Why Sammy Davis Jr Is Linked To Japanese Whisky

Though the multi-faceted entertainer may no longer be a household name, Sammy Davis Jr. was a trailblazing icon and member of the legendary Rat Pack. Throughout the 1960s, you'd often find Davis Jr. with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and other notables onscreen in "Ocean's Eleven" or on stage in their various live performances. The  members of the Rat Pack were also fans of the iconic Palm Springs supper club known as The Purple Room, which is still in operation today. Like the rest of the crew, the "Candy Man" singer loved nothing more than a good, stiff drink, and his fondness for potent potables allowed him to break new ground in other countries as well as the U.S.

In 1974, renowned Japanese whisky brand The House of Suntory recruited the entertainer to star in TV ads. The singer was said to have a fondness for whisky highball cocktails, which made his pairing with the brand a natural fit. While Davis, Jr. starred in many Suntory spots, his best-loved ad featured the performer fully in his element. In the ad, available on YouTube, the showman can be seen assembling a whisky on the rocks as he playfully beats out a rhythm with his fingers and mimes using the bottle as a guitar. These antics were also accompanied by an early beatbox performance, and Davis Jr. ad-libbed the entire spot. As one YouTube commenter put it, "No commercial has made me want to buy a product more than this one."

Two men introduced Japan to the art of whisky. In the early 1920s, Shinjiro Torii and Masataka Taketsuru founded a distillery in the country, which was partially influenced by the latter's experience working as an apprentice in a Scottish distillery. This is why Japanese whisky is spelled without an "e," as Japanese distillers were initially inspired by Scotland. Torii went on to found The House of Suntory and headed the company until his death in 1962. Torii's son, Keizo Saji, took over from there and is often credited with putting the Suntory brand on the map. Saji was also responsible for incorporating American celebrities like Sammy Davis Jr. into Suntory advertising.

Along with his immense talent, Davis Jr. and his Rat Pack brethren were notorious for their boozy revelry. While that made for many great performances and lots of laughs, it took a real-life toll on the singer and performer. In "Why Me?: The Sammy Davis Jr. Story" (courtesy of The Seattle Times), the star recalled undergoing a medical procedure in the '80s to remove fluid from his abdomen, a complication of alcohol abuse. While he quit drinking soon after, Davis Jr. eventually succumbed to throat cancer in 1990.