Sammy Davis Jr., My Father

Sammy Davis Jr., My Father PDF Author: Tracey Davis
Publisher: Stoddart
ISBN: 9781881649847
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
Weaving a compelling tapestry of the life and times and ups and downs of legendary superstar Sammy Davis Jr., and his family, the only daughter of Sammy and Swedish actress May Britt presents a universal portrait of a delicate and often complicated father-daughter relationship. Photos.

Sammy Davis Jr., My Father

Sammy Davis Jr., My Father PDF Author: Tracey Davis
Publisher: Stoddart
ISBN: 9781881649847
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Get Book

Book Description
Weaving a compelling tapestry of the life and times and ups and downs of legendary superstar Sammy Davis Jr., and his family, the only daughter of Sammy and Swedish actress May Britt presents a universal portrait of a delicate and often complicated father-daughter relationship. Photos.

Sammy Davis Jr.

Sammy Davis Jr. PDF Author: Tracey Davis
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 0762450649
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
Nicknamed Mr. Show Business, Sammy Davis Jr. was a consummate performer who sang, danced, and acted on film, television, radio, and the stage for over six decades. In this uniquely intimate volume, the entertainment legend's story comes to life through rare family photos and a compelling narrative based on conversations between Sammy Davis Jr. and his daughter, Tracey Davis. The story of a future superstar unfolds beginning with his bittersweet childhood days, raised primarily by his grandmother in Harlem. On the stage by age three, he first became a star in vaudeville with the Will Mastin Trio. Davis was already an up-and-coming performer by the time he was recruited into the Army during World War II. As Tracey Davis candidly relates, it was there that her father first learned to use his talent—singing and dancing—as a weapon against racial bigotry. Davis's career took off in the 1940s through his sheer determination, talent, and the support of friends like Frank Sinatra. With tenderness and humor Tracey describes her father's friendship with Sinatra, and how he stood by him when Davis married Tracey's Swedish actress mother. In a time when interracial marriages were forbidden by law in thirty-one states, both bride and groom endured an onslaught of negative press and even death threats. Complete with rare personal and professional photos, Sammy Davis Jr. recounts Davis's adventures through the Rat Pack era, and the extraordinary obstacles he overcame to become a 5'6”, 120-pound legend who across six decades packed in more than forty albums, seven Broadway shows, twenty-three films, and countless nightclub and concert performances. What emerges from the pages of this loving, but utterly frankly written book, is a uniquely personal perspective on one of the greatest pop culture icons of the twentieth century.

Sammy Davis Jr.

Sammy Davis Jr. PDF Author: Tracey Davis
Publisher: Running Press Adult
ISBN: 0762450177
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
Based on conversations between Sammy Davis Jr. and his daughter, this intimate portrait of Mr. Show Business recounts his adventures through the Rat Pack era and the extraordinary obstacles he overcame to become a huge legend and one of the greatest pop culture icons of the 20th century.

Photo by Sammy Davis, Jr.

Photo by Sammy Davis, Jr. PDF Author: Burt Boyar
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062273965
Category : Photography
Languages : en
Pages : 333

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Book Description
Sammy Davis, Jr. will forever be remembered as one of America's finest entertainers. An all–around performer who could sing, dance, and act, Davis broke racial barriers in the entertainment world and became the only non–white member of the Rat Pack. Only now, however, is Davis's talent as a photographer finally being recognized. In this previously unpublished collection of black and white photography, readers will be fascinated by Davis's portrayals of A–list performers, iconic world leaders, and scenes from everyday life. Davis's subjects include dozens of classic celebrities–such as Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman, and James Dean–who are often photographed at their most casual and revealing moments. Accompanying the pictures is an assortment of remembrances by Burt Boyar, a longtime friend and traveling companion of Davis who collaborated with the entertainer on both of his autobiographies. Through a series of memorable anecdotes, Boyar reflects on Davis's many achievements as well as the private moments they shared as friends. Along with Davis's candid shots of ordinary life–from a group of children laughing to a baseball game at the Washington Monument–these stories reveal a side of the performer far removed from his Rat Pack persona. The release of this book will also coincide with the release of Burt Boyar's upcoming documentary, Sammy Speaks, created from his extensive archive of taped conversations with the star.

Born Standing Up

Born Standing Up PDF Author: Steve Martin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1847395848
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Steve Martin has been an international star for over thirty years. Here, for the first time, he looks back to the beginning of his career and charmingly evokes the young man he once was. Born in Texas but raised in California, Steve was seduced early by the comedy shows that played on the radio when the family travelled back and forth to visit relatives. When Disneyland opened just a couple of miles away from home, an enchanted Steve was given his first chance to learn magic and entertain an audience. He describes how he noted the reaction to each joke in a ledger - 'big laugh' or 'quiet' - and assiduously studied the acts of colleagues, stealing jokes when needed. With superb detail, Steve recreates the world of small, dark clubs and the fear and exhilaration of standing in the spotlight. While a philosophy student at UCLA, he worked hard at local clubs honing his comedy and slowly attracting a following until he was picked up to write for TV. From here on, Steve Martin became an acclaimed comedian, packing out venues nationwide. One night, however, he noticed empty seats and realised he had 'reached the top of the rollercoaster'. BORN STANDING UP is a funny and riveting chronicle of how Steve Martin became the comedy genius we now know and is also a fascinating portrait of an era.

My Father's Daughter

My Father's Daughter PDF Author: Tina Sinatra
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1471105628
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Frank Sinatra seemed to have it all: genius, wealth, the love of beautiful women, glamorous friends from Las Vegas to the White House. But in this startling and remarkably outspoken memoir, his youngest daughter reveals to us an acutely restless, lonely and conflicted man. Through his marriages and front-page romances and the melancholy gaps between, Frank Sinatra searched for a contentment that eluded him. For the first time Tina writes candidly about the wedge his manipulative fourth wife, Barbara Marx, drove between father and daughter. MY FATHER'S DAUGHTER, with its unflinching account of Sinatra's flaws and foibles, will shock many of his fans. At the same time, it is a deeply affectionate portrait written with love and warmth, a celebration of a daughter's fond esteem for her father and a respect for his great legacy. The world remembers Frank Sinatra as one of the giants of the show business. In this book from someone inside the legend, Tina Sinatra remembers him as something more: a father, and a man.

Yes I Can

Yes I Can PDF Author: Sammy Davis Jr
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781477611920
Category : African American entertainers
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
YES I CAN is the self-portrait of one of the extraordinary men of our time, who became a figure of controversy because he dared to live his life not as a Negro but as a man. "I've got to be a star like another man has to breathe," write Sammy Davis. "I've got to get so big, so powerful, so famous that the day will come when they'll look at me and see a man, and then somewhere along the way they'll notice he's a Negro." YES I CAN is: "...one of the most candid, engrossing and important American autobiographies of our time," wrote the N.Y. Herald Tribune Book Editor and Critic Maurice Dolbier. "One of the really great autobiographies ever written." Brother Judd . Audible.com

What the Eye Hears

What the Eye Hears PDF Author: Brian Seibert
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1429947616
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 670

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Book Description
Magisterial, revelatory, and-most suitably-entertaining, What the Eye Hears offers an authoritative account of the great American art of tap dancing. Brian Seibert, a dance critic for The New York Times, begins by exploring tap's origins as a hybrid of the jig and clog dancing from the British Isles and dances brought from Africa by slaves. He tracks tap's transfer to the stage through blackface minstrelsy and charts its growth as a cousin to jazz in the vaudeville circuits and nightclubs of the early twentieth century. Seibert chronicles tap's spread to ubiquity on Broadway and in Hollywood, analyzes its decline after World War II, and celebrates its rediscovery and reinvention by new generations of American and international performers. In the process, we discover how the history of tap dancing is central to any meaningful account of American popular culture. This is a story with a huge cast of characters, from Master Juba (it was probably a performance of his in a Five Points cellar that Charles Dickens described in American Notes for General Circulation) through Bill Robinson and Shirley Temple, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and Gene Kelly and Paul Draper to Gregory Hines and Savion Glover. Seibert traces the stylistic development of tap through individual practitioners, vividly depicting dancers both well remembered and now obscure. And he illuminates the cultural exchange between blacks and whites over centuries, the interplay of imitation and theft, as well as the moving story of African-Americans in show business, wielding enormous influence as they grapple with the pain and pride of a complicated legacy.What the Eye Hears teaches us to see and hear the entire history of tap in its every step.

You've Heard These Hands

You've Heard These Hands PDF Author: Don Randi
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
ISBN: 1495050386
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
(Book). As a keyboard musician, composer, arranger, music director, and record producer, Don Randi has thrilled music lovers for years, even if they weren't aware of it... until now. He played keyboards on over a thousand popular recordings and was a member of the remarkable "Wrecking Crew" of studio musicians during the explosive pop music era of the 1960s and early 1970s. Nancy Sinatra, the Beach Boys, the Jackson 5, Elvis Presley, Sammy Davis Jr., Neil Diamond, and Linda Ronstadt are among the many music greats Randi has worked with and writes about in You've Heard These Hands . For many years, only music industry insiders, close friends, and jazz fans who visit Randi's nightclub, the Baked Potato, have heard him tell some of the amazing, heartfelt, and hilarious personal stories in this collection. Now everyone can discover the in-studio, behind-the-scenes, and on-tour tales from the man whose hands we've heard playing on our favorite hit tunes. You've Heard These Hands will capture the attention and emotion of its readers, who won't be able to resist sharing Randi's stories with their friends.

Beyond Uhura

Beyond Uhura PDF Author: Nichelle Nichols
Publisher: Boxtree
ISBN: 9780752202389
Category : Actors
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
For nearly 30 years Nichelle Nichols, African American granddaughter of a former slave-owner, has been part of the Star Trek myth as Lieutenant Uhura, Communications Officer on the Starship Enterprise. In this autobiography she recounts her personal and professional life.