Sammy Davis, Jr.

“Being a star has made it possible for me to get insulted in places where the average Negro could never hope to go and get insulted.”

“Marilyn and I were rumored to be an item. We were friends. Nothing more. Marilyn was one of the sweetest creatures that ever lived.”

“When Liza Minelli was a child, she used to sit on my lap and call me Uncle Sammy.”

“May was young and beautiful, we were legally married, but she was caught in the prison of my skin.”

“The manic pursuit of success cost me everything I could love: my wife, my three children, some friends I would have liked to grow old with.”

“Everything Michael Jackson does on stage is exactly right.”

“Ten million dollars after I'd become a star I was deeply in debt.”

“I hadn't been in Vegas 20 minutes when I got word that the bookmakers were offering three to one that Frank wouldn't show for my wedding.”

“I go to temple a lot less than I would like because when I do, people still look at me as if they think it's a publicity stunt.”

“There are certain romances that belong in certain cities, in a certain atmosphere, in a certain time.”

“Though I love the luxury of the Waldorf Towers, room service there doesn't do soul food.”

“Sober up, and you see and hear everything you'd been able to avoid hearing before.”

“The one thing you don't want is that stale sound when you've done a line so much you can't find a fresh approach to it. Drop it.”

“There's nothing that can match Broadway for stature and dignity.”

“Being in public with May and the children was too heavy. I was irreversibly tuned in to everyone around us.”