As a child I was totally enamored of “The Rat Pack”, which was led by his old friend Frank Sinatra, & included such fellow performers Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, & Shirley MacLaine. Sammy Davis Jr started in vaudeville at age 3 & despite the barriers of racism, he would conquor Broadway, recordings, Las Vegas, films & television. 42 years ago, Sammy appeared on the TV special- Movin’ With Nancy, where he greeted the star-Nancy Sinatra with a kiss on the lips. As far as I can research, this was the first black-white kiss broadcast on American television. As an African American & Hispanic, Davis was the victim of racism throughout his life. He was a large financial supporter of civil rights causes, but he had a complex relationship with the black community, & attracted criticism after physically embracing Richard Nixon in 1970. Davis died of throat cancer in 1990; he refused treatment that might have ruined his voice. One day on a golf course with Jack Benny, he was asked what his handicap was. "Handicap?" he asked. “ I'm a one-eyed Negro Jew." His recording of Gotta Lot of Livin’ To Do (from Bye, Bye Birdie) was on my November Mix. I wish he had made it to his 84th birthday today... I would have been so groovy to have Sammy as a guest on my holiday special- A Very Steve Holiday!. Sammy would have done his very cool version of My Favorite Things & we then would have done a duet of Baby, It's Cold Outside, before joining Liza for a medley of We Need A Little Christmas, It's Beginning To look A Lot Like Christmas & Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel. I would really have loved that.
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