Sammy’s one flaw was that he wanted to be Sinatra, his idol. He wanted to live and breathe like Frank, which was very expensive. He loved Frank, yet did realize that there were some aspects of Frank's personality that left a lot to be desired. Sammy is quoted as saying, “I love Frank .. But there are many things he does that there are no excuses for. Talent is not an excuse for bad manners. It does not give you the right to step on people and treat them rotten.” Having said that Frank treats people rotten, it took 2 months of hard groveling to get a co-starring role in Oceans 11 only to see Sammy flagging badly towards the end of shoot, diagnosed with nervous exhaustion and hospitalized for a week after their schedule of 2 shows a night – 8pm and midnight, 5am finished, filming at noon, a steam 7pm, which continued for 3 months. Having no schooling when he was younger, Sammy’s education was largely self taught which lead to his hatred of personalizing autographs because he feared spelling even the simplest names wrong.

To be a Negro in America in the 60’s even if you were ealthy, well eduicated, meant to find discomfort in the most routine aspects of life. Sam was walking fine line of white community, whilst still being true to his black roots – he knew that it was vital to exist in both worlds to be successful. People constantly put him down, not only for the colour of his skin, but for the way he lead his life and who he chose to socialise with. He was quoted as saying, “My talent was the weapon, the power, the way for me to fight. It was the one way I might hope to affect a mans thinking.” Sammy always had a fear of losing his success, to the point that it became an obsession. His manic pursuit of success would eventually cost him everything he loved - his, his kids, and some friends. Another obsession that Sammy would later develop, would be the resistence to grow old. Sammy never wanted to age, and did all he could – acting young and living the lifestyle of a 20yr old – to appear younger. It was due to this obsession that Sammy was hesitant about recording “Mr Bojangles” the story of a frail and old dancer, one of Sammy’s biggest hits.

Sammy’s Dad and Uncle, succeeded in sheltering him from prejudice and hate, so when he joined the Army and was part of the first colour integrated units, he was shocked, wishing that his family hadn’t hidden it from him, but at the same time, understanding why they did. Both in the army and on stage, he wowed audiences and received standing ovations, in the days when they had to be earned, and would leave the theatre and be called a nigger.

Sammy was an extremely clean person, even going to the extent of sending a shirt to the cleaners to be washed, when he’d only tried it on. He never wore anything more than once. Although Sammy was successful, he thought that people liked him for his success more so than anything else, reminding himself everyday when looking in the mirror; “You’re ugly, you’ve got nothing going for you except your talent and the fact that you’re a star. You didn’t see any chicks running after you when you were hungry and you haven’t gotten better looking since then, They want to hang around you because you’re a star and they dig being around success. That’s all they care about. So take what you want without ever looking back. They’re getting theirs and you don’t owe them nothing! Just never kid yourself why they’re here.”

His low self esteem, cause him to attempt to commit suicide. He jumped in his car and was determined to drive right off a cliff, until the axle broke, preventing him from plunging to his death. He was saved. Sammy would again be saved in his life, after a fatal car accident almost cost him his life. Eddie Cantor gave him a mezuzah, which is a holy Hebrew charm for good luck. He wore it always, apart from one night - November 18th 1954. Sammy was driving from Vegas to LA for a recording session to record the theme song for the new Tony Curtisfilm, "Six Bridges to Cross". The car beside him tried to make a U turn and he smashed into his car, resulting in Sammy hitting his head on the steering wheel. He climbed out of the car, and became aware of the blood on his face. He ran his hand over his cheek and felt his eye hanging there by a string. He tried to stuff it back in, praying for his stardom not to be taken away from him, before passing out, regaining consciousness 2 days later. Sammy was fitted with a glass eye and made a comeback 3 months later, wearing a patch over his left eye for sometime after that, but Humphrey Bogart ultimately convinced him to unmask when he told him that he didn't want to be known as the kid with the eye patch.

Sammy seemed to always be caught up in controversial situations. Sammy started a relationship with actress Kim Novak, that sent paparazzi into a frenzy. “I was impressed by the glamour of a movies star and she was impressed by my talent, but she hadn’t thought about me anymore than I had thought about her until it was forbidden. Then we became conspirators, drawn together by the single thing we had in common –defiance.” As the controversy concerning himself and Novak intensified, rumours were circulating that Harry Cohn, Columbia titan, asked the Mafia to break up the relationship as it was publicity that the studio and Novak didn’t need. Not long after, they broke up.

Sammy was again ridiculed when he proposed to Swedish actress May Britt, after pursuing her for many months. After announcing their engagement to the press, Davis received death threats, bomb scares, racial hatred notes, hate mail and threats of being shot on stage to name a few. The controversy intensified as Sammy and May postponed their wedding until after the Presidential election, not wanting to hurt Jack Kennedy’s chances of victory, even though Sammy campaigned for him and they were good friends. The night before there was an Inaugural Gala that Sammy missed as the Presidents aid thought Sammy’s presence would offend south politicians. May and Sammy’s marriage was stranded not only by the pressure of the interracial marriage, but also the fact that Sammy’s pursuit of ultimate stardom was coming between them, and saw him neglecting his family. Another reason that their marriage wasn’t travelling well, was May’s dislike of his relationship with Frank, feeling that he crawled to the star. Sammy split from May a few days after Mia and Frank called it quits.

Shortly after, Martin Luther King and RFK were assassinated which saw Davis start drinking heavily and dabbling in different drugs, namely cocaine which he became addicted to in the 70s. His addiction saw him socializing with different sorts of people, moving in different social circles and hanging out with the wrong crowd – one of those people being Peter Lawford, also an addict. Sammy was seen as another washed up celebrity during this time.

Various trips to the hospital and health scares, saw Sammy change his ways, however, not in time to save him from the illness that claimed his life. In 1989, Sammy was diagnosed with throat cancer. He had the option of removing his voice box, however Sammy opted for radiation as he said that he didn’t want to live if he couldn’t sing.

Long-time friend Bill Cosby wore a small button with the letters "SD" on episodes of "The Cosby Show" after his death in 1990 as a tribute.