Who was Sammy Davis Jr.?
A: He was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and
television director.
In 1954, at the age of 29, how did he lose his left
eye?
A: In a car accident.
Several years later, he converted to what?
A: Judaism, finding commonalities between the oppression experienced by
African-American and Jewish communities.
He had a starring role on
Broadway in what?
A: Mr. Wonderful with Chita Rivera (1956).
In 1960, he appeared in what Rat Pack film?
A: Ocean's 11.
He returned to the stage in 1964 in a musical
adaptation of what?
A: Clifford Odets' Golden Boy opposite Paula Wayne.
Davis was nominated for a what for his performance?
A: Tony Award.
The show featured the first interracial what on
Broadway?
A: Kiss.
In 1966, he had his own TV variety show, titled what?
A: The Sammy Davis Jr. Show.
While Davis's career slowed in the late 1960s, his
biggest hit, "The Candy Man", reached what?
A: The top of the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1972.
He became a star in Las Vegas, earning him what
nickname?
A: "Mister Show Business".
Davis's popularity helped break the race barrier of
what?
A: The segregated entertainment industry.[6]
He did, however, have a complex relationship with the
black community and drew criticism after doing what?
A: Publicly supporting President Richard Nixon in 1972.
One day on a golf course with Jack Benny, he was asked
what his handicap was. What was his reply?
A: "Handicap?" he asked. "Talk about handicap. I'm a one-eyed Negro who's
Jewish."
This was to become a what?
A: A signature comment, recounted in his autobiography and in many articles.
After reuniting with Frank Sinatra and
Dean Martin in
1987, Davis did what?
A: He toured with them and Liza Minnelli internationally, before his death
in 1990.
He died in debt to whom?
A: The Internal Revenue Service, and his estate was the subject of legal
battles after the death of his wife.
Davis was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP and was nominated for what?
A: A Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award for his television performances.
He was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in
1987, and in 2001, he was what?
A: Posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
When was Davis born?
A: On December 8, 1925.
Where was he born?
A: In the Harlem section of Manhattan in New York City.
Davis's parents were what?
A: Vaudeville dancers.
As an infant, he was reared by whom?
A: His paternal grandmother.
Davis learned to dance from whom?
A: His father and his godfather Will Mastin.
Davis joined the act as a child, and they became what?
A: The Will Mastin Trio.
When Davis served in the United States Army during
World War II, he was confronted by what?
A: Strong prejudice.
At age seven, Davis played the title role in what film?
A: Rufus Jones for President, in which he sang and danced with Ethel Waters.
In 1944, during World War II, Davis was drafted into
the U.S. Army at what age?
A: 18.
He was frequently abused by white soldiers from the
South and later recounted what?
A: "I must have had a knockdown, drag-out fight every two days."
His nose was broken numerous times and permanently
what?
A: Flattened.
