Elvera "Baby" Sanchez Davis (September 1, 1905 – September 2, 2000) was an American dancer and the mother of
Sammy Davis Jr.
Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director.
At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...
Davis Jr. stated that his mother was Puerto Rican and born in
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to:
Places Argentina
* San Juan Province, Argentina
* San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province
* San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province
* San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
; however, in the 2003 biography ''In Black and White'', author Wil Haygood wrote that Davis' mother was born in New York City, of Afro-Cuban descent, and that Davis claimed she was Puerto Rican because he
feared anti-Cuban backlash would hurt his record sales.
Life and career
Elvera Sanchez was born in New York City to Cuban immigrants Luisa Valentina (née Aguiar) and Marco Sanchez.
She began her career as a chorus-line dancer at the
Lafayette Theater in
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
, in 1921. She became known as "Baby Sanchez", and married
Sammy Davis Sr.
Samuel George Davis Sr. (December 12, 1900 – May 21, 1988) was an American dancer and the father of entertainer Sammy Davis Jr.
Early life
Davis was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, to Rosa B. Taylor (1870–1957) and Robert Davis (186 ...
, also a dancer, in 1923. In 1925 their son and only child, Sammy Davis Jr., was born. He would often accompany his mother and father to the theater. When Sammy Jr. was three, his parents split up and his father obtained sole custody of him, taking him on the road. Sanchez was a chorus-line dancer at
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater is a music hall at 253 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue) and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (Eighth Avenue) in the Harlem neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is a not ...
for six years and appeared in
Oscar Micheaux
Oscar Devereaux Micheaux (; January 2, 1884 – March 25, 1951) was an author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films. Although the short-lived Lincoln Motion Picture Company was the first movie company owned and controlled ...
’s 1938 film ''
Swing''. She continued to dance until the 1940s.
After retiring from her show business career at the age of 35, she began working as a barmaid for
Grace's Little Belmont
Grace's Little Belmont was a jazz music bar and lounge in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Located at 37 Kentucky Avenue, it was one of the four popular black nightclubs situated on that street between the mid-1930s and mid-1970s; the others were Club Ha ...
in
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497. .
[ She enjoyed telling jokes to customers and was known for sporting a gold napkin. Her connections with entertainers ]Count Basie
William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...
, Billy Eckstine
William Clarence Eckstine (July 8, 1914 – March 8, 1993) was an American jazz and pop singer and a bandleader during the swing and bebop eras. He was noted for his rich, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. In 2019, Eckstine was posthumously ...
, and Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan (March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer.
Nicknamed "Sassy" and "Jazz royalty, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine ...
drew these and other celebrities to her station, and her son Sammy would come to visit after performing across town at the 500 Club "and delighted everyone, pouring drinks and singing".[ ]Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
's valet George Jacobs recalled in his memoirs that Sinatra also liked to drop by Grace's Little Belmont in the early morning hours after his shows at the 500 Club to say hello to Davis' mother behind the bar.
From 1989, until her death in 2000, she was an adviser to the New York Committee to Celebrate National Tap Dance
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perfo ...
Day. She was also survived by a daughter, Ramona.
References
Sources
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External links
Obituary printed in Jet Magazine
Elvera Sanchez
on Find A Grave
Find a Grave is a website that allows the public to search and add to an online database of cemetery records. It is owned by Ancestry.com. Its stated mission is "to help people from all over the world work together to find, record and present fin ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Elvera
1905 births
2000 deaths
African-American female dancers
American tap dancers
Dancers from New York (state)
Vaudeville performers
Entertainers from New York City
Sammy Davis Jr.
American entertainers of Cuban descent
Hispanic and Latino American dancers
African-American women musicians