Biography

She and Sammy Davis Jr. adopted a child, Manny.

Burdened with tax problems following the death of her husband in 1990, the tax liability was finally settled in 1997. However, Altovise's name was included in 2008 on the California Franchise Tax Board's list of top 250 delinquent taxpayers with $2,708,901.75 in unpaid personal income tax. That same year, she sued two former business partners in federal court, claiming they tricked her into signing away the rights to the estate. The suit was still pending at the time of her death.

Sammy died from throat cancer on May 16, 1990, five days after their 20th wedding anniversary.

The Reverend Jesse Jackson officiated her marriage ceremony to Sammy Davis Jr. in Philadelphia.

She and Sammy were married in a Philadelphia courthouse by the Rev. Jesse Jackson on May 11, 1970; they adopted a son, Manny, in 1989, a year before Sammy's death.