Sammy Davis Jr., the miniseries, in the works.

A miniseries that centres around legendary Sammy Davis Jr. is in early development in the US.

Producer Lee Daniel (Empire, Star) was recently reported as teaming with Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman’s Playtone for a project based on the 2003 book In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr. by Wil Haygood.

There have been multiple attempts at a Sammy Davis, Jr. biopic, most recently a project set at Paramount Pictures last year with producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Lionel Richie and Mike Menchel as well as Davis’ estate.

Davis Jr.’s life was a rollercoaster of drama, but he was among the first entertainers to truly cross the ‘white barrier’ in a racially-charged America.

He was born in Harlem and performed for troops during World War II. By the 1950s, Davis Jr. was recording albums and performing on Broadway. But it was when he joined Frank Sinatra in what was known as The Rat Pack — along with Dean Martin, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop — that he began to become a major celebrity.

There were love affairs with white actresses such as Kim Novak, May Britt -later his wife- and porn star Linda Lovelace.

Faced with a death threat from Columbia Pictures’ Harry Cohn after he found out that Davis and Novak were an item, the singer was forced to marry a black woman.

He refused to work for companies that segregated blacks and whites, and marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and even was given his own network show in 1966 — unheard of for a black man at the time.

Davis Jr. was also a regular visitor to Australia, with TV appearances alongside friend Don Lane.

The project, titled Sammy, is still in preliminary stages.

https://youtu.be/V1doZ3q7wxE

Source: Deadline