Sammy Davis Jr.'s Public Marriage
Sammy Davis Jr. had been married three times in his life. After a brief marriage to a woman named Loray White (1958-1959), he married Swedish actor May Britt in 1960. The general public was outraged due to the fact that they were of different races. Mixed-race marriage was legal in California, where the two lived, but illegal in 31 other states.
Apparently, even President John F. Kennedy was not approving of this marriage and stopped Davis from performing at his inauguration. At the time, the couple couldn't share a hotel room or drink from the same water fountain. Britt's studio dropped her as soon as the marriage was official. The couple divorced in 1968 after Davis admitted to cheating on her. The two had one daughter, Tracey, and adopted two sons, Mark and Jeff.
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