In Sammy Davis Jr. and the other side of Vegas: Part 1, we talked about the centennial of Sammy Davis, Jr. He had been part of the Will Mastin Trio, then starred solo in Las Vegas showrooms. But in 1960, he was part of a major quintet. The other members were Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford. They comprised the Rat Pack, a name Sinatra hated. Supposedly, he preferred to call them “the clan,” as in a family. Supposedly, Davis told him that the name had certain connotations. Supposedly. Anyway, early in 1960, as they filmed Oceans 11 in Las Vegas, the five of them held what was called the Summit at the Sands. It was a happening.
Davis made other movies, starred on Broadway, and had hit records. But this is Nevada Yesterdays, so we want to talk about his role in our state. Davis himself said of Las Vegas, “This town made me and there ain’t no doubt about it.” He started playing the Sands in 1956, when the boss there, Jack Entratter, offered him 25 thousand a week. After the Summit of 1960, he, Sinatra, and Martin came together in 1963 for what they called “Three Coins in the Copa,” with all three performing in the Sands showroom.
Davis kept performing at the Sands, but he moved across the street to Caesars Palace after Howard Hughes had bought the property and Jack Entratter had left. Davis said he would have stayed at the Sands for nothing if Entratter had still been there. He played at Caesars for a decade but felt out of place. He said he needed a more intimate showroom than the larger Circus Maximus.
In 1983, the announcement came with great fanfare that Frank, Dean, and Sammy would open the new arena being built at the edge of the UNLV campus. But when the Thomas and Mack opened, Sammy was under the weather and Diana Ross filled in. Davis’s health was beginning to fail. Alcohol and drug abuse took their toll. So did four packs of cigarettes a day. So did the burdens of being a star who still faced racial prejudice. He pushed Entratter to let his family attend his shows. He marched with Martin Luther King and raised money for the NAACP.
As time caught up with him, he had a kind of second wind in Las Vegas. He and Jerry Lewis performed together at Bally’s to huge crowds and great reviews. He still performed in Reno. In fact, Bill Harrah adored him, and the showroom at Harrah’s in Reno was called Sammy’s. But by 1989, Davis had developed throat cancer. He died on May 16, 1990, at the age of sixty-four. Two nights later, the Strip dimmed its lights for ten minutes in his honor.
How to describe Sammy Davis, Jr., in just a few words? Maybe the best way came from the mother of the historian who writes this program. His parents got married in Las Vegas in 1964. They stayed at the Sahara, where Tony Bennett was in the showroom, but they went down the street to see Sammy at the Sands. He asked his mother if they saw another show. She replied, “Once you’ve seen Sammy Davis, Jr., you don’t need to see another show.”
