Political life of Frank Sinatra 27, 1961, Sinatra played a benefit show at Carnegie Hall for Martin Luther King, Jr. and led his fellow Rat Pack members and Reprise label mates in boycotting hotels and casinos that refused entry to black patrons and performers. He often spoke from the stage on desegregation and repeatedly played benefits on behalf of King and his movement. According to his son, Frank Sinatra, Jr., King sat weeping in the audience at one of his father's concerts in 1963 as Sinatra sang "Ol' Man River", a song from the musical "Show Boat" that is sung by an African-American stevedore. His
Sammy Davis Sr. movies, "Sweet and Low" (1947) with the Will Mastin Trio, and "The Benny Goodman Story" (1956), in which he played the bandleader and arranger Fletcher Henderson. Sammy Davis Sr. died May 21, 1988, in Beverly Hills, California, at the age of 87, of natural causes, two years before the death of his son, Sammy Davis Jr. Sammy Davis Sr. Samuel George Davis Sr. (December 12, 1900 – May 21, 1988) was an African American dancer and the father of entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. Davis was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, to Rosa B. Taylor (1870–1957) and Robert Davis (1868–1948). He