Harry Belafonte

American singer, actor and civil rights activist

Photo by: David Shankbone · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Born:March 1, 1927

Died:April 25, 2023

Age at death:96

Manner of death:Natural Causes

Cause of death:Heart Failure

Zodiac Sign:Pisces

Height:1.82 m (5′12″)

Children:4

Born in:Harlem, United States

Residence:Upper West Side, United States

Languages:English

Recording Artist Film Producer Civil Rights Advocate Dancer Peace Activist Stage Actor Composer Singer Actor Executive Producer Political Activist Film Actor Entertainer Musician Songwriter Television Actor

Links

Wikipedia IMDb Facebook X (Twitter)

Famous For

Notable Work

CalypsoBanana Boat (Day-O)

Movies & TV

BlacKkKlansmanSelmaThe PlayerPrêt-à-PorterBobby

Songs & Albums

Hava NagilaDay-OCalypsoTry to RememberBelafonte Sings of the Caribbean

Awards

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2022)Four Freedoms Award – Freedom Medal (2017)Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (2014)Ambassador of Conscience Award (2013)Spingarn Medal (2012)

Harry Belafonte

American singer, actor and civil rights activist

Biography

Harry Belafonte ( BEL-ə-FON-tee; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte's career breakthrough album Calypso (1956) was the first million-selling LP by a single artist. Belafonte was best known for his recordings of "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)", "Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)", "Jamaica Farewell", and "Mary's Boy Child". He recorded and performed in many genres, including blues, folk, gospel, show tunes, and American standards. He also starred in films such as Carmen Jones (1954), Island in the Sun (1957), Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), Buck and the Preacher (1972), and Uptown Saturday Night (1974). He made his final feature film appearance in Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman (2018). Harry Belafonte considered the actor, singer, and activist Paul Robeson to be a mentor. Belafonte was also a close confidant of Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s and acted as the American Civil Liberties Union celebrity ambassador for juvenile justice issues. He was also a vocal critic of the policies of the George W. Bush and first Donald Trump administrations. Belafonte won three Grammy Awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. In 1989, he received the Kennedy Center Honors. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1994. In 2014, he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the academy's 6th Annual Governors Awards and in 2022 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Early Influence category. He is one of the few performers to have received an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT), although he won the Oscar in a non-competitive category.

This biography uses content from the Wikipedia article “Harry Belafonte”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License.

Quotes

“The sham engineers of the music industry, who steer the wheels of public opinion, are driving the good features of calypso into the ground. I shudder to think what these greedy men will eventually do to this true art form.”

— As quoted in New Musical Express ( May 1957), also in NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1992) by John Tobler, p. 40

“When I was 40 and looking at 60, it seemed like a thousand miles away. But 62 feels like a week and a half away from 80. I must now get on with those things I always talked about doing but put off.”

— As quoted in Jet magazine (‪‪8 January 1990‬‬), p. 40

“In the face of all the inhumanity, their humanity feeds the capacity to endure and continue to pursue honorable solutions to our pain.”

— Harry Belafonte and ‘The Long Road to Freedom’ YES! Magazine (2002)

Quotes sourced from the Wikiquote article "Harry Belafonte", available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License.

Photos

Harry Belafonte at the Vanity Fair party celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Tribeca Film Festival.

Title: Portrait of Harry Belafonte, singing Physical description: 1 photographic print : gelatin silver. Notes: Van Vechten number: VIII LL 12.; Title derived from information on verso of photographic print.; Also available on microfilm.; Gift; Carl Van Vechten Estate; 1966.; Forms part of: Portrait photographs of celebrities, a LOT which in turn forms part of the Carl Van Vechten photograph collection (Library of Congress).

Harry Belafonte at the premiere of the documentary movie "Sing Your Song" about himself at the FriedrichstadtPalast, Berlin, Berlinale 2011

Portrait of Harry Belafonte, Almanac, 1954 Feb. 18.

Harry Belafonte with wife Pamela at the 120th Anniversary of Carnegie Hall in MOMA, New York City in April 2011.

Harry Belafonte at the Vienna International Film Festival 2011.

Collectie / Archief : Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie : [ onbekend ] Beschrijving : Harry Belafonte op Schiphol voor Sight Seeing in Amsterdam, op het platform begroeting Datum : 6 mei 1964 Locatie : Noord-Holland, Schiphol Trefwoorden : begroetingen, platforms Persoonsnaam : Harry Belafonte Fotograaf : Gelderen, Hugo van / Anefo Auteursrechthebbende : Nationaal Archief Materiaalsoort : Negatief (zwart/wit) Nummer archiefinventaris : bekijk toegang 2.24.01.03 Bestanddeelnummer : 916-4013

Title: Portrait of Harry Belafonte Physical description: 1 photographic print : gelatin silver. Notes: Gift; Carl Van Vechten Estate; 1966.; Title derived from information on verso of photographic print.; Also available on microfilm.; Van Vechten number: VIII LL 9.; Forms part of: Portrait photographs of celebrities, a LOT which in turn forms part of the Carl Van Vechten photograph collection (Library of Congress).

Title: Portrait of Harry Belafonte, in Almanac Physical description: 1 photographic print : gelatin silver. Notes: Van Vechten number: VIII LL 8.; Title derived from information on verso of photographic print.; Also available on microfilm.; Gift; Carl Van Vechten Estate; 1966.; Forms part of: Portrait photographs of celebrities, a LOT which in turn forms part of the Carl Van Vechten photograph collection (Library of Congress).