Altovise Joanne Davis ( Gore; August 30, 1943 – March 14, 2009) was an American entertainer, best known for being

Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, actor, comedian, dancer, and musician. At age two, Davis began his career in Vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the Will Mastin Trio, which t ...

's third wife.

Early life

Altovise Joanne Gore was born in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

and raised in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York.

Career

A life member of

The Actors Studio The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights located on West 44th Street in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, Hell's Kitchen in New York City. The studio is best known for its work refining ...

, Gore worked during the 1960s as a chorus-line

dancer Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

in various musical shows both in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

. In the 1970s and 1980s, she made a few guest appearances in major

TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

such as ''

Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts for ABC. It originally aired from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, airing for five seasons consisting of 115 episodes. It was produ ...

'' and ''

CHiPs ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. After the final first-run telecast on NBC in May 1983, the series went into reruns on Sundays fr ...

'' and minor roles in films such as '' Welcome to Arrow Beach'' (1974), ''

Kingdom of the Spiders ''Kingdom of the Spiders'' is a 1977 American science fiction horror film directed by John "Bud" Cardos and produced by Igo Kantor and Jeffrey M. Sneller. The screenplay is credited to Richard Robinson and Alan Caillou, from an original sto ...

'' (1977), ''

Boardwalk A boardwalk (alternatively board walk, boarded path, or promenade) is an elevated footpath, walkway, or causeway typically built with wooden planks, which functions as a type of low water bridge or small viaduct that enables pedestrians to ...

'' (1979), and ''

Can't Stop the Music ''Can't Stop the Music'' is a 1980 American musical comedy film directed by Nancy Walker in her only directed featured film. Written by Allan Carr and Bronté Woodard, the film is a pseudo-biography of the 1970s disco group the Village Peop ...

'' (1980). Both she and her husband, Sammy Davis Jr., were frequent panelists on the 1970s television game show ''

Tattletales ''Tattletales'' is an American game show produced by Mark Goodson, Goodson-Bill Todman, Todman Productions in association with Fremantle (company), Fremantle. The program had two runs on the CBS daytime schedule between February 1974 and June ...

''.

Personal life

In 1968, Gore began a relationship with

They were married on May 11, 1970, by Reverend

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (Birth name#Maiden and married names, né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American Civil rights movements, civil rights activist, Politics of the United States, politician, and ordained Baptist minister. Beginning as a ...

and adopted a son, Manny, in 1989. The couple remained married until Sammy Davis Jr.'s death in 1990. Long saddled with tax problems following the death of her husband, Altovise Davis was included in 2008 on the

California Franchise Tax Board The California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) administers and collects state personal income tax and corporate franchise and income tax of California. It is part of the California Government Operations Agency. The board is composed of the Calif ...

's list of the top 250 delinquent taxpayers, with $2,708,901.75 in unpaid personal income tax.

Death

Davis died of complications from a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

on March 14, 2009, at age 65 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. She is interred in an unmarked grave at

Forest Lawn Memorial Park Forest Lawn may refer to: Cemeteries California * Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries, a chain of cemeteries in southern California * Forest Lawn Cemetery (Cathedral City), California * Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale), California * Fore ...

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

, next to her husband.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Altovise 1943 births 2009 deaths American female dancers Dancers from Brooklyn American stage actresses Actresses from Los Angeles Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) African-American actresses Sammy Davis Jr. African-American women musicians Actresses from Brooklyn