May Britt, the Swedish actor whose marriage to legendary entertainer Sammy Davis Jr became a landmark moment in the fight against racial prejudice in America, has died at the age of 91.
A Life Cut Short by Controversy
Her son, Mark Davis, confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter that Britt passed away from natural causes on 11 December at the Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana medical centre in Los Angeles. Britt's life took a dramatic turn when she married Davis in November 1960, a union that provoked widespread hostility at a time when anti-miscegenation laws were still in force across much of the United States.
Born Maj-Britt Wilkens in Sweden in 1934, her entry into acting was serendipitous. While working as a photographer's assistant in Stockholm, she was discovered by Italian filmmakers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati. This led to her starring role in the 1953 adventure film Jolanda, the Daughter of the Black Corsair. Her career flourished in Italian cinema before she secured a part in King Vidor's 1956 epic War and Peace, featuring Audrey Hepburn.
Hollywood Stardom and a Fateful Meeting
Her performance caught the attention of 20th Century Fox head Buddy Adler, who offered her a studio contract. Relocating to the US in the late 1950s, she appeared alongside Marlon Brando in The Young Lions and Robert Mitchum in The Hunters. Her breakthrough came as the cabaret singer Lola-Lola in the 1959 remake of The Blue Angel, a role that also landed her on the cover of Life magazine.
It was in 1959 that she met Sammy Davis Jr. Their wedding the following year, for which Britt converted to Judaism, was met with a torrent of negative press, harassment, and death threats. The political climate was so toxic that Davis, who was campaigning for John F. Kennedy, agreed to postpone the wedding until after the 1960 presidential election to avoid controversy. Despite this, the newlyweds were later disinvited from Kennedy's inauguration gala.
Reflecting on the backlash, their daughter Tracey Davis told CBS in 2014: "It was very difficult … there were death threats, there were bad words written on our car, they looked for bombs, we had armed guards."
Legacy of Love and a Career Paused
The marriage effectively ended Britt's studio career, as 20th Century Fox declined to renew her contract. She chose to focus on her family, having three children with Davis: daughter Tracey (born 1961) and adoptive sons Mark and Jeff. "She threw herself into her family," Tracey said, though noted it was hard for her mother as her professional life halted.
Britt and Davis separated in 1967 and divorced in 1968. She later resumed acting with guest roles in TV series like Mission: Impossible and a part in the 1976 horror film Haunts, with her final credit in 1988. In 1993, she married entertainment executive Lennart Ringquist, who died in January 2017.
May Britt is survived by her sons, sister Margot, and six grandchildren. Her daughter, Tracey, predeceased her in November 2020. Despite the immense personal cost, Britt expressed no regret, telling Vanity Fair in 1999: "I loved Sammy and I had the chance to marry the man I loved." Her life remains a poignant chapter in Hollywood's complex history with race and relationships.
