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SAMMY DAVIS JR

 (8 December 1925 – 16 May 1990)
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April 15, 2022: ​The Playlist: Lee Daniels To Direct Dramatic Sammy Davis Jr. Hulu Series Starring Elijah Kelley
​After directing “The United States Vs. Billie Holiday,” Lee Daniels is returning to the world of period biopics with a new dramatic series focused on singer/actor Sammy Davis Jr., one of the most charismatic and accessible black entertainers of the last century.
July 8, 2021: Jewelry Outlook:  ​Jewelry formerly owned by Sammy Davis Jr offered in Bonhams California jewels sale
​A selection of fantastic 1970s jewels formerly in the collection of Sammy Davis Jr. stars in the Bonhams California Jewels sale on Tuesday, July 20, 2021.
A rare mid-century collection of Art Smith jewelry will also be available alongside beautiful, signed jewelry and gemstones, including an 8.90-carat certified Colombian emerald and diamond ring (estimate: $35,000-55,000).
Dec 20, 2020: New York Post: ​Inside the original Rat Pack and the legacy its members left behind
“Al wanted a mega-act to put Vegas on the map,” Lertzman said. “Frank loved the idea and started assembling a group. He had done the movie ‘Some Came Running’ with Dean Martin and thought it would be good to work with him again. Sammy Davis Jr. had just lost an eye in a car accident and Frank wanted to back him. Then he needed a journeyman comic who would not suck air out of the room: In came Joey Bishop. Peter Lawford was married to Patricia Kennedy, and Sinatra was drawn to the Kennedy family’s power.”
Dec 2, 2020: Variety: ​Sammy Davis Jr.’s 1967 Guest Column: Facing Racism and Overcoming ‘Second-Class Citizenship’
The public often assumes that if celebrities are rich and famous, their lives must be trouble-free. Actually, lots of showbiz horror stories negate that, but they’re usually about addiction and/or self-destruction. In 1967, Sammy Davis Jr. offered an insightful guest column about the everyday problems that he and others faced as Black people in America.
July 30, 2020: Women & Hollywood: Janet Mock to Direct “Scandalous!” Pic About Kim Novak and Sammy Davis Jr.’s Relationship
​Janet Mock will return to Old Hollywood with her next project. The “Hollywood” writer-director-producer will reunite with Jeremy Pope, the Netflix series’ newly-Emmy-nominated star, for “Scandalous!,” a drama about Kim Novak and Sammy Davis Jr.’s love affair. Pope will portray the latter. Mock will also punch up Matthew Fantaci’s original script, Deadline reports.
July 30, 2020: Entertainment Weekly: Hollywood Emmy nominee Jeremy Pope to star as Sammy Davis Jr. in film directed by Janet Mock
​Fresh off Jeremy Pope's Emmy nomination for his performance in Ryan Murphy's Hollywood, the actor is teaming up with the show's writer/director/executive producer Janet Mock to tell the story of Sammy Davis Jr.'s love affair with actress Kim Novak, EW has learned.
July 17, 2020: Vanity Fair: ​Everything’s Swinging: Sammy Davis Jr.’s First 35 Years
​In Yes I Can: The Story of Sammy Davis, Jr., the Rat Packer told his incredible life story—from his uneasy friendship with James Dean to the accident that took his left eye.
March 10, 2020: South China Morning Post: ​Why supercool Sammy Davis Jr loved Hong Kong: ‘it has the finest tailors in the world’
​“American Negro singer Sammy Davis Junior is to give a one-night concert in Hongkong on Wednesday March 11 – and it is hoped that 14,000 people will turn out to see ‘Mr Wonderful’ perform,” reported the South China Morning Post on February 13, 1970.
Davis had been booked by Australian nightclub owner John Harrigan, who said “he didn’t mind ‘too much’ if the Hongkong concert lost money”.
Feb 8, 2022: ​Broadway Buzz: Celebrating Black History Month: Ben Vereen Honors Sammy Davis Jr.
​Vereen crossed paths with Davis on Fosse’s Sweet Charity, where Davis played Big Daddy. Born in 1925 to vaudevillian Sammy Davis Sr. and tap dancer Elvera Sanchez, Davis began performing on stage with his father and uncle, Will Mastin, at the age of three. After serving in the army during World War II, Davis built a wildly successful career as a consummate entertainer, singer, dancer, comedian, musician and nightclub performer. He appeared on Broadway four times, as the star of Mr. Wonderful (1956), Golden Boy (1964)—which earned him a Tony nomination--Sammy (1974), and Stop the World—I Want to Get Off (1978). Davis is most remembered for his nightclub residencies in Las Vegas, where he became a member of the Rat Pack alongside Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. The trio appeared in a number of films together, including Ocean’s Eleven (1960), Sergeants 3, (1963) and Robin and the 7 Hoods (1964). Davis died of complications from cancer in 1990 at the age of 64.
Aug 19, 2017: Smithsonian Magazine: Hollywood Loved Sammy Davis Jr. Until He Dated a White Movie Star 
A decade before the Supreme Court ruled in favor of interracial marriage, the Rat Packer risked losing his career—and his life
Aug 18, 2014: ABC News: ​Why JFK Refused to Let Sammy Davis Jr. Perform at White House
​ Sammy Davis Jr. was at the height of his stardom in 1961 when he and close friend Frank Sinatra campaigned to elect President John F. Kennedy, but after Davis married Swedish actress May Britt, Kennedy refused to let him perform at his inauguration, Davis’ daughter claims in a new book.
The entertainer's daughter with Britt, Tracey Davis, reveals the Kennedy snub and more in her new book, "Sammy Davis Jr.: A Personal History with My Father," based on conversations with her father in his final months before he died in 1990.

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1956, Picturegoer Magazine highlighted Sammy’s song “It’s Alright With Me” from his Decca album “Just For Lovers.”
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Ebony Magazine 1976
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LIFE MAGAZINE FEB 4 1966
​(8 December 1925 – 16 May 1990)

He was born in Harlem, Manhattan, the son of dancer Elvera Davis (née Sanchez) and vaudeville star Sammy Davis Sr.. His father was African-American and his mother was of Cuban and African-American ancestry. Davis Jr. was known as someone who could do it all, sing, dance, play instruments, act, do stand-up and he was known for his self-deprecating humor; he once heard someone complaining about discrimination, and he said, "You got it easy. I'm a short, ugly, one-eyed, black Jew. What do you think it's like for me?" (he had converted to Judaism).

n 1943, at the height of World War II, Davis’s career was interrupted when he was drafted into the Army. During his service, he directly experienced horrendous racial prejudice that his father had previously protected him from. He was constantly harassed and physically abused by white soldiers, with his fellow servicemen breaking his nose. But Davis eventually found refuge in an entertainment regiment, where he discovered that performing allowed him a certain measure of safety and a desire to earn even a hateful audience member's love.
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