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May Britt, Swedish Actress and Sammy Davis Jr.’s Former Wife, Dies at 91

Her son said she died Dec. 11 of natural causes at a Los Angeles hospital.

Overview

  • Mark Davis confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that his mother died at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center in Los Angeles.
  • Britt’s film credits included The Blue Angel, Murder, Inc., The Young Lions and The Hunters after 20th Century Fox signed her in 1957 following discovery by producer Carlo Ponti.
  • She married Sammy Davis Jr. on Nov. 13, 1960 in Los Angeles with Frank Sinatra as best man at a time when interracial marriage was illegal in 31 U.S. states.
  • Fox declined to renew her contract after the engagement was announced, the couple received death threats requiring 24-hour armed guards, and they were disinvited from festivities around John F. Kennedy’s inauguration after postponing their wedding until after the election.
  • They had daughter Tracey in 1961 and adopted sons Mark and Jeff; the couple divorced in December 1968, Britt largely stepped away from acting during the marriage, and she later married Lennart Ringquist in 1993.