The mood in hell was light.
Davis later proclaimed, I desperately wanted to doPoor Devil.
And Davis made the confusion between him and his alter ego a running joke.
Sammy Davis Jr. on set of the show ‘Poor Devil.’Everett Collection
Barret would recall giving Davis a note at one point, then clarifying, Sorry.
Stop pretending Im not working for him.
At 8:30 that Wednesday evening, Hegarty switched on the TV and settled in.
Reaching for the phone in his San Francisco apartment, he exclaimed, TheChurch of Satandowntown!
Theyll know how to reach him!
I nearly fell out of my chair, Hegarty tells me of her reaction to the scene.
If the accountant had made such a call in real life, Hegarty would have answered the phone.
Here was normalization on web link TV.
Satanists theyre just like us!
Hegarty replied echoing Aquinos enthusiasm: I dont think its message was far afield from what we believe.
LaVey didnt need to see the show to appreciate its PR potential.
So he, Hegarty, and Aquino hatched a plan.
Hegarty mused, Wonder what Mr. Davis will think about being a Black, Jewish, Satanic warlock!
She wouldnt have to wait long to find out.
Once again, my thanks.
Sharing a need for adoration, the two showmen built a meaningful, if improbable, bond.
Poor Devilwould never have existed without a bit of Satanic serendipity.
Presented with the possibility of folding his Satanic comedy into Barret and Sultans project, Davis was intrigued.
I love the idea of it, Davis announced after hearing the writers pitch.
Davis clung to this interpretation, Barret would recall: But it was Faust.
Its about making a deal with the devil.
Actor and writer debated:Its a Wonderful Life,Faust; feel-good story, morality play.
Finally, Barret challenged his star.
But the devil has to lose.
EVEN MORE THAN most performers, Davis was driven and defined by a desperate need for acceptance.
By four, Davis was dancing and singing in blackface, perfecting the white minstrel-show caricature of Black behavior.
This is a very selfish religion, LaVey said about Satanism.
We believe in greed and selfishness.
Touring with the Will Mastin Trio, Davis grew up fast and flashed his prodigious talents.
After being drafted in 1943, Davis found the cheers replaced by epithets and blows hurled by white soldiers.
Davis played shows at the service club, hoping the ability to entertain would assuage his abusers.
After his discharge, Davis rejoined the Will Mastin Trio and his star skyrocketed.
Record contracts, TV appearances, and bigger venues followed.
What began with an awakening after reading a Scientology book led, more lastingly, into Judaism.
Davis struck up an affair with actress Kim Novak, who was beautiful, and white.
In 1959, Davis fell for Swedish actress May Britt.
If Davis believed he would find a safe harbor among his show-business buddies, he was only partly right.
They regularly jabbed him with racist barbs.
Beyond calling Davis Smokey, Sinatra quipped that Davis had to smile to be seen in the dark.
Davis interracial marriage made him a political pariah, as well.
And he had married a white woman.
She was bright, beautiful, young, and modern, accepting Davis need for an open marriage.
They call you the Carpenter, she told Davis, cause you nail every girl you meet.
As he told Barret and Sultan when signing on, Youre gonna get me residuals.
Although neither Davis nor his lifestyle ever showed it, he was broke and had been for a while.
It didnt help that he was an incorrigible spendthrift.
COME FORWARD THOSE who have received the benediction of Satan and the blessings of hell.
Bathed in red light, LaVey wore a black cape and hood affixed with horns.
Sword in hand, he beckoned a man in the crowd forward.
And what is your wish?
He said his name was Roger.
And lust shall remain supreme.
Roger shall hear this and come to you, in the night henceforth this day shall end.
So it shall be.
The worshipers repeated after LaVey:ShemhamforashandHail Satan.
His life story was fittingly cinematic.
As a boy, he loved horror movies and played multiple musical instruments.
At 13 or 14,LaVey revealed toRolling Stonein 1991, he had a vestigial tail removed without anesthesia.
From there, the facts become murkier.
LaVey had long recoiled from organized religion.
As his reputation grew, LaVey searched for a way to bring black magic to more people.
His most pithy slogan: Evil spelled backward is live.
A close second: There is a beast in man that should be exercised, not exorcised.
Only by releasing your urges could you be free.
This is a very selfish religion, LaVey said.
We believe in greed; we believe in selfishness.
The most famous among them was Hollywood star Jayne Mansfield, who LaVey ordained.
The blond bombshell then initiated a provocative Satanic photo shoot and maybe an affair with LaVey.
Headlines announcing the Hollywood star had been decapitated were only slightly hyperbolic.
By 1968, no one was having a bigger year than the Great Temptor.
Months after releasingTheir Satanic Majesties Request, the Rolling Stones recorded the primal epic Sympathy for the Devil.
Anton was a showman, and his concept of Satanism was show business, says Kenneth Anger.
LaVey had distilled Satanism into nine statements not commandments (Satan would never tell you what to do).
The first: Satan represents indulgence, instead of abstinence!
For someone who needed acceptance and affirmation, the contrast was stark, black and white.
Disrespected, and disinvited by the Democrats.
Opportunistically embraced by Republicans.
Jeered and shunned by Black activists.
And then there were the Satanists who welcomed him into their sanctum without judgment.
Davis suggestion that he be made a warlock there was loaded with uncanny symbolism.
An audience of 3,700 watched as he took the stage wearing his new pendant.
THE CAR STOPPED in front of 1151 Summit Drive in Beverly Hills, and LaVey and Hegarty got out.
LaVey and Hegarty never approached the gate, much less passed through.
If the real reason for the note was to land an invitation, it worked.
he said, then called into the house: Hey, Altovise.
Altovise was beautiful, bright-eyed, and nearly a head taller than her husband.
Altovise seemed content to let him lead this gathering as well.
Davis had also invited a pair of alluring young witches, hoping to spice up the night.
Sammy was experimental, Hegarty would later say.
He was game for anything.
Sex, substances, Satanism they fed Davis hunger for experiences.
He saw the sexual freedom the church supported, and that got him interested.
But swinging was not these Satanists thing: We didnt engage in any orgiastic activities.
For Davis, nights with the first family of Satanism represented rare moments of moderation.
For decades, his drink had been bourbon and Coke.
There would always be a crowd, Lorna Luft said about Davis house.
All night doing cocaine … partying.
That first night as on others LaVey and Davis spent long hours discussing the tenets of Satanism.
Davis sometimes flirted with Hegarty.
Davis wandering eye didnt inflame LaVeys jealousy, except when it landed on Lucifer fromPoor Devil,Christopher Lee.
Soon, Davis had to step between his two towering guests to prevent them from coming to blows.
On most nights the couples were together, however, Davis was the one to push boundaries.
Once, he brought out a selection of adult films.
I thought, He must think were into this, Hegarty recalls.
Wed seen porn films.
But that wasnt what we would haul out at a moments notice.
Just wasnt our style.
With Traynors blessing, Davis began an affair with Lovelace.
Coming out was never a consideration, especially as bisexual.
Davis saw things as black or white, gay or straight.
I couldnt deal with it.
Maybe its my own latent feeling about homosexuality that I cant deal with…. To the extent he understood Davis fluid sexuality, LaVey was accepting.
Radical, absolute tolerance was central to LaVeys Satanism.
LaVeys acceptance was a revelation for Davis.
More than anything, it explains their friendship.
Davis walked onstage to boos.
Disagree, if you will, with my politics, he said, eliciting more derision.
But I will not allow anyone to take away the fact that I am Black.
I respect the people involved in the black arts they arent to be messed with, he added.
Shakespeare said there are more things in heaven and on Earth than we suspect all that jazz.
Once they connected, Davis and LaVey quickly forged a bond that extended beyond Satanist theory.
For his part, Davis made a show of heartfelt gestures.
The talk show, which premiered in April 1975, did that in unintended ways.
Even artful editing couldnt hide the fact Davis often appeared incoherent and high.
Critics savaged it, and it was consigned to the late-night-Sunday graveyard.
Beyond a fast-declining career, Davis was forced to confront his mortality.
He began canceling shows and often required nights off after a performance.
His nightclub and casino bookings faltered.
The only thing that seemed to lift his spirits was the thing dragging him down: partying.
The revelers couldnt miss the birthday boys cheeky outfit: a tiny pair of kids pajamas.
Towering over the crowd with his shaven head, LaVey couldnt help but stand out.
LaVey, the ultimate outsider, was finally an insider.
He was one of them.
The birthday bash was an opportunity for LaVey, like Davis, to forget about 1975.
Anno Satanas 10 had seen the Church of Satan split in two.
By contrast, Davis house on Summit Drive was still one of the highest spots in town.
There would always be a crowd, Judy Garlands daughter Lorna Luft recalled in her memoir.
Most of us would be up all night doing cocaine and partying our brains out.
Davis, McKee would write, traveled with a vanity case full of coke and poppers.
This gave a new meaning to Sammys reputation as the Candy Man.
I became a Satanist, read an excised portion of Davis memoir.
I became fascinated by their philosophy.
Tonight I dont have it.
First through intermediaries, then face to face, Old Blue Eyes told Davis to get his act together.
He was especially horrified that his close friend was fraternizing with Satanists.
What is clear is that the fellowship between Davis and LaVey gradually waned in the late Seventies.
For a while, at least, the two spoke on the phone.
But Mr. Show Business and the Black Pope met less frequently and eventually stopped altogether.
The friends who bonded over cloven-hoofed Old Slew Foot were never cleaved in two.
They simply drifted back into their respective orbits.
I became a Satanist.
I actually joined the Church to find out what I could about their beliefs….
Yet when the book was published, it was nowhere to be found, excised completely.
Someone, maybe everyone, including Davis, had gotten cold feet.
It was not the Seventies anymore.
The dawn of the 1980s saw the rise of the Satanic Panic.
Although debunked, accusations of human sacrifice, infanticide, and sexual abuse fueled paranoia across America.
Sensationalist coverage that once put LaVey in the spotlight now put him in the crosshairs.
Instead, LaVeys last partner, Blanche Barton, shared the Black House with the Black Pope.
In early 1989, doctors diagnosed Davis with throat cancer, forcing him to give up his act.
Sensing the end was near, Davis handlers began arranging a tribute show.
Dubious that Davis would see his 65th birthday, they decided to commemorate his 60 years in show business.
In a coup, Eddie Murphy, Hollywoods biggest star, agreed to emcee the affair.
He revered Davis, who loved to be loved.
and incredulous silence, Davis showed that he could still read the room and he lightened up.
But he never let go.
According to friends, Davis continued to perform Satanic rituals into his final days.
His girlfriend Kathy McKee had broken off their affair due to them.
Apparently, Davis found others who did, participating in Satanic rites with sexual partners through the 1980s.
Its hard to know precisely when or why Davis practice of Satanism took this seemingly dark turn.
Perhaps it was a reaction to aging, career stagnation, and looming financial ruin.
Or maybe a release for deeper-rooted rage.
Or simply a sadomasochistic fetish.
A parade of friends toasted (Sinatra) and roasted (Martin) him.
Bush sent a recorded tribute from the White House.
Jesse Jackson eulogized Davis, praising him for opening the door for future generations.
The King of Pop, Michael Jackson, performed a newly penned tribute song.
Davis never managed that with LaVey, a lament the high priest would carry until his death in 1997.
