Sammy Davis Jr. | |
|---|---|
 Davis in 1972 | |
| Born | Samuel George Davis Jr. (1925-12-08)December 8, 1925 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | May 16, 1990(1990-05-16) (aged 64) |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1928–1990[1] |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4 |
| Parents | |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instruments |
|
| Labels | |
| Formerly of | Rat Pack |
Musical artist | |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | United States Army |
| Service years | 1944–1945 |
| Rank | Private |
| Unit | |
| War | World War II |
| Website | sammydavisjr |
Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, actor, comedian, dancer, and musician.
At age four, Davis began his career inVaudeville with his fatherSammy Davis Sr. and theWill Mastin Trio, which toured nationally, and his film career began in 1933. After military service, Davis returned to the trio and produced nightclub performances atCiro's (inWest Hollywood) in 1951, including one after theAcademy Awards ceremony. With the trio, he became a recording artist. In 1954, at the age of 29, he lost his left eye in a car accident. Several years later, heconverted to Judaism, finding commonalities between the oppression experienced both by black Americans and Jewish communities.[2] In 1958, he faced a backlash for his involvement with a white woman at a time when interracial relationships were taboo in the U.S. and wheninterracial marriage was not legalized nationwide until 1967.[3]
Davis had a starring role onBroadway inMr. Wonderful withChita Rivera (1956). In 1960, he appeared in theRat Pack filmOcean's 11. He returned to the stage in 1964 in a musical adaptation ofClifford Odets'sGolden Boy. Davis was nominated for aTony Award for his performance. The show featured the first interracial kiss on Broadway.[4] In 1966, he had his own TV variety show, titledThe Sammy Davis Jr. Show. While Davis's career slowed in the late 1960s, his biggest hit, "The Candy Man", reached the top of theBillboard Hot 100 in June 1972, and he became a star in Las Vegas, earning him the nickname "Mister Show Business".[5] Davis's popularity helped break the race barrier of thesegregated entertainment industry.[6] One day on a golf course withJack Benny, he was asked what hishandicap was. "Handicap?" he asked. "Talk about handicap. I'm a one-eyedNegro who's Jewish."[7][8] This was to become a signature comment.[9]
After reuniting withFrank Sinatra andDean Martin in 1987, Davis toured with them andLiza Minnelli internationally, before his death in 1990. He died in debt to theInternal Revenue Service,[10] and his estate was the subject of legal battles after the death of his wife.[11] Davis Jr.'s final album, thecountry-influencedClosest of Friends (1982), was a departure from his usual musical style.[12] Davis was awarded theSpingarn Medal by theNAACP and was nominated for aGolden Globe Award and anPrimetime Emmy Award for his television performances. He was a recipient of theKennedy Center Honors in 1987, and in 2001, he was posthumously awarded theGrammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2017, Davis was inducted into theNational Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.
Davis was born on December 8, 1925, in theHarlem district ofManhattan in New York City, the son ofAfrican American entertainer and stage performerSammy Davis Sr. (1900–1988) andCuban-Americantap dancer and stage performerElvera Sanchez (1905–2000).[13] During his lifetime, Davis stated that his mother was Puerto Rican and born inSan Juan. However, in the 2003 biographyIn Black and White, authorWil Haygood wrote that Davis's mother was born in New York City to Cuban parents who were ofAfro-Cuban background, and that Davis claimed he was Puerto Rican because he feared anti-Cuban backlash would hurt his record sales.[14][15]
Davis's parents were vaudeville dancers. As an infant, he was reared by his paternal grandmother. When he was three years old, his parents separated. His father, not wanting to lose custody of his son, took him on tour. Davis learned to dance from his father and his godfatherWill Mastin. Davis joined the act as a child, and they became theWill Mastin Trio. Throughout his career, Davis included the Will Mastin Trio in his billing. Mastin and his father shielded him from racism, for example by dismissing race-based snubs as jealousy. However, when Davis served in theUnited States Army during World War II, he was confronted by strong prejudice. He later said: "Overnight the world looked different. It wasn't one color any more. I could see the protection I'd gotten all my life from my father and Will. I appreciated their loving hope that I'd never need to know about prejudice and hate, but they were wrong. It was as if I'd walked through a swinging door for 18 years, a door which they had always secretly held open."[16] At age seven, Davis played the title role in the filmRufus Jones for President, in which he sang and danced withEthel Waters.[17] He lived for several years in Boston'sSouth End and reminisced years later about "hoofing and singing" atIzzy Ort's Bar & Grille.[18]
In 1944, duringWorld War II, Davis was drafted into theU.S. Army at age 18.[19] He was frequently abused by white soldiers from the South and later recounted: "I must have had a knockdown, drag-out fight every two days." His nose was broken numerous times and permanently flattened. At one point he was offered a beer laced with urine.[6]
He was reassigned to the Army'sSpecial Services branch, which put on performances for troops.[20] At one show he found himself performing in front of soldiers who had previously racially abused him.[19] Davis, who earned theAmerican Campaign Medal andWorld War II Victory Medal, was discharged in 1945 with the rank of private.[19] He later said, "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."[21]
While in Paris in September 1944, he found himself being introduced and guided around the city by theFrench resistance fighter and left-wing journalist,Madeleine Riffaud.[22]
Following his discharge from the Army, Davis rejoined the family dance act, which played at clubs aroundPortland, Oregon. He also recordedblues songs forCapitol Records in 1949 under the pseudonyms Shorty Muggins and Charlie Green.[23]
In March 1951, the Will Mastin Trio appeared atCiro's as the opening act for headlinerJanis Paige. They were to perform for only 20 minutes, but the reaction from the celebrity-filled crowd was so enthusiastic, especially when Davis launched into his impressions, that they performed for nearly an hour, and Paige insisted the order of the show be flipped.[6] Davis began to achieve success on his own and was singled out for praise by critics, releasing several albums.[24]
In 1953, Davis was offered his own television show onABC,Three for the Road—with the Will Mastin Trio.[25][26][27] The network spent $20,000 filming the pilot, which presented African Americans as struggling musicians, notslapstick comedy or the stereotypicalmammy roles of the time. The cast includedFrances Davis, who was the first black ballerina to perform for theParis Opera, actressesRuth Attaway andJane White, andFrederick O'Neal, who founded theAmerican Negro Theater. The network could not get a sponsor, so the show was dropped.[27]
In 1954, Davis was hired to sing the title song for theUniversal Pictures filmSix Bridges to Cross.[28][29] In 1956, he starred in the Broadway musicalMr. Wonderful, which was panned by critics but was a commercial success, closing after 383 performances.[30]
In 1958, Davis was hired to crown the winner of the MissCavalcade of Jazz beauty contest for the famed fourteenthCavalcade of Jazz concert produced byLeon Hefflin Sr., held at the Shrine Auditorium on August 3. The other headliners wereLittle Willie John,Sam Cooke,Ernie Freeman, andBo Rhambo. The event featured the top four prominent disc jockeys of Los Angeles.[31][32]
In 1959, Davis became a member of theRat Pack, led by his friendFrank Sinatra, which included fellow performersDean Martin,Joey Bishop, andPeter Lawford, a brother-in-law ofJohn F. Kennedy. Initially, Sinatra called the gathering "the Clan", but Davis voiced his opposition, saying that it reminded people of theKu Klux Klan. Sinatra renamed the group "the Summit". One long night of poker that went on into the early morning saw the men drunken and disheveled. AsAngie Dickinson approached the group, she said, "You all look like a pack of rats." The nickname caught on, and they were then called the Rat Pack, the name of the earlier group led byHumphrey Bogart and his wife,Lauren Bacall, who originally made the remark about the "pack of rats" they associated with.
The group around Sinatra made several movies together, includingOcean's 11 (1960),Sergeants 3 (1962), andRobin and the 7 Hoods (1964), and they performed onstage together in Las Vegas. In 1964, Davis was the first African American to sing at the Copacabana night club in New York.[33]
Davis was a headliner atThe Frontier Casino in Las Vegas, but owing toJim Crow practices in Las Vegas, he was required (as were all black performers in the 1950s) to lodge in a rooming house on the west side of the city instead of in the hotels as his white colleagues did. No dressing rooms were provided for black performers, and they had to wait outside by the swimming pool between acts. Davis and other black artists could entertain but could not stay at the hotels where they performed, gamble in the casinos, or dine or drink in the hotel restaurants and bars. Davis later refused to work at places that practicedracial segregation.[34]
Canada provided opportunities for performers like Davis unable to break the color barrier in American broadcast television, and in 1959 he starred in his own TV special,Sammy's Parade, on the Canadian networkCBC.[35] It was a breakthrough event for the performer, as in the United States in the 1950s corporate sponsors largely controlled the screen: "Black people [were] not portrayed very well on television, if at all", according to Jason King of the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music.[36]
In 1964, Davis was starring inGolden Boy at night and shooting his own New York-based afternoon talk show during the day.[citation needed] When he could get a day off from the theater, he recorded songs in the studio, performed at charity events in Chicago, Miami, or Las Vegas, or appeared on television variety specials in Los Angeles. Davis felt he was cheating his family of his company, but he said he was incapable of standing still.
On December 11, 1967, NBC broadcast a musical-variety special featuringNancy Sinatra, titledMovin' with Nancy. In addition to the Emmy Award-winning musical performances, the show is notable for Nancy Sinatra and Davis greeting each other with a kiss, one of thefirst black-white kisses on American television.[37]
Davis had a friendship withElvis Presley in the late 1960s, as they both were top-draw acts in Las Vegas at the same time. Davis was in many ways just as reclusive during his hotel gigs as Presley was, holding parties mainly in his penthouse suite that were occasionally attended by Presley. Davis sang a version of Presley's song "In the Ghetto" and made a cameo appearance in Presley's 1970 concert filmElvis: That's the Way It Is. One year later, he made a cameo appearance in theJames Bond filmDiamonds Are Forever, but the scene was cut. In Japan, Davis appeared in television commercials for coffee andSuntory Whiskey. In the United States he joined Sinatra and Martin in a radio commercial for a Chicago car dealership.[citation needed]
Although he was still popular in Las Vegas, he saw his musical career decline by the late 1960s. He had a No. 11 hit (No. 1 on theEasy Listening singles chart) with "I've Gotta Be Me" in 1969. He signed with Motown to update his sound and appeal to young people.[38]
Davis had an unexpected No. 1 hit with "The Candy Man" withMGM Records in 1972. He did not particularly care for the song and was chagrined that he had become known for it, but Davis made the most of his opportunity and revitalized his career.[citation needed] Although he enjoyed no more Top 40 hits, he did enjoy popularity with his 1976 performance of the theme song from theBaretta television series, "Baretta's Theme (Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow)" (1975–1978), which was released as a single (20th CenturyRecords).
On May 27–28, 1973, Davis hosted (withMonty Hall) the first annual 20-hourHighway Safety Foundationtelethon. Guests includedMuhammad Ali,Paul Anka,Jack Barry,Joyce Brothers,Ray Charles,Dick Clark,Roy Clark,Howard Cosell,Ossie Davis,Ruby Dee,Joe Franklin,Cliff Gorman,Richie Havens,Danny Kaye,[39]Jerry Lewis,Hal Linden,Rich Little,Butterfly McQueen,Minnie Pearl,Boots Randolph,Tex Ritter,Phil Rizzuto,The Rockettes,Nipsey Russell,Sally Struthers,Mel Tillis,Ben Vereen, andLawrence Welk. It was a financial disaster. The total amount of pledges was $1.2 million. Actual pledges received were $525,000.[40]
Davis was also a self confessed lover of game shows, appearing onFamily Feud in 1979 andTattletales with his wife Altovise in 1975.
Davis was a huge fan of daytime television, particularly the soap operas produced by the American Broadcasting Company. He made a cameo appearance onGeneral Hospital and had a recurring role as Chip Warren onOne Life to Live, for which he received a 1980Daytime Emmy Award nomination. Davis was also a massive fan of Australian cult soap opera Prisoner: Cell Block H and in 1986 he famously visited the Network 10 studios in Melbourne. Davis watched several scenes being filmed and met with cast and crew. He described the experience as not knowing who was more starstruck - him for meeting the cast of Prisoner or the cast for meeting Davis.
In 1988, Davis was billed to tour with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, but Sinatra and Martin had a falling out.[41] Liza Minnelli replaced Martin on the tour dubbed as ''The Ultimate Event''.[42][43] During the tour in 1989, Davis was diagnosed with throat cancer; his treatments prevented him from performing.[44][45]
Davis was a registeredDemocrat and supportedJohn F. Kennedy's1960 election campaign as well asRobert F. Kennedy's1968 campaign.[46] He went on to become a close friend of President Richard Nixon (a Republican) and publicly endorsed him at the1972 Republican National Convention.[46] Davis also made aUSO tour toSouth Vietnam at Nixon's request.
In February 1972, during the later stages of theVietnam War, Davis went to Vietnam to observe military drug abuse rehabilitation programs and talk to and entertain the troops. He did this as a representative fromPresident Nixon's Special Action Office For Drug Abuse Prevention.[47] He performed shows for up to 15,000 troops; after one two-hour performance he reportedly said, "I've never been so tired and felt so good in my life."[48] The U.S. Army made a documentary about Davis's time in Vietnam performing for troops on behalf of Nixon's drug treatment program.[49]
Nixon invited Davis and his wife Altovize to sleep in the White House in 1973, the first time African Americans were invited to do so. The Davises spent the night in theLincoln Bedroom.[50] Davis later said he regretted supporting Nixon, accusing him of making promises on civil rights that he did not keep.[51]
Davis later supportedJesse Jackson's1984 campaign for president.[53]
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Davis nearly died in an automobile accident on November 19, 1954, inSan Bernardino, California as he was returning to Los Angeles from Las Vegas.[54] During the previous year, he had started a friendship with comedian and hostEddie Cantor, who had given him amezuzah. Instead of putting it by his door as a traditional blessing, Davis wore it around his neck for good luck; the only time when he forgot to wear it was the night of the accident.[55]
The accident occurred at a fork inU.S. Route 66 at Cajon Boulevard and Kendall Drive when a driver who had missed turning at the fork reversed her car in Davis's lane, causing Davis's car to strike hers.[56] Davis lost his left eye, which was damaged by the bullet-shaped horn button (a standard feature in 1954 and 1955 Cadillacs). His friend, actorJeff Chandler, said that he would give one of his own eyes to keep Davis from total blindness.[57] Davis wore an eye patch for at least six months following the accident.[58][59] He was featured with the patch on the cover ofhis debut album and during an appearance onWhat's My Line? wearing the patch.[60] Later, Davis was fitted for aglass eye, which he wore for the rest of his life.
In the hospital, Cantor described to Davis the similarities between Jewish andBlack cultures. Davis, born to aCatholic mother andBaptist father, was raised Catholic and began studyingJewish history as an adult,converting to Judaism several years later in 1960.[7][61][62] One passage from his readings (from the bookA History of the Jews byAbram L. Sachar) describing the endurance of the Jewish people interested him in particular: "The Jews would not die. Three millennia of prophetic teaching had given them an unwavering spirit of resignation and had created in them a will to live which no disaster could crush."[63] The accident marked a turning point in Davis's career, taking him from a well-known entertainer to a national celebrity.[64]
In 1957, Davis was involved with actressKim Novak, who was under contract withColumbia Pictures. Because Novak was white, Columbia presidentHarry Cohn worried that public backlash against the relationship could hurt the studio. There are several accounts of what happened, but they agree that Davis was threatened by organized crime figures close to Cohn.[65] According to one account, Cohn called racketeerJohn Roselli, who was told to inform Davis that he must stop seeing Novak. To try to scare Davis, Roselli had him kidnapped for a few hours.[66] Another account relates that the threat was conveyed to Davis's father by mobsterMickey Cohen.[65] Davis was threatened with the loss of his other eye or a broken leg if he did not marry a black woman within two days. Davis sought the protection of Chicago mobsterSam Giancana, who said that he could protect him in Chicago and Las Vegas but not California.[6][65][67]
Davis briefly married black dancer Loray White in 1958 to protect himself from mob violence;[65] Davis had previously dated White, who was 23, twice divorced, and had a six-year-old child.[6] He paid her a lump sum ($10,000 or $25,000) to engage in a marriage on the condition that it would be dissolved before the end of the year.[6][65] Davis became inebriated at the wedding and attempted to strangle White en route to their wedding suite. Checking on him later, Davis's personal assistant Arthur Silber Jr. found Davis with a gun to his head. Davis despairingly said to Silber, "Why won't they let me live my life?"[65] The couple never lived together[6] and commenced divorce proceedings in September 1958.[65] The divorce was granted in April 1959.[68]
In 1959, Davis had "a short, stormy, exciting relationship" withNichelle Nichols.[29][69]
In 1960, there was another racially charged public controversy when Davis married white Swedish-born actressMay Britt in a ceremony officiated by rabbiWilliam M. Kramer at Temple Israel of Hollywood. Whileinterracial marriage had been legal in California since 1948,anti-miscegenation laws in the U.S. still stood in 23 states, and a 1958 Gallup poll revealed that only 4% of Americans supported marriage between black and white spouses.[70] During 1964 through 1966, Davis received racially motivated hate mail while starring in theBroadway adaptation ofGolden Boy, in which his character is in a relationship with a white woman, paralleling his own interracial relationship. Although New York State had no laws against interracial marriage, debate about it was still ongoing in the country asLoving v. Virginia was being adjudicated. It was only in 1967 after the musical finished that anti-miscegenation laws in all states were ruledunconstitutional via the14th Amendment adopted in 1868 by theU.S. Supreme Court.[71]
Britt and Davis's daughter Tracey Davis (July 5, 1961 – November 2, 2020)[72][73][74][75] alleged in a 2014 book that Davis was not permitted to perform at President Kennedy'sinauguration because of his marriage to a white woman.[76] The snub was confirmed by director Sam Pollard, who revealed in a 2017American Masters documentary that Davis's invitation to perform at the inauguration was abruptly canceled on the night of Kennedy's inaugural party.[77]
Davis and Britt adopted two sons, Mark and Jeff.[2][78] Davis performed almost continuously and spent little time with his wife. They divorced in 1968 after Davis admitted to an affair with singerLola Falana.[45][79][80]
In 1968, Davis started datingAltovise Gore, a dancer inGolden Boy. They were married on May 11, 1970, byJesse Jackson and adopted a son, Manny, in 1989.[45] They remained married until his death in 1990.[81] Toward the end of their marriage, Altovise Davis was sharing her mansion with Davis' girlfriend.[79]
Davis was an avid photographer who enjoyed shooting pictures of family and acquaintances. His body of work was detailed in a 2007 book by Burt Boyar titledPhoto by Sammy Davis, Jr.[82] "Jerry [Lewis] gave me my first important camera, my first 35 millimeter, during the Ciro's period, early '50s", Boyar quotes Davis as saying "And he hooked me." Davis used amedium format camera later on to capture images. Boyar reports that Davis had said, "Nobody interrupts a man taking a picture to ask... 'What's that nigger doin' here?'". His catalog includes rare photos of his father dancing onstage as part of the Will Mastin Trio and intimate snapshots of close friends Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, James Dean, Nat "King" Cole, and Marilyn Monroe. His political affiliations also were represented, in his images of Robert Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. His most revealing work comes in photographs of wife May Britt and their three children, Tracey, Jeff and Mark.[citation needed]
Davis was an enthusiastic shooter and gun owner who participated in fast-draw competitions.Johnny Cash recalled that Davis was said to be capable of drawing and firing aColt Single Action Army revolver in less than a quarter of a second.[83] Davis was skilled at fast and fancygunspinning and appeared on television variety shows showing his skill. He also demonstrated gunspinning to Mark onThe Rifleman in "Two Ounces of Tin". He appeared in Western films and as a guest star on several television Westerns.
It has been alleged that in 1968, Davis attended aSatanist ceremony for the first time and that following his appearance in the 1973 comedyPoor Devil, he became an honorary warlock in theChurch of Satan and was a friend of its high priestAnton LaVey. Davis is alleged to have continued to perform Satanic rituals even after cutting ties with the organization.[84] Actor and comedianEddie Murphy said in 2019 that Davis was a devil worshipper who personally told him that "Satan is as powerful as God."[85][better source needed]
After Davis's marriage to May Britt ended in 1968, Davis turned to alcohol. He also "found solace in drugs, particularlycocaine andamyl nitrite" and experimented with pornography.[45][79]
After a bout withcirrhosis due to years of drinking,[41] Davis announced his sponsorship of the Sammy Davis Jr. National Liver Institute inNewark, New Jersey in 1985.[86]
In August 1989, Davis began to develop symptoms of cancer – a tickle in his throat and an inability to taste food.[87] Doctors found a malignant tumor in Davis's throat.[44][88] He was a heavy smoker and had often smoked up to four packs of cigarettes a day as an adult.[88] When 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 was treated with definitive radiation therapy.[87] Hislarynx was later removed when his cancer recurred.[15][89] He was released from the hospital on March 13, 1990.[90]
Davis died of complications from throat cancer two months later at his home in Beverly Hills, California, on May 16, 1990, at age 64.[90] His funeral was attended byLittle Richard andStevie Wonder among others.[91] He was buried atForest Lawn Memorial Park inGlendale, California. On May 18, 1990, two days after his death, the neon lights of theLas Vegas Strip were darkened for ten minutes as a tribute.[92] Several media outlets reported his death alongsideMuppets creatorJim Henson, who died the same day.[93]
Davis left the bulk of his estate, estimated at $4,000,000 (U.S.), to his widowAltovise Davis,[81][94] but he owed theIRS $5,200,000, which after interest and penalties had increased to over $7,000,000.[95][96] Altovise became liable for his debt because they had filed jointly and she had co-signed their tax returns.[79] She was forced to auction his personal possessions and real estate. Some of his friends in the industry, includingQuincy Jones,Joey Bishop,Ed Asner,Jayne Meadows, andSteve Allen, participated in a fundraising concert at theSands Hotel in Las Vegas.[95] Altovise and the IRS reached a settlement in 1997.[96] After she died in 2009, their son Manny was named executor of the estate and majority-rights holder of his intellectual property.[97]
Shortly before his death in 1990, ABC aired the TV specialSammy Davis, Jr. 60th Anniversary Celebration, produced byGeorge Schlatter. An all-star cast, includingFrank Sinatra,Dean Martin,Michael Jackson,Whitney Houston,Eddie Murphy,Diahann Carroll,Clint Eastwood, andElla Fitzgerald, paid tribute to Davis.[108] The show was nominated for sixPrimetime Emmy Awards, winningOutstanding Variety, Music or Comedy.[109]
| Year | Category | Song | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Grammy Hall of Fame Award | "What Kind of Fool Am I?" | Inducted | Recorded in 1962 |
| 2001 | Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award | Winner | Posthumously | |
| 1972 | Pop Male Vocalist | "Candy Man" | Nominee | |
| 1962 | Record of the Year | "What Kind of Fool Am I?" | Nominee | |
| 1962 | Male Solo Vocal Performance | "What Kind of Fool Am I?" | Nominee |
| Year | Category | Program | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special | Sammy Davis Jr.'s 60th Anniversary Celebration | Won |
| 1989 | Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series | The Cosby Show | Nominated |
| 1980 | Outstanding Cameo Appearance in a Daytime Drama Series | One Life to Live | Nominated |
| 1966 | Outstanding Variety Special | The Swinging World of Sammy Davis Jr. | Nominated |
| 1956 | Best Specialty Act — Single or Group | Sammy Davis Jr. | Nominated |
| Year | Category | Organization | Program | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum | Inducted | ||
| 2017 | Singer | National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame | Inducted | |
| 2008 | International Civil Rights Walk of Fame | Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site | Inducted | |
| 2006 | Las Vegas Walk of Stars[110] | front ofRiviera Hotel | Inducted | |
| 1989 | NAACP Image Award | NAACP | Winner | |
| 1987 | Kennedy Center Honors | John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts | Honoree | |
| 1985 | Worst Supporting Actor | Golden Raspberry Awards | Cannonball Run II (1984) | Nominee |
| 1977 | Best TV Actor — Musical/Comedy | Golden Globe | Sammy and Company (1975) | Nominee |
| 1974 | Special Citation Award | National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences | Winner | |
| 1968 | NAACP Spingarn Medal Award | NAACP | Winner | |
| 1965 | Best Actor — Musical | Tony Award | Golden Boy | Nominee |
| 1961 | Man of the Year[111] | American Guild of Variety Artists | Winner | |
| 1960 | Recording[112] | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Inducted |
Studio albums
Sammy Davis Jr., a versatile and dynamic singer, dancer and actor who overcame extraordinary obstacles to become a leading American countentertainer, died of throat cancer yesterday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 64 years old and had been in deteriorating health since his release from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on March 13.
Many consider Davis the greatest all-around entertainer. After he died on May 16, 1990, he received the ultimate Las Vegas tribute: the lights went dark on the Strip to honor the song-and-dance icon.
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