Sammy Davis Jr., Britney Spears, and other slot machines

Altovise Davis, Sammy Davis Jr.'s widow, is second from left

The photo above appeared in Jet in 2002 with the caption "Keeping Sammy's Legacy Alive." 

At that time, Sammy's widow was keeping his legacy alive by licensing his name and image to gaming companies for use on slot machines. Sammy Davis Jr. machines can now be found in casinos across the country and maybe around the world.

Sammy makes sense as a slot machine character, since he was part of the Rat Pack and the Las Vegas scene, but an artist doesn't need to have a Vegas connection to wind up on slot machines. As long as you're famous enough, you can become the theme of a loud, flashing, seizure-inducing slot machine.

Using celebrities to sell games is not a new thing. Musicians have been incorporated into mechanical and electronic games for years, as with the Kiss pinball machine in 1978 and the Journey arcade game in 1983. Now we have these tacky slot machines.

Sammy Davis Jr.

Here's one of the Sammy Davis Jr. machines:

Dean Martin

Rat Packer Dean Martin's name and cartoon likeness can be found on slot machines, but the estate of his buddy Frank Sinatra doesn't seem to have sold out Frank to the game companies yet. 

Rolling Stones

Now the Rolling Stones can cash in while gamblers try to cash out. 

Queen

Not even the flashy Queen slot machine can out-glam Freddie. 

Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley is an obvious candidate for being turned into a slot machine. The game lets you choose your era of Elvis: Memphis, Hollywood, or Vegas.

Kiss

In the tradition of the 1978 Kiss pinball machine is the Kiss slot machine: 

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson's estate licensed his name and image for a couple of different slot machines after Michael died. CNN ran an article about it in 2011. These might be retired soon after Leaving Neverland. 

Britney Spears 

Britney headlined in Las Vegas a couple of years ago, and now she's a slot machine.

Antonio Vivaldi

Even classical music is fair game (figuratively speaking) for slot machines. Here's one based on Antonio Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons." 

Liberace

This old-fashioned mechanical slot machine is a replica of Liberace's personal slot machine. The Retrologist has a number of photos of, and information about, the Liberace exhibit at the Time Warner Center in New York, where this photo was taken. Unlike the slot machines above, this model was never commercialized.