May Britt, the Swedish actress whose Hollywood career intersected with one of entertainment history’s most scrutinized marriages, died December 11, 2025, at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center. She was 91. Her son Mark Davis confirmed she died of natural causes at the Los Angeles facility.
Born Majbritt Wilkens on March 22, 1934, in Lidingö, Sweden, Britt’s path to stardom began when Italian producer Carlo Ponti discovered her. She signed with 20th Century Fox in 1957, launching an American film career that included prominent roles opposite major stars.
Britt appeared in The Hunters in 1958 alongside Robert Mitchum, then starred as Marlon Brando’s love interest in The Young Lions the same year. Her breakthrough came in 1959 with The Blue Angel. She followed with Murder Inc. in 1960.
Her professional trajectory shifted dramatically after she met Sammy Davis Jr. The engagement announcement sparked immediate controversy in a nation where 31 states banned interracial marriage. Fox declined to renew her contract after the engagement became public.
The couple married November 13, 1960, with Frank Sinatra serving as best man. Britt was 26 at the wedding, while Davis was 34. She had converted to Judaism before the ceremony. The wedding was postponed until after the election at Frank Sinatra’s request, as Sinatra campaigned for John F. Kennedy’s presidential bid. Despite Kennedy’s victory, the couple was disinvited from Kennedy’s inauguration.
Throughout their relationship, the couple received death threats due to their interracial marriage, forcing them to employ 24-hour security measures. Their daughter Tracey was born in July 1961. The couple also adopted sons Mark and Jeff.
The marriage ended in divorce in December 1968, amid reports linking Davis to entertainer Lola Falana. However, their daughter Tracey later said that her parents never fell out of love.
“I just couldn’t be what she wanted to me to be. A family man. My performance schedule was rigorous,” Davis explained to Tracey when she asked about the split.
“They loved each other deeply throughout their lives,” Tracey said of her parents’ relationship.
Before Davis, Britt had married Edwin Gregson in February 1958. That marriage ended in divorce in September 1960. Years after her divorce from Davis, Britt married Lennart Ringquist in 1993. Ringquist died in 2017. Britt’s daughter Tracey died in 2020 at age 59, predeceasing her mother by five years.
The actress’s career spanned an era of significant cultural upheaval in American society. Her marriage to Davis occurred during a period when interracial unions faced legal prohibition across much of the country.
The professional consequences Britt faced illustrated the entertainment industry’s response to interracial relationships during the early 1960s. Her contract termination following the engagement announcement represented one of Hollywood’s most visible examples of institutional resistance to changing social norms.
The wedding’s timing relative to Kennedy’s inauguration highlighted the political calculations surrounding race during the period. The decision to exclude the couple from inauguration festivities reflected concerns about Southern voters’ reactions to the interracial union, even as the civil rights movement gained momentum nationally.
Britt’s film work before her marriage demonstrated range across multiple genres. The Young Lions examined moral complexities of World War II through multiple perspectives. The Blue Angel showcased her performance capabilities in a demanding role. Murder Inc. placed her in the gangster film tradition that defined much of late 1950s and early 1960s American cinema.
Her early career in European cinema under Carlo Ponti’s guidance provided foundation for her transition to Hollywood productions. The 1957 contract with 20th Century Fox represented a significant investment by the studio in developing her as a leading actress capable of carrying major productions.
The death threats the couple endured throughout their marriage required extraordinary security measures uncommon for entertainment figures of the era. The need for 24-hour security measures underscored the volatility surrounding interracial relationships during a period when legal prohibitions still existed across much of the nation.
Britt is survived by her sons Mark and Jeff Davis, representing the lasting family connections that endured beyond the public dimensions of her life and career.
