Early life
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis, Jr. was born in New York City, New York to Elvera Sanchez (1905-2000)[1], a Puerto Rican tap dancer, and Sammy Davis, Sr. (1900-1988), an African-American entertainer. The couple were both dancers in vaudeville. As an infant, he was raised by his paternal grandmother. When he was three years old, his parents split up. His father, not wanting to lose custody of his son, took him on tour. During his lifetime Sammy Davis, Jr. stated that his mother was Puerto Rican and born in San Juan.[2] As a child he learned how to dance from his father and his "uncle" Will Mastin, who led the dance troupe his father worked for. Davis joined the act as a young child and they became the Will Mastin Trio. Throughout his long career, Davis included the Will Mastin Trio in his billing.
Mastin and his father had shielded him from racism. Snubs were explained as jealousy, for instance. When Davis served in the United States Army during World War II however, he was confronted by strong racial prejudice. As he said later, "Overnight the world looked different. It wasn't one color anymore. I could see the protection I'd gotten all my life from my father and Will. I appreciated their loving hope that I'd never need to know about prejudice and hate, but they were wrong. It was as if I'd walked through a swinging door for eighteen years, a door which they had always secretly held open."
Career
While in the service, however, he joined an integrated entertainment Special Services unit, and found that the spotlight removed some of the prejudice. "My talent was the weapon, the power, the way for me to fight. It was the one way I might hope to affect a man's thinking," he said.[3]
Sammy Davis, Jr. (left) with Roy Wilkins (right) at the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C.
After he was discharged, Davis rejoined the dance act which played at a wide variety of spots around Portland Oregon, and began to achieve success on his own as he was singled out for praise by critics. The next year, he released his second album. The next move in his growing career was to appear in the Broadway show Mr. Wonderful in 1956.
In 1959, he became a member of the Rat Pack, which was led by his old friend Frank Sinatra, and included such fellow performers as Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, and Shirley MacLaine. Initially, Sinatra called the gathering of fast-living friends "the Clan," but Sam voiced his opposition, saying that it invoked thoughts about the Ku Klux Klan. Sinatra renamed the group "the Summit"...but nevertheless, the media kept on calling it the Rat Pack all along.
Davis was a headliner at The Frontier Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada for many years, yet was required to accept accommodations in a rooming house on the west side of the city, rather than reside with his peers in the hotels, as were all black performers in the 1950s. For example, no stage dressing rooms were provided for black performers, so they were required to wait outside by the swimming pool between acts. [4]
During his early years in Las Vegas, he and other African-American artists like Nat King Cole and Count Basie could entertain on the stage, but often could not reside at the hotels at which they performed, and most definitely could not gamble in the casinos or go to the hotel restaurants and bars. After he achieved superstar success, Davis refused to work at venues which would practice racial segregation. His demands eventually led to the integration of Miami Beach nightclubs and Las Vegas casinos. Davis was particularly proud of this accomplishment. [5]
Although James Brown would claim the title of "Hardest Working Man in Show Business," the argument could be made that Sammy Davis, Jr. deserved it more. For example, in 1964 he was starring in Golden Boy at night and shooting his own New York-based afternoon talk show during the day. When he could get a day off from the theater, he would either be in the studio recording new songs, or else performing live, often at charity benefits as far away as Miami, Chicago and Las Vegas, or doing television variety specials in Los Angeles. Even at the time, Sam knew he was cheating his family of his company, but he couldn't help himself; as he later said, he was incapable of standing still.
Although still a huge draw in Las Vegas, Davis' musical career had sputtered out by the latter years of the 1960s, although he had a #11 hit (#1 on the Easy Listening singles chart) with "I've Gotta Be Me" in 1969. An attempt to update his sound and reconnect with younger people resulted in some embarrassing "hip" musical efforts with the Motown record label.[6] But then, even as his career seemed at its nadir, Sammy had an unexpected worldwide smash hit with "Candy Man". Although he didn't particularly care for the song and was chagrined that he was now best known for it, Davis made the most of his new opportunity and revitalized his career. Although he enjoyed no more Top 40 hits, he did enjoy some extra popularity with his performance of the theme song from the T.V. series Baretta (1975-1978) which was not released as a single but was given extensive radio play and he remained a successful live act beyond Vegas for the remainder of his career. He would still occasionally land television and film parts, including high profile visits to the All in the Family series playing himself. In the 1970s, he also appeared in a series of memorable commercials in Japan for Suntory whiskey.
On December 11, 1967, NBC broadcast a musical-variety special entitled Movin' With Nancy. In addition to the Emmy Award-winning musical performances, the show is famous for Nancy Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. greeting each other with a kiss, one of the first black-white kisses in U.S. television history.[7]
In Japan, Davis appeared in television commercials for coffee, and in the U.S. he joined Sinatra and Martin in a radio commercial for a Chicago car dealership.
Davis was one of the first male celebrities to admit to watching television soap operas, particularly the shows produced by the American Broadcasting Company. This admission led to him making a cameo appearance on General Hospital and playing the recurring character Chip Warren on One Life to Live for which he received a Daytime Emmy nomination in 1980. He was also a game show fan, making a cameo on the ABC version of Family Feud in 1979, and hosting a question with Richard Dawson watching from the sidelines. He appeared on Tattletales with third wife Altovise Davis in the 1970s. He also made a cameo during an episode of the NBC version of Card Sharks in 1981.
Davis was an avid photographer who enjoyed shooting family and acquaintances. His body of work was detailed in a 2007 book by Burt Boyar. "Jerry [Lewis] gave me my first important camera, my first 35 millimeter, during the Ciro's period, early '50s," Boyar quotes Davis. "And he hooked me." Davis used a medium format camera later on to capture images. Again quoting Davis, "Nobody interrupts a man taking a picture to ask... 'What's that nigger doin' here?' ". His catalogue of photos include rare shots of his father dancing onstage as part of the Will Mastin Trio. Also, intimate snapshots of close friends: Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, James Dean, Nat "King" Cole and Marilyn Monroe. His political affiliations also were represented in his images of: Robert Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. His most revealing work comes in photographs of wife May Britt and their three children, Tracey, Jeff and Mark.
(Credit Wikipidia.org)
For Once In My Life
Sammy Davis Jr. Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Someone I’ve needed so long
For once unafraid I can go where life leads me and somehow I know I’ll be strong
For once I can touch what my heart used to dream of
Long before I knew
Someone warm like you
Who have my dreams come true
For once in my life I won't let sorrow hurt me
Not like it's hurt me before
For once I have someone I know won't desert me
I’m not alone anymore
For once I can say
This is mine you can’t take it
As long as I know I have love I can make it
For once in my life I have someone who needs me
For once I can say
This is mine you can’t take it
As long as I know I have love we can make it
For once in my life I have someone who needs me
The lyrics of Sammy Davis Jr.'s "For Once In My Life" are about finding love and finally feeling complete. The singer begins by stating that they have finally found someone who needs them and that they have needed this person for a long time. They are finally unafraid to go where life leads them and they feel strong. This person they have found is someone who is warm and who makes their dreams come true. They are grateful for having found them.
The singer then goes on to say that for once in their life, they will not let sorrow hurt them. They have been hurt before but this time, they have found someone who will not desert them. They are no longer alone and are grateful for having found someone who needs them. They state that they have something that is theirs and that no one can take it away as long as they have love. The final line reiterates the importance of having someone who needs them, and they end the song by stating that as long as they have love, they can make it.
Line by Line Meaning
For once in my life I have someone who needs me
I have finally found someone who depends on me and whom I can depend on in return.
Someone I’ve needed so long
I have been searching for this person for a long time and finally found them.
For once unafraid I can go where life leads me and somehow I know I’ll be strong
I feel confident and ready to face whatever comes my way without fear.
For once I can touch what my heart used to dream of, long before I knew someone warm like you
I have finally achieved what I always dreamed of, even before I met this special person.
Who have my dreams come true
This person has helped me make my dreams a reality.
For once in my life I won't let sorrow hurt me, not like it's hurt me before
I am determined to not let past sorrows affect me anymore.
For once I have someone I know won't desert me, I’m not alone anymore
I have found someone who will not abandon me, and I feel less lonely now.
For once I can say this is mine, you can’t take it
I finally have something that no one can take away from me.
As long as I know I have love I can make it
The love I have with this person gives me the strength to overcome anything.
For once in my life I have someone who needs me
I am grateful to have found someone who needs me as much as I need them.
As long as I know I have love we can make it
Together, with the love we share, we can overcome whatever obstacles come our way.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Ronald N. Miller, Orlando Murden
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Tom Elrick
This is rediculasly brilliant.! There are NO artists who just ooze talent like this today...NO ONE...!!
Rod Belt
Reading all these wonderful comments of appreciation for Sammy's incredible talents, I feel lucky and privileged to have watched him perform in person not only once, but TWICE in my lifetime. The greatest entertainer of all time in my book. No ifs, buts or maybe.
Sicilia928
My idol (along with Frank) since I was 7 years old. I am now 70. I saw Sammy perform live five times, but the greatest day of my entire life is the day I met Sammy. It was a charity golf game and Sammy was the honorary host. I was 20 years old. I am a portrait artist and brought a pastel I had done of Sam to give to him. I arrived before it started and noticed people emerging from the clubhouse in golf carts, so I waited. When I saw him sitting in the passenger seat (with Altovise sitting in the back) I noticed people yelling, hoping he'd stop. The driver never stopped and so when they got to me I gently laid the drawing on Sammy's lap as they drove by. All of a sudden he yelled for the driver to stop the cart and he called me over. He asked me if I drew it and I said yes and told him how he had been my idol since I was 7. He pulled me down and kissed me on my cheek and asked me if I had my name and address on the back. I said I didn't but I would be following him around the course and would add it. We chatted for almost 5 minutes. A few years later at a concert of his I brought a large pencil drawing I did of the picture of Sammy, age 3 or 4, standing in a velvet chair in overalls, and of all things, in blackface. It was one of the best things I have ever done. I gave it to some guards at his dressing room, this time with my name and address on the back. A few weeks later I received a letter on yellow stationery from Beverly Hills. It was a two page handwritten letter from Altovise telling me how talented I am and how much Sammy loved the drawing. She also said they were going to have a pillow made from the image. Yep, the best day of my life.
Renzo Luiz Bermudo
Gotta love this he’s really swinging with band! And the band is so superb!
Jorge Ligaluppi
Thank you Lord for giving us this amaizing entretainer!! A complete class act!!
The Giant Pumpkin
The BEST rendition of this song that has ever been and always will be.
Michelle GRUBER
I love this man and always will.
May his lovely soul Rest In Peace Sammy !
Rune Sundbø
For me he is the nr. 1 crooner and entertainer! Check that timing! Just love it!
Durins Bane
Mr Showbiz himself. And the others knew it.
Photoman williams
I'm a 70 year old man, heard a lot of music, seen many performances......by far Sammy is the all time greatest entertainer.