He was one of the last great exponents of a disappearing art. Eventually, his then-girlfriend Cindy Bayes had to force him to go. Resend Activation Email. Failed to report flower. 'I have a very hard time with celebrating and feeling good right now,' Hines told the mourners. 25 Wild Frank Sinatra Facts That Prove He Did It His Way Iwas losing weight. Sammy for Sale : Entertainer Davis' Belongings to Be Sold at Auction According to the bookSinatra: The Chairmanby James Kaplan, Sinatra also demanded that management pay the trio five times their standard rate. Learn about how to make the most of a memorial. The California State Assembly Speaker, Willie Brown, a longtime friend of Mr. Davis, said the family had received messages of condolence from President Bush, Gov. Entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., a man who lived for the sound of applause, won his final ovation Friday during an emotional memorial service attended by scores of celebrity friends and thousands of fans at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park in the Hollywood Hills. Sinatras manager said Trump blocked Sammy and Sinatra from getting the payment they were already scheduled to receive from their (then upcoming) Taj Mahal performance. He was born in Harlem, Manhattan, the son of dancer Elvera Davis (ne Sanchez) and vaudeville star Sammy Davis Sr.. His father was African-American and his mother was of Cuban and African-American ancestry. He was 64, and had been diagnosed as having cancer about eight months ago. GREAT NEWS! As she finished, she looked out at an audience studded with her husbands legion of friends in Hollywood and the entertainment industry--Stevie Wonder, Carroll OConnor, Ben Vereen, Billy Crystal, Tony Danza, Robert Wagner, Jill St. John, Angie Dickinson, Robert Guillaume, Ricardo Montalban, Burt Reynolds, Milton Berle. Sinatra, Dean Martin, Michael Jackson and Bill Cosby were among the honorary pallbearers for the gifted singer, dancer and actor, who died Wednesday of throat cancer in his Beverly Hills home. . Davis also wrote three autobiographies, "Yes I Can" (1965), "Life In A Suitcase" (1980), and "Why Me?" "As great an entertainer as Sammy was, he was an even greater friend, not only to me, but to anyone whose life he touched," said Martin. Those in attendance included Stevie Wonder, Ben Vereen, Robert Guillaume, Milton Berle, Angie Dickinson, Ricardo Montalban, Dick Gregory, Little Richard, Berry Gordy, Lionel Ritchie, Robert Wagner, Jill St. John, Robert Culp and Hugh Hefner. Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing Series 1 is. "A heaven with his magic gives me warmth," said Frank Sinatra. In 1959, he resumed his film career in a breakthrough role as Sportin' Life in Porgy and Bess (1959). Many in the hall were in tears during the nondenominational memorial service as they listened to a recording of Mr. Davis singing his signature song, ''I've Got to Be Me.''. Yet,heremained optimistic. 'To love . Whos Steve and Eydie? Trump asked, according to Weisman.