Hollywood star May Britt has died at the age of 91.
The Swedish actress, who married legendary entertainer Sammy Davis Jr, starred in films such as War and Peace and The Blue Angel. She acted alongside Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift in the movie The Young Lions and appeared in the Mission: Impossible TV series.
Her son Mark Davis, whom she shared with Sammy Davis Jr, confirmed news of her passing to the Hollywood Reporter. He revealed his mother died of natural causes on December 11 at the Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana medical center in Los Angeles.
Britt starred in a number of films in Italy before moving to Hollywood in the late 1950s. She played Marlon Brando’s love interest in the World War Two movie The Young Lions (1958).
(Image: Getty Images)
That same year, she acted with Robert Mitchum and Robert Wagner in The Hunters. Britt starred in the remake of The Blue Angel and in 1950, she worked with Peter Falk on Murder, Inc.
She sparked controversy when she married Sammy Davis Jr in 1960. It was a time when interracial marriage was illegal in 31 states of America.
(Image: Getty Images)
Icon Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr’s Rat Pack pal, served as best man at the wedding. The reception was held at the Beverly Hilton hotel with around 200 guests.
Fox decided not to renew her contract after their engagement was announced. The pair even received death threats during their relationship and things got so bad that they had to employ 24-hour armed security guards to protect them.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Britt said of her marriage to Sammy Davis Jr: “I loved Sammy and I had the chance to marry the man I loved.”
The couple, who had met in 1959, adopted sons Mark and Jeff and shared daughter Tracey. They ended up divorcing in 1968, but Tracey believed they never fell out of love.
She told the Los Angeles Times in 2014 that Davis had told her mum that he “couldn’t be what she wanted me to be. A family man. My performance schedule was rigorous.”
Britt married Lennart Ringquist, an entertainment exec and horse breeder, in 1993. He died in January 2017.
Tracey sadly died at the age of 59 in November 2020. But Britt is survived by her sons and grandchildren, Andrew, Ryan, Sam, Greer, Chase and Montana.
She had also acted in The Danny Thomas Hour, The Partners, and The Most Deadly Game. According to IMDb, Britt’s final role was in 1988, in an episode of the sci-fi series Probe.
Have you joined Threads? Follow Daily Star to keep up to date on all things showbiz here.
Want all the biggest Showbiz and TV news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our free Daily Star Showbiz newsletter.
