DAVIS, SAMMY JR.

DAVIS, SAMMY JR. (1923–1990), U.S. singer, dancer, actor. Born in Harlem, New York, to performer Sammy Davis and dancer Elvira Sanchez, Sammy Davis, Jr. began his entertainment career at the age of three. He grew up on the road with his father, who belonged to the touring vaudeville group the Will Mastin Troupe, after his mother abandoned the family in 1928. As motion pictures increasingly killed demand for vaudeville acts, Davis and his father continued alongside Will Mastin in what inevitably become a trio. In 1943, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to boot camp in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he endured violent racism. He was eventually transferred to an entertainment division, which toured military bases around the United States. After his discharge from the service in 1945, Davis rejoined Mastin and his father, headlining with such acts as mel torme , Mickey Rooney, and Frank Sinatra. On November 19, 1954, Davis was nearly killed in an automobile accident that took his left eye and shattered his face. As he recovered in a Los Angeles hospital, Davis began his conversion to Judaism. The publicity following his accident was intense and boosted Davis' career; even the controversy that followed his conversion had little impact. He performed in front of sold-out shows and released his first albums under the Decca label, Starring Sammy Davis, Jr. and Just for Lovers, in 1955. Davis' star climbed higher with the Broadway musical Mr. Wonderful (1956) and the film adaptation of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess (1959). He married Loray White in 1958, but the couple divorced the following year. By 1960, Davis was a superstar. Frank Sinatra made him part of his "Rat Pack" along with Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, and others. He starred with fellow Rat Pack   members in Ocean's Eleven (1960), Sergeants 3 (1962), and Salt and Pepper (1968). His marriage to Swedish actress May Britt in 1960, who was Caucasian, made him a Ku Klux Klan target. In turn, Davis became a staunch supporter of the Black Power movement. B'nai B'rith named him man of the year in 1965, and he received Emmy nominations for The Sammy Davis, Jr. Show (1965) and The Swinging World of Sammy Davis, Jr. (1966). He divorced Britt in 1968 and in 1970 married Altovise Gore. Davis angered the political left in 1972 when he publicly supported Richard Nixon and performed in Vietnam. His Rat Pack drinking and drug abuse caught up with him in 1974, when Davis developed liver and kidney problems that required surgery and several months of rehabilitation. In the 1980s, Davis toured with Sinatra and Liza Minnelli. He made his final film appearance with Gregory Hines in Tap (1989), the same year doctors discovered his throat cancer, which would claim his life one year later. (Adam Wills (2nd ed.)