Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 16, 1990 TAG: 9005160704
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Long
The health of the cancer-stricken performer deteriorated steadily since his release from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on March 13. He went home to his wife of 20 years, Altovise, and died there this morning, said his publicist, Susan Reynolds.
He had been admitted in January for treatment of a gum infection. Doctors later found that he had a recurrence of throat cancer, and no further chemotherapy was planned. His cancer was first diagnosed in September 1989.
Davis, who embraced Judaism at the age of 26 in 1954, was honored May 6 at a testimonial dinner by the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces. Over the years he joked that he was the nation's only "black, one-eyed, Jewish entertainer." He converted to Judaism while recovering from an automobile accident that cost him his left eye and nearly his life.
An actor, singer, dancer and impressionist, the exuberant Davis lived life hard and fast. His gold chains, heavy rings and gaudy bracelets were as much a part of his personality as the chain of cigarettes he smoked.
He created a lounge act so distinctively florid that scores of comedians - most notably Billy Crystal - imitated his slack-jawed routine and "peace and love" patter. He, in turn, gave endearing send-ups of such performers as Jerry Lewis.
His work on stage, screen and television displayed a versatility matched by few in the business. Though scorned by some as merely a gilded Las Vegas drone, and criticized by others as being a token of the "Rat Pack," Davis was greatly admired and respected as an entertainer's entertainer. Sir Laurence Olivier reportedly used Davis as a guide in preparing for his role in the 1965 film version of "Othello."
"He's the most talented performer I've ever known," his longtime sidekick, Frank Sinatra, once said.
In 1958's "Anna Lucasta," one of the few all-black dramas to emerge from Hollywood before the 1970s, Davis played a raunchy sailor opposite a lusty Eartha Kitt. He was slick and engaging as Sportin' Life in Otto Preminger's "Porgy and Bess" (1959). In 1968's "Salt and Pepper," he and Peter Lawford portrayed London nightclub owners who solve a murder.
Davis appeared in more than 20 movies and starred in two Broadway productions - "Mr. Wonderful" and "Golden Boy." He received a Tony nomination for best actor in a musical for "Golden Boy" in 1965 but lost to Zero Mostel, who won for "Fiddler on the Roof."
Davis also performed on numerous television specials and series, including "General Electric Theater," "Mod Squad," "Lawman" and "All in the Family."
He attracted a wide and diverse audience, and was considered a big Davis enough draw to have his own TV series: "The Sammy Davis Jr. Show" in 1966, and "Sammy and Company" in 1975-77.
His lively, upbeat manner belied a very difficult life. His career was scarred by vicious racial bigotry. There were endless taunts, and at one time, he couldn't gamble or rent a room in some of the Vegas hotels at which he played. His second marriage to Swedish actress Mai Britt was scorned by some.
He also faced drug and alcohol abuse and crippling tax problems.
He wrote two autobiographies, "Yes, I Can" in 1965, and "Why Me?" in 1989. In the latter book, he described his all-night partying, endless drug use and womanizing.
"I'm probably the only man who was Dr. Frankenstein and the monster," Davis said in an interview with The Associated Press in 1989.
While Davis was rarely taken very seriously by critics, his energetic routine - combining comedy, music, dance and personal reflection - drew steady audiences for decades. He also flirted with politics, performing at benefits for Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
A photograph of him embracing Nixon during a White House dinner for former POWs in May 1973 brought widespread criticism. And during his performance in the 1973 concert movie "Save the Children," he is shown being booed by a black audience.
His last movie was 1989's "Tap," in which he co-starred with Gregory Hines as an old-time hoofer, Little Mo. The movie captures Davis' last dance performance on film, a brief tap routine made poignant because he had undergone painful hip surgery in 1985 and received an artificial hip in 1988.
Davis toured with fellow "Rat Pack" members Sinatra and Dean Martin in a 1988 reunion concert. The three first appeared together at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas in 1960. Martin dropped out of the '88 tour for health reasons, and he was replaced by Liza Minnelli.
Like his "Rat Pack" brethren, Davis partied like few before him. He stopped drinking in 1983 after being hospitalized for liver and kidney dysfunction. Performing under the influence almost cost Davis his career, when the inebriated performer would forget lyrics and retell the same jokes.
"I had messed up so much in Vegas and Tahoe and other places that it was hard to get the bookings," he said in the AP interview last year. "I'd get on the stage and I didn't know whether I did 40 minutes or an hour and 40."
Born in Harlem on Dec. 8, 1925, to Sammy Davis, a dancer, and chorus girl Elvera Sanchez Davis, he started hoofing at the age of 1 1/2.
When he was 4, his father and "adopted uncle" Will Mastin passed him off "as a 44-year-old midget," Davis once recalled. "I had a rubber cigar in my mouth and they would treat me like an adult. That was the only way we could get around the child labor laws." He was billed sometimes as "Silent Sam the Dancing Midget."
Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, the legendary tap dancer, was so impressed by the fledgling dancer that he offered to teach Davis.
by CNB