Will Mastin

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

Career on the dance floor

File:Will Mastin Trio.jpg

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

Mastin was the leader of the Will Mastin Trio which included Sammy Davis, Sr. and his son Sammy Davis, Jr.. Will Mastin was also the "uncle" of Sammy Davis, Jr.. Sammy's father Sammy Davis, Sr. and Will were good friends.

The Will Mastin Trio started out as just Will Mastin and Sammy Davis, Sr., but then Sammy Davis, Jr. joined at the age of three, and the group was named the Will Mastin Trio. Sammy performed "unbilled" in 1929 at the Veterans Memorial in Columbus, Ohio. The three appeared in the 1956 Broadway musical Mr. Wonderful.

Personal life

Mastin was born in Madison, Alabama on 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. The epitaph on his tomb, next to Sammy Davis, Sr. and Sammy Davis, Jr., 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. ISBN 978-0-8230-8395-4;