Elvera Sanchez
Elvera Sanchez (
New York City,
September 1,
1905 –
New York City,
September 2,
2000) was an
American dancer and the mother of
Sammy Davis, Jr..
During his lifetime Sammy Davis, Jr. stated that his mother was
Puerto Rican and born in
San Juan. However, the 2003 biography
In Black and White claims that he made these statements due to the political sensitivities of the
1960s and his mother was instead born in New York of Cuban ancestry.
The book claims that Elvera was in fact born in New York, the daughter of
Cuban Americans Marco Sanchez, a cigar salesman and Luisa Aguiar, information which was obtained from the daughter and grand-daughter of Elvera's sister Julia and from contemporary documentation.
Elvera Sanchez began her career as a chorus-line dancer at the Lafayette Theater in
Harlem. She married
Sammy Davis, Sr., also a dancer, in 1923. In
1925 their son and only child Sammy Davis, Jr., was born. When the child was three, the couple split up and the father obtained sole custody of his son taking him on the road. Elvera Sanchez was a chorus-line dancer at
Apollo Theater for six years. She continued to dance until the 1940s.
From 1989 until her death, she was an adviser to the New York Committee to Celebrate National
Tap Dance Day. Her own mother, Luisa Sanchez, died in 1996 at the age of 112. She was survived by her daughter Ramona.
*
Obituary printed in Jet Magazine*
Elvera Sanchez's entry on Findagrave.com
