![]() Color meant little until a quick stint in the Army brought a new awareness that he was not white, as many who knew him thought he wanted to be. Sammy’s buddies were Jerry Lewis, Tony Curtis, Jeff Chandler, and Eddie Cantor (without blackface) as well as the Step Brothers and the Nicholas Brothers. Life on the road in the biz wasn’t life on the streets or the ghetto. He danced, sang, played various instruments, and did spot-on mimicry. The hardscrabble life was exhausting and exhilarating, but the prodigy of “The Will Mastin Trio starring Sammy Davis Jr.” had energy to burn. Under the aegis of his father and adoptive uncle, veteran vaudeville hoofers, he mastered flash dancing and the soft shoe. Soon after Sammy learned to walk, he learned to work. (1925–90) wasn’t black inside, wasn’t white outside, writes Haygood ( The Haygoods of Columbus, 1997, etc.). ![]() ![]() Robust update and emendation of the entertainer’s well-known autobiography. ![]()
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