Sammy Davis Jr. As seen by Al Stewart Sammy Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, actor, comedian and dancer. Considered by many in and out of the business to be one of the greatest entertainers of all time, Davis began his career in Vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the Will Mastin Trio, which toured nationally, and his film career began in 1933. Davis returned to the trio and became an overnight sensation following a nightclub performance at Ciro's (in West Hollywood) after the 1951 Academy Awards. In 1954, at the age of 29, he lost his left eye in a car accident. Several years later, he converted to Judaism, finding commonalities between the oppression experienced by African-American and Jewish communities. Starring on Broadway in Mr. Wonderful with Chita Rivera and in 1960, he appeared in the Rat Pack film Ocean's 11. He returned to the stage in 1964 in a musical adaptation of Clifford Odets' Golden Boy and was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance. His biggest hit, "The Candy Man", reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1972, and he became a star in Las Vegas, earning him the nickname "Mister Show Business" A legendary member of the Rat Pack, with Frank, Dean and the boys, truly an incomparable talent, the diminutive man named Sammy was a giant in the entertainment business winning international acclaim while carving his name as one of the most versatile entertainers to ever live. While he was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP, and nominated for a Golden Globe Award, an Emmy Award for his television performances and received a Kennedy Center Honors in 1987 and in 2001 while being posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, those nods of recognition only scratch the surface in this once in lifetime performer. Al Stewart remembers how he saw Sammy, while playing in his orchestra in 1972 at the Westbury Music Fair in New York on a revolving stage, while doing a sensitive in song and dance to the great dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson as he performed Mr. Bojangles. “I took this picture one evening as the stage came around to just above and in front of where I was sitting in the orchestra. The lyrics that Sammy is singing in this photograph are “old top hat and worn out shoes.” Signed on mat and under photo. Overall Size: 16 x 20 in. Sight Size: 10 3/4 x 14 in. #12 Location AF GALLERY