Sammy Davis Jr. (1925-1990) rose from childhood stardom on the vaudeville stage to become one of the most famous African-American entertainers of the 1950s and 1960s (and the only black member of Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack). At the same time, he spent most of his career surrounded by controversy and ridicule -- over his affairs with white film stars, his 1960 marriage to Swedish actress May Britt, his conversion to Judaism, his closeness to the Kennedy's (and later to Richard Nixon), and his problems with alcohol and drugs.
Sammy:
An Autobiography
(click title to order on-line)
by Jane and Burt Boyer
Format: Paperback, 480pp.
ISBN: 0374293554
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Incorporated
Pub. Date: September 2000
Edition Description: REV
Read a review by AALBC.com reviewer Thumper
I was not a fan of Sammy Davis, Jr. Honestly looking back over my life, I can�t say that I�ve paid that much attention to the man. I know Candy Man, well I know one line from it and I can�t get it right, "who can take the sunshine...sprinkle it with dew..." sumpin�, sumpin� else "the Candy Man...The Candy Man can...the Candy Man can cause he mixes it with love and it makes it all taste good." And then there’s that one All In The Family episode in which he made that famous guest appearance. I was a big fan of All In The Family. If Sammy Davis, Jr. had never made an appearance on the show, it wouldn�t have slowed my roll in watching the show. Another time I remember paying attention to Sammy Davis, Jr., he was a guest on the Sally Jessy Raphael TV show. He was promoting his latest biography. I watched the show simply because I remembered The Candy Man song, also I was killing time before I had to catch a bus for school. It was an enjoyable show. He was talking, entertaining. I remember Sally saying, quite seriously and with much adoration, "You know, you�re springtime." He tried to brush off the compliment and she insisted, no, you�re springtime. Now, after a so many years, I finally understand what Sally meant, and I wholeheartedly agree. Sammy Davis, Jr. was like springtime. Although, I didn�t start this book as a fan, or even a person that was familiar with him, I now consider myself one, proudly.
Jane and Burt Boyar collaborated with Sammy Davis, Jr., on Yes, I Can and Why Me? The Boyars were married forty-four years and lived, until Jane's death in 1997, in Marbella, Spain. |
I’m going to try in a small amount of space to cover an extraordinary life. Sammy Davis, Jr. started off in vaudeville at the age of three, dancing with his father and his partner, Will Mastin, as the Will Mastin Trio. The trio survived the death of vaudeville and the birth of television. He was the only black member of the famous, Rat Pack. Although show business was in his blood, he was politically active, causing some controversy along the way, from his second marriage to white actress May Britt, his political association with Richard Nixon, and being called a nigger on one hand and an Uncle Tom on the other. The book skims his health problems, aging, and his last marriage to Altovise Davis. A large life to fit into a 530 page book.
Sammy: An Autobiography attempts to cram two biographies; Yes, I Can! And Why Me? into one biography in the voice of Sammy Davis. It doesn�t succeed. As I stated before, I wasn�t a fan of Davis, but even I could tell that there were gaps and unexplained absences in this book; his relationship with his mother, his experiences in the Army, what did he think and feel about Nixon during the Watergate scandal, and so on. I also had a problem with the pacing. Three-quarters of the book moved at a nice steady pace. It was interesting for it concentrated on his early years as a child performer to his thirties. I could tell by the narrative that this portion had to be from the 1965 autobiography "Yes, I Can!". There was a formality to it (lack of cuss words). I thought that since I’m on page 300-and-something, out of a 530 page book, maybe there’s a volume 2 and volume 3 to this biography. Surely to goodness they (the author and/or publisher) are not going to cover 30 plus years in approximately 200 pages. Sadly, that is exactly what happened. Thereby, leaving an unbalanced accounting of an extraordinary life. Sammy: An Autobiography turned into the literary equivalent of a greatest hits CD compilation. Davis would have been better served with several volumes dedicated to his life.
In the center, and at the top of the biography, stands Sammy Davis, Jr. himself, his faults, his insecurities, the good times, the bad. Davis� voice makes this biography readable and enjoyable. I liked being in his company.
Many, many years ago, I read a biography by John Huston titled An Open Book. John Huston was the movie director of The African Queen, Maltese Falcon, etc. I was in college and had no time to read books that were not about my classes. I would read An Open Book everyday while I rode the bus, to and from school, five days a week. An Open Book was a thick book. It took me about a month to finish it. After I read it, I missed it. I missed John Huston talking to me every day. I’m no longer in school, but for one week, I read, more like visited, Sammy Davis, Jr. I looked forward to it. Now I will miss him. It doesn�t matter if you knew of him, or saw and heard him perform. If you have never heard of the man before in your life, Sammy: An Autobiography, with all its faults, is a book worth reading.