May Britt, Swedish actor and wife of Sammy Davis Jr, dead at 91
May Britt, the celebrated Swedish actor and former wife of Sammy Davis Jr, has died aged 91.
Britt died on December 11th at the Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center due to medical causes, her son, Mark, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.
After being scouted in Stockholm during the early 1950s, Britt, who was born Maj-Britt Wilkens, first moved to Rome, where she was given her stage name and established herself in European cinema.
Then, it was time to move to Hollywood in 1957 after signing a deal with 20th Century Pictures, and starred in movies such as The Young Lions opposite Marlon Brando in 1958, as well as The Hunters and Murder, Inc.
Around this time, she met Sammy Davis Jr, who she married in 1960. Due to the attitudes towards interracial marriage in America at this time, it sparked huge controversy, and it was banned in the majority of states in the US.
Britt converted to Judaism ahead of their wedding, and Frank Sinatra served as best man at the ceremony.
However, her acting career then declined after 20th Century Pictures opted not to renew her contract. Additionally, due to threats made against the couple, they were forced to employ round-the-clock security.
Their daughter, Tracey Davis, was born in 1961. The couple also adopted sons Mark and Jeff in 1963. They divorced in 1968 due to alleged infedility on Davis’ behalf, but remained on good terms.
Tracey told CBS in 2014 of her parents’ difficult marriage due to public scrutiny, “It was very difficult … there were death threats, there were bad words written on our car, they looked for bombs, we had armed guards.”
Britt held no regrets about the marriage despite the impact it had on her career, telling Vanity Fair in 1999, “I loved Sammy, and I had the chance to marry the man I loved.”
Meanwhile, Tracey told the Los Angeles Times in 2014 that Davis Jr once said when she asked why her parents split up, “I just couldn’t be what she wanted to me to be. A family man. My performance schedule was rigorous.”
Following the divorce, Britt attempted to get back into acting, but her roles were limited to short television appearances. She largely focused on painting.
Britt remarried to Lennart Ringquist in 1993, who died in 2017.
She is survived by her sons, Mark and Jeff. Tracey died in 2020, aged 59.
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