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Deconstructing Sammy is a book by author Matt Birkbeck about the life and death of Sammy Davis Jr. and the subsequent efforts to restore his legacy. [1] Published in September 2008 by Amistad/HarperCollins the book follows the efforts of a Pennsylvania lawyer and former Assistant U.S. Attorney, Albert "Sonny" Murray Jr., who was hired in 1994 by Sammy's poverty-stricken wife Altovise to help resolve Sammy's debts. Upon his death from cancer in 1990, Sammy Davis Jr. owed over $15 million, of which $7 million was owed to the Internal Revenue Service. Murray spent seven years representing the Davis estate, from 1994 to 2001, during which time he resolved the debts, restored Sammy's legacy and earned Sammy a posthumous Grammy Award in 2001. Deconstructing Sammy reveals Sammy Davis Jr. as a brilliant yet tragic figure in American culture.
The New York Times in a December 2008 review hailed the book as "Gripping" and "Sensational." The Los Angeles Times called Deconstructing Sammy "Epic" and "Tremendous" in a November 2008 review, while the Tennessee Tribune described the book as "stunning" in a November 2008 review.
The paperback version was published in September 2009.
William Jefferson Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again from 1983 to 1992. Clinton, whose policies reflected a centrist "Third Way" political philosophy, became known as a New Democrat.
Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of his novels have been bestsellers and more than 100 million copies of his books have been sold. His name was also used on screenplays written by ghostwriters, nonfiction books on military subjects occasionally with co-authors, and video games. He was a part-owner of his hometown Major League Baseball team, the Baltimore Orioles, and vice-chairman of their community activities and public affairs committees.
Victor Davis Hanson is an American classicist, military historian, and conservative political commentator. He has been a commentator on modern and ancient warfare and contemporary politics for The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, National Review, The Washington Times, and other media outlets.
John Joseph Gotti Jr. was an American mafioso and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. He ordered and helped to orchestrate the murder of Gambino boss Paul Castellano in December 1985 and took over the family shortly thereafter, leading what was described as America's most powerful crime syndicate.
David Andrew Gemmell was a British author of heroic fantasy, best known for his debut novel, Legend. A former journalist and newspaper editor, Gemmell had his first work of fiction published in 1984. He went on to write over thirty novels. Gemmell's works display violence, yet also explore themes of honour, loyalty and redemption. There is always a strong heroic theme but nearly always the heroes are flawed in some way. With over one million copies sold, his work continues to sell worldwide.
The Rat Pack was an informal group of singers that, in its second iteration, ultimately made films and appeared together in Las Vegas casino venues. They originated in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a group of A-list show business friends, such as Errol Flynn, Nat King Cole, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and others who met casually at the Holmby Hills home of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. In the 1960s, the group featured Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford, among others. They appeared together on stage and in films in the 1950s and 1960s, including the films Ocean's 11 and Sergeants 3; after Lawford's expulsion, they filmed Robin and the 7 Hoods with Bing Crosby in what was to have been Lawford's role. Sinatra, Martin, and Davis were regarded as the group's lead members after Bogart's death.
Samuel George Davis Jr. was an American singer, actor, comedian and dancer.
Gregory Oliver Hines was an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and singer. He is one of the most celebrated tap dancers of all time. As an actor, he is best known for Wolfen (1981), The Cotton Club (1984), White Nights (1985), Running Scared (1986), The Gregory Hines Show (1997–1998), playing Ben on Will & Grace (1999–2000), and for voicing Big Bill on the Nick Jr. Channel animated children's television program Little Bill (1999–2004).
Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. Founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology- and health-oriented media websites, online shopping-related services, internet connectivity services, gaming and entertainment brands, and cybersecurity and martech tools. Previously, the company was predominantly a publisher of hobbyist magazines.
John Norris Bahcall was an American astrophysicist and the Richard Black Professor for Astrophysics at the Institute for Advanced Study. He was known for a wide range of contributions to solar, galactic and extragalactic astrophysics, including the solar neutrino problem, the development of the Hubble Space Telescope and for his leadership and development of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.
The Arkansas Project was a series of investigative press reports, funded primarily by conservative businessman Richard Mellon Scaife, that focused on criticism of then-President Bill Clinton and his administration. Scaife spent nearly $2 million on the project.
Stop the World – I Want to Get Off is a 1961 musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. In 1966 Warner Bros. released a film adaptation of the play. In 1996, a film version was produced for TV, made for the A&E Network.
Hardball is a 2001 American sports drama/comedy film directed by Brian Robbins and starring Keanu Reeves in the main role, Diane Lane and D. B. Sweeney. The screenplay by John Gatins is based on the book Hardball: A Season in the Projects by Daniel Coyle. The original music score is composed by Mark Isham. The film was released on September 14, 2001, topping the box office the weekend after the September 11 attacks.
"The Candy Man" is a song that originally appeared in the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. It was written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley specifically for the film. Although the original 1964 book by Roald Dahl contains lyrics adapted for other songs in the film, the lyrics to "The Candy Man" do not appear in the book. The soundtrack version of the song was sung by Aubrey Woods, who played Bill the candy store owner in the film. Anthony Newley sings the song on his 1971 album Pure Imagination.
Matt Birkbeck is an American investigative journalist and author.
Charles James Ogletree Jr. was an American legal scholar who served as the Jesse Climenko Professor at Harvard Law School, where he was the founder of the school's Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice. He was also the author of books on legal topics.
The Enron scandal was an accounting scandal involving Enron Corporation, an American energy company based in Houston, Texas. When news of widespread fraud within the company became public in October 2001, the company filed for bankruptcy and its accounting firm, Arthur Andersen—then one of the five largest audit and accountancy partnerships in the world—was effectively dissolved. In addition to being the largest bankruptcy reorganization in U.S. history at that time, Enron was cited as the biggest audit failure.
The Edwin Mellen Press, sometimes stylised as Mellen Press, is an academic publisher. It was founded in 1972 by theology professor Herbert W. Richardson. It has been involved in a number of notable legal and academic controversies, sometimes being labeled as a vanity press. Most, but not all, of its published works are in English.
Burt Boyar was a Broadway columnist, voice actor, and author. He voiced the title character of Archie Andrews for NBC Radio in 1945 and co-wrote Yes I Can: The Story of Sammy Davis, Jr. with wife Jane Boyar and Davis himself.
Patrick Montgomery is an American documentary producer/director and film and photo archivist. He has specialized in making films using archival materials, most notably The Man You Loved to Hate (1979) about the legendary actor/director Erich Von Stroheim and The Compleat Beatles (1982) a two-hour documentary about the rise and fall of the world's most famous rock group. He also founded and ran Archive Films/Archive Photos, the largest independent commercial film and photo archive in the U.S. until its acquisition by The Image Bank, a division of Eastman Kodak, in 1997.
https://deadline.com/2015/10/sammy-davis-jr-biography-movie-tv-documentary-byron-allen-1201596666/