May Britt, ‘The Warmer Greta Garbo,’ Dies at 91
May Britt, the statuesque Swedish actress who captivated audiences in films like The Blue Angel and Murder, Inc. before becoming the second wife of entertainment icon Sammy Davis Jr.,has died. She passed away on december 11 at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center in California,at the age of 91,following a battle with natural causes,as confirmed by her son,Mark Davis,to The Hollywood Reporter.
Discovered at the age of 18 by italian producer Carlo Ponti, Britt launched her career in italian cinema, appearing in films such as The Unfaithfuls and Jolanda the Daughter of the Black Corsair before securing a contract with 20th Century Fox in 1957. Her arrival in Hollywood marked the beginning of a promising career that showcased her beauty and burgeoning talent.
Britt quickly found success in American films, portraying the wife of a pilot in the Korean War drama The Hunters (1958), alongside Robert Mitchum, and appearing as a love interest to Marlon Brando’s character in Edward Dmytryk’s World War II epic, The Young Lions (1958). Frequently enough lauded as a more approachable counterpart to Greta Garbo, Britt’s breakthrough role came with Dmytryk’s 1959 remake of The Blue Angel, where she embodied the scandalous cabaret singer Lola-Lola – a role initially envisioned for Marilyn Monroe.
She continued to demonstrate her versatility as a performer, taking on the role of Eadie Collins, a singer and dancer whose life is threatened by New York mobsters, in Murder, Inc. (1960). This showcased her ability to navigate both dramatic and musical performances.
Britt’s personal life took a dramatic turn when she met Sammy Davis Jr. after his performance at the Mocambo nightclub on the Sunset Strip, as detailed in Tracey Davis’s 2014 book, Sammy Davis: A Personal Journey With My Father. Davis, having ended his engagement to Canadian dancer joan Stuart, soon pursued Britt, who converted to Judaism prior to their engagement announcement in england in June 1960.
Their marriage on November 13, 1960, at Davis’s Los Angeles home, with a reception at the Beverly Hilton attended by around 200 guests and officiated by a rabbi, was a landmark event, tho not without its challenges. Harry Cohn, the head of Columbia Pictures, vehemently opposed the interracial marriage. As Britt herself recounted to The Guardian in 2021, Cohn threatened Davis’s life, stating, “Sammy had already lost one eye in an accident and Harry Cohn threatened to take out the other one.”
Political pressures also impacted Britt and Davis’s lives. At the urging of Frank Sinatra, who actively campaigned for John F. Kennedy, the couple postponed their wedding to avoid potentially harming Kennedy’s presidential campaign. Following Kennedy’s victory, they were disinvited from the inauguration gala and later asked to leave a White House reception for African-American leaders, highlighting the racial tensions of the era.
Britt and Davis welcomed their daughter, Tracey, in July 1961, and later adopted sons Mark and Jeff, residing in a Beverly Hills mansion previously owned by gone With the Wind producer David O. Selznick. After her divorce, Britt largely stepped away from acting, appearing in minor roles on television shows like The Danny Thomas Hour and Mission: Impossible, and in the 1976 horror film Haunts.
In a 1999 interview with Vanity Fair, Britt expressed no regrets about her marriage to Davis, stating, “I loved sammy, and I had the chance to marry the man I loved.” Davis later married dancer Altovise Gore in 1970 and remained with her until his death from throat cancer in 1990.
Britt found love again in 1993, marrying Lennart Ringquist, an entertainment executive and horse breeder, until his passing in 2017. She is survived by her sons, Mark and jeff, her sister Margot, and her grandchildren, Andrew, Ryan, Sam, Montana, Greer, and Chase.Her daughter, Tracey Davis, predeceased her, passing away in November 2020 after a short illness.
