Harold George Belafonte aka Harry Belafonte – singer, actor, producer, and activist, who made a name for himself on the folk music scene in the 1950s, died on April 25, 2023 at the age of 96 at his home in Manhattan. His spokesman Ken Sunshine advised that he died from congestive heart failure.
It was just a short year ago that many assembled at New York City’s The Town Hall Theater to celebrate his life at 95, and pay tribute to this civil rights giant via a concert and Award Ceremony.
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It was a fitting salute to someone who cared so much about humanity.
Belafonte was born on March 1, 1927, in Harlem, New York City, to immigrant parents of Martinique and Jamaica. His life began in the Depression era and when his mother returned to Jamaica in 1935, he joined her, living there until 1940.
He left high school to serve in the U.S. Navy in the mid-1940s. After returning to New York City, Belafonte studied drama at Erwin Piscator’s Dramatic Workshop, where a singing role led to nightclub engagements and a recording contract as a pop singer. His 1956 album “Calypso” sold more than 1 million copies.
He was known for popularizing calypso music to mainstream America with his famous “Day-O!”. He sang in nightclubs and theaters, on television and on records. He appeared in the Broadway revues “John Murray Anderson’s Almanac” and “Three for Tonight”. He owns his own music publishing firm and film production company.
His acting career includes playing the love interest of the White actress Joan Fontaine in “Island in the Sun” (1957). He was the first Black man to win a Tony Award on Broadway, for his interpretation of American and Caribbean folk music in the 1953 revue “John Murray Anderson’s Almanac.” In 1959, six years later, he was the first African American producer to receive an Emmy Award, for “Tonight With Belafonte,” a CBS special that presented a history of Black American life through music.
Mr. Belafonte was tapped as the first Black fill-in host for Johnny Carson in 1968 on NBC’s “The Tonight Show.” In true, Harry style he used it as an opportunity to entertain but also to discuss civil rights, the Vietnam War and starvation in Appalachia with guests including presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, and MLK Jr.
He was highly critical of presidents throughout his life – from George W. Bush to President Barack Obama, Belafonte said what was on his mind, and was also involved in various social causes, notably the civil rights movement.
He used his international stardom and entertainment fortune to help bankroll the civil rights movement here in the U.S. and many human rights causes worldwide.
Friendship with MLK Jr.
Belafonte was a confidant of the ReverendMartin Luther King Jr., and spent years as a liaison between the civil rights movement and the entertainment capitals of New York City and Hollywood.
Over the years he organized demonstrations, raised money and contributed his personal funds to keep movement activities going.
During the 1960s Belafonte continued to provide financial assistance to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, most notably during the Birmingham Campaign.
Through his friendships with other fanous actors/actresses like Lena Horne, Henry Fonda, Frank Sinatra, and Marlon Brando, he raised more than $100,000 to fund the 1964 Freedom Rides that challenged racial segregation in interstate transportation.
After MLK Jr’s assassination, he helped start TransAfrica, a lobbying group that pressed for economic sanctions against South Africa’s apartheid regime.
He lobbied for the release of Nelson
Mandela and then helped coordinate his first visit to the United States after his liberation in 1990 when he became South African president.
He was a part of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and famine relief through efforts such as the “We Are the World” recording and concerts in 1985.
His Personal Life
Belafonte was married three times in his life. His first marriage, to Marguerite Byrd, ended in divorce in 1957. He wed Julie Robinson that same year. When they divorced in 2008, he married Pamela Frank, a photographer who had been involved in his activist projects.
He is survived by his wife Pamela, two daughters from his first marriage, the actress and model Shari Belafonte and Adrienne Biesemeyer; two children from his second marriage, the actress Gina Belafonte and David Belafonte; two stepchildren, Sarah Frank and Lindsey Frank; and eight grandchildren.
He will be missed.
RIP Harry Belafonte!
