![114757034.jpg Sammy Davis Jr. with his wife May Britt and their children, 1964.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151125-sammy-davis-01.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
Correction appended, Dec. 8, 2015
When LIFE editor Thomas Thompson reviewed Sammy Davis Jr.’s 1965 autobiography Yes I Can, he noted an unfortunate parallel between the story the book contained and the story of its release unto the world:
It seems appropriate that the week Sammy Davis’s autobiography Yes I Can was published, its author collapsed from nervous exhaustion and the New York newspaper strike prevented two prestigious Sunday reviews of his book from being published. Such bad breaks seem to follow the natural order of Sammy’s life. They are almost an unwritten final chapter in this remarkable book.
Davis’ life was, indeed, marked by many hardships. At 28, he nearly lost his life to a car crash that left him with one eye. His remarkable success as a singer, dancer and star of screen and stage did not shield him from the pain of racism, both subtle and overt. (He was once turned away from an Upper East Side supper club as the band inside played the theme song from his Broadway musical Mr. Wonderful.) On the other hand, he felt rejected by many in the black community who criticized him for what they perceived as his ingratiating himself with whites, including his second wife, the Swedish actress May Britt.
Nevertheless, the spirit LIFE photographer Leonard McCombe captured when he spent time with Davis and Britt in 1964 was one of exuberant charisma—the same charisma, certainly, that earned him the nickname “Mr. Show Business.” Davis, who would have been 90 today, died of throat cancer in 1990, but thankfully, McCombe preserved that spirit on film for posterity.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the year of Davis’ birth. He was born in 1925.
![114757034.jpg Sammy Davis Jr. with his wife May Britt and their children, 1964.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151125-sammy-davis-01.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![00837096.JPG Tracy demands a piggy-back ride from her father. Sammy's Rolls-Royce is parked at the curb. This is one of his four cars—among them a Mustang and a Cadillac with bar, TV, stereo and two telephones.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151125-sammy-davis-02.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![114756993.jpg Sammy Davis Jr. with his son Mark and wife May Britt, 1964.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151125-sammy-davis-03.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![00837087.JPG Sammy Davis Jr. with wife May Britt, 1964.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151125-sammy-davis-04.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![114756968.jpg Sammy Davis Jr. with wife May Britt, 1964.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151125-sammy-davis-05.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![00837088.JPG Sammy Davis Jr. with his 4-year-old adopted son Mark.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151125-sammy-davis-06.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![114758452.jpg Sammy Davis Jr. 1964.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151125-sammy-davis-07.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![114776971.jpg Sammy Davis Jr. eats spaghetti in his dressing room during "Golden Boy", while watching "The Huntley-Brinkley Report " ("My only contact with reality," he tells LIFE. "Whatever I'm doing, I stop to watch these guys"). Reflected in the mirror: LIFE photographer Leonard McCombe.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151125-sammy-davis-08.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![114773850.jpg Sammy Davis Jr. tries to grab some shut-eye on a hotel room floor during the tour to preview Golden Boy.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151125-sammy-davis-09.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![114774095.jpg Sammy Davis Jr. 1964.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151125-sammy-davis-10.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![114773770.jpg Sammy Davis Jr. 1964.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151125-sammy-davis-11.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![114776968.jpg Sammy Davis Jr. 1964.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151125-sammy-davis-12.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![114773772.jpg Sammy Davis Jr. 1964.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151125-sammy-davis-13.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![114772806.jpg Sammy Davis Jr. 1964.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151125-sammy-davis-14.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![00837074.JPG Sammy Davis Jr. 1964.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151125-sammy-davis-15.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![114758544.jpg Sammy Davis Jr. 1964.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151125-sammy-davis-16.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![114768123.jpg Sammy Davis Jr. with Richard Burton,1964.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151125-sammy-davis-17.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![114768115.jpg Sammy Davis Jr. clowns backstage during Golden Boy's run on Broadway.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151125-sammy-davis-18.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![00837099.JPG In a New York pub, Sammy applauds as Richard Burton kisses May, Elizabeth beams.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151125-sammy-davis-19.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![114774224.jpg Sammy Davis Jr. laughs over dinner with his then-wife, Swedish actress May Britt.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/151125-sammy-davis-20.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
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