Sammy Davis, Jr. 60th Anniversary Celebration (1990)
**** (out of 4)
This excellent tribute to Sammy Davis, Jr. also has a bittersweet nature to it because the legendary performer would die of throat cancer just three months after this first aired. As sad as that is, thankfully a large group of people go to show up for this event and pay respects to Sammy and tell him what a wonderful and devilish person he was.
When I say there's a large amount of talent that showed up that certainly isn't a lie. Eddie Murphy hosts and gets to throw out some very funny moments including one about Sammy's "eye" for talent. From here we're given some excellent tributes as well as some great musical performances. These include Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Goldie Hawn, Frank Sinatra and even Shirley MacLaine. Gregory Hines shows up for some tap dancing and even manages to get Davis on stage who still impresses even though you can tell his health wasn't the greatest.
There are countless other tributes including one by Richard Pryor who introduces the wonderful Gregory Peck who talks about Davis and his acting. Other memorable moments include Clint Eastwood throwing out some jokes, Bob Hope talking about their friendship and even Mike Tyson gets a good joke. Of course, seeing Sinatra and Martin (not together sadly) paying their respects were priceless.
