1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:03,080 Speaker 1: Hello everyone in podcast land. If you have ever wanted 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:06,080 Speaker 1: to see us on stage telling jokes and slinging facts, 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:08,920 Speaker 1: and you live out west, you can come see us 4 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:12,800 Speaker 1: in Portland, Oregon or Vancouver, Canada. Yep, We'll be at 5 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: the Chance Center in Vancouver on Sunday, March twenty nine, 6 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:18,239 Speaker 1: and then we'll be at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall 7 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 1: in Portland on March And if you want tickets and info, 8 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:24,599 Speaker 1: then the best thing you can do right now is 9 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:28,640 Speaker 1: to go do s y s K live dot com. 10 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a production of My 11 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 1: Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. 12 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 1: I'm Josh Clark. There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant, and there's 13 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 1: guest producer Dylan sitting in again like a great guy. Um, 14 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: like a cool cat baby. I thought you were doing 15 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: evil German doctor for a second and then I figured 16 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 1: it out. No man, Wait, I haven't said it yet. 17 00:00:57,200 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 1: And this is stuff you should know. Okay, that was 18 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: a good one that no man was wonderful. I love 19 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:07,640 Speaker 1: how Sammy Davis Jr. Always said cat and baby. It 20 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 1: was just he was such a cool dude. And okay, 21 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: do Sammy Davis Jr. Saying we have ways of making 22 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:17,800 Speaker 1: you talk. What sounds German about any of that? I 23 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 1: just do it, please please, we have ways of making 24 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:26,760 Speaker 1: you talk. Man. It was pretty great and that's a 25 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:31,000 Speaker 1: little soft shoe. It's great stuff. So you know, Billy 26 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: Crystal Uh used to do Sammy Davis Jr. Uh way 27 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 1: back in the eighties when black face was super cool 28 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:43,559 Speaker 1: to do and not controversial. Did he do black face 29 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:46,679 Speaker 1: Sammy Davis Jr. Yes, dude, he did black face Sammy 30 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 1: Davis Jr. Eight years ago at the Oscars. What. Yes, 31 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:54,920 Speaker 1: you don't remember that? No, he hoped the last it's 32 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: the last time he hosted the Oscars eight In two 33 00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: thousand twelve, he they did, you know, a remote intro 34 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: thing where he was doing different things. In the last 35 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:07,600 Speaker 1: bit was him and black face again and people were 36 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 1: like and then you know, this was in you know, 37 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:11,920 Speaker 1: two thousand twelves. So that was Twitter and that was 38 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: Facebook and this social media and people were like, that 39 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:18,079 Speaker 1: wasn't cool in the eighties. And I can't believe he's 40 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:22,200 Speaker 1: doing that now for real. Uh. Sammy Davis Jr's daughter 41 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:24,640 Speaker 1: came out and said, you know what, if there's one 42 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:26,760 Speaker 1: thing I know is that my dad is looking down 43 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:29,480 Speaker 1: and laughing and smiling at Billy Crystal doing this. He 44 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: was he was roasted pretty heavily for it, rightfully so, 45 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 1: and he is he hasn't been around a lot, but 46 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: he wasn't around a lot before then. He you know, 47 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 1: do you think like that? Did it? Like that was 48 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:43,880 Speaker 1: the demise kid? I guess helped. I was, Yeah, I 49 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:46,799 Speaker 1: haven't seen him in a while either. Man, How did 50 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: somebody not step back and be like, okay, wait, we're 51 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:52,679 Speaker 1: about to do black face? I know, Like, how did 52 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: no one on the production crew of the Oscar say 53 00:02:55,400 --> 00:03:01,240 Speaker 1: not a good idea? I don't know. Well he did it? So, Um, 54 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:04,520 Speaker 1: I came across something that I thought was pretty interesting. 55 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 1: I saw interview with David Letterman and Sammy Davis Jr. 56 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:14,080 Speaker 1: Says in this interview he did black face. He was 57 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 1: a little kid. Apparently his skin was lighter when he 58 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,480 Speaker 1: was a kid, and they wanted him because he used 59 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 1: to tour with his uncle and his dad as as 60 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: we'll see um, and to get around labor laws, they 61 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: would pass him off as a midget. And to do 62 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:36,440 Speaker 1: that there was right, yes, thank you. They gave him 63 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:40,600 Speaker 1: um a candy cigar and put him in black face 64 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:42,800 Speaker 1: and and told anyone who would listen that he was 65 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 1: a little person. That's although again they didn't say a 66 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:49,600 Speaker 1: little person. Boy. This is a really controversial episode right 67 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:51,680 Speaker 1: out of the gate. Well, there's a lot of sort 68 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 1: of I mean, he was a complicated guy who was uh, 69 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:58,240 Speaker 1: you know, his father was black, his mother was Puerto 70 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:02,440 Speaker 1: Rican Um. He eventually Lee would endorse to presidents both 71 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 1: Kennedy and Nixon. He served in the army. He was 72 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:12,400 Speaker 1: a rat packer. He uh was uh shunned by racist 73 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: and also shunned sometimes within his own black community. Yeah, 74 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: like a little pinball getting bounced around and little is right. 75 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: He was also a little guy who always I think 76 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:26,560 Speaker 1: had a complex about his height, about his looks. Um. 77 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 1: He had this weird sort of underbyte uh jaw that 78 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:35,680 Speaker 1: would jut out to one side when he talked. Just 79 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:40,720 Speaker 1: a really fascinating guy that was super super talented and 80 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: had his his little tiny fingers and a lot of 81 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: pies from you know, singing and dancing and performing live 82 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:52,239 Speaker 1: and in movies on on TV, and uh, just really 83 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: really fascinating guy. Yeah, when you look back at the 84 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:57,480 Speaker 1: rat pack he was the one that brought the actual 85 00:04:57,600 --> 00:04:59,840 Speaker 1: talent to the rat Pack, like Sinatra could say, he 86 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: Martine and the rat back was talented right right, But 87 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 1: he was multi talented, like dancing, doing impressions. He he 88 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 1: had like a little gun slinger routie. Did you see 89 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:17,200 Speaker 1: any of that? I did? It's amazing. Um. I watched 90 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:22,760 Speaker 1: the PBS documentary for their series American Masters on him 91 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:25,000 Speaker 1: and it was like an hour almost two hours long, 92 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:27,839 Speaker 1: and um, it was really in depth and really good. 93 00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:30,560 Speaker 1: But they had some amazing footage of him just doing 94 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 1: all sorts of different stuff. So I guess let me 95 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 1: revise that, Yes, the rat Pack was talented. Sammy Davis Jr. 96 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: Was was more talented than all of them put together. Right, Okay, 97 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:47,800 Speaker 1: so he made Uh did you see any of that 98 00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: documentary of the U s O Tour? Uh there were 99 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:54,039 Speaker 1: a few clips in there. Yeh yeah. So if you 100 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:55,839 Speaker 1: want to see a difference, So if you think Sammy 101 00:05:55,920 --> 00:06:00,839 Speaker 1: Davis Jr. Is as just the candy man or Mr 102 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:05,720 Speaker 1: bo Jangles babe man, watching him do Mr Bojangles how 103 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:09,520 Speaker 1: he felt about that song, it's very heartbreaking, it is, um. 104 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:12,200 Speaker 1: But if you see this documentary in two he did 105 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: a USO tour of Vietnam where he performed at drug 106 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 1: rehab camps and some other you know, forward bases. If 107 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:22,359 Speaker 1: you look at this man, this is like a swinging 108 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 1: seventies kind of rock and roll as it gets really 109 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:32,440 Speaker 1: really cool stuff. Uh, he was a a bad a performer. 110 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:35,360 Speaker 1: He was at places like some of them were kind 111 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:37,599 Speaker 1: of full on productions where they were capable of pulling 112 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:40,960 Speaker 1: that off. Other times there's this great footage of him 113 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:44,360 Speaker 1: where they could had nothing but a microphone and he's 114 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 1: just like, all right, give me the mic and I 115 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,560 Speaker 1: will like basically kind of do my own beat boxy 116 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:53,920 Speaker 1: rhythm section and sing and dance. And the soldiers are 117 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:56,839 Speaker 1: just loving it. Man, they're eating it up. Yeah, And 118 00:06:56,880 --> 00:07:00,720 Speaker 1: this is two I believe in. Like I mean like 119 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:04,839 Speaker 1: his like he was a world famous star by then, 120 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:07,359 Speaker 1: but also he was an older dude, you know, like 121 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: he'd he'd really had his heyday in the late fifties 122 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:12,840 Speaker 1: and throughout the sixties, and this is seventy two and 123 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:16,200 Speaker 1: he's out there in Vietnam belting out motown hits and 124 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:20,040 Speaker 1: drumming on the mic stand. So yeah, I didn't see 125 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:21,800 Speaker 1: all of it, but yeah, you can tell like it 126 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: was pretty cool. Yeah, he's he's even more of a 127 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 1: talented performer than people realize, because you know, you do 128 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: think of him was doing like standards and show tunes 129 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:32,840 Speaker 1: and stuff like that, and he did mostly do those things, 130 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:34,920 Speaker 1: but he was talented in all sorts of different ways. 131 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 1: So Um the Grabster helped us out with this one. 132 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:40,880 Speaker 1: And he said that there were a few defining sort 133 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: of things about Sammy Davis Jr's life that inform who 134 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:49,880 Speaker 1: he was. One was that he um came from poverty. 135 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:53,880 Speaker 1: He performed with his like he said, his uncle, which 136 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:56,600 Speaker 1: was not really uncle, but his dad, and his uncle 137 00:07:56,640 --> 00:08:01,040 Speaker 1: Will Masston as the was the mast and true Wilmass 138 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: in trio, right, And they came from nothing, and he 139 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:07,120 Speaker 1: did not have any money. And he talked later in 140 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:12,360 Speaker 1: life about the thrill of leaving a waitress a hundred 141 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 1: dollar tip and walking around with a thousand dollars in 142 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 1: your pocket. He's later on in life, Yeah, he's like, 143 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:21,360 Speaker 1: that was a year's salary, and he was like, no 144 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:24,440 Speaker 1: one understands that unless you've been at the bottom, right, 145 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:27,200 Speaker 1: And he was definitely at the bottom. And they he 146 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 1: and his father and his uncle will work their way up, um, 147 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:34,000 Speaker 1: you know, all through they started all throughout the Depression 148 00:08:34,040 --> 00:08:38,680 Speaker 1: on the Chitland circuit doing vaudeville. UM. And he didn't 149 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:43,240 Speaker 1: go to school once. Because this is really important to understand. 150 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:50,040 Speaker 1: He spent his entire life in show business and the 151 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:53,720 Speaker 1: earliest years constantly on the road with his uncle and 152 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:56,199 Speaker 1: his dad. Yeah, so that's the second point. Never went 153 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: to school at all. Uh, did not learn to read 154 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 1: and right until he was in the army UM, and 155 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:06,199 Speaker 1: always apparently had trouble writing, and he always looked at 156 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:08,400 Speaker 1: it as he was always you know, sort of ashamed 157 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:12,160 Speaker 1: of it. He was proud of who he became, but 158 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 1: always was ashamed of his lack of formal schooling. And 159 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:18,480 Speaker 1: he called his um what he had was the facade 160 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:21,960 Speaker 1: of intelligence, which Ed rightfully points out as just bunk, 161 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:24,760 Speaker 1: because there are many kinds of intelligence. He was a 162 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:28,320 Speaker 1: very intelligent guy, he just didn't have formal schooling. UM. 163 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:31,000 Speaker 1: But he was very self conscious of this and about 164 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:35,280 Speaker 1: representing the black community. Uh. Still like if he ever 165 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 1: mispronounced something because he didn't know, it would make him 166 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:41,320 Speaker 1: feel really bad because he thought that that represented black 167 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 1: people as a whole. So that's number two. Uh, And 168 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:49,080 Speaker 1: the third thing is that early on his family, his 169 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 1: dad and his uncle really kind of um shielded him 170 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:57,200 Speaker 1: from racial prejudice. He certainly encountered it on the Chipland circuit, 171 00:09:57,280 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 1: but he didn't really get the full deal until he 172 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:01,599 Speaker 1: went into the army. That was a big shock to him, 173 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:06,120 Speaker 1: right he UM. I think this kind of explains that 174 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 1: he approached racism differently than some of his contemporaries, especially 175 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:14,520 Speaker 1: when he got to the army and was confronted with 176 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:18,400 Speaker 1: the full brunt of it. Um, and that that kind 177 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:22,560 Speaker 1: of informed how he viewed race and racial discrimination in 178 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:27,200 Speaker 1: the the dynamic between the races in the United States 179 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:30,320 Speaker 1: in the middle of last century. UM, because he hadn't 180 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:32,920 Speaker 1: really seen it firsthand or experienced the firsthand. He hadn't 181 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:35,839 Speaker 1: been in school and so other little white kids hadn't 182 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:39,640 Speaker 1: bullied him, or he hadn't been around town and just 183 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:43,600 Speaker 1: lived in a in a set space where most kids 184 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:47,439 Speaker 1: were introduced to racism firsthand. He didn't get that until 185 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:49,560 Speaker 1: he was eighteen, and so by the time he was eighteen, 186 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:51,880 Speaker 1: he was like, this isn't right. What do you what 187 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:54,320 Speaker 1: do you who do you think you are? And so 188 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:56,480 Speaker 1: when he got to the Army and was confronted with 189 00:10:56,520 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 1: it full on. He Um, he approached it differently, whereas 190 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:03,960 Speaker 1: other some of his contemporaries in the army who were black, 191 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:06,840 Speaker 1: UM just kind of kept their head down and you know, 192 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:09,960 Speaker 1: tried to go along and get along. Uh. He would 193 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:12,280 Speaker 1: he would fight back, he would not he would not 194 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:14,440 Speaker 1: back down, he would not step down. And he spent 195 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:18,600 Speaker 1: a lot of time in the army physically fighting white 196 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:21,360 Speaker 1: racists who were trying to make things hard for him. 197 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:25,559 Speaker 1: And apparently at some point he fought one he fought 198 00:11:25,559 --> 00:11:27,600 Speaker 1: one guy in one he beat beat up some white 199 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:30,679 Speaker 1: guy who had um done something racist to him. I'm 200 00:11:30,679 --> 00:11:33,320 Speaker 1: not sure what it was. And then after the fight, 201 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:37,480 Speaker 1: the guy beaten said, you know, you may have beaten me, 202 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:41,280 Speaker 1: but you're still black. And apparently this got to Sammy 203 00:11:41,360 --> 00:11:44,000 Speaker 1: Davis Jr. In such a way that it just transformed 204 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: his approach that he realized like he could fight white 205 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:51,600 Speaker 1: boys his whole life, and probably when some of the fights, 206 00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:53,400 Speaker 1: probably get beat up a lot of the fights, he 207 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:56,199 Speaker 1: had his nose broken at least twice, Um, but that 208 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:58,360 Speaker 1: it wasn't going to get him anywhere. And so he 209 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:01,160 Speaker 1: decided then and there that he could do is fight 210 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:05,959 Speaker 1: prejudice through his performing. He would be such a good performer, 211 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:10,400 Speaker 1: he would transcend race at least while he was performing. 212 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:14,480 Speaker 1: And he managed to do that or as much as 213 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:17,520 Speaker 1: anybody ever has in the history and modern history, at 214 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:20,880 Speaker 1: least in the United States. Yeah. So he's discharged in 215 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:25,440 Speaker 1: the army in goes right back to the Maston trio 216 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:28,960 Speaker 1: and touring with him, and he was sort of even 217 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:31,520 Speaker 1: though he was just a little kid growing up in 218 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:35,720 Speaker 1: that trio, he was sort of the star still. Yeah, 219 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:40,160 Speaker 1: little Sammy, Little Sammy um like little Stevie Wonder. Yeah. 220 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:44,160 Speaker 1: He he actually chuck. He won his first UM contest 221 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 1: at age three, at like an amateur hour or amateur night, 222 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:52,120 Speaker 1: and he's sang, I'll be glad when you're dead, you rascal. 223 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:54,920 Speaker 1: You that's what He knocked the house down at age three, 224 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: And that was the the formal start to his UM, 225 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:01,559 Speaker 1: his show business. He went to Bucks. Yeah about a 226 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:04,079 Speaker 1: hundred fifty bucks today, Yeah, which for him, I mean, 227 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:08,040 Speaker 1: that's a lot of dough for a very very poor kid. 228 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:11,280 Speaker 1: So he gets out of the army, goes back to 229 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:15,760 Speaker 1: the Maston trio, and this sort of corresponded with the 230 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:18,880 Speaker 1: same timeline as when Vegas started to become a big 231 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:23,280 Speaker 1: deal and a big entertainment center, and they played Vegas 232 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:26,000 Speaker 1: a little bit. And you know, we should point out 233 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:29,080 Speaker 1: to on the Chiland circuit they were never making much money. No, 234 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:31,480 Speaker 1: it's a grueling thing. And they did get paid, but 235 00:13:31,559 --> 00:13:33,520 Speaker 1: it's not like they were getting rich out there. I mean, 236 00:13:33,559 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 1: you'd have to be a vaudeville superstar to make a 237 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:38,680 Speaker 1: lot of money. And this is also during the depression 238 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:41,760 Speaker 1: largely too, so people didn't make money in general, right, 239 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:44,320 Speaker 1: but doing three, four or five shows a day on 240 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:47,920 Speaker 1: that circuit. But goes to Vegas, starts performing in Vegas, 241 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:52,720 Speaker 1: uh starts doing impressions, which he did throughout his career. 242 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:55,319 Speaker 1: Was very good at them, and and the audiences ate 243 00:13:55,360 --> 00:13:59,240 Speaker 1: it up. And then Frank Sinatra, the chairman of the board, 244 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:02,480 Speaker 1: as they say, gave him a call or gave their 245 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:05,200 Speaker 1: people called and said, hey, I want I want this 246 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:08,120 Speaker 1: guy open it up for me in Vegas. This trio 247 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:11,280 Speaker 1: opening up. Took him under his wing. That was a 248 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:13,400 Speaker 1: big deal. It was a very big deal. Said, you know, 249 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:16,200 Speaker 1: you do these great impressions, you do me, it's hysterical, 250 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:21,560 Speaker 1: You're so talented. Open for me in Vegas, and uh, 251 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:23,720 Speaker 1: that was where he said, you know, in Vegas for 252 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:26,240 Speaker 1: twenty minutes, twice a night, our skin had no color. 253 00:14:26,520 --> 00:14:30,480 Speaker 1: But um, the second they got finished, he said, other 254 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:32,720 Speaker 1: acts to go out and gamble and socialize, have a drink. 255 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:34,480 Speaker 1: He said, we had to go through the kitchen with 256 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:37,160 Speaker 1: the garbage. And that's when it would all sort of 257 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:39,240 Speaker 1: hit home once again. They had to stay in like 258 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:42,720 Speaker 1: an entirely different part of Vegas that, from the looks 259 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:47,560 Speaker 1: of it, almost didn't have electricity. Dusty Rhodes, Yeah, that's 260 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:50,880 Speaker 1: where they had to stay. They were beloved performers, but 261 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:53,280 Speaker 1: that's where they had to go stay after the show. 262 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:56,680 Speaker 1: And I saw that even after he was a member 263 00:14:56,720 --> 00:15:00,320 Speaker 1: of the rat Pack, a superstar, he had use the 264 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:04,840 Speaker 1: pool at the Sands, and guests in the fifties complained 265 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:07,960 Speaker 1: enough that the Sands agreed to drain the pool and 266 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:10,920 Speaker 1: refill it because Sammy Davis Jr. Had been using the 267 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 1: pool And this is after he was a star already. 268 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:17,000 Speaker 1: That's how vile um the segregation was, even in a 269 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:21,000 Speaker 1: place like Vegas. All right, let's take a break and 270 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:23,720 Speaker 1: we'll come back and talk more about the candy Man 271 00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 1: right after this. So Sammy Davis Jr. Wrote a bunch 272 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:53,720 Speaker 1: of memoirs and autobiographies over the years. Uh, and one 273 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:57,160 Speaker 1: of them is a very great spinal tap choke. So 274 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:00,480 Speaker 1: I know you still haven't seen it, right, I saw, 275 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 1: but I've only seen it once and it was a 276 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:05,040 Speaker 1: couple of years ago. Okay. So one of his his 277 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:07,840 Speaker 1: I think his first one um was called yes I Can. 278 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:11,320 Speaker 1: And there's a great scene in spinals up when Bruno 279 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:15,360 Speaker 1: Kirby as a limo driver is talking about it and 280 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:17,720 Speaker 1: he said he said something about yes I can. He said, 281 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:20,160 Speaker 1: although the real title should have been yes I can. 282 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:23,080 Speaker 1: If Frank says, it's okay because Frank called the shots 283 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:26,560 Speaker 1: for all those guys, right, I remember that. It's very 284 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:28,680 Speaker 1: funny joke, like he just keeps going off about that, 285 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,440 Speaker 1: doesn't it. Yeah, yeah, that's good stuff. You know. Billy 286 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:34,520 Speaker 1: Crystal and Bruno Kirby had a very famous falling out, 287 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:38,600 Speaker 1: and legend has it Billy Crystal sort of had him 288 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:43,760 Speaker 1: black bald. What is up with Billy Crystal? My impression 289 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:47,360 Speaker 1: of him is changing dramatically. He really sells it when 290 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:49,840 Speaker 1: the cameras are on. Huh. Yeah, well that's what you're do, 291 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:55,240 Speaker 1: you know? That's crazy though to be that Wow, I mean, 292 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 1: we know the game. People think you and I like 293 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:01,720 Speaker 1: each other? Right, we got every but it's amazing. Like 294 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:05,480 Speaker 1: what were their names of the MythBusters? Like the day 295 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:08,159 Speaker 1: the camera stopped rolling, they released press statements saying we 296 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:10,680 Speaker 1: never liked each other. I know, why would why would 297 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:13,080 Speaker 1: anybody do that? Even if you didn't like each other? 298 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:16,639 Speaker 1: Why would you just let it go? You know? I 299 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:20,640 Speaker 1: don't know. But it's a Jamie and um Adam Adam, 300 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:22,879 Speaker 1: that's right. Adams a great guy. I know him a 301 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:25,720 Speaker 1: little bit. So are you implying Jamie's not so? I 302 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:30,200 Speaker 1: don't know him any Okay, I'm not citing. This took 303 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:33,000 Speaker 1: a really weird turned, inn't it. It did? So back 304 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:40,159 Speaker 1: to Sammy Davis Jr. He also started his star started rising. Um, well, 305 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:42,680 Speaker 1: his star had already risen, but in the seventies when 306 00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:45,760 Speaker 1: the Variety Show came about, which was a big deal 307 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:49,159 Speaker 1: in the seventies and even into the eighties, Sammy Davis Jr. 308 00:17:49,280 --> 00:17:52,639 Speaker 1: Was perfect for that medium. Well, this was this was 309 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:55,720 Speaker 1: I think even earlier than that, when TV really started 310 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:59,639 Speaker 1: to dominate. The earliest shows that they had were vaudeville shows. 311 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:02,679 Speaker 1: That led to variety show. He had his own variety 312 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:05,080 Speaker 1: show later in the seventies because he was so it 313 00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:07,639 Speaker 1: wasn't a huge hit. But for someone who can dance 314 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:10,960 Speaker 1: and sing and do impressions and do comedy and for 315 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:15,119 Speaker 1: God's sakes, is a real deal gun slinger a variety 316 00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:18,840 Speaker 1: shows pretty great. It really was so. Um he's you know, 317 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:23,679 Speaker 1: he uh, he's getting onto TV. Um, there's their Vegas 318 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:26,240 Speaker 1: gigs have really put the Will Maston trio on the map. 319 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:30,520 Speaker 1: And um, they were doing really well. Um, they had 320 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:33,000 Speaker 1: reliable work that kind of stuff. People knew who Sammy 321 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:35,359 Speaker 1: Davis Jr. Was. He was already, you know, a protege 322 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:38,120 Speaker 1: of Frank Sinatra by this time. Um, But it wasn't 323 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:43,560 Speaker 1: until ninete that the big break came through. And it 324 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:45,879 Speaker 1: really came through and like a really kind of Hollywood 325 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:49,760 Speaker 1: story kind of way where like this they that they 326 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 1: were given this one shot and this one particular spot 327 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:55,159 Speaker 1: at just the right time, in front of just the 328 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:57,920 Speaker 1: right people, and they killed it and that was it. 329 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,400 Speaker 1: They Sammy Davis Jr. Was a star from that moment on. 330 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:05,560 Speaker 1: That's right. And that was at um Janice Page and 331 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:11,600 Speaker 1: a show at Zeros, which is now the Comedy Store. Um, 332 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:13,639 Speaker 1: and oh really, I didn't know that. Yeah. Yeah, it 333 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:16,639 Speaker 1: became the Comedy Store after Zeros, but was sort of 334 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:19,159 Speaker 1: a legendary place, you know, of its own in its 335 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:23,320 Speaker 1: own right. But everyone you know that. Apparently it's debatable 336 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:25,639 Speaker 1: whether or not it was an Oscar party after party 337 00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:28,720 Speaker 1: or not, but regardless, there were a lot of Hollywood 338 00:19:28,760 --> 00:19:33,240 Speaker 1: people there, including Bogey and his rat Pack. Sure, the 339 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:37,199 Speaker 1: the original rat Pack, which wasn't called the rat Pack, no, 340 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:41,520 Speaker 1: it was actually it was well why did well, never mind, 341 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:44,560 Speaker 1: I'm not going down the rabbit hole. What That's all right? 342 00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:48,320 Speaker 1: So he uh, he kills it there. He's doing impressions 343 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:51,120 Speaker 1: of people that are in the audience. Everyone loves him. Uh. 344 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:54,760 Speaker 1: They signed with the William Moore Morris Agency, and an 345 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:58,600 Speaker 1: overnight sensation, you know, twenty thirty years in the making 346 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:01,919 Speaker 1: starts happening. Yeah, and should say so. Sammy Davis Jr. 347 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:06,240 Speaker 1: Became known for his impressions. He was groundbreaking in the 348 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:09,280 Speaker 1: sense that he would do impressions of white people and 349 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:12,520 Speaker 1: up to the time Sammy Davis Jr. Started doing impressions 350 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:14,800 Speaker 1: of white people, if you're a black performer, you could 351 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:17,240 Speaker 1: do impressions of other black people, and that was it. 352 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:19,280 Speaker 1: It was just not okay for you to do white people. 353 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:21,960 Speaker 1: Sammy Davis Jr. Just started doing white people and the 354 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:24,840 Speaker 1: white people loved it. And at that show at Zero's, 355 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:27,119 Speaker 1: he was doing impressions of some of the people in 356 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:30,439 Speaker 1: the crowd, like he did a killer Carrie Grant and 357 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:33,200 Speaker 1: Carry Grant was a member of Humphrey Bogart's rat Pack 358 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 1: and he was probably there that night. Um, so there 359 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:38,320 Speaker 1: were a lot of people who were getting impressions done 360 00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:41,399 Speaker 1: of them. They just loved it. Killed and um, I 361 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:44,280 Speaker 1: think Janice Page said I was the headliner tonight. I 362 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:46,320 Speaker 1: think these guys should be the headliner from now on, 363 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:49,080 Speaker 1: which was pretty cool of her to do that. You know, 364 00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:52,720 Speaker 1: it's amazing. Yep. So he gets a record deal after that, 365 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:57,399 Speaker 1: he's putting out like show Chins, Old Standards. Uh. He 366 00:20:57,480 --> 00:20:59,720 Speaker 1: does a pilot in the mid fifties with his father 367 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:04,080 Speaker 1: and cool about a trio of black entertainers that are 368 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:06,800 Speaker 1: kind of struggling called We Three. Yeah, I would love 369 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 1: to see that. Well, there's another probably we'll talk about 370 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:12,080 Speaker 1: later that you definitely need to see. I haven't checked 371 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:13,800 Speaker 1: it out yet, but I know I know the one. 372 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:18,399 Speaker 1: It's pretty legendary. So uh. A big thing happened that 373 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:22,120 Speaker 1: same year in nineteen four is Sammy Davis Jr. Had 374 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:26,119 Speaker 1: a wreck in his Cadillac. And the Cadillac and this 375 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:29,840 Speaker 1: is just horrific to think about because I've seen these, 376 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:31,639 Speaker 1: you know, in the middle of the steering wheel, they 377 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:35,240 Speaker 1: had these little decorative cones that stuck out. His left 378 00:21:35,280 --> 00:21:38,639 Speaker 1: eyeball hit that thing and he lost it and warren 379 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:41,400 Speaker 1: eyepatch for a while and then a glass eye. Yeah, 380 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:45,040 Speaker 1: apparently he remembers coming out of the car um with 381 00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:48,159 Speaker 1: holding his eye in his hand, and then that's the 382 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:50,120 Speaker 1: last thing he remembers. The next thing he remembers after 383 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:52,280 Speaker 1: that was waking up in a hospital bed and when 384 00:21:52,359 --> 00:21:54,480 Speaker 1: he woke up and realized that he lost his eye 385 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:58,200 Speaker 1: for life as I was gone. Um, he was really 386 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:01,520 Speaker 1: really scared that his rear was over. This is n 387 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:06,360 Speaker 1: He'd just gotten his big break three years before and 388 00:22:06,600 --> 00:22:08,000 Speaker 1: was on his way up and now all of a 389 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:10,399 Speaker 1: sudden he loses his eye. And the thing about losing 390 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:13,439 Speaker 1: your eye in addition to say, you know, having to 391 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:16,639 Speaker 1: sit for publicity photos and try to be a leading 392 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:20,840 Speaker 1: man in movies or on Broadway or that kind of thing. Um, 393 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:27,119 Speaker 1: you have to relearn spatial awareness. You're going from binocular 394 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:30,520 Speaker 1: vision to monocular vision and that has all sorts of 395 00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:33,320 Speaker 1: weird tricky effects on you. So if you're a dancer 396 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:37,119 Speaker 1: or a gun slinger or doing some old soft shoe 397 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:40,960 Speaker 1: or whatever you're doing, you have to relearn how to move. 398 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:44,359 Speaker 1: And apparently one of the things that Sinatra did that 399 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:47,439 Speaker 1: was really stand up for Sammy Davis Jr. Was he 400 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:52,240 Speaker 1: had him basically come convalesc at Sinatra's place and really 401 00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:57,360 Speaker 1: um guided him in in saying, like, you need to 402 00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:00,200 Speaker 1: relearn how to move. You're gonna be fine, but you're 403 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:02,680 Speaker 1: you're gonna have to You're gonna have to start really 404 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:04,960 Speaker 1: attacking this and you can't really sit around and feel 405 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:07,840 Speaker 1: bad for yourself. You need to to get you know, 406 00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:12,600 Speaker 1: relearn movement now rather than you know, spend a year 407 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:15,280 Speaker 1: feeling sad. And that was a huge help for him. 408 00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:18,760 Speaker 1: It was, and he also was kind of UM, I 409 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:21,040 Speaker 1: don't think, I mean, maybe his life did kind of 410 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:23,760 Speaker 1: pass before him, because he definitely had an awakening of 411 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:27,440 Speaker 1: what have I done here with my life so far? 412 00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:30,760 Speaker 1: What greater purpose have I served? Um? And what can 413 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:35,600 Speaker 1: I do from this point forward. Um, he and put 414 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:37,960 Speaker 1: a pin in this. But this was the first exposure 415 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:40,760 Speaker 1: to judaism in the hospital. You gotta visit from a 416 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:43,680 Speaker 1: rabbi and just put a pin in that because that 417 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:47,360 Speaker 1: will come back again later. Okay, to a pin in it. Well, 418 00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:49,880 Speaker 1: look all right, I don't even know where this pin 419 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:52,200 Speaker 1: came from. You, I don't. Well, you do have that 420 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:55,680 Speaker 1: pincushion right there. But yeah, this this little tomato one 421 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:58,640 Speaker 1: with the strawberry dangling off of it. Remember those, oh man, 422 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:01,679 Speaker 1: because there a seventies mom that didn't have one of 423 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:04,639 Speaker 1: the yeah, with the Macromay owl hanging on the wall behind. 424 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:10,199 Speaker 1: So here's where it gets really kind of great as 425 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 1: far as knowing what a stand up guy Sammy Davis Jr. Was. 426 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:18,919 Speaker 1: His his success is booming, and you would think, Sammy 427 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:23,280 Speaker 1: Davis Jr. You can leave that Will Maston trio behind. Yeah, 428 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:26,760 Speaker 1: because it's really all about you. He said, no, man, 429 00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:31,760 Speaker 1: shine us all up, babe. Three way split, And that's 430 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:34,440 Speaker 1: what they did. They he ensured contractually that they would 431 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:38,399 Speaker 1: get a three way split that endured ten years after 432 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:41,600 Speaker 1: he left as a solo performer. He was still giving 433 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:45,520 Speaker 1: them thirty three each. Yeah for fifteen years total, they 434 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:49,280 Speaker 1: got a third of the profits each of them. Um 435 00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:53,080 Speaker 1: and yeah, they they were you know, originally they were 436 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:55,720 Speaker 1: still doing their Vegas show as the Will Maston Trio 437 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:58,919 Speaker 1: featuring Sammy Davis Jr. But then over time, you know, 438 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:02,040 Speaker 1: remember his uncle and his dad were a good twenty 439 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:05,720 Speaker 1: years older than him. By this time, he's in his thirties, 440 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:08,840 Speaker 1: so you know, they're starting to get they're they're losing 441 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:10,959 Speaker 1: their step a little bit, so they start to not 442 00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:13,800 Speaker 1: be in the show quite as much, stepping back. But 443 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:15,920 Speaker 1: even still, he made sure they were taken care of 444 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:19,320 Speaker 1: for another fifteen years. Third a third and this is 445 00:25:19,359 --> 00:25:24,040 Speaker 1: a third during Sammy Davis Junior's peak earning years, So 446 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:27,040 Speaker 1: he got one third of what he would have gotten 447 00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:30,359 Speaker 1: had he just basically said, dad, uncle will thank you 448 00:25:30,359 --> 00:25:32,680 Speaker 1: for teaching me everything. I know. I'm gonna move on now, 449 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:36,400 Speaker 1: best of luck, let me know if you need a loan. Instead, 450 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:38,240 Speaker 1: he just took a third of what he could have 451 00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:40,520 Speaker 1: gotten and gave the other two thirds to those two, 452 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:44,520 Speaker 1: which is for fifteen years. Chuck, that's really amazing. It's 453 00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:47,440 Speaker 1: pretty great. Uh So that pen it actually wasn't in 454 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:48,919 Speaker 1: there that long. We go ahead and take the pen 455 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:52,639 Speaker 1: out because he after that first meeting with a rabbi, 456 00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:55,480 Speaker 1: he reads more and more about Judaism. He draws a 457 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:58,280 Speaker 1: correlation between the plight of the Jewish people and the 458 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:01,400 Speaker 1: plight of black people, and it really spoke to him 459 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,360 Speaker 1: and he converted. And some people said, oh, this big 460 00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:07,960 Speaker 1: publicity stunt. He's like, no, this is not a publicity stunt. 461 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:10,760 Speaker 1: He said, this is my new religion. And uh. He 462 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:15,040 Speaker 1: very humorously started referring to himself as a one eyed 463 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:18,600 Speaker 1: black Jew, sometimes of one eyed black Puerto Rican, like 464 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:21,399 Speaker 1: Puerto Rican Jew, which was very sort of in keeping 465 00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:25,120 Speaker 1: with his self deprecating style. For sure, He's like, um, 466 00:26:25,119 --> 00:26:28,399 Speaker 1: Tim Watley, he converted for the jokes man, I remember 467 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:32,640 Speaker 1: that one. I've been plowing through Seinfeld again. I love. 468 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:35,040 Speaker 1: One of my favorite things that always gets me is 469 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:41,199 Speaker 1: when Jerry calls George Biff. Yeah. It never fails to 470 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:47,320 Speaker 1: make me laugh. Biff Yeah, so good. Uh, she was, well, no, 471 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:49,199 Speaker 1: let's not take another break, let's play on here, right, 472 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:54,359 Speaker 1: all right. So, dating wise, he is dating black women 473 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:59,000 Speaker 1: and white women. When he dates white women, he gets 474 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:03,080 Speaker 1: racist sets from white people, and he gets condemnation from 475 00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:06,760 Speaker 1: the black community for betraying the black community by dating 476 00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:09,800 Speaker 1: a white woman. Right, he can't win. No, he really 477 00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:12,160 Speaker 1: couldn't win. And apparently from what I saw in that 478 00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:20,440 Speaker 1: um that American Masters uh documentary, Um, he really really 479 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:23,480 Speaker 1: really was in love with Kim Novak. From what I saw, 480 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:25,760 Speaker 1: she may have been the love of his life. At 481 00:27:25,760 --> 00:27:28,199 Speaker 1: the very least. He never got to explore whether she 482 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:31,760 Speaker 1: was or not. But um, when he said that he 483 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:35,879 Speaker 1: intended to marry her, I guess it was in the fifties. Um, 484 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:39,760 Speaker 1: he uh he there was a contract put out in 485 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,560 Speaker 1: his life by the studio head and I think Columbia 486 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:45,919 Speaker 1: where Kim Novak was an actress. Yeah, Harry Cohne was 487 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:48,960 Speaker 1: the studio head. And this was back when Vegas and 488 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:52,600 Speaker 1: Hollywood were you know, there was some mob in mafia 489 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:57,080 Speaker 1: dealings going on for sure, and Sammy had some mob 490 00:27:57,119 --> 00:27:59,480 Speaker 1: friends too, just because he was friends with Frank and 491 00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:01,480 Speaker 1: you know, that was just sort of the thing. These 492 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:03,280 Speaker 1: guys would come to these Vegas clubs and he would 493 00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:06,840 Speaker 1: meet them. He sought protection from a Chicago gangster that 494 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:10,159 Speaker 1: he was in with. The Chicago gangster was like, I 495 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:13,480 Speaker 1: can't help you in California. He's like, I'm not I'm 496 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:15,240 Speaker 1: no good there. I can protect you in Chicago, I 497 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:18,320 Speaker 1: can protect you in Vegas. Can't do anything about California. 498 00:28:18,359 --> 00:28:21,800 Speaker 1: It's not my territory. Uh. And supposedly, and this is 499 00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:23,720 Speaker 1: where it gets a little hazy, because some people say 500 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:26,399 Speaker 1: it happened, some people say it didn't. Supposedly he was 501 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:30,280 Speaker 1: even kidnapped for a few hours to scare him. Um, 502 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:34,000 Speaker 1: but who knows if that's really true. Well, apparently one 503 00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:37,200 Speaker 1: of his friends who was there said no, it wasn't true. 504 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:41,160 Speaker 1: He was never kidnapped. But the contract basically said there 505 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:43,920 Speaker 1: was a contract that said you have forty eight hours 506 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:48,680 Speaker 1: to marry a black woman or you die, and whatever. 507 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:51,440 Speaker 1: Whatever it was, whatever, whether there was an actual contract, 508 00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:53,680 Speaker 1: whether it were just got to him that there was, 509 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:55,920 Speaker 1: It didn't matter to Sammy Davis Jr. At that minute, 510 00:28:55,920 --> 00:28:59,400 Speaker 1: because he broke it off with Kim Novak. Uh, much 511 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:04,680 Speaker 1: to his own hearts break and um, yeah, proposed to 512 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:08,120 Speaker 1: a woman named laure White who Um, she was a 513 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:10,760 Speaker 1: black singer, and I think they had dated years before. 514 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:16,760 Speaker 1: And I guess he never copped to the um to 515 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:19,280 Speaker 1: the idea that it was an arranged marriage that was 516 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:23,360 Speaker 1: basically a business proposal. But That is definitely how it's 517 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:26,280 Speaker 1: portrayed by the people who were there at the time, 518 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:29,040 Speaker 1: were his close friends, that he even paid her ten 519 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:31,800 Speaker 1: thousand dollars to do this. Um. And I'm sure it 520 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:35,480 Speaker 1: was very you know, uh kind and congenial to it. 521 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,720 Speaker 1: But they described that day, his wedding day to laure 522 00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:41,720 Speaker 1: White is probably the worst day of his life, tied 523 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:44,960 Speaker 1: for first with the day that he lost his left eye. Yeah, 524 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,320 Speaker 1: and he you know, we can't look over some of 525 00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:50,400 Speaker 1: the ugly parts of that day. He got drunk and 526 00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:56,200 Speaker 1: physically assaulted her in the car just after the wedding reception. Yeah. Um. 527 00:29:56,240 --> 00:29:58,600 Speaker 1: Not making any excuses for the guy, but it was 528 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:03,360 Speaker 1: certainly not right to you that right. So their marriage 529 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:07,160 Speaker 1: didn't last terribly long. I didn't see how long it lasted, 530 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:11,000 Speaker 1: did you. Okay, so about a year, and I guess 531 00:30:11,080 --> 00:30:13,360 Speaker 1: he considered that the heat had gone down or whatever 532 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:17,000 Speaker 1: by that time. Um. And but I get the impression 533 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:20,160 Speaker 1: that the fact that Kim Novak had been taken from 534 00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:24,920 Speaker 1: him strictly out of racism. Like Harry Cohne, I'm sure 535 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:27,320 Speaker 1: was a racist, but he was also a businessman and 536 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:29,320 Speaker 1: the reason that he was doing this was because he 537 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:32,280 Speaker 1: knew America was racist. This is at a time when 538 00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:36,120 Speaker 1: there were laws that prevented black men and white women 539 00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:39,560 Speaker 1: or vice versa, to marry. It wasn't legal yet. No. 540 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:43,240 Speaker 1: Um so the idea of one of his biggest stars, 541 00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:46,480 Speaker 1: Kim Novak, marrying a black man, uh, he he decided 542 00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:48,720 Speaker 1: that he just couldn't take that risk business wise, and 543 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:52,160 Speaker 1: so he threatened Sammy Davis Jr. Whatever the reason was, 544 00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:56,560 Speaker 1: Sammy Davis Jr. Really bristled under that. And so in 545 00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:00,080 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty uh, this was a few years after a 546 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:02,840 Speaker 1: um he had to break it off with Kim Novak. 547 00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:06,600 Speaker 1: He got married to a woman, a Swedish actress named 548 00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:11,360 Speaker 1: my Britt and I he had children with her and 549 00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:14,520 Speaker 1: was married to her, but he also um ran around 550 00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:16,800 Speaker 1: on her almost constantly from what I understand, and you 551 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:22,800 Speaker 1: get the impression that my was in part a. Uh well, 552 00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:25,320 Speaker 1: I'll just put his PG as possible, thumbing his nose 553 00:31:26,120 --> 00:31:28,440 Speaker 1: at all of the racists out there who took Kim 554 00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:31,200 Speaker 1: Novak from him. He was he was saying, I think, so, 555 00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:33,600 Speaker 1: as somebody put it, I'm big enough now that you 556 00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:35,520 Speaker 1: can't tell me who to marry, and I'm going to 557 00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:39,360 Speaker 1: marry this beautiful six ft white woman who looks like 558 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:42,960 Speaker 1: Margot Roby. Sort of she does, yeah, she does a 559 00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:44,719 Speaker 1: little bit. I had. I didn't put my finger on it. 560 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:49,320 Speaker 1: And their children were incredibly beautiful, thanks largely to their 561 00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:52,640 Speaker 1: mom too, but they were they were Um. They had 562 00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:55,240 Speaker 1: three kids together and they were married for eight years. 563 00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:58,120 Speaker 1: And I think it's very sad because my brit immediately 564 00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:00,760 Speaker 1: lost her career, so she gave up her career to 565 00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:04,800 Speaker 1: be with Sammy Davis Jr. I don't know. I she 566 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:07,920 Speaker 1: must have fallen in love with them, um because she 567 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:10,000 Speaker 1: she had three kids with him too. But she gave 568 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:14,120 Speaker 1: up a lot and he gave up nothing. And I 569 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:18,560 Speaker 1: think that was very unfair um on his part to 570 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:22,360 Speaker 1: ask for what he asked for from her and give 571 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:26,240 Speaker 1: so little in return. Yeah. And what was also not 572 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:29,800 Speaker 1: fair and um sort of a black eye on John F. 573 00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:33,280 Speaker 1: Kennedy was that Sammy Davis Jr. Had been scheduled to 574 00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:37,640 Speaker 1: perform at the nineteen sixty inauguration and he disinvited him 575 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:41,120 Speaker 1: because of his marriage to a white woman. Kennedy personally 576 00:32:41,840 --> 00:32:45,720 Speaker 1: had him disinvited. This wasn't Kennedy's like advisors or anything 577 00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:47,880 Speaker 1: like that. It was him and he said, you know. 578 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:51,480 Speaker 1: Apparently people said he you know, it was a political 579 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:55,720 Speaker 1: move because he didn't want to alienate Southern Democrats. But 580 00:32:56,200 --> 00:33:00,280 Speaker 1: either way, that was a big um fracturing of the 581 00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:03,480 Speaker 1: relationship between JFK and Sammy Davis Jr. He never got 582 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:05,960 Speaker 1: over that, No, he never did. And it was also 583 00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:09,000 Speaker 1: a moment where Sinatra, who had stood up for Sammy 584 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:14,320 Speaker 1: Davis Jr. Multiple countless times against racists, against studio heads, 585 00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:19,320 Speaker 1: against the record company executives, against all sorts of people, didn't. 586 00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:22,760 Speaker 1: He did not stand up and argue and try to 587 00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:27,520 Speaker 1: persuade JFK to change his mind. He just quietly went 588 00:33:27,560 --> 00:33:30,520 Speaker 1: along with it. And I think that broke Sammy Davis 589 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:33,840 Speaker 1: Junior start as much as JFK betraying him, and probably 590 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:37,640 Speaker 1: even more because he expected more from from Frank Frank 591 00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:40,760 Speaker 1: than he did from from Kennedy. And the other thing 592 00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:45,760 Speaker 1: about Kennedy res sending that invitation, Harry Belafani's invitation wasn't rescinded, 593 00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:47,960 Speaker 1: and Harry Belafani was married to a white woman and 594 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:52,240 Speaker 1: was there with his white wife at this inauguration party. 595 00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:55,560 Speaker 1: Um So Sammy Davis Jr. Couldn't help but take it personally, 596 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:58,600 Speaker 1: and he really did. It was a big It was 597 00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:00,520 Speaker 1: a big deal, a big moment in his life in 598 00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:02,840 Speaker 1: a very sad moment, and a lot of people think 599 00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:07,120 Speaker 1: that it led to him later on embracing, um, probably 600 00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:12,319 Speaker 1: ill advisedly, the Nixon campaign in the early seventies. That's right, 601 00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:14,239 Speaker 1: you want to take a break, Yeah, let's take a 602 00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:15,919 Speaker 1: break and we'll talk a little bit about his work 603 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:42,080 Speaker 1: in the civil rights movement right after this. This cat 604 00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:45,479 Speaker 1: is interesting, man, right, I don't know if everybody's picking 605 00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:48,160 Speaker 1: up on it. Did you know this before? Because this 606 00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:50,400 Speaker 1: is your pick, right? Yeah. Yeah, I've always been pretty 607 00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:53,359 Speaker 1: fascinated with him because we haven't even gotten to the 608 00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:57,680 Speaker 1: super weird and interesting stuff. Yeah right, Um, which happens 609 00:34:57,719 --> 00:35:00,920 Speaker 1: in the seventies. So in the sixties is when and 610 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:03,560 Speaker 1: and possibly because of the JFK treatment, is when he 611 00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:07,840 Speaker 1: really starts to get more socially aware. Uh, starts donating 612 00:35:07,880 --> 00:35:12,080 Speaker 1: money to the cause and marches at selma Um for 613 00:35:12,120 --> 00:35:16,120 Speaker 1: the civil rights efforts. Um. He when he supported Nixon, 614 00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:19,680 Speaker 1: it was not just the thumbing of the nose at 615 00:35:19,719 --> 00:35:23,200 Speaker 1: at Kennedy, but he bought into Nixon and thought that 616 00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:26,840 Speaker 1: it was gonna be a good choice for Black America. Uh. 617 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:30,200 Speaker 1: He regretted that later on, of course. But it wasn't 618 00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:33,600 Speaker 1: just um a poopy pants move, like, hey, while I'm 619 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:37,359 Speaker 1: gonna support Nixon now because you disinvited me, exactly and 620 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:40,560 Speaker 1: so Um. One of the other reasons that he embraced 621 00:35:40,640 --> 00:35:43,240 Speaker 1: Nixon was that Nixon embraced him as a human being 622 00:35:43,680 --> 00:35:46,239 Speaker 1: and really stood in start contrast to the treatment he 623 00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:53,240 Speaker 1: received from Kennedy. Um. And in that Nixon actually seemed 624 00:35:53,239 --> 00:35:55,960 Speaker 1: to really like Sammy Davis Jr. That a lot of 625 00:35:55,960 --> 00:35:58,400 Speaker 1: people are like the Nixon administration was just using Sammy 626 00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:00,960 Speaker 1: Davis Jr. They were, at the same time, I'm um, 627 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:03,520 Speaker 1: using what's called the Southern strategy, which is they were 628 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:06,040 Speaker 1: stoking racism among Southern whites to get them to turn 629 00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:11,319 Speaker 1: on the Democrats. Um. But he also apparently really did 630 00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:15,960 Speaker 1: like Sammy Davis Jr. And admired him and under Nixon's 631 00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:20,560 Speaker 1: administration tastes like bitter acid. Saying this, Sammy Davis Jr. 632 00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:25,200 Speaker 1: Became the first black person to sleep in the Lincoln bedroom, 633 00:36:25,239 --> 00:36:28,400 Speaker 1: and apparently Sammy Davis Jr. Was an avid Lincoln fan 634 00:36:29,160 --> 00:36:33,240 Speaker 1: and sleeping in the Lincoln bedroom with some of Abraham 635 00:36:33,280 --> 00:36:37,279 Speaker 1: Lincoln and Mary Todd. Lincoln's personal effects in this room 636 00:36:37,719 --> 00:36:41,040 Speaker 1: just blew him away, and that was actually how he 637 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:44,440 Speaker 1: ended up in Vietnam doing this USO tour in nineteen two. 638 00:36:44,840 --> 00:36:47,080 Speaker 1: He said, what can I do to help? And Nixon 639 00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:49,560 Speaker 1: said that would probably that would probably help a lot. 640 00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:56,080 Speaker 1: But that just contributed even further to his alienation from 641 00:36:56,120 --> 00:36:59,000 Speaker 1: not just black people, but young black people too, because 642 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:01,480 Speaker 1: it was a really tone deaf move. As I saw 643 00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:03,799 Speaker 1: it described at the time, that was not the kind 644 00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:06,879 Speaker 1: of thing you did. Vietnam was so unpopular that even 645 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:10,759 Speaker 1: the troops weren't particularly supported at home. You know. It's 646 00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:13,400 Speaker 1: not like today where it's like, you know, we really 647 00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:16,960 Speaker 1: really hate this, you know, these endless wars. This is 648 00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:19,960 Speaker 1: we really disagree with the you know, the hawks and 649 00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:24,440 Speaker 1: the military industrial complex that supports us. But we're still 650 00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:27,480 Speaker 1: going to be supportive of the troops who have to 651 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:30,160 Speaker 1: go there, who are over there, whether by their own 652 00:37:30,239 --> 00:37:34,040 Speaker 1: choice or well, I guess it's all volunteer army. Um, 653 00:37:34,280 --> 00:37:38,920 Speaker 1: they still deserve support these individuals over there overseas. That 654 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:41,960 Speaker 1: was not necessarily how it was in during the Vietnam era. 655 00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:44,560 Speaker 1: So Sammy Davis Jr. Going over there to support the 656 00:37:44,560 --> 00:37:51,120 Speaker 1: troops after embracing the Nixon administration. Really um further this 657 00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:55,680 Speaker 1: rift between him and the black community, which and I 658 00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:59,759 Speaker 1: don't know if we really said this enough was unfair, 659 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:04,000 Speaker 1: unjust because he was a fervent supporter of the civil 660 00:38:04,080 --> 00:38:08,720 Speaker 1: rights movement during the fifties and sixties, I mean furvent 661 00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:12,400 Speaker 1: Like he marched in Selma with Martin Luther King Jr. 662 00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:15,239 Speaker 1: Scared to death apparently, but he still went and he 663 00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:18,279 Speaker 1: still did it. He contributed a ton of money to 664 00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:22,160 Speaker 1: the civil rights movement. Um, he was, he was legit, 665 00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:26,720 Speaker 1: for sure, but he also was, um, you know, friends 666 00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:30,600 Speaker 1: with Richard Nixon. So one kind of one kind of 667 00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:35,480 Speaker 1: tarnishes the other, you know for sure. So in the sixties, Uh, 668 00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:40,640 Speaker 1: he is blown up. He's everywhere. He's on stage, he's 669 00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:44,480 Speaker 1: recording records, he's on TV, he's doing celebrity roast, he's 670 00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:49,840 Speaker 1: on Broadway, he's writing books, he's doing the gun slinger thing. Uh. 671 00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:52,040 Speaker 1: He's making a lot of money at this point and 672 00:38:52,080 --> 00:38:54,680 Speaker 1: starts spending a lot of money because he came from nothing, 673 00:38:54,719 --> 00:38:57,480 Speaker 1: Like we said, Uh, this is when the rat pack 674 00:38:57,560 --> 00:39:00,359 Speaker 1: thing really heats up. Uh. And he's hanging out with 675 00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:04,480 Speaker 1: Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, Dean Martin and of course the 676 00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:09,080 Speaker 1: chairman uh and started him their first movie together, which 677 00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:15,040 Speaker 1: was Ocean's Eleven. Not a great movie. Oh disagree, I don't. 678 00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:16,920 Speaker 1: I think the original is not very good. Oh I 679 00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:20,799 Speaker 1: liked it. Uh. I thought the remake was great, but 680 00:39:20,920 --> 00:39:23,359 Speaker 1: um did not care for the original. I'd like the original. Yeah. 681 00:39:24,200 --> 00:39:27,399 Speaker 1: Hanging Robin in the Seven Hoods, Yeah, and also not great. 682 00:39:27,400 --> 00:39:30,240 Speaker 1: I don't think the rat Pack ever made a great movie. Okay, 683 00:39:30,400 --> 00:39:36,439 Speaker 1: that's just my opinion. What about Time Bandits fantastic Okay. Uh. 684 00:39:36,480 --> 00:39:39,840 Speaker 1: They were hanging out at the Coconut Grove in the 685 00:39:39,840 --> 00:39:43,120 Speaker 1: Ambassador Hotel, which, um is a place that I have 686 00:39:43,200 --> 00:39:46,319 Speaker 1: a neat little quick story. Did a commercial shoot there 687 00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:49,160 Speaker 1: before they tore down, and it was, you know, an 688 00:39:49,160 --> 00:39:50,960 Speaker 1: empty hotel at this point that they just used for 689 00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:53,680 Speaker 1: movie shoots. And it was an overnight thing, and like 690 00:39:54,040 --> 00:39:56,440 Speaker 1: two in the morning, I was working in the art department. 691 00:39:56,480 --> 00:39:58,680 Speaker 1: They said, here, you need to go assemble all these 692 00:39:59,040 --> 00:40:01,120 Speaker 1: flags that we're going to hang. And they said just 693 00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:03,359 Speaker 1: go in the in the Coconut Grove and do it 694 00:40:03,960 --> 00:40:05,839 Speaker 1: because there's plenty of room in there. And I went 695 00:40:05,840 --> 00:40:09,240 Speaker 1: in there all by myself, sitting in Cocae in the 696 00:40:09,239 --> 00:40:12,759 Speaker 1: the dusty old shadows of what was once the Great 697 00:40:12,760 --> 00:40:16,160 Speaker 1: Coconut Grove, and uh for like an hour and a 698 00:40:16,239 --> 00:40:18,800 Speaker 1: half by myself, like sitting in a booth at the 699 00:40:18,840 --> 00:40:22,080 Speaker 1: rat Pack might have sat in. That's amazing, really pretty neat. 700 00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:24,279 Speaker 1: And later that night got to go see where Bob 701 00:40:24,400 --> 00:40:28,080 Speaker 1: Kennedy was shot. Oh that's where he was shot. Yeah, 702 00:40:28,080 --> 00:40:30,480 Speaker 1: in the Ambassador Hotels, in the kitchen and one of 703 00:40:30,520 --> 00:40:33,319 Speaker 1: the gut the overnight security guy. It was just sort 704 00:40:33,320 --> 00:40:34,840 Speaker 1: of one of those slow shoots. He was like to 705 00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:36,239 Speaker 1: me and my friend, He's like, you want to go 706 00:40:36,239 --> 00:40:39,120 Speaker 1: down the kitchens? Who are happened? And we went, oh, yeah, wow, 707 00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:43,320 Speaker 1: that's amazing. It was super cool and creepy. So anyway, 708 00:40:43,360 --> 00:40:48,560 Speaker 1: great story. They're they're hanging out with the rat Pack. Um. 709 00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:51,160 Speaker 1: And this is where it gets a little like dodgy, 710 00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:53,960 Speaker 1: because the rat Pack they were all best buds. They 711 00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:56,719 Speaker 1: genuinely loved each other. But when you look at their 712 00:40:56,719 --> 00:41:01,000 Speaker 1: old stick there is a lot of sort of racial 713 00:41:01,719 --> 00:41:05,359 Speaker 1: joking about Sammy. Um. It's all in good fun, but 714 00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:08,440 Speaker 1: they were they were often jokes made about him being black, 715 00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:11,799 Speaker 1: being the only black member Dean Martin. One of his 716 00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:15,319 Speaker 1: famous jokes was he would pick little Sammy up on 717 00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:17,560 Speaker 1: stage because Dean was a big guy and Sammy was small, 718 00:41:18,080 --> 00:41:22,239 Speaker 1: and uh, thank the audience for the h in double 719 00:41:22,280 --> 00:41:26,239 Speaker 1: a CP award. So stuff like that. So in that 720 00:41:26,360 --> 00:41:29,080 Speaker 1: in that documentary, and I'm not like justifying that at all, 721 00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:31,560 Speaker 1: but in that documentary, Whoopi Goldberg is like, you know, 722 00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:34,800 Speaker 1: you can you could take any segment of their show 723 00:41:35,480 --> 00:41:39,799 Speaker 1: and be like this was really offensive Italians or alcoholics, 724 00:41:39,960 --> 00:41:43,640 Speaker 1: or women, or black people or Jews. And she said 725 00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:47,160 Speaker 1: they went hard on everybody. But from what I understand, 726 00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:49,319 Speaker 1: at least as far as Sammy was concerned, what he 727 00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:53,400 Speaker 1: wasn't secretly didn't secretly have a chip on his shoulder 728 00:41:53,440 --> 00:41:54,719 Speaker 1: and he had to just put up with this to 729 00:41:54,760 --> 00:41:56,480 Speaker 1: be a member of the rat pack. He seemed to 730 00:41:56,520 --> 00:41:59,839 Speaker 1: really not like he didn't take it as if they 731 00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:05,080 Speaker 1: or being um hostile or cruel, that it was just 732 00:42:05,120 --> 00:42:07,680 Speaker 1: part of the act and that's how he took it. Yeah, 733 00:42:07,719 --> 00:42:10,120 Speaker 1: I mean, it was certainly a different time. I mean 734 00:42:10,239 --> 00:42:12,840 Speaker 1: there was no doubting about it that back then you 735 00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:14,320 Speaker 1: could make jokes about all kinds of things that you 736 00:42:14,360 --> 00:42:17,000 Speaker 1: can't joke about now, yeah, and it's like it's not 737 00:42:17,040 --> 00:42:19,600 Speaker 1: like I'm I used to hang out with Sammy Davis Jr. 738 00:42:19,600 --> 00:42:21,600 Speaker 1: And had like quiet talks with him or whatever. So 739 00:42:21,680 --> 00:42:24,600 Speaker 1: it is possible that he did, you know, harbor resentment 740 00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:26,000 Speaker 1: from it, but that's not the im person that I 741 00:42:26,040 --> 00:42:28,480 Speaker 1: have from from the research that I've done. Let me 742 00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:31,640 Speaker 1: tell you, Josh right, But apparently no one did, because 743 00:42:31,640 --> 00:42:35,000 Speaker 1: this is a really bizarre thing about him. When when 744 00:42:35,040 --> 00:42:38,560 Speaker 1: he um was talking about converting to Judaism, I think 745 00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:42,640 Speaker 1: in like a nineteen sixty six Playboy interview, Um he 746 00:42:42,719 --> 00:42:45,200 Speaker 1: was talking about losing his eye and then you know, 747 00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:47,840 Speaker 1: converting to Judaism, and that it happened during a period 748 00:42:47,840 --> 00:42:50,160 Speaker 1: of soul searching, and that he did all this and 749 00:42:50,200 --> 00:42:52,200 Speaker 1: went through all this even though he was convalescing at 750 00:42:52,200 --> 00:42:56,040 Speaker 1: Frank Sinatra's house, even though apparently Jerry Lewis spent seven 751 00:42:56,120 --> 00:42:58,160 Speaker 1: days at his bedside when he was in the hospital, 752 00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:01,680 Speaker 1: had all these telegrams come in, all this outpouring of support. 753 00:43:02,040 --> 00:43:05,280 Speaker 1: He considered himself alone and that he was a loner, 754 00:43:05,800 --> 00:43:08,640 Speaker 1: and that that was that's really bizarre when you step 755 00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:12,040 Speaker 1: back and look at that, because Sammy Davis Jr. Always 756 00:43:12,080 --> 00:43:14,040 Speaker 1: had friends. He was always the life of the party. 757 00:43:14,080 --> 00:43:16,040 Speaker 1: He was always a good guy. Everybody wanted to be 758 00:43:16,080 --> 00:43:19,440 Speaker 1: around him. Um, he was always having fun. But he 759 00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:23,120 Speaker 1: considered himself a loner. Apparently he didn't let people in. 760 00:43:23,640 --> 00:43:25,520 Speaker 1: So even if I had been hanging around with him, 761 00:43:25,560 --> 00:43:29,240 Speaker 1: he probably wouldn't have had that conversation with me anyway, Like, Sammy, 762 00:43:29,280 --> 00:43:31,920 Speaker 1: I don't feel like I know they're real. You come on, Sammy, 763 00:43:32,000 --> 00:43:36,239 Speaker 1: let it. And he said, that's by design, babe. I 764 00:43:36,440 --> 00:43:40,920 Speaker 1: feel like I'm tripping or something right now. So his 765 00:43:41,040 --> 00:43:43,719 Speaker 1: career is booming in the in the sixties and into 766 00:43:43,760 --> 00:43:47,160 Speaker 1: the seventies, and the result of that, of course, uh well, 767 00:43:47,200 --> 00:43:50,200 Speaker 1: through the sixties, I guess is that he's not around much. Um. 768 00:43:50,280 --> 00:43:53,120 Speaker 1: He had a lot of regrets about not being around 769 00:43:53,160 --> 00:43:56,759 Speaker 1: as a father. Um, as a husband. He was flandering, 770 00:43:56,840 --> 00:44:00,160 Speaker 1: he was drinking a lot, he was using drugs. Uh So, 771 00:44:00,200 --> 00:44:03,840 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty eight he got divorced. In nineteen seventy, 772 00:44:03,920 --> 00:44:07,840 Speaker 1: he married a woman named Altavis Gore, who was eighteen 773 00:44:07,880 --> 00:44:11,920 Speaker 1: years his junior backup dancer. His children did not like 774 00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:14,920 Speaker 1: the fact that she was so much younger, but they 775 00:44:14,960 --> 00:44:17,959 Speaker 1: were stayed married, you know, for the rest of his life. Yeah, 776 00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:20,000 Speaker 1: he was like, Oh, if you've got a problem with her, 777 00:44:20,080 --> 00:44:23,920 Speaker 1: you should probably not know about everything else I'm doing. Yeah, 778 00:44:24,200 --> 00:44:28,160 Speaker 1: so here's where it gets really interesting, very interesting. Sammy 779 00:44:28,239 --> 00:44:34,799 Speaker 1: Davis Jr. Had a convergence of two interests in the seventies. Uh. 780 00:44:34,920 --> 00:44:38,080 Speaker 1: He became a member of the Church of Satan. He 781 00:44:38,160 --> 00:44:42,840 Speaker 1: was an honorary warlock and he got really really into 782 00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:49,239 Speaker 1: porn and porn. Uh. You know, there's no better way 783 00:44:49,239 --> 00:44:51,680 Speaker 1: to say it than he he was a swinger. He 784 00:44:51,800 --> 00:44:56,600 Speaker 1: was an orgies. He participated in Satanic orgies. Yeah. That 785 00:44:56,719 --> 00:44:58,319 Speaker 1: was actually I don't know if it was his first 786 00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:00,920 Speaker 1: orgy or not, but that's how he became him part 787 00:45:00,920 --> 00:45:03,640 Speaker 1: of involved in the Church of Satan, you know, like 788 00:45:03,719 --> 00:45:06,880 Speaker 1: the original Church of Satan with Anton LaVey there and everything. 789 00:45:07,520 --> 00:45:16,880 Speaker 1: Um right exactly. Um. He went and participated in a 790 00:45:16,960 --> 00:45:21,279 Speaker 1: Satanic orgy, um, Sammy Davis Jr. Which I think is 791 00:45:21,320 --> 00:45:25,000 Speaker 1: like a regular orgy but with just more like red candles, yeah, 792 00:45:25,000 --> 00:45:27,360 Speaker 1: and pentagrams and black robes and stuff like that. But 793 00:45:27,400 --> 00:45:29,160 Speaker 1: then the black robes come off, but I think the 794 00:45:29,200 --> 00:45:32,799 Speaker 1: pentagrams stay on. But um he I read this really 795 00:45:32,840 --> 00:45:37,240 Speaker 1: interesting Vice article about it and he he was apparently 796 00:45:37,280 --> 00:45:40,040 Speaker 1: at the first one, and this would have been in 797 00:45:40,080 --> 00:45:43,719 Speaker 1: the late sixties, and somebody in a hood is trying 798 00:45:43,760 --> 00:45:46,840 Speaker 1: to get his attention and it turns out he lifts 799 00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:49,480 Speaker 1: the hood and it's his barber, his BARBERA J. C. Bring. 800 00:45:49,840 --> 00:45:53,839 Speaker 1: He would later be killed with Um Sharon Tate by 801 00:45:53,880 --> 00:45:56,440 Speaker 1: the Manson family. But he was basically like, hey, Sam, 802 00:45:56,520 --> 00:45:59,200 Speaker 1: it's me Jay. How are you doing in this awesome? 803 00:45:59,360 --> 00:46:04,759 Speaker 1: And then they went back to yeah, but he yeah. 804 00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:07,000 Speaker 1: He was hugely in the in the pornography, was and 805 00:46:07,040 --> 00:46:10,839 Speaker 1: the Orgies into swinging. He was. He loved cocaine um 806 00:46:11,239 --> 00:46:15,600 Speaker 1: and I love drinking. I saw our cineo Um interview 807 00:46:15,640 --> 00:46:17,960 Speaker 1: with him, must have been very shortly before his death, 808 00:46:18,000 --> 00:46:20,480 Speaker 1: where he's like, you know, I had to give everything up, uh, 809 00:46:20,520 --> 00:46:21,880 Speaker 1: and I don't miss all the other stuff, but I 810 00:46:21,920 --> 00:46:24,680 Speaker 1: miss booze, I miss whiskey, I miss vodka. I love 811 00:46:24,760 --> 00:46:28,560 Speaker 1: that stuff. But then I also saw another interview where 812 00:46:29,320 --> 00:46:31,759 Speaker 1: he basically said the same thing to Larry King, like 813 00:46:31,800 --> 00:46:34,319 Speaker 1: I've given everything up, I don't smoke anymore, anything like that. 814 00:46:34,360 --> 00:46:38,120 Speaker 1: And then somebody went backstage and there's Sammy Davis Jr. 815 00:46:38,160 --> 00:46:41,640 Speaker 1: Smoking a cigarette drinking a brand and he goes, Sammy, 816 00:46:41,680 --> 00:46:44,560 Speaker 1: what are you doing. You just told Larry King that 817 00:46:44,600 --> 00:46:46,719 Speaker 1: you gave all this up. He's like, I'm I planned to. 818 00:46:48,560 --> 00:46:50,640 Speaker 1: So who knows what he actually gave up or didn't do, 819 00:46:50,680 --> 00:46:55,839 Speaker 1: but his whole jam was I want to experience every 820 00:46:55,880 --> 00:46:58,759 Speaker 1: possible human experience I can, and I approach all this 821 00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:01,440 Speaker 1: stuff without judgment, which is how we ended up becoming 822 00:47:01,480 --> 00:47:03,799 Speaker 1: involved in the Church of Satan, which went on, Yeah, 823 00:47:03,880 --> 00:47:08,080 Speaker 1: no judgment here. If that's his bag, it's not hurting anybody. Um. 824 00:47:08,200 --> 00:47:11,320 Speaker 1: Did you see the one quote about the the ritual 825 00:47:11,400 --> 00:47:14,800 Speaker 1: with the lady who was tied to the bed, uh 826 00:47:14,840 --> 00:47:17,799 Speaker 1: where he decided like it was okay? Yeah, he was 827 00:47:17,800 --> 00:47:20,319 Speaker 1: talking about it and he was like that chick was 828 00:47:20,400 --> 00:47:24,239 Speaker 1: loving it. Man, And well, I won't say the rest 829 00:47:24,239 --> 00:47:27,600 Speaker 1: of the quote, but do you remember, Yeah, I remember, 830 00:47:28,360 --> 00:47:32,400 Speaker 1: I remember. So all of this led to, Um, what 831 00:47:32,520 --> 00:47:35,880 Speaker 1: we were talking about earlier. This this TV pilot that 832 00:47:36,080 --> 00:47:40,480 Speaker 1: is legendary in Hollywood as one of the weirdest, worst 833 00:47:41,719 --> 00:47:44,440 Speaker 1: things that Hollywood has ever produced, And it was a 834 00:47:44,440 --> 00:47:46,719 Speaker 1: pilot for a TV show in nineteen seventy three called 835 00:47:46,719 --> 00:47:51,120 Speaker 1: Poor Devil, which was about a man who was a load, 836 00:47:51,480 --> 00:47:54,040 Speaker 1: um low down on the totem pole or I guess 837 00:47:54,120 --> 00:47:58,319 Speaker 1: high on the totem pole, Um coal shoveler in hell, 838 00:47:59,239 --> 00:48:01,600 Speaker 1: who is offer the chance to work his way up 839 00:48:01,640 --> 00:48:04,840 Speaker 1: the ranks in how if he can get the soul 840 00:48:05,080 --> 00:48:09,680 Speaker 1: of Jack Klugman, living white man on Earth right Jack 841 00:48:09,719 --> 00:48:13,200 Speaker 1: Klugman quincy m D. Yeah, and it is on YouTube, 842 00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:16,480 Speaker 1: and dude, it is amazing. I have not had a 843 00:48:16,560 --> 00:48:18,520 Speaker 1: chance to see yet. I can't wait to see it, 844 00:48:19,000 --> 00:48:21,880 Speaker 1: but it sounds amazing. I saw it described as like 845 00:48:22,160 --> 00:48:25,640 Speaker 1: he's a reverse Clarence from It's a Wonderful Life. Would 846 00:48:25,640 --> 00:48:30,239 Speaker 1: you wouldn't possibly understand that? But uh, just imagine that 847 00:48:30,360 --> 00:48:32,480 Speaker 1: somebody's not trying to get you to be good so 848 00:48:32,600 --> 00:48:35,480 Speaker 1: that they can or understand how great life is. He's 849 00:48:35,520 --> 00:48:38,560 Speaker 1: trying to to get him to follow his his most 850 00:48:38,640 --> 00:48:42,399 Speaker 1: bitter revenge impulses and stuff like that. But at one point, 851 00:48:42,400 --> 00:48:45,840 Speaker 1: apparently um Jack Klugman wants to get in touch with 852 00:48:45,880 --> 00:48:48,839 Speaker 1: Sammy Davis Jr. The Devil, and it's like, oh, I know, 853 00:48:48,880 --> 00:48:51,080 Speaker 1: I'll call the Church of Satan downtown. They'll know how 854 00:48:51,080 --> 00:48:52,840 Speaker 1: to get in touch with him. And the Church of 855 00:48:52,920 --> 00:48:56,879 Speaker 1: Satan went because apparently the pilot was aired, and they 856 00:48:56,920 --> 00:48:59,560 Speaker 1: were all about Sammy d at this point, and they 857 00:48:59,560 --> 00:49:03,840 Speaker 1: made him an honorary war law. He used to flash 858 00:49:03,920 --> 00:49:06,239 Speaker 1: like the devil horns at them from stage when they 859 00:49:06,560 --> 00:49:11,680 Speaker 1: would love he. Uh. Christopher Lee, by the way, played 860 00:49:11,840 --> 00:49:14,800 Speaker 1: the devil Um, which is pretty on the notes but perfect, 861 00:49:16,120 --> 00:49:20,239 Speaker 1: So that doesn't succeed obviously, it's terrible. The seventies and 862 00:49:20,239 --> 00:49:22,200 Speaker 1: the eighties, his star starts to fade a little bit. 863 00:49:22,640 --> 00:49:24,440 Speaker 1: He's still around. Of course. He was on All in 864 00:49:24,480 --> 00:49:27,560 Speaker 1: the Family in a very famous episode where he kissed 865 00:49:27,680 --> 00:49:32,319 Speaker 1: Archie Bunker on the lips. Uh. He was We have 866 00:49:32,440 --> 00:49:36,920 Speaker 1: to talk about the great great Cannonball Run. Oh yeah, 867 00:49:37,000 --> 00:49:38,520 Speaker 1: he was in There wasn't a hey man. He and 868 00:49:38,560 --> 00:49:41,440 Speaker 1: Dean were for partners. They played I forgot about. They 869 00:49:41,520 --> 00:49:45,320 Speaker 1: dressed up as priests, that's right, heavily drinking, smoking priests. 870 00:49:45,680 --> 00:49:49,040 Speaker 1: They played themselves basically as priests who wanted to drive fast. 871 00:49:49,360 --> 00:49:52,480 Speaker 1: That's pretty great. But you know, even though we revere 872 00:49:52,560 --> 00:49:55,920 Speaker 1: that film, I don't think it was looked at generally 873 00:49:56,000 --> 00:49:58,600 Speaker 1: as one of the big highlights of his career. Oh. 874 00:49:58,640 --> 00:50:02,040 Speaker 1: I'm sure not. By this time, he's kitchi Sammy from 875 00:50:02,040 --> 00:50:04,200 Speaker 1: what I understand like he was fine with that as 876 00:50:04,239 --> 00:50:07,440 Speaker 1: long as he was working, he was okay. Because I 877 00:50:07,440 --> 00:50:11,279 Speaker 1: said earlier that like he had a certain affiliation with 878 00:50:11,360 --> 00:50:14,960 Speaker 1: that song um Mr bow Jangles, where if you listen 879 00:50:15,000 --> 00:50:17,839 Speaker 1: to it, it's about an old performer who's washed up 880 00:50:17,840 --> 00:50:20,200 Speaker 1: and has been washed up for years and he's still 881 00:50:20,280 --> 00:50:23,280 Speaker 1: drinking and just doing you know, he's he's been reduced 882 00:50:23,320 --> 00:50:27,680 Speaker 1: to doing basically sidewalk performances, and apparently Sammy was scared 883 00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:31,839 Speaker 1: to death about that being his future. So even just 884 00:50:32,160 --> 00:50:34,600 Speaker 1: doing what he was doing with Dean and Cannonball Run, 885 00:50:34,640 --> 00:50:36,799 Speaker 1: I'm sure it was just fine in his in his 886 00:50:37,200 --> 00:50:41,200 Speaker 1: mind because he was still working and performing. Of course, 887 00:50:41,200 --> 00:50:44,600 Speaker 1: he looks around and there's there's Bert Man, there's Adrian Barbow. 888 00:50:47,080 --> 00:50:50,479 Speaker 1: He was You're digging the Sammy now, aren't you. Yes, 889 00:50:50,600 --> 00:50:52,800 Speaker 1: you know, I think Sammy needs to be a recurring 890 00:50:52,920 --> 00:50:57,560 Speaker 1: character from now on. We'll see um the new hippie 891 00:50:57,680 --> 00:51:01,239 Speaker 1: rob so uh. In the eighties, he gets into some 892 00:51:01,280 --> 00:51:05,400 Speaker 1: financial trouble, to say the least, because I love how 893 00:51:05,440 --> 00:51:07,319 Speaker 1: he had put it. He had been struggling with tax 894 00:51:07,400 --> 00:51:10,680 Speaker 1: payments since the nineteen sixties. I think it was a 895 00:51:10,719 --> 00:51:13,160 Speaker 1: Willie Nelson sort of deal from what I could gather. 896 00:51:13,640 --> 00:51:15,759 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, I mean I think he wasn't really 897 00:51:15,760 --> 00:51:18,920 Speaker 1: paying his taxes. Sure, sure, And and apparently he had 898 00:51:18,960 --> 00:51:20,760 Speaker 1: also I don't know if he got bad tax advice 899 00:51:20,840 --> 00:51:24,680 Speaker 1: or what, but he had claimed some very extravagant stuff 900 00:51:24,719 --> 00:51:26,359 Speaker 1: as a write off, and the I R. S came 901 00:51:26,360 --> 00:51:29,360 Speaker 1: back and said, Nope, you're that doesn't count. You also 902 00:51:29,400 --> 00:51:32,480 Speaker 1: owe on that. And his estate was worth or his 903 00:51:32,680 --> 00:51:36,360 Speaker 1: net assets were worth about four million, but he owed 904 00:51:36,400 --> 00:51:41,720 Speaker 1: about seven millions. And he was a profligate spender of money. 905 00:51:41,880 --> 00:51:44,319 Speaker 1: I saw one interview once where a guy said that 906 00:51:44,360 --> 00:51:47,040 Speaker 1: he walked six blocks in New York with them. He 907 00:51:47,040 --> 00:51:49,239 Speaker 1: even named the streets, so it seems like he really 908 00:51:49,280 --> 00:51:52,400 Speaker 1: did just walk six blocks and dropped fifty tho dollars 909 00:51:52,440 --> 00:51:55,759 Speaker 1: along the way, stopping in different stores, dropped that out 910 00:51:55,760 --> 00:51:58,560 Speaker 1: of his pocket on the street. No, no buying stuff, 911 00:51:58,680 --> 00:52:01,080 Speaker 1: just bye bye bye. He'd spend it because he had 912 00:52:01,080 --> 00:52:03,640 Speaker 1: come from nothing, and I knew, you know, that thrill 913 00:52:03,760 --> 00:52:07,319 Speaker 1: of spending money. He was terrible with his money, and 914 00:52:07,400 --> 00:52:10,080 Speaker 1: so as he um as he found out he owed 915 00:52:10,120 --> 00:52:13,480 Speaker 1: seven million dollars, he started to organize some some shows 916 00:52:13,480 --> 00:52:16,040 Speaker 1: and specials to try to raise some money to help 917 00:52:16,080 --> 00:52:19,239 Speaker 1: him pay off this debt. And after the first one, 918 00:52:19,280 --> 00:52:22,400 Speaker 1: I think in nine, he has found that he had 919 00:52:22,440 --> 00:52:24,880 Speaker 1: a sore throat, so he went to the doctor and 920 00:52:25,000 --> 00:52:28,279 Speaker 1: ultimately was diagnosed with throat cancer. Yeah, after the that 921 00:52:28,480 --> 00:52:32,440 Speaker 1: very first show. And that's like such cruel irony to 922 00:52:32,520 --> 00:52:34,840 Speaker 1: raise all this money because when he passed away in 923 00:52:34,920 --> 00:52:41,160 Speaker 1: nineteen nine, in May sixte of cancer, he left that 924 00:52:41,560 --> 00:52:47,120 Speaker 1: tax bill to his wife like that that carried over Yeah, Ali, yeah, 925 00:52:47,239 --> 00:52:51,160 Speaker 1: so um that really left her kind of destitute for 926 00:52:51,160 --> 00:52:54,399 Speaker 1: the rest of her life as well. Oh yeah, for sure. Um, 927 00:52:54,440 --> 00:52:57,319 Speaker 1: I mean like she she then she basically owed three 928 00:52:57,360 --> 00:53:00,400 Speaker 1: million dollars and his estate was sold off like basically 929 00:53:00,440 --> 00:53:03,440 Speaker 1: at a yard sale auction. All of his stuff was 930 00:53:04,280 --> 00:53:07,239 Speaker 1: um and yeah he he that was not that was 931 00:53:07,480 --> 00:53:11,440 Speaker 1: the the negative part of his legacy was that text 932 00:53:11,520 --> 00:53:14,919 Speaker 1: that leaving that behind. Yeah, and you know, in one way, 933 00:53:14,960 --> 00:53:18,120 Speaker 1: it's like kind of a sad ending with the financial 934 00:53:18,120 --> 00:53:21,959 Speaker 1: stuff and obviously dying way too young of cancer. But yeah, 935 00:53:22,000 --> 00:53:24,960 Speaker 1: sixty five man, he did accomplish everything he set out 936 00:53:24,960 --> 00:53:29,120 Speaker 1: to accomplish. He he showed everybody who said this diminutive 937 00:53:29,800 --> 00:53:34,279 Speaker 1: little mixed race kind of funny looking guy. Uh, is 938 00:53:34,320 --> 00:53:37,000 Speaker 1: never gonna amount to anything. And he had a lifelong 939 00:53:37,040 --> 00:53:39,920 Speaker 1: career from the age of three to sixty five in 940 00:53:40,000 --> 00:53:42,560 Speaker 1: show business. So and one of the things Chuck is 941 00:53:42,600 --> 00:53:46,120 Speaker 1: he did not really harbor regret. He apparently whenever he 942 00:53:46,160 --> 00:53:50,200 Speaker 1: talked about his life, he talked about it with great satisfaction, 943 00:53:50,280 --> 00:53:52,920 Speaker 1: which is pretty reassuring. Yeah. That quote on that Letterman 944 00:53:52,960 --> 00:53:56,359 Speaker 1: show was great. Yeah. On the episode he's he's talking 945 00:53:56,400 --> 00:53:59,319 Speaker 1: about the younger generation and he said, I look at 946 00:53:59,360 --> 00:54:02,319 Speaker 1: the young before Armors today and I'd go like this, Yeah, man, 947 00:54:02,440 --> 00:54:05,920 Speaker 1: go ahead, cook, I've been there. That's it, man, I 948 00:54:06,000 --> 00:54:09,480 Speaker 1: have no envy I did at all. Yeah, pretty great, 949 00:54:09,640 --> 00:54:14,600 Speaker 1: Go ahead, cook. That's great. Sammy Davis Jr. Everybody around 950 00:54:14,600 --> 00:54:18,080 Speaker 1: of applause. You got anything else? Nothing else. If you 951 00:54:18,120 --> 00:54:20,080 Speaker 1: want to know more about Sammy Davis Jr. Just start 952 00:54:20,080 --> 00:54:23,160 Speaker 1: watching some of his old performances are pretty amazing. Uh. 953 00:54:23,200 --> 00:54:25,799 Speaker 1: And while you're doing that, we're gonna just move on 954 00:54:25,840 --> 00:54:31,359 Speaker 1: ahead to listener mail. Yeah, this is about the pizza thing. 955 00:54:31,520 --> 00:54:34,640 Speaker 1: We heard from a lot of nine people. Yeah, I'm 956 00:54:34,640 --> 00:54:36,719 Speaker 1: glad that you you picked one of these. Man. This 957 00:54:36,800 --> 00:54:40,120 Speaker 1: is good. Hey, while we are not specifically trained to 958 00:54:40,160 --> 00:54:41,960 Speaker 1: send e M. S two calls where people pretend to 959 00:54:42,040 --> 00:54:45,839 Speaker 1: order a pizza. Most nine one one dispatchers will in 960 00:54:45,920 --> 00:54:49,239 Speaker 1: fact ask you this is one did you dial the 961 00:54:49,239 --> 00:54:52,759 Speaker 1: wrong number? And if they respond no, we will then 962 00:54:52,800 --> 00:54:54,919 Speaker 1: say are you in a situation where you can't ask 963 00:54:54,920 --> 00:54:57,880 Speaker 1: for help? And then they can say yes or no. Obviously, 964 00:54:58,560 --> 00:55:00,440 Speaker 1: there are many stories of this working out, most in 965 00:55:00,480 --> 00:55:03,680 Speaker 1: domestic violence or kidnapping situations. So even though it is 966 00:55:03,680 --> 00:55:06,359 Speaker 1: a protocol necessarily or set in stone as a way 967 00:55:06,400 --> 00:55:08,600 Speaker 1: to ask for help, it could help many people in 968 00:55:08,640 --> 00:55:11,600 Speaker 1: bad situations. We will not just hang up on you, 969 00:55:12,400 --> 00:55:15,000 Speaker 1: even if you keep ordering a pizza and do not 970 00:55:15,520 --> 00:55:18,440 Speaker 1: acknowledge that you need help. Most will still send out 971 00:55:18,480 --> 00:55:21,160 Speaker 1: law enforcement for a welfare check due to the suspicious 972 00:55:21,239 --> 00:55:23,480 Speaker 1: nature of the call. I'm glad to hear this. Yeah, 973 00:55:23,520 --> 00:55:25,680 Speaker 1: please let this be known because in the last ditch effort, 974 00:55:25,719 --> 00:55:28,759 Speaker 1: this may save someone's life. And that is from responder 975 00:55:28,880 --> 00:55:32,920 Speaker 1: Brooke Diane. Thanks Brooke, and thank you also not for 976 00:55:33,000 --> 00:55:36,440 Speaker 1: being like Josh was wrong wrong, wrong, wrong? Wrong? Oh 977 00:55:36,440 --> 00:55:38,439 Speaker 1: I don't remember did you say that's not true? Yeah? 978 00:55:38,480 --> 00:55:41,799 Speaker 1: I said specifically it's an urban legend. Okay, I don't 979 00:55:41,800 --> 00:55:43,839 Speaker 1: even remember that. Yeah, So I was really glad when 980 00:55:43,840 --> 00:55:46,319 Speaker 1: people started writing I'm glad you picked one to say like, no, 981 00:55:46,440 --> 00:55:50,719 Speaker 1: this is this is for real. Okay, great, thanks again, Brooke. 982 00:55:50,840 --> 00:55:53,160 Speaker 1: That was fantastic. If you want to get in touch 983 00:55:53,160 --> 00:55:55,160 Speaker 1: with this like Brook did. Even if you do want 984 00:55:55,160 --> 00:55:58,040 Speaker 1: to say Josh was wrong, wrong wrong, wrong wrong, that's 985 00:55:58,080 --> 00:55:59,960 Speaker 1: all right, we'd love to hear that kind of thing. 986 00:56:00,400 --> 00:56:03,400 Speaker 1: You can send us an email to Stuff podcast at 987 00:56:03,480 --> 00:56:08,880 Speaker 1: iHeart radio dot com. Stuff you Should Know is a 988 00:56:08,920 --> 00:56:12,000 Speaker 1: production of iHeart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more podcasts 989 00:56:12,000 --> 00:56:14,920 Speaker 1: for my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 990 00:56:14,960 --> 00:56:19,840 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H