Sammy Lawrence/novel

"We've not seen one like this before."
The article's subject originates from the Bendy novel series' continuity, which is not deemed as canonically part of the main series' lore. See Bendy Wiki:Canon for more information.

Sammy Lawrence
Canon  •  Novel
Biography information
Date of birth	Unknown
Date of death	1946
Age	Unknown (adult years)
Sex	Male
Eye color	Unknown
Hair color	Unknown
Career information
Occupation	Music department director
Companies	Joey Drew Studios
Appearances
Bendy: Dreams Come to Life Bendy: The Illusion of Living

Samuel "Sammy" Lawrence was an award-winning musician and composer, and the director of the Music Department at Joey Drew Studios, known for writing the music for the Bendy cartoons in the studio's heyday.

History

Early life

Sammy Lawrence as a teenager, worked for the Grand Cinema, playing the piano for films. He took notice of a particular audience member who would show up almost daily, always near the front row by himself. Later, him and Jack Fain became partners and would write songs together.

Meeting Joey Drew

Joey was invited to the opening night party for Ira Gershwin's Girl Crazy, only a year after the stock market crashed. There, Sammy was playing the piano, and his performance impressed Joey. However, it wasn't until Jack got up to sing an original song composed by him and Sammy that Joey's interest was piqued. After the show, Joey pulls Sammy and Jack onto the terrace where he explains who he is. Sammy is unfamiliar and acts coy, but quickly remembers Joey as the lonely audience member at the Grand Cinema. Jack steps in and brings the conversation back to the present, with Joey noticing a hint towards a possible bit of strain between Jack and Sammy, and Joey offers them a job to produce original songs for the Bendy cartoons.

Sammy requests to see the studio and demands to see it that night, so Joey leads them to the studio, which at the time was only the first two floors. He leads the two upstairs and shows off the music room, which consisted of an upright piano and a music stand barely managing to fit in the space. Joey explains that an expansion is obviously planned, which would also consist of offices for the two of them, but Sammy also adds that he needs a projector to play with the movie, so Joey adds a projector booth as a top priority to a mental list. Sammy then requests to see what the studio makes, so Joey leads them to the screening room where he plays an unfinished animation of Bendy dancing. Sammy asks about other characters and says they need a female one, which Joey reports one is currently in development. After some thinking, Sammy requests full creative control over his department, to hire his own people, and good pay. Joey agrees, and Sammy leaves the room without any sort of farewell, which Jack gives instead. The two join the studio two weeks later.

Joey jokingly goes on to explain how Sammy is seen as a god by his musicians, which he told Sammy at one point. Sammy just sees it as respect, and wanting Sammy to joke around with him, Joey asks who a god worships. Sammy sighs and plays along, saying a god of such magnitude hasn't been created yet, but maybe someday.

Working at Joey Drew Studios

While working at the studio, his ethics started to rival that of Joey Drew's, such as strictly ordering the Music Department staff to refrain from making loud noise.

Sammy sets up his own sanctuary room at the Music Department and his private password to use for accessing his sanctuary, but they were recorded in his audio log and sealed in his closet. Whenever he needed to have his own moment in his sanctuary, he would tell the band and the recording staff to wait in the hall in the middle of a recording session, so he can input the passwords to open his sanctuary without anyone knowing and would not resurface for a long time, much to Norman Polk's suspicion.

When Susie Campbell is hired as a voice actress for Alice Angel, Sammy once told her that Alice's popularity may rival Bendy's someday. However, Susie later came back to the studio and is horrified at seeing Sammy from the recording booth meeting a new voice actress, Allison Pendle, intended to replace her as the new voice of Alice.

At the time when the Ink Machine was installed, Sammy and the other workers have been unable to get out of their department at least three times due to the machine's ink flowing and flooding the stairwell, so in order to drain the ink out, Joey installed an ink pump with the switch in Sammy's office, greatly frustrating him with the number of people constantly going in and out.

Ink addiction and transformation

Around late July of 1946, Sammy discovers ink bottles and a pipe in his music sheet closet. The pipe bursts open on him, covering him in ink and cutting him with glass. Sammy screams out and stumbles his way into the music room where he tackles Buddy Lewek, who was lost after being tasked with delivering a folder to the Music Department. Buddy gives him water and a cloth to help clear his face, and once cleared off Sammy questions Buddy. He introduces himself as the new gofer for the Art Department, and Sammy laughs before asking him why ink is being stored in his sheet music closet and why Joey is running a pipe through it. Buddy is confused so Sammy drags him to the closet to show him the mess and then furiously orders him to clean it up.

When covered in the studio's ink, Sammy accidentally swallowed some and became addicted to it. Over the next few weeks, Sammy sneaks around Thomas Connor's work station and the Ink Machine. He also attempts to ask Gent workers where the ink is kept. This leads to a heated argument between Sammy and Thomas, which was overheard by Buddy. Sammy attempts to deny the claims but Thomas refuses to listen, having seen Sammy sneaking around and was made aware of Sammy asking his worker where they kept the ink last Friday. Eventually the two go their separate ways and Buddy is able to sneak out of the closet. Later on, Buddy is sent on an actual task to the Music Department. Buddy notices a half-empty bottle of ink beside Sammy as he's dropping off the folder and when he turns back to ask him about it the ink bottle is empty. Sammy turns his attention to Buddy briefly and he notices a small black smudge at the right-hand corner of his mouth.

Sammy's addiction to the ink begins to drive him insane, with him frantically drawing symbols, phrases, and the Ink Demon in his own notes. A few weeks later, Sammy storms into the Art Department and approaches Abby Lambert, demanding to know where the ink is. Abby is confused and asks if he's wanting to borrow some of the Art Department's, but he violently shakes his head and demands to know where the ink from their supply closet is. Abby explains that their ink is not kept in the supply closet, which Sammy responds to with a strange gurgle. Abby continues to explain that their ink is kept under her desk in a safe and offers to give him some, but Sammy shakes his head and storms off.

Main article: Sammy Lawrence (ink realm)

In the September of 1946, Sammy mysteriously disappears and the musicians are locked out of the music room. People do not notice until a week later when police show up to investigate the disappearance. Shortly after, the studio is closed down for two days after the Music Department is vandalized. At some point during his disappearance, Sammy transforms into an ink version of himself and starts kidnapping employees in the studio.

Characteristics

Physical appearance

As described by Buddy, Sammy was a very "pointy" man. Buddy comments on his "pointy" nose, eyebrows, and chin, even saying that he looked like a bird when he was at his conductor stand. Buddy also mentions that Sammy "always" wore trousers and suspenders.

At the opening night party for Ira Gershwin's Girl Crazy, as described by Joey, Sammy was wearing a neat simple black evening suit and other appropriate attire for the event, although his hair could have been slicked back a bit more as it was, and still was after, long and floppy on the top. Joey also notes that Sammy was a few years younger than him, and he had an angular face that in certain lighting could make him look "insect-like."

Personality

He is relatively neutral towards most others (albeit rude and condescending), especially Buddy Lewek, when the former forced the latter to clean an ink spill, which also means that he is also somewhat bossy towards his workers.

Joey's The Illusion of Living memoir claims that Sammy is not a fan of attention and putting on a big show, in contrast to his partner Jack Fain. Sammy is always suspicious of people and is always looking to see if something deeper is going on. As a result, Joey struggles to read Sammy based on his facial expressions, something Jack struggles with as well.

Documents

Audio logs

• "Log #1" - Found in Part I: Chapter 2 of Joey Drew Studios Employee Handbook.
• "Log #2" - Found in Part I: Chapter 2 of Joey Drew Studios Employee Handbook.
• "Log #3" - Found in Part I: Chapter 2 of Joey Drew Studios Employee Handbook.

Memos

• "All Staff Regarding the Music Department" - Found in Part I: Chapter 2 of Joey Drew Studios Employee Handbook.
• "Let's Talk" - Found in Part III: Introduction of Joey Drew Studios Updated Employee Handbook.

Behind the scenes

"Look pal, if you think I'm doing my job AND yours, I'm outta here!" - Wally Franks

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See also

• Sammy Lawrence (ink realm), the inky reincarnation of Sammy Lawrence.