Sammy Davis Jr.
1925 - 1990Primarily a dancer and singer, Davis was a childhood vaudevillian who became known for his performances on Broadway and in Las Vegas, as a recording artist, television and film star, and as a member of Frank Sinatra's "Rat Pack".
At the age of three Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father and "uncle" as the Will Mastin Trio, toured nationally, and after military service, returned to the trio. Davis became an overnight sensation following a nightclub performance at Ciro's after the 1951 Academy Awards, with the trio, became a recording artist, and made his first film performances as an adult later that decade. In 1954, he lost his left eye in an automobile accident. Later the same year, he converted to Judaism. In 1960, he appeared in the first Rat Pack movie, Ocean's 11. After a starring role on Broadway in 1956's Mr Wonderful, Davis returned to the stage in 1964's Golden Boy, and in 1966 had his own TV variety show, The Sammy Davis Jr. Show. Davis's career slowed in the late sixties, but he had a hit record with "The Candy Man", in 1972, and became a star in Las Vegas.
As an African American, Davis was the victim of racism throughout his life, and was a large financial supporter of civil rights causes. Davis had a complex relationship with the African American community, and attracted criticism after physically embracing Richard Nixon in 1970. One day on a golf course with Jack Benny, he was asked what his handicap was. "Handicap?" he asked. "Talk about handicap — I'm a one-eyed Negro Jew." This was to become a signature comment, recounted in his autobiography, and in countless articles.
After reuniting with Sinatra and Dean Martin in 1987, Davis toured with them and Liza Minnelli internationally, before dying of throat cancer in 1990. He died in debt to the Internal Revenue Service, and his estate was the subject of legal battles.
Davis was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP, and was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award for his television performances. He was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 1987, and in 2001, he was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Frank Sinatra Show: Welcome Home Elvis
Richard Dunlap
Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra
Two of entertainment history's biggest stars were united in this special 1960 television broadcast. Signaling the end of a string of shows hosted by Frank Sinatra, ABC pulled out all the stops when it booked the king of rock 'n' roll, Elvis Presley, to be the final guest. Presley's versions of "Fame and Fortune" and "Stuck on You" are terrific, but the duets between Sinatra and Presley, "Witchcraft" and "Love Me Tender," truly steal the show.
Frank Sinatra's Welcome Home Party for Elvis Presley
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Eduardo Eguia Dibildox
Elvis Presley, Ed Sullivan
"The Television Years" examines the events that took place in the years between 1956 and 1960, in which Elvis Presley excited a whole nation as the "King of Rock and Roll" in the big television shows of the time. One highlight of this time periode was Elvis' 1960 combeback hosted by Frank Sinatra, which marked his first appearance on televison after his two-year stay in the army.
The Definitive Elvis: The Television Years
The Ultimate Event
George Schlatter
Sammy Davis Jr., Liza Minnelli
Over 30 songs including:Detroit/With A Song In My Heart/The Candy Man/What Kind Of Fool Am I/Bad/Music Of The Night/All That Jazz/Sailor Boy/Ring Them Bells/Mon Amour/Caberet/Where Or When/For Once In My Life/Mack The Knife/One More For My Baby/My Way/Style/Talk To The Animals/Money Money/I've Got You (Under My Skin)/I've Gotta Be Me/Birth Of The Blues/The Lady Is A Tramp/And The World Goes Round/That's Where We belong (New York)/New York,New York
The Ultimate Event
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Denis Sanders
Elvis Presley, James Burton
On July 31, 1970, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Elvis Presley staged a triumphant return to the concert stage from which he had been absent for almost a decade. His series of concerts broke all box office records and completely reenergized the career of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
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Doris Day Today
Tony Charmoli
Doris Day, John Denver
America's sweetheart Doris Day offers songs and sketches with some of her famous friends in this smash hit television special from 1975. John Denver and Day sing a few entertaining duets, and funnyman Tim Conway joins in on a couple of skits. Then, Rich Little impersonates some of Day's legendary co-stars, including Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart and Jack Lemmon. Songs include selections from Love Me or Leave Me, Teacher's Pet, Calamity Jane and more.
Doris Day Today
Frank Sinatra Spectacular
Johnny Carson, Frank Sinatra
The Rat Pack -- Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin -- in their only joint television performance. This special was televised via closed-circuit from St. Louis to a select group of theaters, where ticket buyers watched the live performance on screen. The concert was organized by Harold Gibbons and Frank Sinatra as a fundraiser for Dismas Clark Half-Way House of St. Louis, the first halfway house for ex-convicts. Johnny Carson, in the third year of his Tonight Show stint took the place of Joey Bishop who was ill as the MC and 4th member of the Rat Pack.
Frank Sinatra Spectacular/Dismas House Concert-St. Louis
This Is Bob Hope...
John Scheinfeld
Bob Hope, Billy Crystal
During his career, Bob Hope was the only performer to achieve top-rated success in every form of mass entertainment. American Masters explores the entertainer’s life through his personal archives and clips from his classic films.
This Is Bob Hope...
James Dean: The First American Teenager
Ray Connolly
Stacy Keach, Natalie Wood
Stacy Keach narrates this documentary that chronicles the abbreviated life and career of iconic brooding bad boy James Dean, from his obscure early days working in television to his rise to stardom in films such as Rebel Without a Cause. Clips from Dean's movies are intermingled with candid interviews with the star's friends and Hollywood colleagues, including Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dennis Hopper.
James Dean: The First American Teenager
The Movie Orgy
Joe Dante
Goodman Ace, Jane Ace
Clips from assorted television programs, B-movies, commercials, music performances, newsreels, bloopers, satirical short films and promotional and government films of the 1950s and 1960s are intercut together to tell a single story of various creatures and societal ills attacking American cities.
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A Música Segundo Tom Jobim
Dora Jobim, Nelson Pereira dos Santos
Antônio Carlos Jobim, Ella Fitzgerald
Half a century ago, Brazilian composer and musician Antonio Carlos "Tom" Jobim (1927-1994) introduced bossa nova to a worldwide audience with "The Girl from Ipanema." This relaxed, cool, sensuous music blended jazz and samba. After recording an album of songs by his friend Jobim, Frank Sinatra is reported to have said, "I haven't sung so quietly since I had laryngitis." Naturally, "The Girl from Ipanema" and Frank Sinatra are featured in this musical collage of countless seamlessly edited excerpts of concert footage that cover decades of events all over the world: from Rio de Janeiro to Lisbon, Paris, Copenhagen, Jerusalem, Tokyo, Montreal, New York and back to Rio.
Music According to Tom Jobim
Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me
Sam Pollard
Sammy Davis Jr., Whoopi Goldberg
A star-studded roster of interviewees (including Jerry Lewis, Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal) pay tribute to the legendary, multi-talented song-and-dance man.
Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me
