May Britt

May Britt (born May Britt Wilkens; 22 March 1934) is a Swedish former actress who had a brief career in the 1950s in Italy and later in the United States. She was married to American entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. from 1960 to 1968.

Career

File:May Britt 1953b.jpg

Britt in Cavalleria rusticana

File:May Britt 1955b.jpg

Britt in L'ultimo amante

Britt was discovered as a teenager by Italian filmmakers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati in 1951. She was then an assistant to a Stockholm photographer.<ref name="gdgt">Template:Cite book</ref> The two filmmakers were in Sweden to cast a young blonde for the title role in Jolanda, the Daughter of the Black Corsair. They came to the studio where she worked to view photographs of models. After meeting her, they offered her the part. May Britt, as she was renamed professionally, moved to Rome. As expected, she made her film debut as the leading actress in Jolanda, the Daughter of the Black Corsair (1952). (Gary Fishgall, in Gonna Do Great Things: The Life of Sammy Davis Jr., wrote of Britt, "... she made her film debut in Le Infideli in 1952.")<ref name=gdgt/>

In the following years she worked in some ten Cinecittà productions. She also featured in the epic film War and Peace of 1956.

In the late 1950s, Britt relocated to Hollywood after signing with 20th Century Fox. She starred in a few movies, including The Young Lions (1958) with Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift, The Hunters (1958) with Robert Mitchum and Robert Wagner and Murder, Inc. (1960) with Peter Falk, as well as a much-criticised remake of The Blue Angel (1959) in the role first created by Marlene Dietrich in 1930.

Marriage and retirement

Britt married Edwin Gregson, a college student, in 1958. In 1959 she filed for divorce.<ref name=gdgt/>

She met Sammy Davis Jr. in 1959. They began dating, and, after a brief engagement, were married on 13 November 1960. Their wedding caused controversy. A rumour or myth was that John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy told Frank Sinatra to tell Davis not to marry May until after the 1960 Presidential Election. At that time interracial marriage was forbidden by law in 31 U.S. states, and only in 1967 were those laws (by then down to 17 states) ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.<ref>Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967).</ref> Prior to the wedding, Britt converted to Judaism.<ref>"May Britt Joins Jewish Faith", The New York Times, 18 October 1960, p. 46</ref> The couple were married by Reform Rabbi William M. Kramer.<ref name="Jewish journal">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It has been confirmed, however, by Sammy and Britt's daughter Tracey, Nancy Sinatra, and documentarian Sam Pollard that this marriage resulted in Kennedy rejecting an invitation for Davis to perform at his Inauguration. Yet, Harry Belafonte, who was married to a white woman at the time, was invited to perform.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Sinatra, N. (1986). Frank Sinatra my father. New York: Pocket Books.</ref>

Once married, Britt left the movies.

Template:AnchorBritt and Davis had a daughter, Tracey Davis (July 5, 1961 – November 2, 2020).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="nytimes/tracey-davis-dead">Template:Cite news</ref>

Britt and Davis adopted two sons: Mark Sidney Davis (born 1960, adopted 4 June 1963) and Jeff (born 1963).

Britt and Davis divorced in 1968 after Davis reportedly had an affair with dancer Lola Falana.

After the divorce, Britt resumed working with sporadic television guest appearances, the last in 1988. Since then she has been retired and mainly involved in painting. She currently resides in California. Her third husband, Lennart Ringquist,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> died in 2017.

In popular culture

May Britt was portrayed by Megan Dodds in the 1998 television film The Rat Pack which depicted her marriage to Sammy Davis Jr., who was played by Don Cheadle.

Selected filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1953	The Unfaithfuls	Liliana Capacci Rodgers
1953	Jolanda, the Daughter of the Black Corsair	Jolanda	Alternative title: Jolanda la figlia del corsaro nero
1953	Fatal Desire	Santuzza	Alternative title: Cavalleria rusticana
1953	La lupa	Maria Maricchia
1953	Funniest Show on Earth	Brigitte, la domatrice
1953	The Ship of Condemned Women	Consuelo
1954	Vergine moderna	Claudia Bardi	Alternative title: Modern Virgin
1955	Give 'em Hell	Gina
1955	L'ultimo amante	Maria Spanisch
1955	Revelation	Nadia Ulianova
1956	War and Peace	Sonya Rostova
1958	The Young Lions	Gretchen Hardenberg
1958	The Hunters	Kristina Abbott
1959	The Blue Angel	Lola-Lola
1960	Murder, Inc.	Eadie Collins
1976	Haunts	Ingrid	Alternative title: The Veil

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1968	The Danny Thomas Hour	Anna	1 episode
1969	Mission: Impossible	Eva Gollan	1 episode
1971	The Most Deadly Game	Lili	1 episode
	The Partners		1 episode
1988	Probe	Helga	1 episode

External links

• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0110067

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