# Billy Crystal as Sammy Davis, Jr.: Offensive or No? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 28, 2012, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214 "2012-02-28T02:46:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/1 "2012-02-28T02:46:02Z")
Apparently many were offended enough to stand up and… tweet… when Billy Crystal dusted off his Sammy Davis, Jr. impression at the Oscars last night. It was referred to as black face and mistrel show flashback and other such things in various blog entries and tweets. [Hollywood Reporter article](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/billy-crystal-oscars-blackface-criticism-sammy-davis-295558). I remember when it was a standard part of his SNL days, and IIRC he even performed it _with_ Sammy Davis, Jr., back in the 1980s (along with Muhammad Ali). He’s even done it at the Oscars before (when he impersonated Sammy D. interspliced with the “do you wanna go to a real party?” scene of _Titanic_). Personally it didn’t even occur to me to consider it racist, though I did think: 1. Man, he’s gotten a lot fuller in the face since the last time he did Sammy. 2. I wonder if Justin Bieber has any clue who Sammy Davis, Jr., was. (He died before Bieber was born.) 3. Was Neil Patrick Harris unavailable or too expensive? 4. At least he’s not doing “ancient Jewish guy stock character 7” (which of course he later did) And this from somebody who’s still p.o.d at Crystal’s portrayal of homosexuals in _SOAP_. (I dont’ have a beef with Crystal- he was an actor looking for a break and it was a paying gig- and I liked the show itself- but it was a nadir for gay visibility on TV to conflate them with transvestites and transsexuals and then show that they can become straight if they really want to.) So, do you think it was racist? Poll or comment, whichevah, you’re old enough to choose… ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/2 "2012-02-28T02:51:07Z")
A Sammy impression is a Sammy impression. It’s not an impression of “Black People”. The make-up is just make-up for the part- “Black Face” is about more than just the make-up. Nothing black face or minstrel about it, baby. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/3 "2012-02-28T02:55:59Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > A Sammy impression is a Sammy impression. It’s not an impression of “Black People”. The make-up is just make-up for the part- “Black Face” is about more than just the make-up. Nothing black face or minstrel about it, baby. It would actually have seemed rather silly if he hadn’t darkened his face a bit. Plus he didn’t go full on Sammy dark. ([Billy](http://cdn.eurweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/billy-crystal-sammy-davis-jr1.jpg) v. [Sammy](http://image1.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2008/158/263_121289253884.jpg)) ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/4 "2012-02-28T04:08:14Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > It would actually have seemed rather silly if he hadn’t darkened his face a bit. Plus he didn’t go full on Sammy dark. ([Billy](http://cdn.eurweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/billy-crystal-sammy-davis-jr1.jpg) v. [Sammy](http://image1.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2008/158/263_121289253884.jpg)) You went full dark, man. Never go full dark. You don’t buy that? Ask Ted Danson “I Am Whoopi.” Remember? Went full dark, went home empty handed… ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/5 "2012-02-28T04:10:16Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > A Sammy impression is a Sammy impression. It’s not an impression of “Black People”. The make-up is just make-up for the part- “Black Face” is about more than just the make-up. Nothing black face or minstrel about it, baby. X2. Just because something has a racial component doesn’t mean it’s necessarily racist. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/6 "2012-02-28T04:11:32Z")
Billy has been doing Sammy for over thirty years. IIRC their was even a moment on Sat Night Live when he and Sammy appeared together. I wouldn’t swear to my memory because Sammy guested on so much stuff its hard to recall for sure. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/7 "2012-02-28T04:21:48Z")
Was it Sammy or Billy who kissed Archie Bunker on the mouth? ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/8 "2012-02-28T04:37:06Z")
He made a valiant, though failed, attempt to make himself look like Davis. He didn’t have googly eyes, a big white patch around his mouth. He did an impression of Davis’s voice and mannerisms (I assume, I actually can’t remember ever seeing Crystal’s Sammy Davis jr impression). Not blackface, though I’m shocked nobody involved in the whole thing ever stopped and thought ‘this is a terrible idea, because it is going to be misinterpreted’. Only slightly less so if they did, but they never convinced everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/9 "2012-02-28T04:40:24Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > You went full dark, man. Never go full dark. You don’t buy that? Ask Ted Danson “I Am Whoopi.” Remember? Went full dark, went home empty handed… Considering the movie that’s quoted from, that’s actually kind of meta, or something. Also: golf clap. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/10 "2012-02-28T04:55:23Z")
I’m guessing it must be just the Bieber crowd that was offended, who don’t even know who Billy Crystal is, really. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/11 "2012-02-28T05:04:36Z")
Nor Sammy Davis Jr. for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/12 "2012-02-28T05:12:07Z")
You mean that Willie (Crystal) and Frankie (Christopher Guest) weren’t available? I hate when that happens. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/13 "2012-02-28T06:17:13Z")
It wasn’t offensive to me, I got that he was doing a specific impression he had in his bag of tricks for years. It was better when he was younger and could break dance, but even then, it wasn’t very entertaining, just another impression. It was not entertaining for this audience. I don’t think every actor in black face is offensive. Robert Downey Jr in Tropic Thunder did a great send up of arrogant actors using blackface that was on balance a lot funnier than it was offensive because of the attitudes it mocked. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/14 "2012-02-28T06:51:39Z")
It’s dated and unfunny and the _Princess Bride_ reference seemed kind of desperate, but it’s not racist. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/15 "2012-02-28T14:19:25Z")
Sammy impersonation didn’t offend me, though I did think it (and many of the skits/set-ups) was pretty lame because Sammy’s been dead for so long. What I did think was somewhat offensive was his comment that he wanted to get a black person’s perspective after viewing “The Help,” but he was in Beverly Hills and there weren’t any around. Now, that may have been true 25 years ago, but surely there are affluent blacks that live in Beverly Hills today. No? ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/16 "2012-02-28T14:26:29Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > Sammy impersonation didn’t offend me, though I did think it (and many of the skits/set-ups) was pretty lame because Sammy’s been dead for so long. > > What I did think was somewhat offensive was his comment that he wanted to get a black person’s perspective after viewing “The Help,” but he was in Beverly Hills and there weren’t any around. > > Now, that may have been true 25 years ago, but surely there are affluent blacks that live in Beverly Hills today. No? In 2010, 746 blacks lived in Beverly Hills. That’s 2.2%. [Wikipedia link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Hills,_California#2010). ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/17 "2012-02-28T14:28:31Z")
I don’t like the fact that you can’t pick more than one in your poll. It was not racist and its way too dated. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/18 "2012-02-28T14:40:15Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > In 2010, 746 blacks lived in Beverly Hills. That’s 2.2%. [Wikipedia link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Hills,_California#2010). The joke didn’t have a basis in truth in that there are (probably - I have no cite) black maids working in Beverly Hills. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/19 "2012-02-28T14:49:11Z")
But in Beverly Hills they don’t degrade black maids. They degrade Mexican maids. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/20 "2012-02-28T16:34:41Z")
> [@Koxinga](#): > > Considering the movie that’s quoted from, that’s actually kind of meta, or something. Especially since Stiller, Downey, Jr. and Cruise were presenters and Nick Nolte was a nominee that night. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214.md?page=2)