Sammy Davis, Jr.
Sammy Davis, Jr. (actually Samuel George Davis, born December 8, 1925 in New York City; † 16 May 1990 in Beverly Hills, California ) was an American entertainer. With his versatile talent, songs with the ease and elegance of his own to sing, dance and dramatically illustrate, he became the American all-round entertainer. As an actor and a dancer, he also appeared in musicals, films and numerous stage shows. The suffix ' Jr ' Junior was in German representations often added without comma and lowercase letters, so: Sammy Davis Jr..
Career
Sammy Davis Jr. was during his career, often called "The world's greatest living entertainer ". He was an extremely popular and multi-faceted artist, same actors, singers and dancers. As a member of the Rat Pack, he was one of the first African-American artists, both received attention in the white and black population.
Even with three years entered the son of vaudeville artist Sammy Davis sr. the first time the stage and seven years old he had his first film role in the legendary short film Rufus Jones for President. When he was two years old, his parents separated - his mother was a Puerto Rican dancer - and he was raised by his father alone. He was in the "black" show business in the late 1920s to the partner of his father. He learned the tap dancing and singing in childhood.
In 1941 he met the then Tommy Dorsey vocalist Frank Sinatra know what that meant the beginning of a lifelong friendship. For Davis's career Sinatra made a significant contribution by, for example, took care despite the prevailing racism that Davis was allowed to perform in Las Vegas. So was able to quickly make a name nationally as one of the greatest all-rounders of the U.S. show business, the black entertainer.
In addition to the dancing and singing he mastered numerous instruments. In addition, he was an outstanding voice imitator. Legendary is a performance in which he, the songs " Rock-A- Bye Your Baby " and "One for my Baby " with the cast, and the style of various artists such as Nat King Cole, Billy Eckstine, Tony Bennett, Humphrey Bogart James Cagney, James Stewart, Cary Grant, Jerry Lewis, Frankie Laine, Marlon Brando, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra and his friend Dean Martin interpreted.
1943 Davis joined the U.S. Army, where he was constantly confronted by racism. Returning from the war, he continued to work in show business. He joined with the Will Mastin Trio (feat. Sammy Davis Jr. ), the dedicated Sinatra in the late 1940s as the opening act for his performances at the Capitol Theatre in New York. Around the same time he made his first studio recordings for the label Capitol. In 1954 he signed with Decca and released his first album Starring Sammy Davis Jr. The same year, he lost in a car accident his left eye; Early in 1955 he was able to return to the stage. That he had survived the car accident, he took the opportunity - influenced by his friend Eddie Cantor, who had told him at the bedside of the similarities between the black culture and the Jewish culture - to convert to Reform Judaism. He used this fact in later appearances often even for gags: He was " the only black -eyed Jewish entertainers in the world ."
In 1958 he continued his film career with Anna Lacusta. Thought to be much higher Artistic is the film adaptation of the Gershwin opera Porgy and Bess in 1959, when he took over the role of Sportin ' Life, and thus had his acting breakthrough.
In the late 1950s he was also a member of the Rat Pack, a loose group of Frank Sinatra, which included Dean Martin, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop, who appeared together regularly as The Summit until the mid-1960s, especially in the Sands Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. 1960 turned the Rat Pack, Ocean's Eleven, the first of a series of Rat Pack movies. 1962 saw Sergeants 3, the second Rat Pack film; 1964, was seven against Chicago.
In the 1960s and 1970s, his work has focused primarily on gala performances in Las Vegas. Outstanding was his performance in Bob Fosse's musical adaptation of Sweet Charity with Shirley MacLaine. In 1972 he had a number 1 hit in the U.S. with the song Candy Man. He had a cameo appearance in the documentation Elvis - That's the Way It Is Elvis Presley's comeback shows in Las Vegas.
In March 1988, he tried to revive the old Rat Pack concert again with his friends Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin; However, the joint tour Together Again ended after one week, when Martin retired due to illness. In the same year Davis Jr. turned together with Gregory Hines 's last major film appearance for the dance film Tap Dance (1989 ), in which he was again able to show his dancing talent.
From September 1988 to May 1989, he went together with Sinatra and Liza Minnelli on an eight-month world tour, Frank, Liza & Sammy: The Ultimate Event, which took him out of the USA to Japan, Australia and Europe, with the final to Germany, where he had opened in 1985 with a gala concert the casino Hohensyburgstraße.
In the summer of 1989, Davis Jr. fell ill with throat cancer; in September 1989 he had his last vocal performances and subsequently underwent radiation therapy, which cost him his voice. Marked by illness, he stood in November 1989 in Los Angeles during a gala in his 60 years on the stage again for a short dance performance on stage.
Sammy Davis Jr. died on May 16, 1990 at home in Beverly Hills and his illness was at Forest Lawn Memorial Park on the side of his father in Glendale (California ) buried.
Private
Sammy Davis Jr. was married three times: in 1958 he married Loray White and was already divorced the following year. 1960 Davis Jr. married the Swedish actress May Britt, which he incurred the wrath of the Ku Klux Klan on and problems in the racist U.S. public got as intercultural marriages were illegal in 31 U.S. states. The couple has a daughter ( Tracy, born 1961) and two adopted sons.
After an affair with singer Lola Falana, the couple divorced in 1968. From 1970 until his death Sammy Davis Jr. with the actress and dancer Altovise Davis ( 1943-2009 ) was married. The couple also adopted a child.
Discography
A selection of successful albums: