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Sammy Davis Jr.’s Relationship With Kim Novak Sparked Threats, Rumors and an Alleged Kidnapping

Their interracial romance drew intense backlash in 1950s Hollywood, including alleged mob threats, secrecy and a rushed marriage.

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In 1957, Sammy Davis Jr. met a young Hollywood actress named Kim Novak, who was about to star in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Vertigo. Davis took a liking to Novak and arranged to see her again with the help of his friends Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. Before long, a blind item appeared in a gossip column hinting at the two of them being in a relationship. Davis being black and Novak being white meant that both of their careers were now at risk.

For context, interracial marriage was illegal in half of the states in the country at the time. And as if that wasn’t enough, a Gallup........

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