I'm colored, Jewish, and Puerto Rican. When I move into a neighborhood, I wipe it out.
Sammy Davis, Jr's whole life was about confronting obstacles.
(singing)
His gift was his talent, the curse was being Black in America.
It's no fun to walk into a place you're going to play and be told we've had 14 bomb threats.
Even if you win, you don't win.
He said, "These people are going to love me as an entertainer no matter how much they may hate me as a Black."
If I could have lived in the '20s, with Valentino, I would have had the leopards on a leash, you know, walking down the street.
Sammy was show business from the tip of his toes to the top of his head.
If you played it for her, you can play it for me, you understand?
Sammy's like, "I'm a Black guy, but I'm gonna imitate a White guy."
You dirty rat.
This was really groundbreaking at the time he did it.
Yeah!
Hanging out with Sinatra and those guys increased his cool factor.
He's one of the boys.
(singing)
Sammy saw himself as somebody who was breaking new ground for Black people, but there was definitely the perception that he was a sellout.
Any time you walk down the street, and your own people turn you away, then all the money, the diamonds, the fame, the fortune, mean absolutely nothing.
He couldn't be accepted in a White community. He couldn't be accepted in the Black community.
But he had a vision for himself that was bigger than White or Black.
Now I would like to sing, if you would like for me to sing.
And the kiss was his idea.
One. Two. Three!
He was bigger than life. He was funny, he was smart, he was curious, he was loving, he was self-destructive.
He again and again will say, "I'm not going to do it your way.
(singing)
I was always convinced he was gonna die on stage, because it was the only place he was safe.
(singing)
There were things about him that would infuriate you.
There were other things about him that would make you stand up and applaud him.
He was a wonderful, one of a kind comet that flew past the Earth way too quickly.
(singing)
