In Honor of his and what would have been his 90th Birthday this is a PowerPoint Presentation on Sammy Davis Jr. (1925-1990) He is a force to be reckon with and tearing the racial walls DOWN once and for all paving the way for the new breed of entertainers from Music, Dance, Films/ TV and Stage including Broadway.

2. 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 child, to Sammy Davis Sr., an African-American entertainer, and
Elvera Sanchez, a tap dancer of Afro-Cuban descent

3. 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

4. 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. 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. 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. In 1960, Davis caused 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 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. 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. “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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. 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

16. 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.

17. 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).

18. 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 this season.

19. 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.