Born: Dec 8, 1925
City and Country of Origin: New York, NY
Music Training: tap-dancing lessons courtesy of the great Bill "Bojangles" Robinson
Awards:
Top Recordings: "Something's Gotta Give," "Love Me or Leave Me," "That Old Black Magic," "Too Close for Comfort," "What Kind of Fool Am I?" "The Candy Man"
Sammy Davis Jr. Biography: Considered by most during his career to be the world's greatest entertainer. He started his career the same way many artists did in his day appearing with a black vaudeville group known as Holiday in Dixieland. the troupe featured his father and his de facto uncle Will Mastin who was called "Silent Sam, the Dancing Midget." He made his film debut at age 7 in the legendary musical short Rufus Jones for President. He first met Frank Sinatra while opening in Detroit for Tommy Dorsey. After a stint in the army starting in 1943 he returned to his uncle's group which was now called the Will Mastin trio. While serving as an opening act for Mickey Rooney, Rooney encouraged him to include his many impersonations into the act. In 1952 he was invited to play the newly integrated Copacabana by Frank Sinatra. In 1954 he signed a recording contract with Decca Records. His first album Sammy Davis Jr. topped the charts. That same year he lost his left eye in an automobile accident. When he returned to the stage his popularity surged on the strength of 3 straight hit songs "Something's Gotta Give," "Love Me or Leave Me," "That Old Black Magic." The following year he made his Broadway debut in the musical Mr. Wonderful. 1958 would mark his return to the big screen with starring roles in Anna Lucasta and Porgy and Bess in 1959. That same year he became a charter member of the Rat Pack along with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford, performing regularly on stage together at the Sands in Las Vegas. Together the group made the movie Ocean's Eleven. In 1960 after he had converted to Judaism he married Swedish actress Mai Britt. In 1962 another Rat Pack film Sergeants 3 yielded him yet another hit record "What Kind of Fool Am I?" Two years later he returned to Broadway starring in Golden Boy for which he earned a Tony nomination. 1964, brought the release of yet another Rat Pack film Robin and the Seven Hoods. Two years later he followed the publication of his autobiography Yes I Can with an appearance in A Man Called Adam along with Sinatra, Louis Armstrong and numerous other music luminaries. In the late sixties he starred in 3 more films with Peter Lawford in Salt and Pepper, the sequel in 1970 One More Time and Bob Fosse's 1969 musical Sweet Charity. In 1972 he topped the charts with "The Candy Man," from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. By the late '80s his popularity was in decline. He died of cancer in 1990.
Died: May 16, 1990 in Beverly Hills, CA.

Music by the Decade:

Sounds of the Fifties

Sounds of the Sixties

Sounds of the Seventies

Sounds of the Eighties

Sounds of the Nineties