His mother, the Puerto-Rican-born Elvera "Baby" Sanchez, was a tap dancer; his father, Sammy Davis, Sr., was an African-American vaudevillian who was the lead dancer with Will Mastin's Holiday in Dixieland. As an infant, he was raised by his paternal grandmother, Rosa B.

Sammy Davis Jr. was often billed as the "greatest living entertainer in the world". He was born in Harlem, Manhattan, the son of dancer Elvera Davis (née Sanchez) and vaudeville star Sammy Davis Sr.. His father was African-American and his mother was of Cuban and African-American ancestry.

Sammy Davis, Jr. did not call himself “the most famous,” but “the only black, Puerto Rican, one-eyed, Jewish entertainer in the world.” From the age of three until his death, Davis (1925 – 1990) never stopped dancing, singing, acting and playing music.

Davis became inebriated at the wedding and attempted to strangle White en route to their wedding suite.