May Britt, the Swedish actor known for her marriage to Rat Pack star Sammy Davis Jr., has died. She was 91.
The former couple’s high-profile wedding in 1960 proved controversial, and was reportedly postponed until after the 1960 Presidential Election at the request of John F. Kennedy.
Britt died on December 11 of natural causes in Los Angeles at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center, her son Mark Davis said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
She was born Maj-Britt Wilkens on March 22, 1934, on Lidingö — an island near Stockholm, Sweden. She was working as an assistant to a Swedish photographer when she was spotted by the Italian filmmakers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati in 1951.
After taking the stage name May Britt, she moved to Rome and starred in Soldati’s 1953 film Jolanda, the Daughter of the Black Corsair.
She continued to work in Italy for much of the 1950s, starring in several productions, including King Vidor’s epic 1956 adaptation of War and Peace with Audrey Hepburn and Henry Fonda.
In 1958, Britt moved to Hollywood, where she landed roles in The Young Lions with Marlon Brando and Murder, Inc. with Peter Falk.
From 1958 to 1959, she had a brief marriage to an aspiring actor named Edwin Gregson.
In 1959, she met and began a relationship with Sammy Davis Jr., a singer and actor who was one of the biggest stars in the country. In 1960, he starred alongside fellow Rat Pack members Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin in Ocean’s 11.
Britt and Davis planned to marry that same year, but were reportedly asked to postpone their wedding until after the Presidential Election by John F. Kennedy. Davis had campaigned for Kennedy’s election, but the politician was concerned that their wedding would prove controversial in the 31 states where interracial marriage was still illegal.
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The couple eventually married on November 13, 1960, five days after the election. They received death threats and were forced to hire 24-hour armed guards. In her 2014 book, Sammy Davis Jr.: A Personal History with My Father, Britt’s daughter Tracey Davis wrote that Kennedy dropped Davis from an inauguration party hosted by Sinatra.
Britt divorced Davis in 1968 and returned to acting following the end of her marriage. In 1969, she starred in an episode of Mission: Impossible, and in the early 1970s, she appeared in shows including The Most Deadly Game and The Partners.
Britt’s daughter Tracey, who was born in 1961, died in 2020. She and Davis also had two adopted sons, Mark and Jeff.