Sammy Davis Jr. was the best vocalist of the loose confederation of entertainers known as the Rat Pack.
There.
I said it.
I love Frank Sinatra, who, fittingly, was my introduction to big band and traditional pop standards.
And Dean Martin’s easy charm makes him a beloved figure and memorable, distinguished singer.
But Sammy had a unique power.
That power didn’t stop with his vocals though.
He was an entertainer in the truest sense —- he was a quintessential classic performer.
He sang, he danced, he joked, he acted — you name it.
It makes me wonder… whatever happened to the larger-than-life personalities, the true entertainers as such, with their vaudeville influences and their versatile stations.
With his tenacity for stardom, Sammy became an impactful showman, though the course of his career ambled some.
Karina Longworth’s You Must Remember This podcast charts his life well, including the ups and downs and conflicts and contradictions.
Still, he resonates as a trailblazer and a standout jack-of-all-trades.
And that versatility inspires me.
That level of showmanship is something we could see embodied more today.
Longworth makes the case that Sammy was stifled to the extent that his true potential was never realized.
You have to remember what could have been.
Sammy was brought up as a performer, trained as a dancer from an early age by his stage performing father, Sammy Davis Sr, and his tap dancing mother, Elvera Sanchez.
Where some die on stage, Sammy might as well have been born there.
It’s that vaudeville rearing that Sammy, like so many great entertainers of the 20th century had, that may be to credit for the versatility.
That, and of course, natural and cumulative talent.
Among the other interesting things that Longworth notes is that Sammy started out modeling himself after Sinatra, down to the way that he walked.
The dynamics of a man being influenced by a star like Sinatra and then ending up on the same stage and in the same centers of gravity as Frank — that’s an interesting ebb and flow to consider.
This is especially true as you watch a star invent himself or herself.
What areas do they pattern after others?
Which areas do they hone the features that are already there to produce an original flair?
Surely this seems the sort of question any public personality needs to consider.
It’s the question of what we pine to be like and the influences we draw on.
And it’s the question of… how do I be myself?
And how do I show myself?
And who am I?
And also… how will people relate to me?
And how do I mesh my talents together to provide an even stronger presence?
Hearing the complex but scintillating lifestories of a performer like Sammy leaves you some interesting puzzles for self-discovery.
Any person that approaches a stage is challenged, then, in their own process of growth.