''Deconstructing Sammy'' is a book by author

Matt Birkbeck Matt Birkbeck (born Brooklyn, N.Y.) is an American investigative journalist and author. He is best known for his books ''A Beautiful Child'' (2004), which told the tragic story of "Sharon Marshall" and her "father" Franklin Delano Floyd, and th ...

about the life and death of Sammy Davis Jr. and the subsequent efforts to restore his legacy. Published in September 2008 by Amistad/

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...

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 The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

in 2001. Deconstructing Sammy reveals Sammy Davis Jr. as a brilliant yet tragic figure in American culture. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' in a December 2008 review hailed the book as "Gripping" and "Sensational." The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' called ''Deconstructing Sammy'' "Epic" and "Tremendous" in a November 2008 review, while the ''

Tennessee Tribune The ''Tennessee Tribune'' is an African-American newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. Its circulation is statewide - Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville and Memphis, Tennessee. It was founded in 1991 by Rosetta Irvin Miller-Perry. Miller-Perry receiv ...

'' described the book as "stunning" in a November 2008 review. The paperback version was published in September 2009.

References

https://deadline.com/2015/10/sammy-davis-jr-biography-movie-tv-documentary-byron-allen-1201596666/ 2008 non-fiction books Books about entertainers Biographies about African-American people {{actor-bio-book-stub