Sammy Davis Jr had a starring role on Broadway in Mr Wonderful with Chita Rivera.
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69 Facts About Sammy Davis Jr
2.
Sammy Davis Jr returned to the stage in 1964 in a musical adaptation of Clifford Odets' Golden Boy opposite Paula Wayne.
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3.
Sammy Davis Jr was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance.
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4.
Sammy Davis Jr's popularity helped break the race barrier of the segregated entertainment industry.
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5.
Sammy Davis Jr did have a complex relationship with the black community and drew criticism after publicly supporting President Richard Nixon in 1972.
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6.
Sammy Davis Jr died in debt to the Internal Revenue Service, and his estate was the subject of legal battles after the death of his wife.
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8.
Sammy Davis Jr was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 1987, and in 2001, he was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
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9.
However, in the 2003 biography In Black and White, author Wil Haygood wrote that Sammy Davis Jr's mother was born in New York City to Cuban parents who were of Afro-Cuban background, and that Sammy Davis Jr claimed he was Puerto Rican because he feared anti-Cuban backlash would hurt his record sales.
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10.
Sammy Davis Jr learned to dance from his father and his godfather Will Mastin.
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11.
Sammy Davis Jr joined the act as a child, and they became the Will Mastin Trio.
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12.
However, when Sammy Davis Jr served in the United States Army during World War II, he was confronted by strong prejudice.
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13.
Sammy Davis Jr was reassigned to the Army's Special Services branch, which put on performances for troops.
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14.
Sammy Davis Jr, who earned the American Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal, was discharged in 1945 with the rank of private.
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15.
Sammy Davis Jr recorded blues songs for Capitol Records in 1949 under the pseudonyms Shorty Muggins and Charlie Green.
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16.
Sammy Davis Jr began to achieve success on his own and was singled out for praise by critics, releasing several albums.
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17.
In 1953, Sammy Davis Jr was offered his own television show on ABC, Three for the Road—with the Will Mastin Trio.
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19.
In 1954, Sammy Davis Jr was hired to sing the title song for the Universal Pictures film Six Bridges to Cross.
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21.
In 1959, Davis became a member of the 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.
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22.
In 1964, Sammy Davis Jr was the first African American to sing at the Copacabana night club in New York.
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24.
Sammy Davis Jr later refused to work at places that practiced racial segregation.
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25.
In 1964, Sammy Davis Jr was starring in Golden Boy at night and shooting his own New York-based afternoon talk show during the day.
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26.
Sammy Davis Jr felt he was cheating his family of his company, but he said he was incapable of standing still.
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27.
Sammy Davis Jr signed with Motown to update his sound and appeal to young people.
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28.
Sammy Davis Jr 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.
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29.
Sammy Davis Jr appeared on numerous television shows since the 1950s, like The Rifleman, where he showcased his gunspinning skills.
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30.
Sammy Davis Jr ironically played to comic effect both himself and a Sammy Davis impersonator in the 1970s PI drama Charlie's Angels, along with his wife, Altovise Davis.
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31.
Sammy Davis Jr had a friendship with Elvis Presley in the late 1960s, as they both were top-draw acts in Las Vegas at the same time.
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33.
Sammy Davis Jr sang a version of Presley's song "In the Ghetto" and made a cameo appearance in Presley's 1970 concert film Elvis: That's the Way It Is.
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34.
In Japan, Sammy Davis Jr appeared in television commercials for coffee and Suntory Whiskey.
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35.
Sammy Davis Jr was a huge fan of daytime television, particularly the soap operas produced by the American Broadcasting Company.
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36.
Sammy Davis Jr made a cameo appearance on General Hospital and had a recurring role as Chip Warren on One Life to Live, for which he received a 1980 Daytime Emmy Award nomination.
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37.
Sammy Davis Jr was a game show fan, appearing on Family Feud in 1979 and Tattletales with his wife Altovise in the 1970s.
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38.
In 1988, Sammy Davis Jr was billed to tour with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, but Sinatra and Martin had a falling out.
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39.
Sammy Davis Jr 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.
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40.
Sammy Davis Jr consequently lost his left eye to the bullet-shaped horn button.
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41.
Sammy Davis Jr wore an eye patch for at least six months following the accident.
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42.
Sammy Davis Jr, born to a Catholic mother and Baptist father, began studying Jewish history, converting to Judaism several years later in 1961.
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43.
In 1957, Sammy Davis Jr was involved with actress Kim Novak, who was under contract with Columbia Pictures.
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44.
Sammy Davis Jr was threatened with the loss of his other eye or a broken leg if he did not marry a black woman within two days.
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45.
Sammy Davis Jr sought the protection of Chicago mobster Sam Giancana, who said that he could protect him in Chicago and Las Vegas but not California.
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47.
Sammy Davis Jr 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.
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48.
Sammy Davis Jr became inebriated at the wedding and attempted to strangle White en route to their wedding suite.
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51.
Sammy Davis Jr performed almost continuously and spent little time with his wife.
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52.
In 1968, Sammy Davis Jr started dating Altovise Gore, a dancer in Golden Boy.
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53.
Sammy Davis Jr was an avid photographer who enjoyed shooting pictures of family and acquaintances.
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54.
Sammy Davis Jr used a medium format camera later on to capture images.
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55.
Johnny Cash recalled that Sammy Davis Jr was said to be capable of drawing and firing a Colt Single Action Army revolver in less than a quarter of a second.
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56.
Sammy Davis Jr was skilled at fast and fancy gunspinning and appeared on television variety shows showing off this skill.
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57.
Sammy Davis Jr demonstrated gunspinning to Mark on The Rifleman in "Two Ounces of Tin".
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58.
Sammy Davis Jr appeared in western films and as a guest star on several television westerns.
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59.
Sammy Davis Jr went on to become a close friend of President Richard Nixon and publicly endorsed him at the 1972 Republican National Convention.
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61.
In February 1972, during the later stages of the Vietnam War, Sammy Davis Jr went to Vietnam to observe military drug abuse rehabilitation programs and talk to and entertain the troops.
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62.
Sammy Davis Jr did this as a representative from President Nixon's Special Action Office For Drug Abuse Prevention.
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64.
Sammy Davis Jr was a longtime donor to the Reverend Jesse Jackson's Operation PUSH organization and later supported Jackson's 1984 campaign for president.
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65.
Sammy Davis Jr was a heavy smoker and had often smoked four packs of cigarettes a day as an adult.
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66.
When told that surgery offered him the best chance of survival, Sammy Davis Jr replied he would rather keep his voice than have a part of his throat removed; he was initially treated with a combination of chemotherapy and radiation.
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67.
Sammy Davis Jr was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
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68.
Sammy Davis Jr left the bulk of his estate, estimated at $4,000,000, to his widow, Altovise Sammy Davis Jr, but he owed the IRS $5,200,000 which, after interest and penalties, had increased to over $7,000,000.
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69.
Sammy Davis Jr was forced to auction his personal possessions and real estate.
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