Director Sam Pollard digs deep, offering film clips of Davis as a child performing in a movie alongside Ethel Waters in 1933. (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SAMMY DAVIS JR.: I'VE GOTTA BE ME")īILLY CRYSTAL: Sammy is such a unique blend of talent and insecurity.ĭEGGANS: Crystal, who performed a famous impersonation of Davis on "Saturday Night Live," joins a slew of compelling voices in PBS' "American Masters" documentary "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me." A central theme of this poignant film - how Davis struggled to live on his own terms while coping with the realities of life as a black entertainer in a racist America. had it all - a master dancer, musician, actor and singer who hung with Frank Sinatra's Rat Pack and made a hit out of a soaring anthem for perseverance and individuality, "I've Gotta Be Me."ĭEGGANS: But as comic Billy Crystal notes in the film, there was self-doubt and pain behind his dazzling facade. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans has this review.ĮRIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: On the surface, Sammy Davis Jr. That's according to a new biography airing tonight as part of the "American Masters" series on PBS. ![]() GREENE: But that song about a song and dance man who fell on hard times also summed up Davis' worries about being left behind as a performer. And he could belt out pop hits like this.
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