Tracey, Sammy, and Satan
Hollywood -- June 14, 1996 -- Tracey Davis says she started planning to write a book
about her father, Sammy Davis, Jr., right after receiving a call from the late super agent,
Swifty Lazar. "Swifty called right after Dad died," she says, and explains that Lazar was
trying to quickly sew up rights to the Davis story in order to get a book deal moving. "He
said, In 10 years, no one will know who your Dad is.' Well, you ass! I thought, If anyone's
going to write a book about Dad, it's me.'" Plain- spoken Tracey's book is just out. It's
called "Sammy Davis, Jr.: My Father," and it's a grabber -- but not for the reasons one might
expect. Tracey's book is heavy on the painful father-daughter relationship between herself
and Sammy -- culminating in their reconciliation -- and on her unique world. She describes,
for instance, her childhood confusion at being fawned over inside a nightclub, then leaving
with her mother, May Britt, and practically being spit upon by passers-by outside the club.
In other words, one moment she was treated as The Daughter of a Celebrity, the next as an unknown
mixed race child with a white woman. She admits that selling her book took work, because
publishers "were like: Okay, let's hear all the bad stuff.' Well, my Dad's dead; I'm not
going to sit there and do a litany of everything wrong with Sammy Davis, Jr." Tracey did
mention -- in less than one page -- her father's dabbling with Satanism in the 60s. The National
Enquirer got hold of that passage of the book and published it a few weeks ago. Sammy's mother
responded in another tabloid, saying she was disappointed that Tracey sold out for a few bucks.
But once her grandmother saw the book in its entirety, Tracey says, she completely changed her
mind. She points out that her father talked about his interest in the devil in his own book.
"My dad did a lot of squealing on himself," she notes. She also downplays the Satanism. "Don't
get me wrong. In those 89 bags he traveled with, there were no roosters with their heads cut
off to shake around before going on stage or anything like that. It was: become famous, get the
cars, get the money -- what's my next thrill? Drugs? Okay. Satanism? Hey, what's that about?
My Dad always used to say: Just don't bore me!'" As far as Tracey (who is 34, married, with two
kids) is concerned, Sammy's doing drugs and playing with the occult "was not about escaping, which
some people have suggested. It was what happens frequently to people in his position, that they
want bigger and bigger things to entertain them. If you're not careful, you get screwed. He was
lucky enough to grow up and move on."
Copyright (c) 1996 Beck/Smith Ent.