Griffin Speaks

He never won a Grammy, Tony, Oscar or Emmy, but he was one of the greatest entertainers of all time. Sammy Davis Jr. was born on December 8, 1925. He died sixty-four years later from throat cancer on May 16, 1990 in Beverly Hills, California.

 In 1954, Sammy lost his left eye in an automobile accident while driving to Los Angeles, California to Las Vegas. He would use this tragedy to enhance his career. Many more people began to support his career after the tragedy, because they felt sorry for him.

 Sammy became a member of the Rat Pack, which consisted of Sammy, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford. The group helped Sammy to break many color barriers. He would later say that he was able to get insulted where no other black man could get insulted. 

Sammy married May Britt, a white woman in 1960. The marriage was very controversial. They had children and Sammy put his career ahead of his family. They would later divorce. He would later marry the beautiful dancer, Altovise Gore from Charlotte, North Carolina. They were married until his death.  

My connection to Sammy is through his widow, Altovise Davis. It was in the early part of 1980 when I had the opportunity to meet Altovise in the lobby of the Martin Luther King Jr. Chapel at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. The gifted African American actress Vonetta McGee accompanied Altovise. Vonetta made her movie bow in the 1968 Italian film Il Grand Silencio. She played roles in a few blaxploitation films. Both Altovise and Vonetta were stunning.

 A few weeks before meeting Altovise I had read an article in Jet Magazine about the $90,000 full length fur that Sammy had given to her as a gift. She was wearing the fur when I met her. I walked up to Altovise and Vonetta and introduced myself. I told them that I was the former student body president and that I wanted to welcome them to the campus. Altovise started smiling at the attention and I began to act like Boo Boo the fool. I asked her if I could rub my hand on her beautiful coat. She said “sure”. I told her that I was headed to law school and would become a great divorce attorney. I told her that if she ever decided to divorce Sammy that I would get her every dime he had. She began to laugh and said that I sounded like her kind of attorney. We carried on for about ten minutes until it was time to part company. I was truly star struck. At that time I had no idea that this beautiful, wealthy woman would become destitute!

 Ten years later Sammy, the big spender would lose his battle with throat cancer and die penniless and owe millions to the Internal Revenue Service. Several years later Sammy’s widow, Altovise would settle his debt with the IRS and clear her rights to his life and legacy. Prior to the settlement Altovise had undergone drug rehab, worked for minimum wage in various places in a kitchen, or department stores. She had hit rock bottom. It is rumored that she had become so destitute that she had to dig Sammy up and remove the $70,000 of jewelry that he was wearing when he was buried.

 Today, Altovise is doing well. There are several projects in the works that will bring substantial monetary rewards to her. I recommend that you pick up a copy of Sammy: An Autobiography. It was published in 2000 and is a must read! The book is detailed and the reader will find an enormous amount of information.

 Have you made arrangements so that your spouse can continue to live in the lifestyle in which she is accustomed in case of your death? I recommend that you call your insurance agent as soon as possible! It is the right thing to do! That’s how I see it!

 Greg griffin is a free lance writer. You can read his previous articles by logging on to his web page at www.greggriffin.com