By 1959, Davis began performing with the Rat Pack, a group of friends and performers that also listed Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop as core members. The group’s performances blended music and comedy, but much of the humor was targeted at Davis, who was the only Black member. While on stage, Davis acted like the jokes didn’t affect him, which caused people to view him as an “Uncle Tom” figure. In 1998, Don Cheadle played Davis in a movie about the Rat Pack. It was reported that Cheadle initially declined because he felt that the movie glossed over the way Davis was treated by the members.
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