Will Mastin

Will Mastin
Born	(1878-07-20)July 20, 1878 Madison,Alabama,U.S.
Died	March 14, 1979(1979-03-14)(aged 100) Los Angeles,California,U.S.
Nationality	American

Will Mastin(June 20, 1878 – March 14, 1979), also credited asWill Maston,was a dancer and singer.

Career on the dance floor

Will Mastin Trio - (L-R) Sammy Davis Sr., Sammy Davis Jr., and Will Mastin

Mastin was the leader of theWill Mastin Trio,which includedSammy Davis Sr.and his sonSammy Davis Jr.Will Mastin was also the "uncle" ofSammy Davis Jr.Sammy's fatherSammy Davis Sr.and Will were good friends.

TheWill Mastin Triooriginal members were Sammy Davis Sr., Howard M. Colbert Jr., and Will Mastin, although Sammy Davis Jr. would join them on stage when he was a little boy (starting at age 3). Sammy performed "unbilled" in 1929 at the Veterans Memorial inColumbus, Ohio.

Sammy also knew how to act, sing and play many instruments.

Howard M. Colbert Jr. was the tap-dance teacher of Sammy Davis Jr., who treated him much as an uncle. Colbert left the Trio in December 1941 to join the United States Army when the United States declared war on Germany during World War II. Sammy Davis Jr. was 16 years old at this time and became part of the main vaudeville act, replacing Colbert. The three appeared in the 1947 musical short filmSweet and Lowand the 1956BroadwaymusicalMr. Wonderful.

Personal life

Mastin was born inMadison, Alabamaon June 20, 1878, to a single mother named Sally Mastin, according to the 1880 Federal Census of Enumeration and the California Death Index.

Death

Will Mastin died on March 14, 1979, at age 100, according to the California Death Index. He is interred atForest Lawn Memorial ParkinGlendale, California,near Sammy Davis Sr. and Sammy Davis Jr.Theepitaphon his tomb says only:He Was A Vaudevillian,it does not provide birth and death dates.

External links

• Will Mastin's tomb
• Will Mastin Trio c. 1935(left to right) Sammy Davis Sr., Sammy Davis Jr., and Will Mastin
• Photograph of the Will Mastin Trio Sammy Davis Sr., Sammy Davis Jr., and Will Mastin

RESOURCES

• 2003, In Black and White: The Life of Sammy Davis Jr., Billboard Books.ISBN978-0-8230-8395-4;