Sammy Davis, Jr.

If you want to get known as a singer you hire five sexy chicks and let them fight over you onstage and for the cameras. That's publicity, man.

Being a star has made it possible for me to get insulted in places where the average Negro could never hope to go and get insulted.

The manic pursuit of success cost me everything I could love: my wife, my three children, some friends I would have liked to grow old with.

The success of the Rat Pack or the Clan was due to the camaraderie, the three guys who work together and kid each other and love each other.

Though I love the luxury of the Waldorf Towers, room service there doesn't do soul food.

I saw that my image was changing or fading. One of the reasons for taking a break from clubs was to be missed-not forgotten.

Part of show business is magic. You don't know how it happens.

You can be in this business 50 years and still not know anything about it.

My home has always been show business.

The one thing you don't want is that stale sound when you've done a line so much you can't find a fresh approach to it. Drop it.

Would it be better if I'd married a Negro woman? Would they treat my child any better? Erect fewer barriers?

When Liza Minelli was a child, she used to sit on my lap and call me Uncle Sammy.