That Old Black Magic." The following year he made his Broadway debut in the musical Mr. Wonderful, completing more than 400 performances and introducing the popular song "Too Close for Comfort."

Davis resumed his film career in 1958 with Anna Lucasta after a twenty-five-year absence and earned acclaim the next year for his role in Porgy and Bess. Also in 1959 he joined the Rat Pack, the informal circle of Sinatra associates that included Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop and regularly appeared together at The Sands in Las Vegas. Their first joint film, Ocean's Eleven, arrived in 1960 and launched a series of knowing, self-referential Rat Pack pictures. While some viewed Davis's participation as a progressive gesture, segments of Black audiences regarded him as a mere token subjected to subtly racist humor and labeled him a sell-out. His earlier conversion to Judaism had likewise provoked debate within the African-American community; the strongest backlash, however, followed his 1960 marriage to Swedish actress May Britt and included death threats. Davis nonetheless remained a major attraction, appearing in the 1962 Rat Pack vehicle Sergeants 3 and scoring a major success with "What Kind of Fool Am I?" Two years later he returned to Broadway in the extended run of Golden Boy, receiving a Tony nomination for his performance.

Robin and the Seven Hoods, the third Rat Pack film, opened in 1964. Following the 1966 release of his autobiography Yes I Can, Davis joined Sinatra and Louis Armstrong among the stars of the jazz drama A Man Called Adam. He and Lawford next teamed in Salt and Pepper in 1968; the comedy succeeded enough to produce the 1970 sequel One More Time. Between those projects Davis delivered one of his most memorable screen turns in Bob Fosse's 1969 musical Sweet Charity and appeared in several television films including The Pigeon, The Trackers, and Poor Devil. In 1972 he topped the pop charts with "The Candy Man" from the motion picture Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Between 1975 and 1977 he hosted the syndicated variety program Sammy and Company, and in 1978 he starred in the film Sammy Stops the World. Throughout the late 1970s and much of the 1980s his visibility declined, limiting him largely to the casino circuit until a 1988 comeback tour alongside Sinatra and Martin met with limited success. His final screen appearance came in the 1989 film Tap, which drew strong praise. A lifelong smoker, Davis died of cancer on May 16, 1990.