Samuel George Davis Jr. was an American singer, dancer, actor, vaudevillian and comedian. Davis converted to Judaism after losing his left eye in a car accident. He had a complex relationship with the black community and drew criticism after publicly supporting President Richard Nixon in 1972. Davis was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP.
About Sammy Davis Jr. in brief
Samuel George Davis Jr. was an American singer, dancer, actor, vaudevillian and comedian. Davis converted to Judaism after losing his left eye in a car accident. He had a complex relationship with the black community and drew criticism after publicly supporting President Richard Nixon in 1972. Davis was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award for his television performances. In 2001, he was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He died in debt to the Internal Revenue Service, and his estate was the subject of legal battles after the death of his wife. He was the son of African-American entertainer Sammy Davis Sr. and tap dancer and stage performer Elvera Sanchez. During his lifetime, Davis stated that his mother was Puerto Rican and born in San Juan. However, in the 2003 biography In Black and White, author Wil Haygood wrote that Davis’ mother was born in New York City to Cuban parents, who were of Afro-Cuban and Spanish descent. Davis played the title role in the film Rufus Jones, for which he sang and danced with Ethel Waters. He also appeared in the Rat Pack film Ocean’s 11, and had a starring role on Broadway in Mr. Wonderful with Chita Rivera. He toured with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin in 1987, and toured with them and Liza Minnelli internationally, before his death in 1990.
His biggest hit, \”The Candy Man\”, reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1972, and he became a star in Las Vegas, earning him the nickname ‘Mister Show Business’ Davis was married to his longtime girlfriend, the former LZ Granderson, until her death in 1998. He is survived by his son, Sammy Davis Jr., and his daughter, LZ, and daughter-in-law, Toni Davis, a former Miss Universe and Miss Universe contestant. Davis is buried in Mount Vernon, New York, where he lived with his wife, the late LZ granderson, and their son, Tommy Davis, in a private residence. Davis had a son, Samuel Davis III, who was born on December 8, 1925 in the Harlem section of Manhattan. Davis joined the act as a child and they became the Will Mastin Trio. Throughout his career, Davis included his father and his father’s band in his billing. Davis’ parents were vaudeeville dancers. As an infant, Davis was reared by his paternal grandmother. When he was three years old, his father, not wanting to lose custody of his son,. took him on tour. At age seven, he played the role of RufUS Jones in the movie President, in which he danced and sang and sang. He later lived for several years in Boston’s South End, and reminisced about years in Izzy Ort’s Bar & Grille. In 1954, at the age of 29, he lost his right eye in an accident.
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