0:00:02 > 0:00:09This programme contains some strong language
0:00:09 > 0:00:11# There's music to play places to go, people to see
0:00:11 > 0:00:13# Everything for you and me Life's a ball. #
0:00:15 > 0:00:17Amazing. There's no-one like him
0:00:17 > 0:00:19and there never will be one like him again.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22# In the arms of the jungle, animal instinct, mass hysteria! #
0:00:22 > 0:00:27People went to see him and never ever forgot what they saw.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30# Oh, the candy man makes everything he makes
0:00:30 > 0:00:34# Satisfying and delicious. #
0:00:34 > 0:00:36Sammy Davis Jr is remembered as the greatest
0:00:36 > 0:00:40and most versatile all-round entertainer of his generation.
0:00:40 > 0:00:45# I am the sheriff of the town, la la la la la. #
0:00:45 > 0:00:48- MAN:- He was an impressionist, he was a dancer, he was a musician.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51He could play the trumpet, he could play the drums.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53What can you say about the man who was an all-round entertainer?
0:00:53 > 0:00:55He could do everything well.
0:00:55 > 0:01:00# I've wined and dined on mullet and stew... #
0:01:00 > 0:01:03Adored by the British public, Davis performed for the Queen
0:01:03 > 0:01:06at the first ever televised Royal Variety Performance.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09He was also a key player in Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12# Whatever happens
0:01:12 > 0:01:15# We've got us. #
0:01:15 > 0:01:19Sammy would idolise Frank throughout his life.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22Sammy was a great singer. He wanted to sing like Sinatra.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24You'd talk to him, "I can sing as good as the boss."
0:01:24 > 0:01:27# I need your love
0:01:28 > 0:01:32# I want your love. #
0:01:32 > 0:01:35To reach the top, Davis had to overcome being born black
0:01:35 > 0:01:37in a white man's world.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42He broke down walls. He made it possible for every
0:01:42 > 0:01:46black entertainer who is entertaining today.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50He captured our imagination on stage and screen, and then, of course,
0:01:50 > 0:01:53his identification with our struggle made him
0:01:53 > 0:01:55an even bigger than life person for us.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03In an extraordinary career spanning six decades, there were many times
0:02:03 > 0:02:07when Davis came close to losing his reputation and even his life.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10Cohn said,
0:02:10 > 0:02:15"You've got 48 hours to marry a black girl
0:02:15 > 0:02:19"or a black woman, or you're dead."
0:02:19 > 0:02:22# Don't go to Matt Monro... #
0:02:22 > 0:02:25Told by those who knew him best, this is the remarkable story
0:02:25 > 0:02:29of Sammy Davis Jr's rise to the top of the entertainment world...
0:02:29 > 0:02:32# Don't go to anybody else but me. #
0:02:32 > 0:02:36..and tragically, his final spectacular downfall.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38# Please remember my name!
0:02:38 > 0:02:42# My name is Sammy Davis, my name is Sammy Davis
0:02:42 > 0:02:46# My name is Sammy Davis, my name is Sammy Davis... #
0:02:46 > 0:02:47APPLAUSE
0:02:58 > 0:03:01SAMMY DAVIS JR SCAT SINGING
0:03:07 > 0:03:09# I'm a brass band
0:03:09 > 0:03:12# I'm a harpsichord
0:03:12 > 0:03:15# I'm a clarinet
0:03:15 > 0:03:18# I'm the Philadelphia Orchestra... #
0:03:18 > 0:03:21Star of the stage, screen and airwaves,
0:03:21 > 0:03:26Sammy Davis Jr was born in the New York district of Harlem in 1925.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31His world was poor and black and a far cry from the life enjoyed
0:03:31 > 0:03:35by the white communities in the city's more prosperous areas.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42Sammy's cousins live near to where he grew up and they've recently
0:03:42 > 0:03:45inherited some old film reels that once belonged to the entertainer.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49There's one here that actually was sent to Sammy.
0:03:49 > 0:03:54- His address is on it, so how cool is that?- MAN: Whoa!
0:03:54 > 0:03:57It will take us quite a while to go through these.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00They are part of Sammy's legacy and our history.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03- SHE LAUGHS - Good.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07Now Lauralie and Keith are watching the films for the very first time.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14I'd like to say thank you for coming tonight
0:04:14 > 0:04:17and all of you folks at home for tuning in on this my very first show.
0:04:17 > 0:04:18There we go.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20Yeah!
0:04:23 > 0:04:24Look at that.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28You know, you don't get to see him dance very often in later times.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33I like to see the old hoofer come out.
0:04:34 > 0:04:35And there's the stance.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37APPLAUSE
0:04:37 > 0:04:39This is fabulous.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41# Nothing...
0:04:41 > 0:04:45# Can stop me now! #
0:04:45 > 0:04:48- I think we found a treasure, Keith! - SHE LAUGHS
0:04:51 > 0:04:54The film reels contain footage from Davis's first American
0:04:54 > 0:04:57network television series from the 1960s.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01A black man with his own shows marked a major breakthrough
0:05:01 > 0:05:03for all African American performers.
0:05:03 > 0:05:08As a young boy in the 1930s, Davis never dreamt he'd enjoy such fame.
0:05:16 > 0:05:17MUSIC: New York's My Home
0:05:20 > 0:05:22# Listen, all you New Yorkers
0:05:22 > 0:05:24# There's a rumour going round
0:05:24 > 0:05:29# That some of you good people wanna leave this town... #
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Vaudeville theatre was in the family blood.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35Davis's parents Sammy Senior and Elvera Sanchez
0:05:35 > 0:05:38were both dancers sharing the bill with some
0:05:38 > 0:05:40of variety's biggest names.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44But in 1928, offered the chance to dance on a long-running tour,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47Sammy's mum Elvera, abandoned her three-year-old son
0:05:47 > 0:05:50to the care of his father Sammy Sr.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55He had some really hard early days.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58He had his father, Big Sam,
0:05:58 > 0:06:01but he didn't always have the benefit
0:06:01 > 0:06:04of family love all together,
0:06:04 > 0:06:07in a group.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13Every day, Davis accompanied his dad Sammy Sr
0:06:13 > 0:06:16to the New York theatre where he worked.
0:06:16 > 0:06:17He would watch his father on stage
0:06:17 > 0:06:20dancing with the vaudeville troupe leader Will Mastin -
0:06:20 > 0:06:22the man he would forever call Uncle.
0:06:25 > 0:06:31Mastin noticed Sammy's extraordinary gift as a tap dancer early on,
0:06:31 > 0:06:34and by the age of five, Davis was tied into a contract
0:06:34 > 0:06:38that would financially bind him to his dad and his uncle
0:06:38 > 0:06:39for the next 30 years.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44In 1932, the seven-year-old dancing sensation
0:06:44 > 0:06:47landed his first film role.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50He starred opposite Ethel Waters in the short musical comedy
0:06:50 > 0:06:52Rufus Jones For President.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55Part of an all-black cast and made for a black audience,
0:06:55 > 0:06:57Davis played the part of a young boy
0:06:57 > 0:07:00who dreamt about becoming president of the USA.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04# I'll be glad when you dead, you rascal, you
0:07:04 > 0:07:09# I'll be tickled to death when you leave this Earth, you dog
0:07:09 > 0:07:11# When you're laying six-feet deep
0:07:11 > 0:07:13# No more fried chicken will you eat... #
0:07:13 > 0:07:17The film has been criticised for reinforcing racial stereotypes,
0:07:17 > 0:07:21but Davis's remarkable performance is undisputed.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26As he started as a little boy, as a child actor, child star.
0:07:26 > 0:07:27As a tap dancer...
0:07:27 > 0:07:29there's not many
0:07:29 > 0:07:30that could touch him.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32His appearance in Rufus Jones For President
0:07:32 > 0:07:34led to other film offers...
0:07:34 > 0:07:36Yeah!
0:07:36 > 0:07:40..but Uncle Will wanted to keep the brilliant young Davis in the Trio.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43Soon, acts like theirs would soon be under threat.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52Talking pictures were sweeping the nation
0:07:52 > 0:07:55and the public appetite for vaudeville was dwindling.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59Successful performers Eddie Cantor and Charlie Chaplin
0:07:59 > 0:08:02had years before transferred to radio and film.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05But as a black act, the Will Mastin Trio
0:08:05 > 0:08:09were still struggling to make their mark in New York's nightclubs.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14Sammy had a lot of racial stuff thrown at him
0:08:14 > 0:08:16while they were on stage.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19Not Sammy, the Trio.
0:08:19 > 0:08:25Will Mastin was the one that would protect him from the racial stuff,
0:08:25 > 0:08:28and that went on for quite some period.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38In 1941, the USA entered the war
0:08:38 > 0:08:42and on his 17th birthday, Sammy was called up.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45In the artillery, he experienced the full force
0:08:45 > 0:08:48of widespread racial abuse, as he would later confide
0:08:48 > 0:08:52to the co-writer of his biography and lifelong friend Burt Boyar.
0:08:54 > 0:08:55When Sammy went into the army,
0:08:55 > 0:08:58he was put into what was
0:08:58 > 0:09:03the first integrated regiment in the infantry.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07It was loaded with Southerners.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11They hated him and they treated him terribly.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15Appearing on the BBC's Parkinson Show in 1976,
0:09:15 > 0:09:17Davis talked about his army days.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20I had never been cursed at.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22So the first day, I got in...
0:09:23 > 0:09:25Fort Francis E Warren, Wyoming.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27I'll never forget it.
0:09:27 > 0:09:30And the man said to me, "Hey, you little mother, mother..."
0:09:30 > 0:09:31HE MUMBLES
0:09:31 > 0:09:33"..move your mother..."
0:09:33 > 0:09:34HE MUMBLES, LAUGHTER
0:09:34 > 0:09:35"..and get your mother..."
0:09:35 > 0:09:37HE MUMBLES, LAUGHTER
0:09:37 > 0:09:39"..and move it into that mother..."
0:09:39 > 0:09:40HE MUMBLES, LAUGHTER
0:09:40 > 0:09:42"..over there."
0:09:42 > 0:09:46In the artillery, Davis struggled to cope with the racist abuse.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49So when an officer noticed his talent for dancing
0:09:49 > 0:09:52and offered to transfer him to the entertainment corps
0:09:52 > 0:09:54he jumped at the chance.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57The great thing about Sammy - he did not become bitter,
0:09:57 > 0:09:59he just got angry
0:09:59 > 0:10:02and he got very, very determined.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05"I'll get bigger than this.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09"I'll get so big that they'll never be able to look at me
0:10:09 > 0:10:12"by looking down, they'll have to look up."
0:10:14 > 0:10:20# If I ruled the world
0:10:22 > 0:10:29# Every day would be the first day of spring... #
0:10:30 > 0:10:33After the war, Sammy re-joined the Trio in New York.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36Anchors Aweigh and Billy Wilder's award-winning The Lost Weekend
0:10:36 > 0:10:38were in the cinema.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44Davis was now enjoying his own solo singing spot within the Trio's act
0:10:44 > 0:10:46when they were invited to play Las Vegas
0:10:46 > 0:10:49and Miami's hottest hotel nightclubs.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52But the hotels' strict rules that meant black entertainers
0:10:52 > 0:10:55like the Trio were not allowed to enter public areas.
0:10:59 > 0:11:04He was not able to live on Miami Beach where he was starring.
0:11:04 > 0:11:09He had to live in Miami at a hotel where black people were able to live.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15From that point on, Davis was determined to use his talent
0:11:15 > 0:11:18to overcome the racism that he and the Trio encountered.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22It was the fact, for once, I'm recognised, maybe they'll...
0:11:22 > 0:11:28Maybe THEY, the general public, will move past the fact of colour.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32And see just the art of who is singing and be moved
0:11:32 > 0:11:36by the emotion of the song rather than by the prejudice of their mind.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41Davis thought his big break had come
0:11:41 > 0:11:46when in 1947 the trio were asked to perform a dance routine
0:11:46 > 0:11:47in a minor film, Sweet And Low.
0:11:51 > 0:11:52# Oink, oink Bee-boo-le-bibbly-bibbly
0:11:52 > 0:11:54# Oink, oink A bibbly-bibbly-bibbly
0:11:54 > 0:11:57# Oink-oink, oink-oink A bibbly-bibbly-bibbly
0:11:57 > 0:11:58# Oink, oink. #
0:12:01 > 0:12:07People went to see him. And never ever forgot what they saw.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12The people in the audience caught that inner energy that Sammy has.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14He draws people in.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19For now, there were no more film offers for Davis.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22But growing up, Sammy had watched big names like Frank Sinatra
0:12:22 > 0:12:26transform from a chart-topping singer to movie idol
0:12:26 > 0:12:29and he dreamt of doing the same.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32# How I wish you'd lift the phone
0:12:32 > 0:12:36# Fun is fun but not alone. #
0:12:36 > 0:12:39One night, after seeing Sinatra perform live in New York,
0:12:39 > 0:12:42Davis encountered his hero in a chance meeting
0:12:42 > 0:12:43outside the theatre
0:12:43 > 0:12:46as he would later share with the BBC's Terry Wogan.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51He comes out one day and I'm standing by the stage door.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56And he looks at me and he says, "Didn't we work together once?"
0:12:58 > 0:13:01And I said, "Yes, but it was only three days."
0:13:01 > 0:13:04We replaced an act when he was with Tommy Dorsey.
0:13:04 > 0:13:09He remembered. He said, "Yeah, you work with your family."
0:13:09 > 0:13:12I said, "Yeah." He said, "You want to come next week?
0:13:12 > 0:13:13"Come and watch rehearsal."
0:13:13 > 0:13:15It was heaven.
0:13:15 > 0:13:16I walked back to the hotel
0:13:16 > 0:13:20we were living in from Hollywood down to Fifth Street, man.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23It must be 20 miles. I just walked in heaven.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25Floating lightly, you know.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27Cos I had met this man, and he remembered me.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33Invited backstage by his new friend Sinatra,
0:13:33 > 0:13:37the rising star seized the chance to show off his genius for impressions,
0:13:37 > 0:13:40including his favourite of Old Blue Eyes himself
0:13:40 > 0:13:44which years later he was to perform on British TV.
0:13:44 > 0:13:45Good evening.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53# It's quarter to three
0:13:53 > 0:13:56# There's no-one in the place
0:13:56 > 0:13:59# 'Cept you and me...
0:14:02 > 0:14:04# Set 'em up, Joe
0:14:06 > 0:14:12# Got a little story you ought to know... #
0:14:14 > 0:14:18Sinatra just loved it and he said, "Do that, do that.
0:14:18 > 0:14:19"Put it in the act."
0:14:19 > 0:14:23Frank really admired him. He was a huge fan of Sammy's.
0:14:23 > 0:14:24He realised his talent.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29If Frank liked you, he'd open doors.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33It would take someone like Frank Sinatra to introduce
0:14:33 > 0:14:38African Americans on television and on stage
0:14:38 > 0:14:39and say, "This cat's all right."
0:14:41 > 0:14:42# I only go to see a show
0:14:42 > 0:14:46# So I can watch a song and dance man... #
0:14:46 > 0:14:49Frank Sinatra was to keep a watchful eye on Davis
0:14:49 > 0:14:53as his role continued to develop within the Will Mastin Trio.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56Their big break finally came in 1951,
0:14:56 > 0:14:59opening for one of America's leading ladies,
0:14:59 > 0:15:03the singer Janis Paige in Los Angeles' top night spot, Ciros.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06Eddie Cantor, the presenter
0:15:06 > 0:15:08of America's highest-rating television show
0:15:08 > 0:15:09was in the audience.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14This is the greatest act I have ever seen.
0:15:14 > 0:15:20And so, for you, here is the Will Mastin Trio and Sammy Davis Jr, OK?
0:15:27 > 0:15:30Davis's phenomenal television performance
0:15:30 > 0:15:33gave him national exposure and singled him out
0:15:33 > 0:15:35as the threesome's brilliant leading man.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37From now on they would be forever referred to
0:15:37 > 0:15:41as the Will Mastin Trio starring Sammy Davis Jr.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45Within three years, the multi-talented Davis
0:15:45 > 0:15:50was signed to a 50-record deal by the leading label, Decca.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53My mom had some records of his
0:15:53 > 0:15:55and she used to actually sing his songs.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58We used to listen to it on the record player.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07# Hey, there, you with the stars in your eyes
0:16:09 > 0:16:12# Love never made a fool of you... #
0:16:12 > 0:16:17# You used to be too wise
0:16:17 > 0:16:19# Hey there... #
0:16:19 > 0:16:22His very first record, Hey There, went straight to No.1
0:16:22 > 0:16:25in the US billboard charts where it stayed for eight weeks.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31But just as Sammy's recording career was getting under way
0:16:31 > 0:16:33a new sound was hitting the streets.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37Elvis and rock'n'roll had arrived.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40# Well, that's all right, Mama
0:16:40 > 0:16:42# That's all right for you
0:16:42 > 0:16:45# That's all right, Mama
0:16:45 > 0:16:48# Just anyway you do, that's all right. #
0:16:48 > 0:16:52Elvis and Davis's paths would later cross on the Las Vegas strip
0:16:52 > 0:16:54and they became lifelong friends.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59But musically, Davis would continue to follow in Sinatra's footsteps.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02Sammy was a great singer. He wanted to sing like Sinatra.
0:17:02 > 0:17:03And he felt he was Sinatra.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06When you talked to him, "I can sing as good as the boss."
0:17:06 > 0:17:08I used to tell him, stop singing like Frank.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10It's not good for you.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13But it didn't do any good, he had to sing like Frank, he had to.
0:17:13 > 0:17:18He just had to do it, so I just let it go at that. I said, you know,
0:17:18 > 0:17:20"You don't like it when I sound like Judy Garland."
0:17:23 > 0:17:27# When an irresistible force
0:17:27 > 0:17:29# Such as you... #
0:17:29 > 0:17:33By the mid-1950s, Davis and the Trio were being paid top fees
0:17:33 > 0:17:37playing East Coast night-spots, clubs like New York's Copacabana.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40While they welcomed white and black audiences,
0:17:40 > 0:17:42the nightclub bosses in Las Vegas
0:17:42 > 0:17:44were still clinging to their whites-only policy.
0:17:44 > 0:17:47# Something's gotta give, something's gotta give
0:17:47 > 0:17:49# Something's gotta give. #
0:17:50 > 0:17:53And when the number one nightclub, the Frontier Hotel,
0:17:53 > 0:17:57offered the Trio a two-week gig, Davis decided to take a stand.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02He'd got mad, really mad, inside mad.
0:18:02 > 0:18:08He'll say, "Fuck 'em. I don't need this shit in my life."
0:18:08 > 0:18:11Davis explained his position years later in a BBC interview.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17There is still opportunity in America for the black man.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20If he's got to fight for it, maybe harder than the white man.
0:18:20 > 0:18:25He's got to fight for his stretch of dignity. And once he gets it,
0:18:25 > 0:18:28and if he utilises it properly,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31then he makes it a little easier for the other guy.
0:18:31 > 0:18:36# That old black magic has me
0:18:36 > 0:18:39# In its spell... #
0:18:39 > 0:18:42The hotels started to try and lure him,
0:18:42 > 0:18:44more money and everything. They wanted him so badly,
0:18:44 > 0:18:46they said, "OK, anything you want."
0:18:46 > 0:18:49And they gave him what would be the equivalent of a presidential suite.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51And he had everything he wanted there.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00The Frontier Hotel's decision to overturn their segregationist policy
0:19:00 > 0:19:03saw Davis and the Trio become the first black entertainers
0:19:03 > 0:19:07to stay in their hotel as well as perform for a mixed audience.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11Their fee was equivalent today to 66,000 a week.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13# Thanks a lot
0:19:13 > 0:19:15# It sure is nice to be
0:19:15 > 0:19:17# To be where I can see
0:19:17 > 0:19:19# So many friends of mine. #
0:19:20 > 0:19:22Davis and the Will Mastin Trio
0:19:22 > 0:19:24became regulars on the Las Vegas strip
0:19:24 > 0:19:27alongside the likes of Louis Prima and Buddy Greco.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35To be one step ahead of the game, Davis was always looking
0:19:35 > 0:19:39for new ways to keep the act fresh and drew on his childhood heroes -
0:19:39 > 0:19:42cowboy stars Roy Rogers and John Wayne.
0:19:44 > 0:19:49Sammy insisted that we learn how to do quick-draw. So we did it.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51It was very hard.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55He gave me these after I had worked like a dog to get good at it.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58And then finally, he sent away to the Colt company
0:19:58 > 0:20:01and had them made for me and had them engraved, "To Burt."
0:20:03 > 0:20:04It wasn't long
0:20:04 > 0:20:06before Davis was shootin' 'em up in front of his audience.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09# I spied a young cowboy
0:20:09 > 0:20:11# Wrapped up... #
0:20:11 > 0:20:14He was the fastest gun in Hollywood. He really was.
0:20:14 > 0:20:19# Wrapped up in white linen
0:20:19 > 0:20:23# And cold as...
0:20:23 > 0:20:24# ..the clay. #
0:20:24 > 0:20:28- Ladies and gentlemen... No, please. - APPLAUSE
0:20:28 > 0:20:30Shucks, I knew I was good when I put them on.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32LAUGHTER
0:20:32 > 0:20:35After his early flirtation with the movies,
0:20:35 > 0:20:38Davis craved to be a movie star himself
0:20:38 > 0:20:41but in Hollywood, few black actors were cast as leading men.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45He could not get into the movies.
0:20:45 > 0:20:47He knew he didn't want to just be a song and dance man
0:20:47 > 0:20:49all his life because it was too limited.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01Sammy had been experimenting with film cameras for a few years
0:21:01 > 0:21:04and started financing and appearing in his own silent films,
0:21:04 > 0:21:08including this western opposite his friend Arthur Silber.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11But the movie was never commercially released.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14He used one of my purses
0:21:14 > 0:21:18in the movie to be the bag to hold the gold.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24It was just my brown bag. "Oh, we'll use that!" OK.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26Well, I couldn't use that bag after that.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29They had rocks in it, they kept hitting each other with it.
0:21:30 > 0:21:35Well, he bought me a bag. I went, "My God, my bag only cost 5.95."
0:21:35 > 0:21:37You know, 55 years ago.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41Now, he gave me a gold bracelet, charms,
0:21:41 > 0:21:46I went, "But, Sammy, I only gave you my old broken-down bag.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49"You know, I don't need anything else!"
0:21:49 > 0:21:51I kept that bag for I cannot tell you how long.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57In 1955, it looked as though Sammy would finally realise his dream
0:21:57 > 0:22:00to make it to Hollywood when his close friend,
0:22:00 > 0:22:02the film-star Tony Curtis,
0:22:02 > 0:22:05asked him to sing the title track for his latest movie.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09# Gonna build a mountain
0:22:09 > 0:22:12# From a little hill
0:22:12 > 0:22:15# Gonna build me a mountain
0:22:15 > 0:22:17# Least I hope I will... #
0:22:17 > 0:22:20After performing two shows in Las Vegas,
0:22:20 > 0:22:21Davis began a four-hour journey
0:22:21 > 0:22:24across the Nevada desert to Los Angeles.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27He hoped singing the soundtrack would bring him one step closer
0:22:27 > 0:22:29to landing a major film role.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32- # Yeah, yeah! - Gonna build me a daydream
0:22:32 > 0:22:36- # Yeah, yeah! - From a little hope... #
0:22:36 > 0:22:39He got into his car, a brand-new Cadillac convertible
0:22:39 > 0:22:41that his father and Will had just bought him.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44And he was terribly excited.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46And that's when he had an automobile accident.
0:22:50 > 0:22:53The car in front of him swerved and stopped in the middle of the highway.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55He couldn't avoid it.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00He hit the back of a big Chrysler -
0:23:00 > 0:23:03this was when they really made cars, big cars -
0:23:03 > 0:23:06so hard there was no place for him to go.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14He would have been dead, because the engine was sitting
0:23:14 > 0:23:16in the front seat of his car.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19But Sammy's like that, thin.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23160 pounds of thin, thin muscle.
0:23:23 > 0:23:29The car had a cone coming out of the centre of the steering wheel
0:23:29 > 0:23:30and his eye hit it.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33And it was terrible.
0:23:33 > 0:23:37When Sammy got out, he was trying to put his eye,
0:23:37 > 0:23:41which was hanging out of his head, push it back into his face.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58I was there when they were operating on Sammy's eyes.
0:24:01 > 0:24:06Sammy's biggest worry was, he'll never be able to dance again.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13It was really headline material, throughout the country.
0:24:13 > 0:24:18This terribly sympathetic thing about this kid who'd finally made it,
0:24:18 > 0:24:21this great success, and now it was all gone.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25A pioneering operation saw 30-year-old Sammy
0:24:25 > 0:24:27fitted with a glass eye
0:24:27 > 0:24:30and two weeks later, he made the journey to Hollywood
0:24:30 > 0:24:34where he finally recorded the title track, Six Bridges To Cross.
0:24:34 > 0:24:40# Six bridges to cross
0:24:40 > 0:24:45# One bridge is the right one
0:24:45 > 0:24:50# One dream alone can come true. #
0:24:50 > 0:24:52It would be some weeks before Davis would know
0:24:52 > 0:24:55whether he'd ever be able to dance again.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Frank told him, "You'll be as big as you ever were."
0:24:58 > 0:25:00He took him home with him
0:25:00 > 0:25:04and just got himself back into condition to be able to perform.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10Frank made plans for his friend's comeback
0:25:10 > 0:25:12in LA's top night spot, Ciros,
0:25:12 > 0:25:16the club where Davis and the Trio had first made their name.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18Two months after nearly losing his life,
0:25:18 > 0:25:21Sammy was standing in the wings with his dad and uncle,
0:25:21 > 0:25:26nervously waiting to be introduced on stage by his idol, Frank Sinatra.
0:25:26 > 0:25:30Every star in this town was there! Every star in this town!
0:25:35 > 0:25:37Life Magazine's got him on the cover.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44Excuse me, I'm sorry. Can I just...?
0:25:44 > 0:25:46It's an emotional thing for me.
0:25:49 > 0:25:51The three of them came on...
0:25:52 > 0:25:54They did their act.
0:25:54 > 0:26:01# They heard the breeze
0:26:01 > 0:26:04# Through the trees
0:26:04 > 0:26:08# Singing weird melodies
0:26:08 > 0:26:10# And they named that
0:26:12 > 0:26:16# Just the start of the blues. #
0:26:17 > 0:26:20He gave it 600%.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22Nobody could keep up with him.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28He was spectacular, because the excitement just buoyed him up.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34He performed beyond his ability even, which is really going some.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39# And then they nursed it, yeah!
0:26:39 > 0:26:41# Rehearsed it
0:26:41 > 0:26:46# And then gave out the news
0:26:46 > 0:26:49# That the south lands
0:26:49 > 0:26:54# Really gave birth to the blues. #
0:26:54 > 0:26:58Davis's return to the stage as a singer and a dancer was a triumph.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02And an invitation to pursue his acting ambitions quickly followed,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05on Broadway in his first role as a leading man,
0:27:05 > 0:27:08Charlie Welch in Mister Wonderful.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12Based on the Trio's Las Vegas act, it ran for a year.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15# Love me or leave me and let me be lonely
0:27:15 > 0:27:18# You won't believe me but I love you only... #
0:27:18 > 0:27:21One of the entertainment world's most eligible bachelors,
0:27:21 > 0:27:23Sammy was soon being linked romantically
0:27:23 > 0:27:27to a number of high-profile white female stars.
0:27:27 > 0:27:28When he was in love, he was in love.
0:27:28 > 0:27:30Didn't matter who it was, he was in love.
0:27:30 > 0:27:35Most of the girls that Sammy went with were nice girls.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39He went out with everybody, black and white. He just liked girls
0:27:39 > 0:27:40and they liked him.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42Perfect relationship.
0:27:45 > 0:27:46A top nightclub singer,
0:27:46 > 0:27:50Peggy King, was just 26 when she first met Davis.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56This was taken at Sammy's house at a party.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58One of Sammy's famous parties.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03Sammy and I just gravitated toward one another. We're very tiny.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06He's a tiny man, I'm a tiny girl.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08And we just couldn't stop talking.
0:28:08 > 0:28:14In later years, Sammy told me that that evening was the closest
0:28:14 > 0:28:18he ever came to the kind of romance he saw on the screen.
0:28:19 > 0:28:24# Unforgettable
0:28:24 > 0:28:26# That's what you are... #
0:28:27 > 0:28:28But dating a white woman
0:28:28 > 0:28:32at a time when America was still deeply divided along lines of colour
0:28:32 > 0:28:35was soon to have serious consequences.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38Today, you see interracial couples,
0:28:38 > 0:28:42nobody thinks anything about it, life goes on.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46And that's it. But in those days, no.
0:28:46 > 0:28:51# How the thought of you just clings to me. #
0:28:51 > 0:28:54I had no problem about being seen with him, whatsoever.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57I was raised that everybody was alike and I had no problem with it.
0:28:57 > 0:28:59My folks had no problem with it.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02Once I heard that it might be dangerous,
0:29:02 > 0:29:05then I changed, thinking about what kind of friends we could be.
0:29:05 > 0:29:09I would have lost my job. God knows what would have happened to him.
0:29:11 > 0:29:15Sammy didn't see social differences.
0:29:15 > 0:29:19He saw social togetherness.
0:29:19 > 0:29:24And so, in his mind, he didn't think about the fact
0:29:24 > 0:29:27that he was a black man and that was a white woman.
0:29:27 > 0:29:29He didn't care.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32# One thing will lead to another
0:29:32 > 0:29:34# Too late to run for cover. #
0:29:34 > 0:29:38Davis refused to have society dictate his personal life,
0:29:38 > 0:29:41and continued to date some of America's white leading ladies.
0:29:42 > 0:29:43When his close friends
0:29:43 > 0:29:46Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh invited him to dinner,
0:29:46 > 0:29:48Davis found himself sat next to Kim Novak,
0:29:48 > 0:29:52the star of Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 masterpiece, Vertigo.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55The whole thing must have been so embarrassing for you.
0:29:55 > 0:29:56Not at all. I enjoyed it.
0:29:58 > 0:29:59Talking to you.
0:30:02 > 0:30:04Well, I enjoyed talking to you.
0:30:05 > 0:30:08It wasn't long before the gossip columnists
0:30:08 > 0:30:10caught wind of their budding romance.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13They were both treading on very, very thin ice.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16Being a movie star going out with a black guy,
0:30:16 > 0:30:20that wasn't good for her. I think she was his great love.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33Columbia's studio boss, Harry Cohn, was determined to put an end
0:30:33 > 0:30:36to the affair between black entertainer Davis
0:30:36 > 0:30:38and his leading lady, Kim Novak.
0:30:38 > 0:30:43He had a contract taken out on Sammy to discourage him from seeing her.
0:30:43 > 0:30:47By either putting out his eye - other eye - or breaking his legs.
0:30:47 > 0:30:54Cohn said, "You've got 48 hours to marry a black girl,
0:30:54 > 0:30:58"or a black woman, or you're dead."
0:30:58 > 0:31:02Now, when a guy like him - a mob member - says that...
0:31:02 > 0:31:04they're not joking.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08In spite of his love for Kim, faced with a death threat,
0:31:08 > 0:31:1133-year-old Davis knew he had to take action.
0:31:11 > 0:31:13He's sitting on the end of his bed,
0:31:13 > 0:31:17and he's going through his address book.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19I said, "What are you doing?"
0:31:19 > 0:31:21"I'm looking for somebody to marry."
0:31:21 > 0:31:25# Have you heard?
0:31:25 > 0:31:28# I married an angel... #
0:31:28 > 0:31:30He rang 24-year-old Loray White,
0:31:30 > 0:31:35a black dancer and singer he'd previously dated.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37He made it very clear with her.
0:31:37 > 0:31:38"I need you to do me a favour -
0:31:38 > 0:31:40"marry me.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43"I'll pay you 10,000 for all the shoes you want to buy."
0:31:43 > 0:31:45HE LAUGHS
0:31:45 > 0:31:48And she married him and it was a big ceremony,
0:31:48 > 0:31:51and Harry Cohn relaxed and withdrew the contract and it was fine.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54# I married an angel
0:31:54 > 0:31:58# This beautiful change will be... #
0:31:58 > 0:32:05On the wedding day, Sammy had got a hold of some whisky...
0:32:05 > 0:32:07and poured it into the ice bucket,
0:32:07 > 0:32:10and was drinking the whisky out of the ice bucket.
0:32:10 > 0:32:12Did he get drunk?
0:32:12 > 0:32:14Oh, yes, he did!
0:32:14 > 0:32:16HE SLURS
0:32:16 > 0:32:18Like this, you know? Really drunk.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22I took Sammy into the bedroom and I dropped him on the bed.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26Loray is in the other room, crying her eyes out.
0:32:26 > 0:32:30# The end has come
0:32:30 > 0:32:32# My heart is numb... #
0:32:34 > 0:32:38Something clicked in my head - "Go look at Sammy."
0:32:38 > 0:32:42Opened the door and Sammy was just putting the gun to his head,
0:32:42 > 0:32:43right about here.
0:32:45 > 0:32:49He was THAT close to pulling that trigger.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52I jumped right on top of him and pulled the gun out of his hand.
0:32:52 > 0:32:55Then he went out. I mean...boom!
0:32:55 > 0:32:57# That I can't go on... #
0:32:57 > 0:33:00Loray divorced Davis in November 1958,
0:33:00 > 0:33:02just nine months after they married.
0:33:05 > 0:33:07They'd never spent a night together.
0:33:11 > 0:33:13With his personal life in tatters,
0:33:13 > 0:33:16Davis's acting career was given a boost when he was offered
0:33:16 > 0:33:19the leading role as the drug-dealing pimp Sportin' Life
0:33:19 > 0:33:22in the film of Gershwin's musical, Porgy and Bess.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26Davis wanted the role so badly he offered to waive his fee.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30# Come with me
0:33:30 > 0:33:35# That's where we belong, sister... #
0:33:35 > 0:33:39Davis performed Gershwin's songs many times on television -
0:33:39 > 0:33:41including this appearance in March 1960
0:33:41 > 0:33:45on his friend Frank Sinatra's network TV show.
0:33:47 > 0:33:51The new decade finally saw the break-up of the Will Mastin Trio.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54Failing health forced the retirement of Sammy's father,
0:33:54 > 0:33:58putting an end to 30 years on stage together.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02But, even as a solo act, Davis would continue to split his wages
0:34:02 > 0:34:04with his dad and uncle.
0:34:04 > 0:34:08And I would just like to say, very simply, would you welcome...
0:34:08 > 0:34:12- Mr Sammy Davis Jr. - APPLAUSE
0:34:12 > 0:34:14# Here's a happy tune
0:34:14 > 0:34:15# A happy tune
0:34:15 > 0:34:16# You love to croon
0:34:16 > 0:34:17# You love to croon
0:34:17 > 0:34:19# They call it Dean's song... #
0:34:19 > 0:34:21Looks like I'm gonna have to explain this thing.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24Sammy would go on to headline in his own right,
0:34:24 > 0:34:26performing twice nightly on the Strip
0:34:26 > 0:34:28and then carousing at the Sands Hotel
0:34:28 > 0:34:31with Sinatra, Martin, Lawford and Bishop.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34# But, Dean, here's the scam... #
0:34:34 > 0:34:37Whenever one of the boys was in town, the others would follow.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40Their impromptu shows sent audiences wild.
0:34:40 > 0:34:42The Rat Pack, as they were quickly known,
0:34:42 > 0:34:45performed together for the next four years.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47The affection for Sammy was justified,
0:34:47 > 0:34:49because there was nobody like Sammy.
0:34:49 > 0:34:52He really had that innate talent and that natural talent.
0:34:52 > 0:34:53And Frank knew that -
0:34:53 > 0:34:54Frank knew he needed him around
0:34:54 > 0:34:57and they needed him as the dynamic in that Rat Pack,
0:34:57 > 0:34:58because it was so diverse.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01# She loves the theatre
0:35:01 > 0:35:05# Doesn't come late
0:35:05 > 0:35:09# She'd never bother with anyone she'd hate
0:35:09 > 0:35:14# That's why the lady is a tramp... #
0:35:14 > 0:35:16We would see them perform.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19Of course, I was just mesmerised, totally taken with it.
0:35:19 > 0:35:21There was nothing like it.
0:35:25 > 0:35:29I love seeing him with those guys.
0:35:29 > 0:35:35He's just so relaxed and chilled and just being him.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37That's what I love most.
0:35:37 > 0:35:40With his unique sense of comic timing,
0:35:40 > 0:35:42it was Davis's role to play the fall guy.
0:35:42 > 0:35:44# You're just too marvellous
0:35:44 > 0:35:47# Too marvellous for words
0:35:47 > 0:35:52# Like the glorious, glamorous... #
0:35:52 > 0:35:55Audiences were treated to what often looked like
0:35:55 > 0:35:56a very public stag party -
0:35:56 > 0:35:59songs were interrupted by wisecracks,
0:35:59 > 0:36:03many of them appeared racist and at the expense of Sammy or "Smokey",
0:36:03 > 0:36:05as he was nicknamed by Frank.
0:36:05 > 0:36:10Frank Sinatra meant no harm to the culture or to Sammy Davis Jr.
0:36:10 > 0:36:16There was no prejudice amongst them, there was just love.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20Frank loved Sam deeper than a brother
0:36:20 > 0:36:24and would have done anything for him and did.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27They had their differences, but brothers do.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34# Someday I'll have me a chauffeur
0:36:34 > 0:36:38# And a block-long limousine... #
0:36:38 > 0:36:41Through the early 1960s, the boy from Harlem was living
0:36:41 > 0:36:46the millionaire's lifestyle, making more money than he'd ever dreamed.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49Sammy and money - they had a very strange relationship.
0:36:49 > 0:36:51He didn't care about money.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54He only cared about being a star.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57He loved the watches. He loved the cameras.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59He just spent money, spent money.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02Like manure, he spread it around all the time.
0:37:06 > 0:37:08Wealth and fame also saw Davis mixing
0:37:08 > 0:37:10with the country's leading figures,
0:37:10 > 0:37:14including the man who would be the next president.
0:37:14 > 0:37:19# Here I stand at the crossroads of life... #
0:37:19 > 0:37:231960 witnessed Jack Kennedy go head-to-head with Nixon
0:37:23 > 0:37:26in one of the most closely fought presidential battles ever.
0:37:26 > 0:37:28Frank Sinatra had worked hard
0:37:28 > 0:37:32to get Vegas's entertainment world behind Kennedy.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35Persuaded by Sinatra to join JFK's campaign trail,
0:37:35 > 0:37:39it was the successful black entertainer's job to win Kennedy
0:37:39 > 0:37:41the support of African Americans
0:37:41 > 0:37:44by publically endorsing his pro-civil rights message.
0:37:49 > 0:37:51But away from the election trail,
0:37:51 > 0:37:53Davis's love life was again an issue.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56This time, it was his relationship with another white woman,
0:37:56 > 0:38:00the Swedish actress and star of The Blue Angel, May Britt.
0:38:02 > 0:38:07We did not go out in public that much.
0:38:07 > 0:38:12There were times that we planned to go out, all dressed,
0:38:12 > 0:38:15and a telephone call could come and Sammy would come and say,
0:38:15 > 0:38:18"Listen, why don't we do something else tonight?"
0:38:18 > 0:38:20"What do you mean?"
0:38:20 > 0:38:25But he had then heard of some riots or some threats or whatever.
0:38:26 > 0:38:31Davis's previous relationship with a white woman had led to death threats
0:38:31 > 0:38:33and he feared continuing with May
0:38:33 > 0:38:35could put both their lives in danger.
0:38:35 > 0:38:39Nita Silber, Davis's support act in the early 1960s,
0:38:39 > 0:38:42witnessed the racial abuse directed at the entertainer.
0:38:42 > 0:38:48He did a show and it was right here in LA. And there were bomb threats.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53We had to evacuate the theatre.
0:38:53 > 0:38:59Yet, he had to bypass all of that, go on stage
0:38:59 > 0:39:04and perform this absolutely astounding performance.
0:39:06 > 0:39:12# What kind of fool am I?
0:39:13 > 0:39:17# Who never fell in love... #
0:39:17 > 0:39:19In spite of the death threats,
0:39:19 > 0:39:22Davis announced his engagement to May Britt.
0:39:24 > 0:39:31Frank was mad. And Frank could get very, very mad.
0:39:31 > 0:39:33Trust me on that.
0:39:34 > 0:39:36He told Sammy not to do it.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40And he had a lot of influence on Sammy.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43"What are you doing, you son of a bitch?
0:39:43 > 0:39:45"Do you know what you're doing with your life?"
0:39:45 > 0:39:48In a climate where interracial marriage
0:39:48 > 0:39:50was still against the law in many states,
0:39:50 > 0:39:53Sinatra's concern was for Sammy and May's safety,
0:39:53 > 0:39:55but Davis was not to be put off.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00Sammy's attitude about everything was, "I'm not going to be told
0:40:00 > 0:40:05"by other people what to do, as long as I'm not breaking the law.
0:40:05 > 0:40:07"I'm not hurting anybody."
0:40:07 > 0:40:10She was, "You're not going to tell me anything.
0:40:10 > 0:40:14"I love this man. I'm going to marry this man and fuck you."
0:40:14 > 0:40:17# Without you, I'm nothing
0:40:17 > 0:40:20# Without you, I'm nowhere... #
0:40:20 > 0:40:24A week after Kennedy's election victory in November 1960,
0:40:24 > 0:40:29Davis and May Britt married and set up home in the Hollywood Hills.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32Within a year, their daughter, Tracey, was born.
0:40:32 > 0:40:34But through the early years of his marriage,
0:40:34 > 0:40:37Sammy, a workaholic, was rarely at home.
0:40:37 > 0:40:41Busy filming the musical Robin And The 7 Hoods in 1963
0:40:41 > 0:40:43with his Rat Pack buddies,
0:40:43 > 0:40:46Davis played the familiar singing, dancing gunslinger,
0:40:46 > 0:40:50an act he'd been developing for over 20 years.
0:40:55 > 0:40:58It was whilst on set that he learned that the president
0:40:58 > 0:41:01he'd campaigned so hard for had been assassinated.
0:41:01 > 0:41:03For Davis and the rest of the world,
0:41:03 > 0:41:06Kennedy's shocking death signalled a massive blow
0:41:06 > 0:41:08to the progress of civil rights.
0:41:08 > 0:41:11# Can't you see it? #
0:41:11 > 0:41:15Davis's reaction was again to throw himself into work.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19In early 1964, he jumped at the chance to play the romantic lead
0:41:19 > 0:41:24in a brand-new Broadway production of the powerful musical, Golden Boy.
0:41:24 > 0:41:26# Can't you hear it?
0:41:26 > 0:41:30# Sopranos everywhere... #
0:41:30 > 0:41:34Understudying Davis was 25-year-old actor Ben Vereen.
0:41:34 > 0:41:38Sammy used it to talk about a person's dream
0:41:38 > 0:41:40and, in the process,
0:41:40 > 0:41:45what he did was also integrate a love story within it,
0:41:45 > 0:41:47to say, "Love has no colour.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49"I love this person.
0:41:49 > 0:41:51"Why can't I be with this person?"
0:41:56 > 0:41:58Joe Wellington's journey in the play
0:41:58 > 0:42:00echoed Davis's own life story
0:42:00 > 0:42:04and his performance earned him a prestigious Tony Award nomination.
0:42:10 > 0:42:11But approaching middle age,
0:42:11 > 0:42:14Davis's staying power as a recording artist
0:42:14 > 0:42:16was about to be challenged by the British invasion,
0:42:16 > 0:42:19led by The Beatles.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22# I want to hold your hand... #
0:42:22 > 0:42:24Obviously, it affected the Rat Pack.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27Because they saw that there was something else coming.
0:42:27 > 0:42:31They started to feel the threat of they weren't the only game in town.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34When it started to really take hold,
0:42:34 > 0:42:38you'd notice they would start doing records that were a little more pop,
0:42:38 > 0:42:41a little more contemporary, if you will.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43But deep down, they really didn't like it.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47They didn't get all that hard rock stuff.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49Whilst The Beatles were arriving in New York,
0:42:49 > 0:42:52Davis was on one of his many trips to the UK,
0:42:52 > 0:42:54recording a series of TV shows.
0:42:54 > 0:42:56Actually, I came here as a...
0:42:56 > 0:42:59It's an exchange idea,
0:42:59 > 0:43:00you sent over The Beatles...
0:43:00 > 0:43:02LAUGHTER
0:43:02 > 0:43:03..and Goldwater sent me over.
0:43:03 > 0:43:05LAUGHTER
0:43:08 > 0:43:12About to turn 40, Davis continued to be busy.
0:43:12 > 0:43:14But throughout the early 1960s,
0:43:14 > 0:43:17the issue of race was never far from his door.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20Davis was aware of the situation in America's Deep South,
0:43:20 > 0:43:24where civil rights activists were losing their lives.
0:43:24 > 0:43:27# I can do anything
0:43:27 > 0:43:28# Yes, I can
0:43:28 > 0:43:31# Something that sings in my blood is telling me
0:43:31 > 0:43:33# Yes, I can... #
0:43:33 > 0:43:37Sammy was very involved, deeply involved, in civil rights
0:43:37 > 0:43:39and all that was happening,
0:43:39 > 0:43:42and he contributed everything he could.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44He wanted to be accepted by his own.
0:43:44 > 0:43:47He realised he lived in the white man's world.
0:43:47 > 0:43:49But he was very much for their own cause.
0:43:49 > 0:43:53Davis had contributed financially to the civil rights movement.
0:43:53 > 0:43:56But in 1965 he was reluctant to join Dr Luther King
0:43:56 > 0:43:59and the march from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama.
0:44:02 > 0:44:05Many people were fearful of going south.
0:44:05 > 0:44:06Because it was so violent.
0:44:06 > 0:44:08Artists were in jeopardy.
0:44:08 > 0:44:14To get high-profile support among entertainers was a big deal.
0:44:14 > 0:44:17I was scared, I was petrified.
0:44:17 > 0:44:19Cos first of all they didn't like me.
0:44:19 > 0:44:21They didn't like me because I was black.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23They didn't like me because I was married to a white lady.
0:44:23 > 0:44:28So if you talk about having some things against you.
0:44:28 > 0:44:30He didn't want to go, but he couldn't not go.
0:44:30 > 0:44:33He went down there and Martin...
0:44:33 > 0:44:37Reverend King said, "We got you here."
0:44:37 > 0:44:45# Somewhere there has to be the other half of me... #
0:44:45 > 0:44:48Davis was now a father to three children.
0:44:48 > 0:44:50But with his career and his civil rights work,
0:44:50 > 0:44:53he was struggling to achieve a home-work balance.
0:44:53 > 0:44:57He couldn't be the father to the kids that she wanted.
0:44:57 > 0:44:59She wanted a father who would play ball with him.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03He couldn't throw a ball. He'd never thrown a ball in his life.
0:45:03 > 0:45:06And he couldn't go to Central Park with the kids cos he'd get mobbed.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09She just said, "I can't take this any more."
0:45:09 > 0:45:11She said, "And I never want to get to the point
0:45:11 > 0:45:13"that I hate you."
0:45:13 > 0:45:15She said, "Because you're a nice person
0:45:15 > 0:45:18"but you're just pointed in the wrong direction.
0:45:18 > 0:45:22In 1968, May Britt divorced Sammy Davis Jr.
0:45:22 > 0:45:24MUSIC: I've Gotta Be Me by Sammy Davis Jr
0:45:24 > 0:45:27# I gotta be me
0:45:27 > 0:45:30# I gotta be me... #
0:45:30 > 0:45:3443-year-old Davis returned to the recording studio,
0:45:34 > 0:45:37but with the notable exception of I've Gotta Be Me,
0:45:37 > 0:45:40his star as a recording artist was fading.
0:45:40 > 0:45:43Davis, like so many others, was struggling to stay current
0:45:43 > 0:45:46in the face of new acts like Jefferson Airplane
0:45:46 > 0:45:49and The Mamas and The Papas, who were dominating the US charts.
0:45:49 > 0:45:54MUSIC: White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane
0:45:55 > 0:45:58Davis concentrated instead on his acting career,
0:45:58 > 0:46:01returning to the role that had earned him a Tony Award nomination
0:46:01 > 0:46:04in the revival of the musical Golden Boy.
0:46:04 > 0:46:08Touring America and Europe, Davis was in London's Palladium Theatre
0:46:08 > 0:46:11when he received shocking news from back home.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15He was sitting in the room smoking and carrying on, holding court,
0:46:15 > 0:46:19and Joe Grant came through the door. And Joe Grant was like...
0:46:21 > 0:46:24Shock. He was shaking.
0:46:26 > 0:46:28And Sammy said, "What's wrong?"
0:46:28 > 0:46:30He said, "They killed him".
0:46:30 > 0:46:32"They shot him," he said.
0:46:32 > 0:46:33He said, "Who? Who?"
0:46:33 > 0:46:36"Joe! Joe, they shot who?"
0:46:37 > 0:46:39"King."
0:46:41 > 0:46:45And Sammy spun around, and the room got like...
0:46:45 > 0:46:52Really, and he said, "Quiet. Quiet. Everybody just stay cool."
0:46:53 > 0:46:55MUSIC: I Cover The Waterfront by Sammy Davis Jr
0:46:55 > 0:46:58# Away from the city
0:46:58 > 0:47:01# That hurts and mocks
0:47:01 > 0:47:05# I'm standing alone by these lonely docks... #
0:47:05 > 0:47:07In the wake of Dr King's death,
0:47:07 > 0:47:10angry riots erupted across America.
0:47:10 > 0:47:12Devastated by the loss,
0:47:12 > 0:47:16Davis went on national television to appeal to black and white Americans
0:47:16 > 0:47:20to abide by Dr King's message of peaceful change.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24Sammy was saying, "Don't self-destruct."
0:47:24 > 0:47:27"Don't self-degrade. Remain focused.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30"Our dream will be realised because our time has come."
0:47:30 > 0:47:33He kept that message out there.
0:47:33 > 0:47:36# ..As stone
0:47:36 > 0:47:39# Will the dawn coming on
0:47:39 > 0:47:42# Make it light? #
0:47:44 > 0:47:46Davis returned to touring Golden Boy
0:47:46 > 0:47:49and began a relationship with one of the show's dancers,
0:47:49 > 0:47:5325-year-old Altovise Gore, the woman who would become his third wife.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56MUSIC: I Want To Be Happy by Sammy Davis Jr
0:47:56 > 0:47:58# I want to be happy
0:47:58 > 0:48:01# But I won't be happy... #
0:48:01 > 0:48:04At the start of the '70s Davis had not had a chart hit for three years
0:48:05 > 0:48:07and was desperate to find a song that would put him
0:48:07 > 0:48:09back in the spotlight.
0:48:09 > 0:48:13It fell to his new label MGM and producer Mike Curb
0:48:13 > 0:48:16to land Sammy a hit.
0:48:16 > 0:48:17He had said to me,
0:48:17 > 0:48:20"I don't want to do rock'n'roll and I don't want to do R'n'B."
0:48:20 > 0:48:23It had to be a song that he felt Sinatra would have sung,
0:48:23 > 0:48:27and I pointed out that Sinatra did High Hopes.
0:48:27 > 0:48:29"Why can't you do Candy Man?"
0:48:29 > 0:48:32Sammy just didn't want to record it, and I said,
0:48:32 > 0:48:35"But I think we can get enough rhythm going on this record to
0:48:35 > 0:48:36"get it on the radio."
0:48:36 > 0:48:39So he made one take. He didn't sing the whole song.
0:48:39 > 0:48:42And then, on the chorus that he didn't sing, where it goes,
0:48:42 > 0:48:47"The candy man makes everything," that part, I dialled my group in
0:48:47 > 0:48:50and had them sing that.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53That record went all the way to number one on the Billboard chart,
0:48:53 > 0:48:57and for the rest of his career, they called him the Candy Man.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00MUSIC: The Candy Man by Sammy Davis Jr
0:49:00 > 0:49:01# Who can take a sunrise?
0:49:01 > 0:49:04# Sprinkle it with dew?
0:49:04 > 0:49:07# Cover it with chocolate or a miracle or two
0:49:07 > 0:49:10# The candy man... #
0:49:10 > 0:49:11Written by Anthony Newley,
0:49:11 > 0:49:14The Candy Man was Davis's eighth and final foray
0:49:14 > 0:49:20into the American top 40, topping the hit parade for three weeks.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23# Oh, the candy man makes everything he bakes
0:49:23 > 0:49:26# Satisfying and delicious
0:49:26 > 0:49:29# Talk about your childhood wishes
0:49:29 > 0:49:32# You can even eat the dishes... #
0:49:32 > 0:49:34Candy Man? A wonderful song.
0:49:34 > 0:49:37# Who can take a sunrise, da-da-dee-dee-dee. #
0:49:37 > 0:49:39Iconic.
0:49:39 > 0:49:42It's funny the things that we resist.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45I don't know... I'm looking for something to resist.
0:49:47 > 0:49:50# To make the world taste good. #
0:49:53 > 0:49:56# He said his name was Bojangles
0:49:56 > 0:49:58# And he danced a lick
0:50:01 > 0:50:03# Right across the cell... #
0:50:03 > 0:50:05On the same album as The Candy Man,
0:50:05 > 0:50:08Mr Bojangles, written by Jerry Jeff Walker,
0:50:08 > 0:50:11would become another Sammy Davis classic.
0:50:11 > 0:50:15He had a way of taking a song and making it his own.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17I mean, there are a lot of people who if you say,
0:50:17 > 0:50:19"Who had the hit of Mr Bojangles?"
0:50:19 > 0:50:21They'll say Sammy Davis Jr.
0:50:21 > 0:50:23They won't say the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
0:50:23 > 0:50:26# ...and laugh
0:50:26 > 0:50:30# Shake back his clothes all around... #
0:50:30 > 0:50:32Whilst Davis was enjoying a brief return
0:50:32 > 0:50:34to the top of the pop charts,
0:50:34 > 0:50:37his friend Frank Sinatra, now retired from show-business,
0:50:37 > 0:50:39was back in the news.
0:50:40 > 0:50:44Sinatra had previously campaigned to get the Democrat Kennedy elected,
0:50:44 > 0:50:47but by 1972 he had switched sides
0:50:47 > 0:50:50to back Republican President Nixon.
0:50:50 > 0:50:53Davis, until now a lifelong Democrat, followed suit
0:50:53 > 0:50:55and accepted an invitation
0:50:55 > 0:50:57to perform at the Republican convention.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03Sammy was upfront on stage and he performed
0:51:03 > 0:51:05and everybody loved him, of course.
0:51:05 > 0:51:07And Nixon took the microphone...
0:51:07 > 0:51:09In a surprising move,
0:51:09 > 0:51:13President Nixon began his speech praising Sammy Davis Jr.
0:51:13 > 0:51:15Sammy was standing behind him
0:51:15 > 0:51:19and he was so overwhelmed with this wonderful flattery
0:51:19 > 0:51:23and he went forward and he hugged the President.
0:51:23 > 0:51:26Everybody came out against him because,
0:51:26 > 0:51:29"What's he doing with this Republican?"
0:51:29 > 0:51:32He was so committed to pleasing people.
0:51:32 > 0:51:38I'll dance for you, sing for you, play the drums for you,
0:51:38 > 0:51:42do comedy for you, inspire you, turn you on, pull races together.
0:51:42 > 0:51:48He was all about entertaining and creating joy for people.
0:51:48 > 0:51:53It was upsetting, you know. Wish it hadn't happened.
0:51:53 > 0:51:56I think he eventually wished it hadn't happened.
0:52:01 > 0:52:04# Hm, ka-dink-ka-do
0:52:04 > 0:52:07# Ka-dink-a-dee
0:52:07 > 0:52:10# Ka-dink-a-doo... #
0:52:10 > 0:52:12The negative reaction saw Davis,
0:52:12 > 0:52:16who was now approaching 50, enter a downward spiral.
0:52:16 > 0:52:18Show business in the 1970s had become less
0:52:18 > 0:52:21focused on nightclubs and Vegas.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24And, apart from the occasional TV or casino appearance,
0:52:24 > 0:52:28Davis was less in demand and struggled to cope.
0:52:28 > 0:52:31In 1972, he began an affair with Linda Lovelace,
0:52:31 > 0:52:35the star of the pornographic movie, Deep Throat.
0:52:35 > 0:52:37She was back stage with us watching.
0:52:37 > 0:52:40And, you know, Sammy would very openly
0:52:40 > 0:52:42tell me how they were getting it on.
0:52:42 > 0:52:45# ..Eskimo bells... #
0:52:45 > 0:52:48And he said, "Hey, you got one life. It's not a dress rehearsal.
0:52:48 > 0:52:52"And I'm going to do what I want, I'm going to live what I want,
0:52:52 > 0:52:54"I'm going to take what I want."
0:52:54 > 0:52:57He had different kinds of attitudes to how he wanted to live.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00MUSIC: I've Got You Under My Skin by Sammy Davis Jr
0:53:00 > 0:53:03# I got mud on my rainbow
0:53:03 > 0:53:07# I got holes in my dream... #
0:53:07 > 0:53:10Davis's reckless behaviour was taking its toll
0:53:10 > 0:53:13on both his health and his relationships.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16It hurt me to see him drinking
0:53:16 > 0:53:18like a slob.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21He was on his way to being an alcoholic.
0:53:21 > 0:53:23He would give parties at his house,
0:53:23 > 0:53:28and he would always have a little jar of cocaine on the bar.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31He did it because he thought it was chic in the '70s.
0:53:31 > 0:53:34In Hollywood, it WAS chic.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37Frank knew that he was doing substance
0:53:37 > 0:53:39and that was not Frank's thing, you know,
0:53:39 > 0:53:41and they didn't talk for a while.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44And all of his friends got to him that,
0:53:44 > 0:53:45"Hey, you're not going to survive this."
0:53:45 > 0:53:48I guess he started to realise that, you know,
0:53:48 > 0:53:50your body starts to talk to you.
0:53:50 > 0:53:52# And I think it's just about time to
0:53:52 > 0:53:55# Have a little talk with myself
0:53:56 > 0:53:59# Have a little talk with myself... #
0:53:59 > 0:54:01Davis never gave up trying to reinvent his career,
0:54:01 > 0:54:04but, plagued by ill health and two hip operations,
0:54:04 > 0:54:07his earning potential was in decline
0:54:07 > 0:54:10until, at the age of 63, he was offered the chance
0:54:10 > 0:54:12to go back on the road.
0:54:12 > 0:54:17In 1988, Frank Sinatra, who was also looking to make a comeback,
0:54:17 > 0:54:21persuaded Sammy Davis Jr and Dean Martin to reunite on stage.
0:54:21 > 0:54:23MUSIC: My Shining Hour by Sammy Davis Jr
0:54:23 > 0:54:25# This will be my shining hour
0:54:25 > 0:54:28# Calm and happy and bright... #
0:54:28 > 0:54:30He was very excited that he was working.
0:54:30 > 0:54:32He was very excited about the fact
0:54:32 > 0:54:34that he was earning some major money.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37And that was very, very important to Sammy at that time.
0:54:40 > 0:54:43It was during a performance onstage with Sinatra
0:54:43 > 0:54:45that Davis began struggling vocally,
0:54:45 > 0:54:48struck by what he thought was a bout of laryngitis.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54But an eight-month fight with throat cancer was about to be begin.
0:54:54 > 0:54:56It would prove to be Sammy's final battle.
0:54:58 > 0:55:02We knew his journey would be short and it was just a matter of time.
0:55:02 > 0:55:06Everybody was just rallying around the best you could.
0:55:08 > 0:55:12We had an opportunity to visit his home.
0:55:12 > 0:55:16We had an opportunity to have some family quality time with him
0:55:16 > 0:55:20and I actually left there thinking that he was going to be OK.
0:55:23 > 0:55:27Funny how you make a friend and you anticipate
0:55:27 > 0:55:29that you'll grow old together.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33But then it didn't happen.
0:55:37 > 0:55:42I didn't get a chance to say "goodbye" to him and that I...
0:55:53 > 0:56:00Sammy Davis Jr died at the age of 64 on 16th May 1990,
0:56:00 > 0:56:03leaving behind his third wife Altovise and four children.
0:56:03 > 0:56:05MUSIC: I'll Begin Again by Sammy Davis Jr
0:56:05 > 0:56:08# I'll begin again
0:56:08 > 0:56:11# I will build my life
0:56:11 > 0:56:17# I will live to know that I've fulfilled my life... #
0:56:19 > 0:56:22Following his death, Davis's family discovered
0:56:22 > 0:56:25he owed millions of dollars in unpaid taxes.
0:56:25 > 0:56:27They had no other option but to auction off
0:56:27 > 0:56:29his home and possessions,
0:56:29 > 0:56:34including this personal photo album bought by his friend Nita for 500.
0:56:40 > 0:56:43When this book went up for auction,
0:56:43 > 0:56:45I thought, "Well, this would be fabulous."
0:56:45 > 0:56:49Then I saw some other photographs that I personally knew
0:56:49 > 0:56:51that Sammy was the one that took it.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55Amazing. Just amazing.
0:56:55 > 0:57:00# ..I will live my days for my fellow men... #
0:57:00 > 0:57:04He just didn't leave his family in, you know,
0:57:04 > 0:57:07the kind of position that one would want.
0:57:07 > 0:57:10And, you know, by the time you gave half to Uncle Sam
0:57:10 > 0:57:11and by the time you
0:57:11 > 0:57:14spent and lived, you just really couldn't catch up.
0:57:16 > 0:57:20It's difficult to see
0:57:20 > 0:57:24when you've known somebody for so long
0:57:24 > 0:57:28and go through what he went through
0:57:28 > 0:57:34and lose financially, lose so much.
0:57:37 > 0:57:39But despite the sadness surrounding his personal life,
0:57:39 > 0:57:43there's no doubting Sammy Davis Jr's legacy.
0:57:43 > 0:57:45# I gotta be me
0:57:45 > 0:57:47# I gotta be me... #
0:57:47 > 0:57:50Yeah. Look at that.
0:57:50 > 0:57:52# ..The dream that I see
0:57:52 > 0:57:57# Makes me what I am... #
0:57:57 > 0:57:58I am truly blessed
0:57:58 > 0:58:02by those Cinderella moments that I spent with him.
0:58:04 > 0:58:06It was great.
0:58:06 > 0:58:12# ..Is waiting for me if I heed the call... #
0:58:12 > 0:58:15Sammy Davis was a real buddy.
0:58:15 > 0:58:17He was loved by a lot of people,
0:58:17 > 0:58:20but being the greatest entertainer, I think,
0:58:20 > 0:58:23is what really is his mantelpiece.
0:58:23 > 0:58:27# ..The chance that I can have it all... #
0:58:27 > 0:58:34To transcend from here to here.
0:58:34 > 0:58:36That's a long way to come.
0:58:36 > 0:58:39# ..I can't be right for somebody else
0:58:39 > 0:58:44# If I'm not right for me... #
0:58:44 > 0:58:46He broke down walls.
0:58:46 > 0:58:52I am nothing without the contributions of Sammy Davis Jr.
0:58:52 > 0:58:54# ..To try to do it or die
0:58:54 > 0:58:57# I've gotta be me. #
0:58:57 > 0:58:59I love that little man.
0:58:59 > 0:59:02I love him. I love him.
0:59:02 > 0:59:05And as long as I'm on this planet
0:59:05 > 0:59:09I will always let them know that Sammy Davis Jr came this way
0:59:09 > 0:59:13and because he came this way, your life is better.
0:59:13 > 0:59:16# I gotta be free
0:59:16 > 0:59:20# Oh, I just gotta be free
0:59:21 > 0:59:24# Daring to try To do it or die
0:59:26 > 0:59:31# I gotta be me. #