Globe

MOB KIDNAPPED SAMMY DAVIS JR!

Racist movie boss warned him away from Kim Novak!

-

HOLLYWOOD Rat Packer Sammy Davis Jr. was abducted and terrorized by Mafia thugs to keep him from marrying blond bombshell Kim Novak — and legendary FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover refused to seek justice for the terrified song and dance sensation, GLOBE can exclusivel­y reveal.

Davis, then

31, fell for the 24-year-old starlet after Kim watched him perform in 1957. But their relationsh­ip hit the skids after a thinly veiled gossip item exposed their interracia­l romance.

His plan to make the Pal Joey actress his wife infuriated Columbia Pictures head Harry Cohn, who feared the then-scandalous hookup would damage his investment in Novak.

Gangster Mickey Cohen’s goons confronted the one-eyed Candy Man in front of his chauffeur and pal, Arthur Silber.

“They said they would break both of his legs, put out his remaining eye, and bury him in a hole if he didn’t marry a black woman,” says Silber. “Sammy was scared as hell.”

Recently uncovered FBI files reveal two “tough Chicago gangsters” followed up Cohen’s warning by abducting Davis in Las Vegas and threatenin­g his life. They ordered him to end things with Novak.

But Hoover personally banned agents from investigat­ing the kidnapping because an official complaint had never been filed.

Soon after his abduction, Sammy wed black singer Loray White. But that marriage ended in a 1960 divorce — and Davis wed white actress May Britt the same year. At the time, interracia­l marriage was illegal in 31 states!

 ??  ?? The singer’s then-risqué romance made him a target Gangster Mickey Cohen’s goons abducted DavisFBI boss J. Edgar Hoover refused to help
The singer’s then-risqué romance made him a target Gangster Mickey Cohen’s goons abducted DavisFBI boss J. Edgar Hoover refused to help

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States