I’ve Gotta Be Me – Sammy Davis Jr.

Explore the entertainer’s vast talent and journey for identity through the shifting tides of civil rights and racial progress during 20th-century America.

• Fred Vigeant
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Fred Vigeant is WITF's Director of Programming and Promotions for TV and Radio. Fred manages the schedules for our radio and television platforms. He also analyzes audience research and manages the public affairs program Smart Talk. Previously, Fred was at WRVO in Oswego, NY for 12 years serving in various roles including Program Director and before that Operations Manager. Fred graduated from the State University of New York College at Oswego with a B.A. in Mass Communications and Broadcasting.

 Courtesy of The Estate of Altovise Davis

Sammy Davis, Jr. takes aim in a backstage photo with his dancers in a scene from the documentary Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me."

Sammy Davis, Jr. had an indisputably legendary career that was vast in scope and scale. His life was also complex, complicated and contradictory. Davis strove to achieve the American Dream in a time of racial prejudice and shifting political territory.

A veteran of increasingly outdated show business traditions, he worked tirelessly to stay relevant, even as he frequently found himself caught between the bigotry of white America and the distaste of black America. In addition, Davis was the most public black figure to embrace Judaism, tying his identity to that of another persecuted minority.

Featuring exclusive interviews with Billy Crystal, Norman Lear, Jerry Lewis, Whoopi Goldberg and Kim Novak, as well as never-before-seen photos from Davis’ vast personal collection and rare footage from his performances in television, film and concert, American Masters – Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me explores the life and art of a uniquely gifted entertainer whose trajectory paralleled the major flashpoints of American society, from the Great Depression through the 1980s.

Enjoy this rebroadcast from 2019 of I’ve Gotta Be Me on American Masters Friday September 24 at 9pm on WITF.

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