In Black And White

For decades one of America's most recognizable stars, the real Sammy Davis, Jr. has long remained hidden behind the persona the performer so vigorously generated--and so fiercely protected. Here Wil Haygood brings Davis's life into full relief against the backdrop of an America in the throes of racial change. He made his living entertaining white people but was often denied service in the very venues he played, and in his broad and varied friendships--not to mention his romances--Davis crossed racial lines in ways few others had. In Black and White vividly draws on painstaking research and more than two hundred and fifty interviews to trace Davis, Jr.'s journey from the vaudeville stage to Broadway, Hollywood, and, of course, Las Vegas. It is an important record of a vanished America--and of one of its greatest entertainers.