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Sammy tests the power of his new celebrity, on Broadway and in Hollywood, where he stars in the most controversial movie musical with an all-Black cast of all time -- a movie which is still being suppressed today.
Sammy Davis Jr. in "Mr Wonderful". From the Collections of the Museum of the City of New York.
SHOW NOTES:
Sources for the entire season:
Dino by Nick Tosches
Jerry Lewis In Person by Jerry Lewis and Herb Gluck
In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis Jr. by Will Haygood
Yes I Can: The Autobiography of Sammy Davis Jr. by Sammy Davis Jr., Burt Boyar and Jane Boyar
Sammy: An Autobiography by Sammy Davis Jr. and Jane and Burt Boyar
Rat Pack Confidential by Shawn Levy
His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra by Kitty Kelley
Deconstructing Sammy: Music, Money, Madness, and the Mob by Matt Birkbeck
Sinatra: The Voice by James Kaplan
Sinatra: The Chairman by James Kaplan
Memories are Made of This by Deana Martin
Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years by David Talbot
Making Movies Black by Thomas Cripps
Mafia Spies: The Inside Story of the CIA, Gangsters, JFK, and Castro by Thomas Maier
My Lucky Stars by Shirley Maclaine
Sources specific to this episode:
“This Day in Jewish History | 1990: Sammy Davis Jr., Famous Convert to Judaism, Dies” by David B. Green, haaretz.com, May 16, 2013
“The Complex History and Uneasy Present of ‘Porgy and Bess’” by Michael Cooper, September 19, 2019
“Porgy and Bess at the Met” by By Joseph Horowitz, The American Scholar, October 9, 2019
Jule: The Story of Composer Jule Styne by Thomas Taylor
Dorothy Dandridge by Donald Bogle
Preminger: An Autobiography by Otto Preminger
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Sammy Davis Jr. and Eartha Kitt in Anna Lucasta, 1958
Music:
The music used in this episode, with the exception of the intro, was sourced from royalty-free music libraries and licensed music collections. The intro includes a clip from the film Casablanca.
Excerpts from the following songs were used throughout the episode:
Via Verre (Comping Run) - The Sweet Hots
Lowball - Vermouth
Cran Ras - Vermouth
Calgary Sweeps - Vermouth
Gin Boheme - Vermouth
Luper - Sketchbook 2
Watercool Quiet - Calumet
Our Only Lark (Rhythm Leader) - Bitters
Luka 75 - Vermouth
Single Still - Vermouth
Porgy and Bess, 1959
Credits:
This episode was written, narrated, and produced by Karina Longworth.
Our editor this season is Evan Viola.
Research and production assistant: Lindsey D. Schoenholtz.
Social media assistant: Brendan Whalen.
Logo design: Teddy Blanks.