Sammy Davis Jr

Born: December 8th 1925
Where: New York, New York
Died: May 16th 1990

This dynamic and accomplished entertainer, noted for his aggressive drive and versatility, was dubbed 'Mr. Entertainment', as he sustained a successful career as a nightclub and concert headliner, film actor and recording artist for almost 60 years.

A polished song stylist with a distinctive throaty baritone, an energetic, graceful tap dancer, an accomplished impressionist and musician, Davis began as a professional performer at age three touring with his father and "uncle" Will Mastin on the vaudeville circuit.

In 1933, at the age of seven, he made his film debut in the short Rufus Jones for President opposite Ethel Waters.

His only education was what he learned whilst travelling the country: "From the time I can remember, I've been around greasepaint. While other kids my age were playing with marbles and toys, I knew only about the backstage dressing rooms."

After army service during WWII, where he twice had his nose broken in interracial fights with white soldiers, Davis rejoined the Will Mastin Trio as the headliner of the group.

By the early 1950s he had slowly broken into the nightclub and TV circuit with his impressions of screen stars and singers, as well as his dancing and his performing on the trumpet and drums.

Even a near-fatal car accident, in which he lost his left eye and suffered severe injuries, couldn't halt his almost manic drive for adoration and fame.

By the mid-50s Davis' career was in full swing. In '55 he made his feature film debut as Fletcher Henderson in The Benny Goodman Story.

By the 1960s, as a member of the swinging Rat Pack, he co-starred with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Peter Lawford in a series of offhand larks such as Ocean's Eleven in 1960 and Sergeants Three in '62.

Calling himself a multi-minority figure (black, Jewish and handicapped), Davis overcame numerous hardships throughout his career.

From the racism encountered in the Army and in the nightclubs where he performed to the reaction against his interracial dating of film star Kim Novak and his later marriage to Swedish actress May Britt.

He was also rejected by many blacks who felt he had sold out to white values and Republican politics.

Then there were those who were unimpressed by his flashy lifestyle, gaudy gold jewellery and trendy clothes, not to mention his obsequious "sincerity" and his increasingly heavy drinking and drug use.

His popularity as a nightclub headliner and TV guest, however, continued unabated.

By the 1980s Davis was hampered by a host of physical problems, yet his immense talent and driving ambition remained undimmed, making him one of the last of the major variety performers.

When he died of throat cancer in 1990, Davis was remembered as a performer who helped break down the barriers of race and prejudice over the years and was a long-time supporter of the civil rights movement and humanitarian causes as well as a "Renaissance man of show business."