By Bruce Klauber
It’s been said by more than one show business industry expert through the years that the late and legendary Sammy Davis, Jr. was the greatest entertainer who ever lived. He was certainly among the most versatile. He was a world-class dancer, singer, mimic, comic, actor and multi-instrumentalist, and in all likelihood, we will never see his likes again.
Davis, who died in 1990 at the age of 64, had close personal and professional ties to Atlantic City. He performed in AC in virtually every decade from the 1930s through the 1980s, famed broadcaster and Memories in Margate founder Jerry Blavat was one of Davis’ closest friends, and Davis’ mother, Elvera “Baby” Sanchez, tended bar at Kentucky Avenue’s Grace’s Little Belmont Club for decades.
The Will Mastin Trio is nothing more than a nearly-forgotten footnote in show business history, but Davis’ many appearances at the shore from the 1930s through the late 1950s, were as the youngest member of this energetic dance troupe.
The act was formed by Sammy Davis, Sr., Will Mastin, and Howard M. Colbert, Jr. sometime in the 1920s. Colbert departed to join the Army in 1941, and was replaced by a 16-year-old Sammy Davis, Jr., in that year, though he had frequently joined the trio on stage as early as 1933. A fascinating film short that was released in 1933 called “Rufus Jones for President,” featured the incredible dancing and singing of an 8-year-old Sammy Davis, Jr.
The Will Mastin Trio, with and without Davis, were frequent headliners at Atlantic City’s iconic Club Harlem, virtually from the day the club opened in 1935. The club was incredibly popular until its closing in 1986. Aside from presenting an astounding array of superstars through the years, Club Harlem is historically important. In his book about the club, author W.D. Palmer wrote, “Club Harlem was a retreat from racial discrimination and segregation in the city, a home for African-American musicians, artists and comedians to display their craft in front of an inclusive community.”
Many white performers would visit the club after their own shows were over, including Frank Sinatra, who would visit Club Harlem often and frequently take a turn on stage, especially when Sammy Davis, Jr. was headlining. Davis was so loyal to the place that it was his second Atlantic City home for decades. As late as 1964, in addition to his frequent appearances at Paul “Skinny” D’Amato’s 500 Club, he still headlined at Club Harlem. A poster exists that advertises the stars who were set to appear there in the summer of 1964, including Sam Cooke, Damita Jo, Dinah Washington, The Platters, and from Aug. 8 to Aug. 21, Sammy Davis, Jr.
A piece of show business history in the form of what was originally a bootleg record chronicles the 4:30 a.m. breakfast show at the 500 Club, recorded on Aug. 25, 1962, and starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis, Jr. Those who have heard the recording, and Sinatra aficionados have had it for years, can attest to the fact that Davis had lost his singing voice that night. Though it was impossible for him to sing, he still wowed the late-night Atlantic City audiences with his dancing, drumming and spot-on impressions.
After gambling was legalized in Atlantic City, Davis performed often in the casinos, mainly at Caesars and Bally’s, and notably with Sinatra and Jerry Lewis at the much-ballyhooed Golden Nugget/Bally’s Grand name changing ceremony in 1987, detailed in these pages recently. Through the years, whenever his sets were over, he would head over to Grace’s Little Belmont to visit his mother, who had tended bar there for years.
According to an article written by Delilah Jackson in the old New York Beacon newspaper, “Elvera Sanchez, Sammy’s mother, had connections with entertainers Count Basie, Billy Eckstine, and Sarah Vaughan drew these and other celebrities to her station, and her son would come to visit after performing across town at the 500 Club and delighted everyone, pouring drinks and singing.”
Sinatra often dropped by to pay his respects to Elvera after his own shows, said Sinatra valet George Jacobs in his book about Mr. S.
A young Jerry Blavat was a dancer on the “American Bandstand” television show, and was also put in charge by host Dick Clark of handling celebrities who appeared on the program. In his book, “You Only Rock Once,” Blavat wrote about his first meeting with Sammy Davis, Jr.
“When I met Sammy, he saw me jitterbugging and said, ‘Where’d you learn how to dance like that?’ Blavat wrote. “I said that everybody in South Philly dances like that. He said, ‘No, man, you’re like a white me!’ I turned around and said, ‘No, I don’t think so.’ Sammy laughed and it was the start of a lifelong friendship.”
Blavat and Davis remained close through the years. As soon as he found out that Davis had been diagnosed with cancer, Blavat flew out to Los Angeles and visited Davis as often as he could. Philadelphia’s Cardinal Krol gave Blavat a bottle of holy water from Lourdes to bring out to his ailing friend, but it was too late. Jerry Blavat was with Davis when he died.
“On the plane back to Philly,” Blavat wrote, “I couldn’t stop thinking of Sammy, how he loved my mother’s cooking, and how he would always come over to the house and shoot pool with me in my basement. We would listen to music on my jukebox and watch old Warner Brothers movies on my projector. At one point, after I cooked for him, he started calling me ‘my man, pots and pans’ and became a gourmet cook himself. When he was in Atlantic City or on the road, he would bring his own pots and pans and cook for everybody in his hotel room at four in the morning.”
Jerry Blavat died in 2023 at the age of 82. Elvera Sanchez died in 2000 at the age of 95. Grace’s Little Belmont closed around 1975 and was later demolished. However, the contributions of Sammy Davis, Jr. – as a singer, as a dancer, and as an incomparable entertainer – live on.
