Deconstructing Sammy

Music, Money, and Madness

Biography & Memoir, Entertainment & Performing Arts
Cover of the book Deconstructing Sammy by Matt Birkbeck, HarperCollins e-books
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Matt Birkbeck ISBN: 9780061982415
Publisher: HarperCollins e-books Publication: October 6, 2009
Imprint: HarperCollins e-books Language: English
Author: Matt Birkbeck
ISBN: 9780061982415
Publisher: HarperCollins e-books
Publication: October 6, 2009
Imprint: HarperCollins e-books
Language: English

Sammy Davis Jr. lived a storied life. Adored by millions over a six-decade-long career, he was considered an entertainment icon and a national treasure. But despite lifetime earnings that topped $50 million, Sammy died in 1990 near bankruptcy. His estate was declared insolvent, and there was no possibility of itever using Sammy's name or likeness again. It was as if Sammy had never existed.

Years later his wife, Altovise, a once-vivacious woman and heir to one of the greatest entertainment legacies of the twentieth century, was living in poverty, and with nowhere else to go, she turned to a former federal prosecutor, Albert "Sonny" Murray, to make one last attempt to resolve Sammy's debts, restore his estate, and revive his legacy. For seven years Sonny probed Sammy's life to understand how someone of great notoriety and wealth could have lost everything, and in the process he came to understand Sammy as a man whose complexity makes for a riveting work of celebrity biography as cultural history.

Matt Birkbeck's serious work of investigative journalism unveils the extraordinary story of an international celebrity at the center of a confluence of entertainment, politics, and organized crime, and shows how even Sammy's outsized talent couldn't save him from himself.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Sammy Davis Jr. lived a storied life. Adored by millions over a six-decade-long career, he was considered an entertainment icon and a national treasure. But despite lifetime earnings that topped $50 million, Sammy died in 1990 near bankruptcy. His estate was declared insolvent, and there was no possibility of itever using Sammy's name or likeness again. It was as if Sammy had never existed.

Years later his wife, Altovise, a once-vivacious woman and heir to one of the greatest entertainment legacies of the twentieth century, was living in poverty, and with nowhere else to go, she turned to a former federal prosecutor, Albert "Sonny" Murray, to make one last attempt to resolve Sammy's debts, restore his estate, and revive his legacy. For seven years Sonny probed Sammy's life to understand how someone of great notoriety and wealth could have lost everything, and in the process he came to understand Sammy as a man whose complexity makes for a riveting work of celebrity biography as cultural history.

Matt Birkbeck's serious work of investigative journalism unveils the extraordinary story of an international celebrity at the center of a confluence of entertainment, politics, and organized crime, and shows how even Sammy's outsized talent couldn't save him from himself.

More books from HarperCollins e-books

Cover of the book The Women Jefferson Loved by Matt Birkbeck
Cover of the book Paradise Under Glass by Matt Birkbeck
Cover of the book The Pursuit by Matt Birkbeck
Cover of the book How To Love Like a Hot Chick by Matt Birkbeck
Cover of the book Bush on the Couch Rev Ed by Matt Birkbeck
Cover of the book Just One Taste by Matt Birkbeck
Cover of the book Why I Fight by Matt Birkbeck
Cover of the book The House on Fortune Street by Matt Birkbeck
Cover of the book Sleepless at Midnight by Matt Birkbeck
Cover of the book American Passage by Matt Birkbeck
Cover of the book The Pursuit of Marriage by Matt Birkbeck
Cover of the book Return of the Highlander by Matt Birkbeck
Cover of the book When I Was Cool by Matt Birkbeck
Cover of the book Strange Skies by Matt Birkbeck
Cover of the book You Only Die Twice by Matt Birkbeck
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy