Harry Belafonte

"Belafonte" redirects here. For his album, see Belafonte (album). For other uses, see Belafonte (disambiguation).

Harry Belafonte
Belafonte in 1970
Born
Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.

(1927-03-01)March 1, 1927
New York City, U.S.
DiedApril 25, 2023(2023-04-25) (aged 96)
New York City, U.S.
Other names
  • Harold George Belafonte Jr.
  • Harry Bellanfanti Jr.
  • "King of Calypso"
Occupations
  • Singer
  • actor
  • activist
Years active1948–2023
WorksDiscography
Political partyDemocratic
Spouses
Marguerite Byrd
​
​
(m. 1948; div. 1957)​
​
​
(m. 1957; div. 2004)​
Pamela Frank
​
(m. 2008)​
Children4, including Shari and Gina
Musical career
Genres
InstrumentVocals

Harry Belafonte (/ˌbɛləˈfɒnti/ 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.[1]

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).

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.[2] He was also a vocal critic of the policies of the George W. Bush and Donald Trump administrations.

Belafonte won three Grammy Awards, including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, an Emmy Award,[3] 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[4] and in 2022 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Early Influence category.[5] 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.

  1. ^ "Harry Belafonte – Calypso". AllMusic. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
  2. ^ "ACLU Ambassadors – Harry Belafonte". American Civil Liberties Union. Archived from the original on January 23, 2015. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  3. ^ "Awards search for Harry Belafonte". Emmys. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
  4. ^ Sinha-Roy, Piya (August 28, 2014). "Belafonte, Miyazaki to receive Academy's Governors Awards". Reuters. Archived from the original on June 5, 2015. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
  5. ^ "Artist: Harry Belafonte: Early Influence Award". WKYC. 2022. Retrieved May 4, 2022.