# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/21 "2012-02-28T16:48:05Z")
Is Fred Armisen being racist when he portrays Obama on SNL? No, and neither is Crystal as Davis. Like someone already said, they’re portraying a _person_, not a racial stereotype. ---
**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, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/22 "2012-02-28T17:02:41Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Is Fred Armisen being racist when he portrays Obama on SNL? No, and neither is Crystal as Davis. Like someone already said, they’re portraying a _person_, not a racial stereotype. I’ll admit to being uncomfortable that SNL didn’t cast a black actor to play Obama and to feeling better about it when someone here told me that Armisen is a mixed-race guy like Obama is - although not because I felt Armisen was doing a blackface character. I acknowledge that that wasn’t really rational in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/23 "2012-02-28T19:00:31Z")
Why would it be racist? Crystal’s Jewish himself, isn’t he? ---
**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, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/24 "2012-02-28T19:04:58Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Why would it be racist? Crystal’s Jewish himself, isn’t he? Yes, but he’s got two eyes. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/25 "2012-02-28T19:08:58Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Yes, but he’s got two eyes. Ahhh…now I [del]see[/del] understand. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/26 "2012-02-28T19:52:43Z")
The whole thing was so creaky, out of touch and embarrasingly bad that being racist was the least of it’s problems. I think the NY Times called the show an AARP pep rally. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/27 "2012-02-28T20:44:17Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > Was it Sammy or Billy who kissed Archie Bunker on the mouth? It was Sammy and it was on the cheek, not the mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/28 "2012-02-28T20:48:37Z")
Sammy Davis Jr. is so far from any black stereotype that I am aware of that I can’t imagine finding a SDJ impression racist. I can see how it might be awkward if he blacked up to try out his new 50 Cent impression - but _Sammy?_ ---
**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, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/29 "2012-02-28T22:16:10Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > It was Sammy and it was on the cheek, not the mouth. Trivia: In an episode of _Archie Bunker’s Place_ Sammy revisited Archie about 10 years after the original episode. That episode ended with Archie kissing Sammy ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/30 "2012-02-28T23:14:30Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > 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.) Actually, it wasn’t a nadir for gay visibility on TV since there wasn’t regularly featured acknowledged gay characters on TV back then. _Soap_ faced outrage and boycotts for having an out and out (so to speak) gay character on the show. Yes, at first, Jodie Dallas was played as a stereotyped crossdressing transexual, who gave up on that idea when his boyfriend left him, but as the show progressed, Jodie was one of the more likeable and sympathetic characters on the show. If anything, Jodie Dallas made it easier for television to portray gays on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/31 "2012-02-28T23:20:28Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > 1. Was Neil Patrick Harris unavailable or too expensive? Thank god. ---
**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, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/32 "2012-02-28T23:47:00Z")
[QUOTE=Two Many Cats] Yes, at first, Jodie Dallas was played as a stereotyped crossdressing transexual, who gave up on that idea when his boyfriend left him, but as the show progressed, Jodie was one of the more likeable and sympathetic characters on the show. [/QUOTE] In the last season he fell in love with a woman. Then he got stuck in “ancient Jewish guy stock character 7” during a past life regression to learn why he was gay to begin with. Admittedly, it was 1- The early 1980s 2- A show that had a (funny) space alien abduction plot so nadir is probably too strong a word, but I’d give it at best a ‘neutral’ score for gay visibility. [QUOTE=Fear Itself] Thank god. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I like NPH but have to admit he’s getting overexposed (must have the same agent as Betty White) and his retro kitschy singing/dancing isn’t all that. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/33 "2012-02-29T01:30:45Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > so nadir is probably too strong a word, but I’d give it at best a ‘neutral’ score for gay visibility. Suit yourself. But that’s sort of like saying you give Jackie Robinson a ‘neutral’ score for breaking the color line in baseball because he wasn’t as good a player as Willie Mays. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/34 "2012-02-29T12:02:20Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > 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**.\ (bolding mine) Which can be quite disconcerting when a [former presidential candidate](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owDUPtBuY78)does it. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/35 "2012-02-29T13:53:04Z")
I wonder if younger viewers even knew he was supposed to be Sammy Davis Jr, or that Crystal played this character on SNL 30+ years ago? Also, did anyone else think that Crystal looks like an old woman now? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/36 "2012-02-29T14:24:28Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I wonder if younger viewers even knew he was supposed to be Sammy Davis Jr, or that Crystal played this character on SNL 30+ years ago? Also, did anyone else think that Crystal looks like an old woman now? FWIW I’m in my early 30s, so not all that young, and while I figured out that Billy Crystal was supposed to be Sammy Davis, Jr., I had no idea _why_ he was supposed to be Sammy David, Jr. As best as I can tell from Google, Crystal hadn’t played this character on TV since the mid 1980s, when I was in elementary school and not watching “grown up” comedy shows. I would guess that few people under 40 got this bit, and now that I know what it was in reference to it still doesn’t seem very funny. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/37 "2012-02-29T14:29:30Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > FWIW I’m in my early 30s, so not all that young, and while I figured out that Billy Crystal was supposed to be Sammy Davis, Jr., I had no idea _why_ he was supposed to be Sammy David, Jr. As best as I can tell from Google, Crystal hadn’t played this character on TV since the mid 1980s, when I was in elementary school and not watching “grown up” comedy shows. > > I would guess that few people under 40 got this bit, and now that I know what it was in reference to it still doesn’t seem very funny. Eh, in context it didn’t make much sense even for those of us who recognized him. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/38 "2012-02-29T14:34:03Z")
Yeah, the whole thing was this sad, borscht-belt vibe, like when Rich Little hosted the WH correspondents’ dinner the year after Colbert and did a bunch of Jimmy Carter jokes. favorite tweet from the night was after the actress from The Help won an Oscar: “we’ve come a long way in race relations since Billy Crystal dressed up in blackface earlier in the evening.” ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/39 "2012-02-29T15:30:19Z")
Sammy Davis Jr. was one of Billy’s “regular” characters (especially in his one Saturday Night Live season), so I didn’t see it as a problem - but that was almost 30 years ago (1984-85, I think, because I remember Billy being on the night before the first WrestleMania in early 1985), so some people might not realize this. The only problem I had with it is, at the end of the bit, Billy “thanked” Sammy (as if it was really him). ---
**Author:** ![DRDMovieMusings](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb9ed0/32.png) [@DRDMovieMusings](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DRDMovieMusings)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2018, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214/40 "2018-12-03T01:11:21Z")
> [@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… I see what you did there, quoting “Kirk Lazarus” from Tropic Thunder. Well played! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/billy-crystal-as-sammy-davis-jr-offensive-or-no/614214.md?page=3)