May Britt, the Swedish actress whose promising Hollywood career was derailed by her groundbreaking interracial marriage to entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., died Dec. 11 at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center. She was 91.
Her son, Mark Davis, told the Hollywood Reporter that his mother died of natural causes.
Born Majbritt Wilkens in Sweden on March 22, 1934, Britt caught the eye of Italian producer Carlo Ponti at 18, launching her into European cinema, THR noted. By 1957, 20th Century Fox had signed her to a Hollywood contract.
She appeared opposite Robert Mitchum in the Korean War drama “The Hunters” and shared the screen with Marlon Brando in “The Young Lions,” both released in 1958. Her breakthrough came with the 1959 remake of “The Blue Angel,” where she took on the iconic role of cabaret performer Lola-Lola, originally made famous by Marlene Dietrich, according to THR. The following year, she played a singer-dancer in “Murder, Inc.”
But it was her relationship with Davis that would define much of her public life.
The two met after one of his performances at the Mocambo nightclub on the Sunset Strip, THR noted. Davis broke off his engagement to dancer Joan Stuart, and the couple announced their own engagement in June 1960. Britt converted to Judaism before their Nov. 13, 1960, wedding at Davis’ Los Angeles home, with Frank Sinatra serving as best man.
Their marriage came at a time when interracial unions were illegal in 31 states, THR said.
The couple received death threats, and Fox declined to renew Britt’s contract after news of the engagement broke. At Sinatra’s request, as he campaigned for John F. Kennedy’s presidential bid, the couple postponed their wedding until after the election. Despite Kennedy’s victory, they were not invited to the inauguration gala.
Britt stepped away from acting during the marriage.
She and Davis had a daughter, Tracey, in 1961, and adopted two sons, Mark and Jeff. The marriage ended in divorce in December 1968. Tracey Davis told the Los Angeles Times in 2014 that her parents never stopped loving each other, recalling her father’s explanation for the split: “I just couldn’t be what she wanted me to be. A family man. My performance schedule was rigorous.”
Years later, Britt reflected on her choices without regret.
“I loved Sammy, and I had the chance to marry the man I loved,” she told Vanity Fair in 1999.
Davis died of throat cancer in 1990 at 64. Britt married Lennart Ringquist in 1993; he died in 2017.
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