Sammy Davis Jr.
while driving to Los Angeles for a soundtrack recording, Davis was seriously injured in a car accident. The accident resulted in his losing an eye, and he would use a glass eye for most of his life. His recuperation also gave him time for deep reflection. He converted to Judaism shortly thereafter, finding commonalities between the oppression experienced by African-American and Jewish communities.
Davis’s injury did not slow his ascent. In 1955 his first two albums, Starring Sammy Davis Jr. and Sammy Davis Jr. Sings Just for Lovers, were released to both critical acclaim and commercial success, which in turn led to headlining performances in Las Vegas and New York as well as further appearances in films and on television shows, including Anna Lucasta (1958, with Eartha Kitt), Porgy and Bess (1959, with Dorothy Dandridge and Sidney Poitier) and The Frank Sinatra Show (1958).