Sammy Davis Jr. was a man of "ands." He was Black and Jewish. He was a song-and-dance man and a civil rights activist. But there is one "and" that still makes people double-take decades after his death: Sammy Davis Jr. and the Church of Satan.
It sounds like a punchline or a wild conspiracy theory cooked up in the dark corners of the internet. Honestly, though? It’s completely true. The "Candy Man" himself was once an official, card-carrying member of the world’s most famous occult organization.
How a Rat Pack Legend Ended Up in a Coven
In 1968, Sammy visited a nightclub he partially owned called The Factory. It was a high-end Hollywood haunt. While there, he met a group of young actors and socialites who all had one thing in common: a single fingernail painted bright red.
They invited him to a party. Sammy, being a guy who hated to miss out on anything—especially if it involved "dungeons and dragons and debauchery," as he later put it—decided to go.
The Scene at the Hollywood Hills Ritual
When he arrived at the house in the Hollywood Hills, the vibe was intense. People were wearing hoods and masks. In his autobiography Why Me?, Sammy described a woman chained to an altar.
He wasn't scared. Actually, he thought it was kind of a kick. He even recognized his own barber, Jay Sebring (who would later tragically become a victim of the Manson Family), as one of the ritual leaders.
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The "Poor Devil" Connection
The relationship wasn't just a one-night fling with the dark side. It actually influenced his career. In 1973, Sammy starred in a TV pilot called Poor Devil. He played a bumbling demon named Sammy who worked in Hell and was trying to earn his way up the corporate ladder of the underworld.
The show featured a direct shout-out to the Church of Satan. In one scene, a character played by Jack Klugman even offers to call the Church of Satan to find him.
Becoming an "Honorary Warlock"
Anton LaVey, the founder of the Church, loved the publicity. He and his lieutenants, including Michael Aquino, reached out to Sammy. On April 13, 1973, Sammy Davis Jr. was officially inducted as an Honorary Second-Degree member.
He didn't hide it.
- He wore his II° Baphomet medallion on stage during performances.
- He flashed the "Sign of the Horns" to LaVey’s entourage in the front row.
- He even started painting one of his own fingernails red as a signal of his membership.
Why Did He Do It?
To understand why a man who famously converted to Judaism after a near-fatal car accident would join a satanic coven, you have to look at his philosophy. Sammy was obsessed with the idea of "Yes I Can."
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LaVeyan Satanism isn't about worshipping a literal red guy with a pitchfork. It’s an atheistic philosophy of extreme individualism, indulgence, and "do it yourself" empowerment. For a Black man who had spent his entire life being told what he couldn't do, the Church’s focus on personal power was deeply attractive.
"I don't pass judgment until I have found out everything I can about it," Sammy wrote in a draft for his memoir Hollywood in a Suitcase.
The Sudden Exit
The honeymoon didn't last. By 1974, Sammy was over it. He famously said he woke up after a coven meeting that "wasn't all fun and games," grabbed some nail polish remover, and scrubbed the red paint off his finger for good.
There were a few reasons for the split:
- The TV Pilot Failed: NBC didn't pick up Poor Devil for a full series, partly due to religious protests.
- PR Pressure: His inner circle, including PR chief David Steinberg, reportedly hated the association and pushed him to distance himself.
- The "Spookiness" Factor: While he liked the philosophy, the actual rituals started getting a bit too weird even for him.
What Most People Get Wrong
People often assume Sammy was "brainwashed" or that it was just a drug-fueled phase. That’s a bit of an oversimplification. Sammy was a seeker. He spent his life trying to find a place where he belonged without caveats.
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Even after he left the Church, he didn't turn into a fire-and-brimstone critic. He remained friends with several members and always maintained that he explored the occult out of a genuine, if brief, curiosity about the limits of human potential.
Years later, Eddie Murphy recounted a lunch with Sammy where the legend leaned over a candle and told him, "You know, Satan is as powerful as God." It seems the fascination never fully left him, even if the membership card did.
Insights for the Curious
If you're researching this bizarre crossover of 1970s pop culture, here are the facts to keep in mind:
- Read the Source Material: Sammy’s involvement is documented in his own words in Why Me? and in Michael Aquino’s history of the Church of Satan.
- Context Matters: 1970s Hollywood was an era of intense spiritual experimentation. Sammy wasn't the only one; he was just the most famous.
- Separating Fact from Fiction: There is no evidence Sammy ever participated in illegal acts or animal sacrifices. The Church of Satan explicitly forbids such things.
To see the visual evidence of this era, you can still find clips of the Poor Devil pilot online. It remains a fascinating time capsule of a moment when the Rat Pack and the Occult briefly shared the same stage.