A reversion-ed of the Follow-up on the PowerPoint Segment on the life and career of Sammy Davis Jr. (1925-1990) with more details with style and sass.

1. SAMMY DAVIS JR. – A FORCE TO BE
RECKON WITH
BY SUSAN GRAHAM

2. THE EARLY YEARS
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was born on December 8, 1925.
an African American Jewish entertainer. Primarily a dancer and
singer, he was also an actor of stage and screen, musician, and
impressionist, noted for his impersonations of actors, musicians and
other celebrities. At the age of three Davis began his career in
vaudeville with his father and Will Mastin as the Will Mastin Trio,
which toured nationally.
as an only son and the eldest of three children, to Sammy Davis Sr.,
an African-American entertainer, and Elvera Sanchez, a tap dancer
of Afro-Cuban descent. Sammy had two younger sisters Ramona
(who died 2001) and Suzette.

3. STRUGGLES AND TRIUMPH
His official status is Afro-Latino but in addition As an African-American,
Davis was the victim of racism throughout his life and was a large financial
supporter of the Civil Rights movement. Davis had a complex relationship
with the African-American community, and drew criticism after physically
embracing President Richard M. Nixon in 1972. One day on a golf course
with Jack Benny, he was asked what his handicap was. "Handicap?" he
asked. "Talk about handicap — I'm a one-eyed Negro Jew." This was to
become a signature comment, recounted in his autobiography, and in
countless articles
Davis admitted that he was uneducated and never went to school and he
didn’t learn to read or write once he enrolled in the US Army.

4. STRUGGLES AND TRIUMPH
During service in WWII, the Army assigned Davis to an integrated
entertainment Special Services unit and he found that the spotlight
lessened the prejudice. Even prejudiced white men admired and
respected his performances. "My talent was the weapon, the power, the
way for me to fight. It was the one way I might hope to affect a man's
thinking," he said in an interview.
When Davis served in the United States Army during World War II,
however, he was confronted by strong racial prejudice. He later said,
"Overnight the world looked different.

5. MAKIN’ IT TO THE TOP
After his discharge, Davis rejoined the family dance act, which
played at clubs around Portland, Oregon. He began to achieve
success on his own and was singled out for praise by critics,
releasing several albums. This led to Davis being hired to sing the
title track for the Universal Pictures film Six Bridges to Cross in
1954, and later to his starring role in the Broadway play Mr.
Wonderful in 1956.

6. MAKIN IT TO THE TOP - DEFIANCE
Davis nearly died in an automobile accident on November 19, 1954, in
San Bernardino, California, as he was making a return trip from Las
Vegas to Los Angeles. In 1953, he had struck up a friendship with
comedian and host Eddie Cantor, who gave him a mezuzah. Instead of
putting it by his door, as a traditional blessing, Davis would wear it
around his neck as a good luck charm. The only time he forgot it, one
night in 1954, he crashed his car on the way to a gig in California
Davis lost his left eye to the bullet-shaped horn button (a standard
1954-55 Cadillac feature) as a result. His friend, actor Jeff Chandler,
said he would give one of his own eyes if it would keep Davis from
total blindness. Davis wore an eye patch for at least six months
following the accident. He was featured with the patch on the cover of
his debut album and appeared on What's My Line? Wearing the patch.
Later, he was fitted for a glass eye, which he wore for the rest of his
life.

7. CONTROVERSIAL ROMANCES
In 1960, Davis stirred crazy controversy again
when he married white Swedish-born actress
May Britt. Davis received hate mail while
starring in the Broadway musical adaptation of
Golden Boy during 1964–66 (for which he
received a Tony Award nomination for Best
Lead Actor). At the time Davis appeared in the
play, interracial marriages were forbidden by
law in 31 US states (but were entirely legal in
New York), and only in 1967 were those laws
ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme
Court. Davis and Britt had one daughter Tracey
and adopted two sons.

8. RAT PACK REVOLUTION
In 1959, Davis became a member of the famous Rat Pack, led by
his friend Frank Sinatra, which included fellow performers Dean
Martin, Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford, a brother-in-law of John
F. Kennedy. Initially, Sinatra, known formally as capo di tutti,
called the gathering "the Clan", but Davis voiced his opposition,
saying that it reminded people of the Ku Klux Klan. Sinatra
renamed the group "the Summit", but the media referred to them
as the Rat Pack, the name of its earlier incarnation led by
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

9. GOING DRAMATIC
Anna Lucasta (1959 film) a remake of the 1949 version (directed by
Irving Rapper and starring Paulette Goddard), which itself was also an
adaptation of Yordan's 1936 stage play as is the 1959 version. Sammy
portrayed Danny Johnson originated by fellow actor John Ireland from
the 1949 original.
The film was unsuccessful at the box office after United Artists gave it
little promotion and only a limited release. Despite the failure of the
1959 remake many movie fanatics praised Sammy’s performance by
adding his own personality to the character.

10. 1960’S – THE DECADE THAT TOOK CLASSY
OUT
“What Kind of Fool Am I? A popular song written by
Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley and published in
1962. It was introduced by Anthony Newley in the
musical Stop The World - I Want To Get Off.
The song was a Top 20 Pop hit for Sammy Davis,
Jr. in 1962 the year of its publication, peaking at
#17 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and at #6 on
the Billboard Easy Listening chart.

11. 1960’S - THE DECADE THAT TOOK CLASSY
OUT AND TROUBLES BEGIN
In 1964, Davis was starring in Golden Boy at night and shooting his own
New York-based afternoon talk show during the day. When he could get
a day off from the theater, he would be recording new songs in the
studio, or performing live, often at charity benefits as far away as
Miami, Chicago, and Las Vegas, or doing television variety specials in
Los Angeles. Davis knew he was cheating his family of his company, but
he could not help himself; as he later stated, he was incapable of
standing still.

12. THE LATE 1960’S – THE 1970’S
Although he was still a draw in Las Vegas, Davis's musical career
had sputtered by the late 1960s, although he had a No. 11 hit
(#1 on the Easy Listening singles chart) with "I've Gotta Be Me" in
1969. His effort to update his sound and reconnect with younger
people resulted in his signing with the Motown record label.
Though his deal with them to have his own label with the
company fell through, Sammy had an unexpected #1 hit with
"The Candy Man" after he signed with MGM Records in 1972.
Although he did not particularly care for the song and was
chagrined that he was now best known for it, Davis made the
most of his opportunity and revitalized his career.

13. THE 1980’S – THE NEXT PHASE OF REVIVAL
Davis was a fan of daytime soap operas, particularly the shows
produced by the American Broadcasting Company. This led to a cameo
appearance on General Hospital and a recurring role as character Chip
Warren on One Life to Live, for which he received a Daytime Emmy
nomination in 1980.

14. SMOOTH GUNSLINGER
Davis was an enthusiastic shooter and gun owner. He
participated in fast-draw competitions—Johnny Cash recalled
that Sammy was said to be capable of drawing and firing a Colt
Single Action Army revolver in less than a quarter of a second.
Davis was skilled at fast and fancy gun spinning, and appeared
on TV variety shows showing off this skill. He appeared in
Western films and as a guest star on several "Golden Age" T.V.
Westerns.

15. VOICE TYPE AND VOCAL RANGE
Sammy Davis, Jr. was considered a baritone. His voice does have a light warm timbre to it in
which he will be a lyric baritone, but not all singers belonging to the same vocal category
necessarily sound exactly alike or have the exact same ranges. What notes Davis could sing,
I'm not sure. There are several conflicting sources on the internet, and I suspect most of them
are completely wrong. I do know he had a good range, based on both his pop hits and his work
on Broadway (yes, he did Broadway). Many male Broadway roles when he performed could be
played either by baritones with a good top register, or tenors that had good low register. Lot of
the songs in "Stop the World I Want to Get Off, a musical in which he performed to acclaim,
span an octave and a half or more. He would have had to sing these songs night after night
LIVE. He also sang a lot of the songs throughout his career as "signature songs". These songs
don't necessarily start and stop on the same notes, so he would have had to have around 2 1/2
octaves to be able to sing what he did the way he did with no strain whatsoever in any part of
the songs. Now I suspect his range was larger, but again, singers back then were more
concerned about sounding good and not just showing off how low or high they could go.

16. THE FINAL ROLE AND CURTAIN CALL
Tap is a Drama movie from 1989 starring Gregory Hines
(who passed away in 2003) as Max Washington an ex-
con.
This was Sammy Davis, Jr’s.
final film appearance in the movie
during this time he was battling Throat
Cancer.

17. CANCER BATTLE
Earlier between 1988 to 1989, when he was told that
surgery (laryngectomy) offered him the best chance of
survival, Davis replied he would rather keep his voice
than have a part of his throat removed; he subsequently
was treated with a combination of chemotherapy and
radiation

18. THE END OF THE ONE WHO BROKE ALL
RACIAL BARRIERS
Davis succumbs to Throat Cancer and passed away in
Beverly Hills, California, on May 16, 1990 at age 64,
a few weeks prior to his death, his entire
larynx was removed during surgery. He was
interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in
Glendale, California, next to his father and
Will Mastin.

19. THE LEGACY 25 YEARS AFTER HE PASSED
After Davis's death, the debts were transferred to his estate.
Altovise, a former show girl whom Davis met and married in
1970, also became liable for the IRS debt because she had
cosigned Sammy's tax returns. Altovise ( Who Died in 2005) had
apparently been overwhelmed by the complexities of settling
Davis's affairs, a task that requires her cooperation with
Sammy's executors (his lawyer John Climaco and manager
Shirley Rhodes) and the IRS, as well as with dozens of individual
claimants—from Nate and Al's Delicatessen in Beverly Hills
(asking $561.68) to the Riviera Hotel jewelry shop (claiming
$5,804).

20. WELL DESERVED RECOGNITION AFTER 25
YEARS
Sammy Davis Jr. was portrayed by Don Cheadle in the HBO film The Rat Pack, a
television film about the group of entertainers. Cheadle won a Golden Globe
award for his performance.
On later episodes of The Cosby Show, Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby) wore
an "SDjr" pin as a tribute to Davis, who, in its 5th season, made a
guest appearance in the episode "No Way, Baby".
Over the last 2 decades since his passing Sammy Davis Jr. At the 2001
Grammy Awards he was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime
Achievement Award. Also Davis was a subject on Unsung Hollywood
on TVOne in the 2015 season.

21. STYLE AND SASS
Sammy’s style had evolved over the
years from big shoulder suits then to
sweaters with either black or white
shirts under to stage style suits with
the jacket taken off sometimes sleeves
rolled up and cool killer suede boots
(made for walkin’) whenever he pulls
up and killer performance including a
dance move he did it with style
including the twist.
Sammy is highly considered the best
twisters among many others twisting
dancing techniques.

22. SUPER STYLE AND SUPER SASS
In addition to his advantage adding glasses (due
to the car accident that almost ended everything
in 1954) Sammy added super sass to his style
along with the 3-piece suits sometimes with bow
ties and neck ties then loosen (his on-stage
signature) it to relax with crowd filled with fans
brought him the masses not only as a Rat Pack
elite but also the status of Teen Idol in the mid-
late 1950’s due to his early transition from
Vaudeville performer to recording artist
Sammy is also among the oldest Teen Idols in
Teen Idol History.

23. HAIRSTYLE RETROSPECTIVE
From straight, small curl flip on the right side to hair cut trim to small afro. Sammy did it all joining the
ranks of best hairstyle for the boys. In addition the straight hair from the 1950s to the 1960s Sammy was
among the pioneers in the African American Community to help popularize the style along with fellow
singers and groups after him.

24. WE STILL LOVE SAMMY AND WE ARE
THINKING OF HIM
Sammy Davis, Jr. cultivated an entertainment career that incorporated performance through acting both
in the theater and movies, music, and dance. His theatrical, screen, and music credits include:
Theater --
1954, Mr. Wonderful
1964, the Broadway Musical "Golden Boy"
1978, Stop the World—I Want To Get Off.
Movies --
Porgy and Bess.
Music --
1954, "Hey There"
1955, "Somethings Gotta Give", "Love Me Or Leave Me", " That Old Black Magic",
1962, "What Kind of Fool Am I"
1963, "The Shelter of Your Arms"
1968, "I've Gotta Be Me"
1972, "The Candy Man“
Til this day many artists such as Michael Jackson ( Who died in 2009), James Brown (Who Died in 2006)
had look up to Sammy as a major influence. All we know is that Sammy Davis Jr. Is a Pioneer among many
African American singers, actors of today and 25 years later after his death Sammy Davis Jr is now well
praised and we love him and still we are thinking of him today so from us to you Mr. Sammy Davis Jr.
Thank You and R.I.P.