Sammy Davis Quotes

• Sammy Davis, I backed him up. I used to study him every night. I saw how great performers worked and was able to incorporate a little bit from the best.

  Bobby Vinton

  Night, Littles, Able

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• A lot of people who were the best in their fields. I was fortunate enough to be friends with Sammy Davis, Jr. - I spent a lot of time with Sammy. I was over at his house almost every night. Those people were very special and very special for me.

  James Darren

  Night, People, House

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• Do you think Sammy Davis ate Junior Mints?

  George Carlin

  Stupid, Thinking, People

  George Carlin (2002). “Napalm & Silly Putty”, Hyperion

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• When I lived in Las Vegas, I was meeting everybody: Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Engelbert Humperdinck, Tom Jones - we won't go there - but all these people that were working in Vegas a million years ago, way before I was Elvira.

  Cassandra Peterson

  Vegas, Years, People

  "Elvira on her date with Elvis and the fish recipe she got from Vincent Price". Interview with Katie Rife, aux.avclub.com. October 5, 2016.

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• Every time I was with Sammy [Davis Jr.] it was like going to the show business museum because the stories were so extraordinary, and I didn't care if they were true or not after a while. ... I don't know if he really got high with Humphrey Bogart or not. It didn't matter because he was painting these fantastic pictures.

  Billy Crystal

  Museums, Stories, Care

  "Billy Crystal Finds Fun In Growing Old (But Still Can't Find His Keys)". "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, www.npr.org. November 29, 2013.

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• I felt Michael Jackson was inspired a little bit more from the elegance of a Fred Astaire. Michael loved Sammy Davis, Jr. and James Brown and Judy Garland and Fred Astaire. But he wasn't any of those people. To be inspired is one thing, but he made it all his own.

  Kenny Ortega

  People, Littles, Inspired

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• Tom Jones is funny to me, man. I mean, he really tries to ape Ray Charles and Sammy Davis, you know. He's nice-looking; he looks good doing it. I mean, if I was him, I'd do the same thing. If I was only thinking about making money.

  Miles Davis

  Nice, Mean, Men

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• Americans don't like any form of art, man. All they like to do is make money. They don't like me, Sammy Davis, or anybody else. They don't like nothing. They just like Sammy because he can make 'em a lot of money.

  Miles Davis

  Art, Men, America

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• Moshe Dayan, who said to Sammy Davis, Jr., That's funny, to me you only look half Jewish. Never got a dinner!

  Red Buttons

  Looks, Half, Dinner

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• Joseph Cotten, who said, You know how I got my name? Sammy Davis picked it for me. Never got a dinner!

  Red Buttons

  Names, Dinner, Said

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• I'm doing what great artists before me did, like Judy Garland, Sammy Davis, Eddie Cantor. I'm doing what they were doing, not at their level yet, but one day I will be. I'm just happy to be in their company.

  Mike Tyson

  Artist, One Day, Levels

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

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• Please stop assuming that longevity and perfect health is always the correct option. No. Sometimes fun costs ya. It just does, you know? And that's OK, you're willing to make that purchase. Sammy Davis, Jr. was 64 when he died. Give me 64 Sammy-years, I'll be happy.

  Bill Maher

  Fun, Years, Perfect

  "Bill Maher: Be More Cynical". Comedy, 2000.

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• I think there's no question that Michael Jackson was the foremost entertainer of his generation; perhaps of all time, arguably, taking the skills of a Sammy Davis, Jr., bringing together the street dance of African American urban culture, joining them to the politics of dance, of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly on that sphere alone.

  Michael Eric Dyson

  Thinking, Skills, African American

  Interview with Tavis Smiley, www.pbs.org. June 30, 2009.

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• I look at the careers of people I'm standing on the shoulders of. People like Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr., and Sarah Vaughan. These are icons I wanted to emulate, and I feel like they've been holding me up for quite a long time.

  Dionne Warwick

  Careers, Icons, Long

  "Dionne Warwick: Living for Now". Interview with Dustin Fitzharris, www.huffingtonpost.com. November 7, 2012.

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• People like Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Marlene Dietrich and Sammy Davis Jr. all walked me down this path of entertainment.

  Dionne Warwick

  People, Path, Entertainment

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• I became the storyteller of South Side Chicago. I used an old Kiwi liquid shoe polish as a microphone. I'd go around the house interviewing everybody, telling stupid jokes, doing voices. I mimicked Sidney Poitier, Sammy Davis Jr., people on 'Laugh-In,' Flip Wilson.

  Bernie Mac

  Stupid, Shoes, Voice

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