Harry Belafonte was an American singer, actor and activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences. He pἀssed away recently on April 25, 2023, at the age of 96. Belafonte is one of the few performers to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award (EGOT).
His breakthrough came with the album Calypso which became the first million-selling LP by a single artist. Belafonte’s best-known recordings include “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)”, “Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)”, “Jamaica Farewell” and “Mary’s Boy Child.”
He recorded and performed in a variety of genres including blues, folk, gospel, show tunes and traditional American songs. In addition to Carmen Jones, Island in the Sun, Odds Against Tomorrow, Buck and the Preacher and Uptown Saturday Night, he starred in more films.
IBelafonte regarded actor, singer and activist Paul Robeson as a mentor and he was a close confidant of Martin Luther King Jr. during the 1950s and 1960s Civil Rights Movement.
He was a vociferous critic of both the George W. Bush and Donald Trump administration’s policies. Belafonte served as a celebrity ambassador for the American Civil Liberties Union on juvenile justice issues. Belafonte received three Grammy Awards including one for Lifetime Achievement, an Emmy Award and a Tony Award.
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Harry Belafonte Cause of Deἀth: An Enduring Tribute to Legend Singer
Harry Belafonte: The Folk Singer’s Journey
Belafonte began his musical career as a club singer in New York to help pay for his acting lessons. His debut appearance in front of an audience was backed by the Charlie Parker band which included Charlie Parker, Max Roach and Miles Davis, among others.
In 1949, he began his recording career as a pop vocalist on the Roost label, but he rapidly developed an interest in folk music, memorizing material from the Library of Congress’s American folk song archives. Belafonte made his debut at the famed jazz club The Village Vanguard with guitarist and buddy Millard Thomas.
He secured a contract with RCA Victor in 1953 and continued to record for the label until 1974. Belafonte also played in Las Vegas during the Rat Pack period. “Matilda”, Belafonte’s first widely released single, went on to become his “signature” audience involvement song in practically all of his live appearances was recorded on April 27, 1953.
Calypso, his breakthrough album became the world’s first LP to sell more than one million copies in a year. While mostly recognized for Calypso, Belafonte also recorded in blues, folk, gospel, show tunes and American standards.
Calypso Carnival, Belafonte’s fifth and final calypso album was released by RCA in 1971. After delivering his final album for RCA in 1974, Belafonte’s recording activity reduced significantly. From the mid-1970s through the early 1980s, Belafonte spent most of his time on tour, performing in Japan, Europe and Cuba.
Columbia Records released the album Turn the Global Around in 1977 with a significant emphasis on global music. Belafonte appeared in a number of films. Bright Road in which he acted alongside female lead Dorothy Dandridge was his debut film performance.
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The Early Life of Harry Belafonte: From Jamaica to New York
Belafonte was born on March 1, 1927, at Lying-in Hospital in Harlem, New York, the son of Harold George Bellanfanti Sr., a cook and Melvine, a housekeeper. There are differing accounts of his father’s birthplace which is also given as Martinique, a French territory at the time.
His mother was the daughter of a Scottish Jamaican mother and an Afro-Jamaican father while his father was the son of an Afro-Jamaican mother and a Sephardic Jewish father. Harry, Jr. was raised Catholic and attended St. Charles Borromeo private school.
From 1932 to 1940, Belafonte resided in Jamaica with one of his grandparents, where he attended Wolmer’s Schools. When he returned to New York City, he attended George Washington High School before joining the United States Navy and serving throughout World War II.
At the end of the 1940s, Belafonte studied acting at The New School’s Dramatic Workshop with prominent German director Erwin Piscator alongside Marlon Brando, Tony Curtis, Walter Matthau, Bea Arthur and Sidney Poitier while performing with the American Negro Theater.
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