Selects: Sammy Davis Jr: National Treasure

Sammy Davis Jr. emerged from poverty and show business's underbelly as a multifaceted performer whose talent—spanning singing, dancing, impressions, and comedy—often transcended the era's racial barriers, though his life was marked by personal insecurities, racism, and contradictions that made him a polarizing figure even within Black communities.

Childhood on the Road and Army Awakening

Born to a Black father and Puerto Rican mother, Sammy Davis Jr. joined his father and "uncle" Will Mastin in the Will Mastin Trio at age three, winning his first amateur contest singing "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You." They scraped by on the Chitlin' Circuit during the Depression, performing multiple shows daily in vaudeville without formal schooling; Davis didn't learn to read until the Army at 18. There, he first faced raw racism—fights, broken noses—and shifted from physical resistance after beating a white soldier who sneered, "You may have beaten me, but you're still Black." He resolved to combat prejudice through transcendent performance, vowing to be so skilled that race wouldn't matter onstage. Discharged in 1945, the trio hit Vegas, where audiences loved his impressions, including of white stars like Cary Grant—a taboo he broke, thrilling crowds.