Harry Belafonte, the singer, actor and activist, has died aged 96.
Ken Sunshine, his longtime spokesman, told the New York Times that Belafonte died at his Manhattan home on Tuesday (April 25), of congestive heart failure.
Belafonte is remembered for bringing Jamaican Calypso to the US and for his dedication to political activism, especially his fight for civil rights in the 1950s.
He was married three times — to Marguerite Byrd, Julie Robinson, and Pamela Frank — and had four children, including actress Shari Belafonte and actor David Belafonte.
Tributes are pouring in for the “deeply moral and caring” man being honoured as a “lionhearted civil rights hero”.
Early life in New York and Jamaica
Harry Belafonte was an American singer from Harlem, New York. He spent some of his childhood in Jamaica, where his parents were from.
Belafonte dropped out of high school in New York to work odd jobs, before joining the US Navy aged 17. Following the end of the war, he worked as a janitor’s assistant.
Calypso music and Hollywood success
After returning from the war, Belafonte began taking acting classes, alongside Marlon Brando and Watler Matthau, inspired by the plays at New York’s American Negro Theatre.
Around this time, he also worked as a singer at New York clubs, before releasing his debut album in 1954.
In the 1950s he topped the pop charts with hits like the Day-O (The Banana Boat Song), Shake Señora, and Island in the Sun.
Belafonte introduced Calypso music to American audiences and later won a lifetime achievement Grammy and the Academy’s President’s merit award.
As well as being a singer, Belafonte also acted and won a Tony Award in 1954 for John Murray Anderson’s Almanac.
He is one of the first Black actors to achieve major success in Hollywood and appeared in several films, including Carmen Jones (1954) and Bright Road (1953).
‘The lionhearted civil rights hero’
Belafonte was involved with the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s.
He was friends with Martin Luther King Jr and helped organise the march on Washington that famously ended with King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
Belafonte bailed King and several other civil rights activists out of jail and donated money to take care of the King family after Dr King’s assassination in 1968.
He remained politically active into his later years and campaigned for Democratic candidates in New York. In 2016, he urged people not to vote for Donald Trump.
Tributes have poured in for Belafonte, with many praising his activism.
Journalist Christiane Amanpour said: “May Harry Belafonte, the lionhearted civil rights hero, rest in peace. He inspired generations around the whole world in the struggle for non-violent resistance, justice and change. We need his example now more than ever.”
May Harry Belafonte, the lionhearted civil rights hero, rest in peace. He inspired generations around the whole world in the struggle for non-violent resistance justice and change. We need his example now more than ever. pic.twitter.com/oBTBBvx3ra
— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) April 25, 2023
Actress Mia Farrow said: “We have lost the great Harry Belafonte-beautiful singer, brilliant and brave civil rights activist, a deeply moral and caring man. Miss you already Harry.”
We have lost the great Harry Belafonte-beautiful singer, brilliant and brave civil rights activist, a deeply moral and caring man. Miss you already Harry 💔 pic.twitter.com/ZfxYLWqSMU
— Mia Farrow 💙🏳️🌈 🌻 (@MiaFarrow) April 25, 2023
