Bill's Interview with
Sammy Davis, Jr.
"I first met Sammy Davis when I was a Dean at my Alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania. I was the so-called "teen dean" since I'd just gotten out of grad school at Annenberg when they offered me the Assistant Dean of Students job. I was instrumental, working with Ken Roberts of University Concert Productions (Ken would later create K-ROCK radio), in bringing Sammy to Penn to perform at the Palestra. (For more on the full story behind this show which created great controversary on campus, check out my essay "A Kid in Line Who Made it Backstage," in "Frank Sinatra and Popular Culture" edited by Leonard Mustazza). Anyway, meeting Sammy all those years ago when I was in my early twenties formed the basis of a nice relationship with a superstar for me and led to my meeting Frank Sinatra, and Frank's coming to do his first ever talk show appearance and longest interview ever on TV with me. I interviewed Sammy several times in my career, and saw him perform frequently. He was a gracious man, a giant talent in a tiny body. In this interview he discusses frankly why he chose to reveal his drug problems, and (at his request) takes questions from the audience. Sammy always wanted to please. ." —Bill Boggs