A 2.1 version of the profile of Sammy Davis Jr. (1925-1990) with updated slide segments of the multi-talented legend's history background.

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 Romance
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. In addition The
Rat Pack is highly considered as the pioneers of all Boy Bands.

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 including Lawman and The Rifleman in seasons 4
and 5 in season 4 Sammy portrayed the evil Tin Corey
Then returned as a braggart gunslinger with tall tales in the final
season.

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 2009) 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. Famous Quotations

25. 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.