Boyar, Burt

Biographical Note

Burton Anselm Boyar was born on November 30, 1927 in New York City to Benjamin and Lillian Boyar. He acquired an early appreciation for the world of the theater, eventually working as a radio actor and pursuing a career in the performing arts. His nationally syndicated newspaper column Beau Broadway presented interviews, criticisms, and musings pertaining to the New York theater world. Boyar first contacted Sammy Davis, Jr. in 1957 about an interview for a feature story. One dinner invitation quickly turned into nightly discussions and a blossoming friendship that would last for the rest of Davis' life. Boyar agreed to write the entertainer's biography, and after working on it for six years, published Yes I Can: The Story of Sammy Davis, Jr., in 1965. The best selling book became a contender for the Pulitzer Prize.

In the years following, Boyar and his wife Jane collaborated on several books on the life of Sammy Davis, Jr. Why Me?, published in 1989, further explored the highs and lows of Davis' life and career. With the 2000 publication, Sammy: An Autobiography, the Boyars revised material from the two previous biographies. In 2007, Boyar published Photo by Sammy Davis, Jr., a compilation of black-and-white photographs taken by the performer with text by Boyar.