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{{redirect|Belafonte|his album|Belafonte (album)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Harry Belafonte
| image = Harry Belafonte 1964 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Belafonte in 1964
| birth_name = Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.
| birth_date = {{birth date|1927|3|1}}
| birth_place = [[New York City]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|4|25|1927|3|1}}
| death_place = New York City, U.S.
| other_names = {{plainlist|
* Harold George Belafonte Jr.
* Harry Bellanfanti Jr.
}}
| years_active = 1949–2023
| occupation = {{hlist|Singer|actor|activist}}
| party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse = {{unbulleted list
| {{marriage|Marguerite Byrd|1948|1957|end=divorced}}
| {{marriage|Julie Robinson|1957|2004|end=divorced}}
| {{marriage|Pamela
Frank|2008}}
}}
| children = 4, including [[Shari Belafonte|Shari]]
| module = {{Infobox musician|embed=yes
| associated_acts =
| genre = {{hlist|[[Calypso music|Calypso]]|[[mento]]||[[pop music|pop]]|[[Folk music|folk]]|[[World music|world]]}}
| instrument = Vocals
| website =
}}
}}
'''Harry Belafonte''' (born '''Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.'''; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor and activist, who popularized [[calypso music]] with international audiences in the 1950s. His breakthrough album ''[[Calypso (album)|Calypso]]'' (1956) was the first million-selling [[LP album|LP]] by a single artist.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.allmusic.com/album/calypso-mw0000313800 |title= Harry Belafonte - Calypso |publisher=AllMusic (All Media Network) |access-date=December 10, 2013}}</ref>
Belafonte was best known for his recordings of "[[The Banana Boat Song]]", with its signature "Day-O" lyric, "[[Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)]]", "[[Jamaica Farewell]]", and "[[Mary's Boy Child]]". He recorded and performed in many genres, including [[blues]], [[folk music|folk]], [[gospel music|gospel]], [[show tune]]s, and [[Great American Songbook|American standards]]. He also starred in several films, including ''[[Carmen Jones (film)|Carmen Jones]]'' (1954), ''[[Island in the Sun (film)|Island in the Sun]]'' (1957), and ''[[Odds Against Tomorrow]]'' (1959).
Belafonte considered the actor, singer, and activist [[Paul Robeson]] a mentor, and he was a close confidant of [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] during the [[Civil Rights Movement]] of the 1950s and 1960s. As he later recalled, "Paul Robeson had been my first great formative influence; you might say he gave me my backbone. Martin King was the second; he nourished my soul."<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Belafonte|first1=Harry|title=My Song: A Memoir|last2=Shnayerson|first2=Michael|publisher=Knopf|year=2011|isbn=978-0-307-27226-3|location=New York|pages=297}}</ref> Throughout his career, Belafonte was an advocate for political and humanitarian causes, such as the [[Anti-Apartheid Movement]] and [[USA for Africa]]. From 1987 until his death, he was a [[UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=Unicef Names Belafonte Good-Will Ambassador|date=March 9, 1987|work=[[The New York Times]]|via=ProQuest Historical Newspapers}}</ref> He was a vocal critic of the policies of the [[Presidency of George W. Bush|George W. Bush]] presidential administration. Belafonte acted as the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] celebrity ambassador for juvenile justice issues.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.aclu.org/ambassadors |title= ACLU Ambassadors - Harry Belafonte |publisher=aclu.olrg (American Civil Liberties Union) |access-date=January 5, 2015}}</ref>
Belafonte won three [[Grammy Award]]s (including a [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]]), an [[Emmy Award]],<ref name="emmys.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominations/award-search?search_api_views_fulltext=Harry+Belafonte&submit=Search&search_api_views_fulltext_1=&search_api_views_fulltext_3=&search_api_views_fulltext_2=&search_api_views_fulltext_4=&field_nominations_year=1949-01-01+00%3A00%3A00&field_nominations_year_1=2013-01-01+00%3A00%3A00&field_nomination_category=All |title=Awards search for Harry Belafonte |publisher=[[Emmy Award|Emmys]] |access-date=December 10, 2013}}</ref> 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 [[Governors Awards#6th Annual Governors Awards|6th Annual Governors Awards]]<ref name="reuters.com">{{cite news|last=Sinha-Roy |first=Piya |url= http://in.reuters.com/article/us-film-governorsawards-idINKBN0GS2G820140828 |title=Belafonte, Miyazaki to receive Academy's Governors Awards |work=Reuters |date= August 28, 2014 |access-date= August 28, 2014}}</ref> and in 2022 was inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] in the Early Influence category.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wkyc.com/article/entertainment/music/rock-hall/rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-2022-inductees-induction-class-dolly-parton-pat-benatar-eminem-duran-duran-eurythmics-judas-priest-carly-simon/95-780d297f-76c2-4105-a73d-58bedbe693b4#longform_chapter_1|title=Artist: Harry Belafonte:Early Influence Award|author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2022 |website=www.wkyc.com|access-date=May 4, 2022}}</ref>
==Early life==
Belafonte was born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.<ref name=Belafontemovie>{{cite web|title=Life in Harlem|url=http://singyoursongthemovie.com/life-in-harlem/|work=Sing Your Song|publisher=S2BN Belafonte Productions|access-date=February 20, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014005929/http://singyoursongthemovie.com/life-in-harlem/|archive-date=October 14, 2016}}</ref> on March 1, 1927 at Lying-in Hospital in [[Harlem]], New York, the son of Jamaican-born parents Harold George Bellanfanti Sr., who worked as a chef, and Melvine (née Love), a housekeeper.<ref>{{cite book |title=Harry Belafonte |author=Genia Fogelson |publisher=Holloway House Publishing |year=1996 |page=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oadlz5gMG9UC&pg=PA13 |isbn=0-87067-772-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Hardy | first = Phil |author2=Dave Laing | title = The Faber Companion to Twentieth Century Music | publisher = Faber | year = 1990 | page = 54 | isbn = 0-571-16848-5 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/62/Harry-Belafonte.html |title=Harry Belafonte Biography (1927-) |publisher=Film Reference |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated4">The African American Registry [http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/harry-belafonte-entertainer-truth Harry Belafonte, an entertainer of truth] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716110440/http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/harry-belafonte-entertainer-truth |date=July 16, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://calypsoworld.org/noflash/artists-04.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208081530/http://calypsoworld.org/noflash/artists-04.htm |archive-date=February 8, 2009 |title=Calypso Artists: Harry Belafonte |website=Calypso World|date=February 8, 2009 |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Oadlz5gMG9UC&q=%22Harold+George+Belafonte%22&pg=PA13 | title = Harry Belafonte | isbn = 978-0-87067-772-4 | last1 = Fogelson | first1 = Genia | date = September 1, 1996}}</ref> His mother was the child of a [[Scottish Jamaican]] mother and an [[Afro-Jamaican]] father, and his father was the child of a [[Black American]] mother and a [[History of the Jews in the Netherlands|Dutch-Jewish]] father of [[Sephardic Jewish]] descent. Harry, Jr. was raised [[Catholic]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Keillor|first=Garrison|date=October 21, 2011|title=The Radical Entertainment of Harry Belafonte (Published 2011)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/books/review/my-song-by-harry-belafonte-with-michael-shnayerson-book-review.html|access-date=March 1, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
From 1932 to 1940, Belafonte lived with one of his grandmothers in her native country of Jamaica, where he attended [[Wolmer's Boys' School|Wolmer's Schools]]. Upon returning to New York City, he attended [[George Washington High School (Manhattan)|George Washington High School]],<ref>Arenson, Karen W. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E07EFDA103CF931A35755C0A9669C8B63 "Commencements; Belafonte Lauds Diversity Of Baruch College Class"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', June 2, 2000. Retrieved April 16, 2008. "(He said that he had not gotten past the first year at George Washington High School, and that the only college degrees he had were honorary ones.)"</ref> after which he joined the [[U.S. Navy]] and served during [[World War II]].<ref name="autogenerated4" /> In the 1940s, he was working as a janitor's assistant when a tenant gave him, as a gratuity, two tickets to see the [[American Negro Theater]]. He fell in love with the art form and also became friends with [[Sidney Poitier]]. The financially struggling pair regularly purchased a single seat to local plays, trading places in between acts, after informing the other about the progression of the play.<ref>{{cite web|last=Belafonte |first=Harry |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/10/12/141243628/harry-belafonte-out-of-struggle-a-beautiful-voice |title=Harry Belafonte: Out Of Struggle, A Beautiful Voice |publisher=NPR |date=October 12, 2011 |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref>
At the end of the 1940s, Belafonte took classes in acting at the [[Dramatic Workshop]] of [[The New School]] in New York City with the influential German director [[Erwin Piscator]] alongside [[Marlon Brando]], [[Tony Curtis]], [[Walter Matthau]], [[Bea Arthur]], and Poitier, while performing with the American Negro Theater.<ref name="vn-25apr2023">{{cite magazine |last1=Susman |first1=Gary |title=Harry Belafonte—Singer, Actor, and Activist—Has Died at 96 |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/04/harry-belafonte-obituary |access-date=April 25, 2023 |magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |date=April 25, 2023}}</ref> He subsequently received a [[Tony Award]] for his participation in the Broadway revue ''[[John Murray Anderson's Almanac]]'' (1954).<ref name="guard-25apr2023">{{cite news |last1=Beaumonth-Thomas |first1=Ben |title=Harry Belafonte, singer, actor and tireless activist, dies aged 96 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/25/harry-belafonte-singer-dies-actor-singer-activist |access-date=April 25, 2023 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=April 25, 2023}}</ref> He also starred in the 1955 Broadway revue ''[[3 for Tonight]]'' with [[Gower Champion]].<ref name="play-25apr2023">{{cite magazine |last1=Hall |first1=Margaret |title=Tony Winner Harry Belafonte Passes Away at 96 |url=https://www.playbill.com/article/tony-winner-harry-belafonte-passes-away-at-96 |access-date=April 25, 2023 |magazine=[[Playbill (magazine)|Playbill]] |date=April 25, 2023}}</ref>
==Musical career==
[[File:Harry Belafonte singing 1954.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Belafonte in 1954]]
Belafonte started his career in music as a club singer in New York to pay for his acting classes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chad |date=2019-10-25 |title=Harry Belafonte |url=https://walkoffame.com/harry-belafonte/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Hollywood Walk of Fame |language=en-US}}</ref> The first time he appeared in front of an audience, he was backed by the Charlie Parker band, which included [[Charlie Parker]] himself, [[Max Roach]], and [[Miles Davis]], among others.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Myers |first=Marc |date=February 15, 2017 |title=Jazz news: Harry Belafonte: 1949 |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/news/harry-belafonte-1949/ |access-date=April 25, 2023 |website=[[All About Jazz]] |language=en}}</ref> He launched his recording career as a pop singer on the Roost label in 1949, but quickly developed a keen interest in [[folk music]], learning material through the [[Library of Congress]]' American folk songs archives. With guitarist and friend Millard Thomas, Belafonte soon made his debut at the legendary jazz club [[The Village Vanguard]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Iconic Voices of Black History – Harry Belafonte – VocaliD |url=https://vocalid.ai/iconic-voices-of-black-history-harry-belafonte/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |language=en-US}}</ref> He signed a contract with [[RCA Victor]] in 1953, recording regularly for the label until 1974.<ref name=nbc-25apr2023>{{Cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Alex |last2=Dasrath |first2=Diana |title=Harry Belafonte, calypso star and civil rights champion, dies at 96 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/harry-belafonte-calypso-star-civil-rights-champion-dies-96-rcna42389 | date=April 25, 2023 |access-date=April 25, 2023 |work=[[NBC News]] |language=en}}</ref> Belafonte also performed during the [[Rat Pack]] era in [[Las Vegas]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Singer-activist Harry Belafonte dies at 96 due to heart failure |url=https://www.freepressjournal.in/entertainment/hollywood/singer-activist-harry-belafonte-dies-at-96-due-to-heart-failure |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Free Press Journal |language=en}}</ref>
===''Calypso''===
Belafonte's first widely [[art release|released]] single, which went on to become his "signature" audience participation song in virtually all his live performances, was "[[Matilda (calypso song)|Matilda]]", recorded April 27, 1953.<ref name=nbc-25apr2023 /> His breakthrough album ''[[Calypso (album)|Calypso]]'' (1956) became the first [[LP album|LP]] in the world to sell over 1 million copies within a year.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-25 |title=Harry Belafonte, singer, actor, activist, dies at 96 |url=https://www.wcpo.com/harry-belafonte-singer-actor-activist-dies-at-96 |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=WCPO 9 Cincinnati |language=en}}</ref> He stated that it was the first million-selling album ever in England. The album is number four on ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''{{'}}s "Top 100 Album" list for having spent 31 weeks at number 1, 58 weeks in the top ten, and 99 weeks on the U.S. chart.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017 |title="Calypso"—Harry Belafonte (1956) |url=https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/calypso.pdf |website=Library of Congress}}</ref> The album introduced American audiences to [[calypso music]] (which had originated in [[Trinidad and Tobago]] in the early 19th century), and Belafonte was dubbed the "King of Calypso", a title he wore with reservations since he had no claims to any [[Calypso Monarch]] titles.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Puente |first=Maria |title=Harry Belafonte, trailblazing singer, actor and activist, dies at 96 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2023/04/25/harry-belafonte-dies-actor-singer-activist-king-of-calypso/2750984001/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref>
One of the songs included in the album is the now famous "[[Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)|Banana Boat Song]]" (listed as "Day-O" on the ''Calypso'' LP), which reached number five on the pop chart, and featured its signature lyric "Day-O".<ref name=pc18>{{cite web |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19768/m1/ |title=Show 18 – Blowin' in the Wind: Pop discovers folk music. [Part 1] : UNT Digital Library |year=1969 |last=Gilliland |first=John |author-link=John Gilliland |website=[[Pop Chronicles]]|access-date=November 4, 2013 }}</ref>
Many of the compositions recorded for ''Calypso'', including "Banana Boat Song" and "[[Jamaica Farewell]]", gave songwriting credit to [[Irving Burgie]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kennedy |first=Mark |title=Irving Burgie, songwriter of calypso hit 'Day-O,' dies at 95 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2019/12/01/irving-burgie-day-o-songwriter-dies-95/4345996002/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref>
===Middle career===
[[File:Julie Andrews Harry Belafonte 1969.jpg|thumb|With [[Julie Andrews]] on the NBC special ''An Evening with Julie Andrews and Harry Belafonte'' (1969)]]
While primarily known for calypso, Belafonte recorded in many different genres, including [[blues]], [[folk music|folk]], [[gospel music|gospel]], [[show tune]]s, and [[Great American Songbook|American standards]]. His second-most popular hit, which came immediately after "The Banana Boat Song", was the comedic tune "[[Mama Look at Bubu]]", also known as "Mama Look a Boo-Boo" (originally recorded by [[Lord Melody]] in 1955<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Lord-Melody-Caribbean-All-Stars-Band-The-Bo-Bo-Man-Saxophone-Limbo/release/4459202|title=Lord Melody / Caribbean All Stars Band - The Bo-Bo-Man / Saxophone Limbo|website=Discogs|language=en|access-date=July 16, 2019}}</ref>), in which he sings humorously about misbehaving and disrespectful children. It reached number eleven on the pop chart.
In 1959, Belafonte starred in ''Tonight With Belafonte'', a nationally televised special that featured [[Odetta]], who sang "[[Waterboy (song)|Water Boy]]" and who performed a duet with Belafonte of "[[There's a Hole in My Bucket]]" that hit the national charts in 1961.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.spclarke.com/?page_id=165 |title=Odetta |publisher=WordPress |access-date=December 10, 2013}}</ref> Belafonte was the first Jamaican American to win an [[Emmy]], for ''Revlon Revue: Tonight with Belafonte'' (1959).<ref name="emmys.com"/> Two live albums, both recorded at [[Carnegie Hall]] in 1959 and 1960, enjoyed critical and commercial success. From his 1959 album, "[[Hava Nagila]]" became part of his regular routine and one of his signature songs.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJqXjvlKa2w |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/zJqXjvlKa2w| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|title=Video – What does Hava Nagila mean? |year=2011 |last=Grossman |first=Roberta |website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He was one of many entertainers recruited by [[Frank Sinatra]] to perform at the [[United States presidential inaugural balls|inaugural gala]] of President [[John F. Kennedy]] in 1961, which included [[Ella Fitzgerald]], [[Mahalia Jackson]], and others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=President-elect and Mrs. Kennedy arrive at the Inaugural Gala, January 19, 1961 {{!}} JFK Library |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/president-elect-and-mrs-kennedy-arrive-at-the-inaugural-gala-january-19-1961 |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=www.jfklibrary.org}}</ref> Later that year, RCA Victor released another calypso album, ''[[Jump Up Calypso]]'', which went on to become another million seller. During the 1960s he introduced several artists to U.S. audiences, most notably South African singer [[Miriam Makeba]] and Greek singer [[Nana Mouskouri]]. His album ''[[Midnight Special (Harry Belafonte album)|Midnight Special]]'' (1962) included a young harmonica player named [[Bob Dylan]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Harry Belafonte, civil rights activist and trailblazing artist, dead at 96 |url=https://news.yahoo.com/harry-belafonte-civil-rights-activist-135200001.html |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-US}}</ref>
As [[the Beatles]] and other stars from Britain began to dominate the U.S. pop charts, Belafonte's commercial success diminished; 1964's ''[[Belafonte at The Greek Theatre]]'' was his last album to appear in ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''{{'}}s Top 40. His last hit single, "A Strange Song", was released in 1967 and peaked at number 5 on the [[adult contemporary music]] charts. Belafonte received [[Grammy Award]]s for the albums ''[[Swing Dat Hammer]]'' (1960) and ''[[An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba]]'' (1965). The latter album dealt with the political plight of black [[South Africans]] under [[apartheid]]. He earned six [[Gold Record]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url =https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?content_selector=gold-platinum-searchable-database# |title=Searchable Database - Search: Belafonte Makeba |publisher=RIAA |access-date=December 10, 2013}}</ref>
During the 1960s, Belafonte appeared on TV specials alongside such artists as [[Julie Andrews]], [[Petula Clark]], [[Lena Horne]], and [[Nana Mouskouri]]. In 1967, Belafonte was the first non-classical artist to perform at the prestigious [[Saratoga Performing Arts Center]] (SPAC) in Upstate New York,<ref name="sl-12jul2018">{{cite web |last1=Levith |first1=Will |title=5 Most Memorable Music Moments In SPAC History |url=https://saratogaliving.com/5-most-memorable-moments-spac-history-saratoga-springs/ |website=Saratoga Living |access-date=April 25, 2023 |date=July 12, 2018}}</ref> soon to be followed by concerts there by [[the Doors]], [[the 5th Dimension]], [[the Who]], and [[Janis Joplin]].
From February 5 to 9, 1968, Belafonte guest hosted ''[[The Tonight Show]]'' substituting for [[Johnny Carson]].<ref name="npr-8sep2020">{{cite news |last1=Bianculli |first1=David |title='The Sit-In' Revisits A Landmark Week With Harry Belafonte As 'Tonight Show' Host |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/09/08/910650652/the-sit-in-revisits-a-landmark-week-with-harry-belafonte-as-tonight-show-host |access-date=April 25, 2023 |work=[[NPR]] |date=September 8, 2020}}</ref> Among his interview guests were [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] and Sen. [[Robert F. Kennedy]].<ref name="npr-8sep2020" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive/document/mlk-appears-tonight-show-harry-belafonte |title=MLK Appears on "Tonight" Show with Harry Belafonte |publisher=The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change|date=February 2, 1968 |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref>
===Later recordings and other activities===
{{off topic|date=April 2018}}
Belafonte's fifth and final calypso album, ''[[Calypso Carnival]]'', was issued by RCA in 1971. Belafonte's recording activity slowed considerably after releasing his final album for RCA in 1974. From the mid-1970s to early 1980s, Belafonte spent the greater part of his time on tour, which included concerts in Japan, Europe, and [[Cuba]]. In 1977, [[Columbia Records]] released the album ''[[Turn the World Around]]'', with a strong focus on [[world music]]. Columbia never issued the album in the United States.
In 1978 he was a guest star on an episode of ''[[The Muppet Show]]'', on which he performed his signature song "Day-O". However, the episode is best known for Belafonte's rendition of the spiritual song "Turn the World Around", from the album of the same name, which he performed with specially made Muppets that resembled African tribal masks.<ref name=time-25apr2023>{{Cite magazine |date=April 25, 2023 |last=Chow |first=Andrew R. |title=Harry Belafonte, Trailblazing Performer and Fierce Civil Rights Activist, Dies |url=https://time.com/5750832/harry-belafonte-dies/ |access-date=April 25, 2023 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name="ob-25apr2023">{{cite news |last1=Duquette |first1=Michael |title=Harry Belafonte: The Icon’s Life In Music, Movies and TV |url=https://observer.com/2023/04/harry-belafonte-the-icons-life-in-music-movies-and-tv/ |access-date=April 25, 2023 |work=[[Observer.com|Observer]] |date=April 25, 2023}}</ref> It became one of the series' most famous performances and was reportedly [[Jim Henson]]'s favorite episode. After Henson's death in May 1990, Belafonte was asked to perform the song at Henson's memorial service.<ref name="ob-25apr2023" /><ref name="avc-25apr2023">{{cite news |last1=McLevy |first1=Alex |title=R.I.P. Harry Belafonte, actor, singer, and Civil Rights icon |url=https://www.avclub.com/rip-harry-belafonte-musician-and-civil-rights-activist-1850372680 |access-date=April 25, 2023 |work=[[The A.V. Club]] |date=April 25, 2023}}</ref> "Turn the World Around" was also included in the 2005 official hymnal supplement of the [[Unitarian Universalist Association]], ''Singing the Journey''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uua.org/publications/singingjourney/songinformation/93778.shtml |title=Song Information |publisher=UUA |date=April 9, 2012 |access-date=November 5, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101012095016/http://www.uua.org/publications/singingjourney/songinformation/93778.shtml |archive-date=October 12, 2010 }}</ref>
[[File:Harry Belafonte 1983.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Belafonte performing in 1983]]
Belafonte's involvement in [[USA for Africa]] during the mid-1980s resulted in renewed interest in his music, culminating in a record deal with [[EMI]]. He subsequently released his first album of original material in over a decade, ''[[Paradise in Gazankulu]]'', in 1988. The album contains ten protest songs against the South African former [[Apartheid]] policy and is his last studio album. In the same year Belafonte, as [[UNICEF]] Goodwill Ambassador, attended a symposium in [[Harare, Zimbabwe]], to focus attention on child survival and development in Southern African countries. As part of the symposium, he performed a concert for UNICEF. A [[Kodak]] video crew filmed the concert, which was released as a 60-minute concert video titled "Global Carnival".
Following a lengthy recording hiatus, ''[[An Evening with Harry Belafonte and Friends]]'', a soundtrack and video of a televised concert, were released in 1997 by [[Island Records]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Heckman |first=Don |date=1997-03-01 |title=Forever the Renaissance Man |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-03-01-ca-33507-story.html |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> ''[[The Long Road to Freedom: An Anthology of Black Music]]'', a huge multi-artist project recorded by RCA during the 1960s and 1970s, was finally released by the label in 2001. Belafonte went on the ''[[Today (American TV program)|Today Show]]'' to promote the album on September 11, 2001, and was interviewed by [[Katie Couric]] just minutes before the first plane hit the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://archive.org/details/nbc200109110831-0912 | title=NBC Sept. 11, 2001 8:31 am - 9:12 am| date=September 11, 2001|publisher=Internet Archive | access-date=January 10, 2016}}</ref> The album was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Awards for Best Boxed Recording Package, for Best Album Notes, and for Best Historical Album.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-25 |title=Appreciation: Harry Belafonte, dead at 96, championed 'Long Road to Freedom' in his music and his life |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/music/story/2023-04-25/appreciation-harry-belafonte-dead-at-96 |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=San Diego Union-Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref>
[[File:Harry Belafonte 1996.jpg|thumb|upright|Belafonte in 1996]]
Belafonte received the [[Kennedy Center Honors]] in 1989.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1989-08-08 |title=Kennedy Center Announces '89 Awards |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/08/arts/kennedy-center-announces-89-awards.html |access-date=2023-04-25 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He was awarded the [[National Medal of Arts]] in 1994 and he won a [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]] in 2000. He performed sold-out concerts globally through the 1950s to the 2000s. His last concert was a benefit concert for the [[Atlanta Opera]] on October 25, 2003. In a 2007 interview, he stated that he had since retired from performing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pr-inside.com/de/besser-als-es-jetzt-ist-kann-r53408.htm |title=kostenloses PR und Pressemitteilungen |publisher=Pr-inside.com |access-date=November 5, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120708033506/http://www.pr-inside.com/de/besser-als-es-jetzt-ist-kann-r53408.htm |archive-date=July 8, 2012 }}</ref>
On January 29, 2013, Belafonte was the Keynote Speaker and 2013 Honoree for the MLK Celebration Series at the [[Rhode Island School of Design]]. Belafonte used his career and experiences with Dr. King to speak on the role of artists as activists.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://events.risd.edu/event/2013_mlk_series_keynote_address_harry_belafonte_artist_as_activist#.VdJh2vlVhBc|title=2013 MLK Series Keynote Address – Harry Belafonte 'Artist as Activist'|date=January 29, 2013|publisher=RISD}}</ref>
Belafonte was inducted as an honorary member of [[Phi Beta Sigma]] fraternity on January 11, 2014.<ref>{{cite news|first=DeNeen L.|last=Brown|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/local/wp/2014/01/12/harry-belafonte-challenges-phi-beta-sigma-to-join-movement-to-stop-oppression-of-women/ |title= Harry Belafonte challenges Phi Beta Sigma to join movement to stop oppression of women|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=January 12, 2014|access-date=January 14, 2014}}</ref>
In March 2014, Belafonte was awarded an honorary doctorate from [[Berklee College of Music]] in [[Boston]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aclu.org/issues/aclu-ambassador-project|title=ACLU Ambassador Project|website=American Civil Liberties Union|language=en|access-date=July 16, 2019}}</ref>
In 2017, Belafonte released ''When Colors Come Together'', an anthology of some of Belafonte's earlier recordings produced by his son David who wrote lyrics for an updated version of "Island In The Sun", arranged by longtime Belafonte musical director Richard Cummings, and featuring Harry Belafonte's grandchildren Sarafina and Amadeus and a children's choir.<ref name="bet-15feb2017">{{cite web |last1=Robertson |first1=Iyana |title=Harry Belafonte's 'When Colors Come Together' Proves the Truth About Children and Race |url=https://www.bet.com/article/6a1max/when-colors-come-together-tackles-children-and-race |website=[[BET]] |access-date=April 25, 2023 |date=February 15, 2017}}</ref>
==Film career==
[[File:Harry Belafonte (Berlin Film Festival 2011) cropped.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Belafonte at the 2011 Berlin Film Festival]]
Belafonte starred in numerous films. His first film role was in ''[[Bright Road]]'' (1953), in which he supported female lead [[Dorothy Dandridge]].<ref name=var-25apr2023>{{Cite web |last=Morris |first=Chris |date=2023-04-25 |title=Harry Belafonte, Calypso King Who Worked for African American Rights, Dies at 96 |url=https://variety.com/2023/film/news/harry-belafonte-dead-dies-singer-1235593910/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref> The two subsequently starred in [[Otto Preminger]]'s hit musical ''[[Carmen Jones (film)|Carmen Jones]]'' (1954). Ironically, Belafonte's singing in the film was dubbed by an opera singer, as was Dandridge's, both voices being deemed unsuitable for their roles.<ref name="vn-25apr2023" /><ref name=var-25apr2023 />
Using his star clout, Belafonte was subsequently able to realize several then-controversial film roles. In 1957's ''[[Island in the Sun (film)|Island in the Sun]]'', there are hints of an affair between Belafonte's character and the character played by [[Joan Fontaine]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-04-25 |title=Harry Belafonte obituary: A US icon of music, film and civil rights |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-11811290 |access-date=2023-04-25}}</ref> The film also starred [[James Mason]], Dandridge, [[Joan Collins]], [[Michael Rennie]], and [[John Justin]]. In 1959, he starred in and produced, through his company HarBel Productions, [[Robert Wise]]'s ''[[Odds Against Tomorrow]]'', in which he plays a bank robber uncomfortably teamed with a racist partner ([[Robert Ryan]]). He also co-starred with [[Inger Stevens]] in ''[[The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959 film)|The World, the Flesh and the Devil]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=Variety |date=1959-01-01 |title=The World, the Flesh and the Devil |url=https://variety.com/1958/film/reviews/the-world-the-flesh-and-the-devil-1200419259/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref> Belafonte was offered the role of [[Porgy (novel)|Porgy]] in Preminger's ''[[Porgy and Bess (film)|Porgy and Bess]]'', where he would have once again starred opposite Dandridge, but refused the role because he objected to its [[racial stereotype|racial stereotyping]]; [[Sidney Poitier]] played the role instead.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jnpickens |date=2019-02-25 |title=Musical Monday: Porgy and Bess (1959) |url=https://cometoverhollywood.com/2019/02/25/musical-monday-porgy-and-bess-1959/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Comet Over Hollywood |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Harry Belafonte, the Activist Who Became an Artist, Dies at 96 |url=https://autos.yahoo.com/harry-belafonte-activist-became-artist-135305222.html |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=autos.yahoo.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
[[File:Harry Belafonte Viennale2011b.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Belafonte at the 2011 [[Viennale]]]]
Dissatisfied with most of the film roles offered to him during the 1960s, Belafonte concentrated on music. In the early 1970s, Belafonte appeared in more films, among which are two with Poitier: ''[[Buck and the Preacher]]'' (1972) and ''[[Uptown Saturday Night]]'' (1974).<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Obenson |first=Tambay |date=2023-04-25 |title=Harry Belafonte, the Activist Who Became an Artist, Dies at 96 |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2023/04/harry-belafonte-dead-1234639195/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=IndieWire |language=en}}</ref> In 1984, Belafonte produced and scored the musical film ''[[Beat Street]]'', dealing with the rise of [[hip hop|hip-hop]] culture.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=AllHipHop |date=2023-04-25 |title=Harry Belafonte Influenced Hip-Hop - From "Beat Street" To Social Justice In The Genre |url=https://allhiphop.com/features/rip-harry-belafonte-hip-hop-influence-beat-street-activism/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=AllHipHop |language=en-US}}</ref> Together with [[Arthur Baker (musician)|Arthur Baker]], he produced the gold-certified soundtrack of [[Beat Street (soundtrack)|the same name]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-06-06 |title=The Story of How ‘Beat Street’ Went From a Box Office Failure to One of Hip-Hop’s Most Important Movies - Okayplayer |url=https://www.okayplayer.com/culture/1984-beat-street-release-story.html,%20https://www.okayplayer.com/culture/1984-beat-street-release-story.html |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=www.okayplayer.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Belafonte next starred in a major film in the mid-1990s, appearing with [[John Travolta]] in the race-reverse drama ''[[White Man's Burden (film)|White Man's Burden]]'' (1995);<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Insider |first=Martin Holmes, TV |title=Harry Belafonte Dies: Singer, Actor & Activist Was 96 |url=https://www.wfmz.com/entertainment/harry-belafonte-dies-singer-actor-activist-was-96/article_37e912ac-2fed-572d-9479-b3bb991dc2d6.html |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=WFMZ.com |language=en}}</ref> and in [[Robert Altman]]'s [[jazz age]] drama ''[[Kansas City (1996 film)|Kansas City]]'' (1996), the latter of which garnered him the [[New York Film Critics Circle Award]] for Best Supporting Actor.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-25 |title=Harry Belafonte, barrier-smashing entertainer and activist, dies at 96 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/04/25/harry-belafonte-singer-dies/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Washington Post |language=en}}</ref> He also starred as an Associate Justice of the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] in the TV drama ''[[Swing Vote (1999 film)|Swing Vote]]'' (1999).<ref name=":1" /> In 2006, Belafonte appeared in ''[[Bobby (2006 film)|Bobby]]'', [[Emilio Estevez]]'s ensemble drama about the [[assassination of Robert F. Kennedy]]; he played Nelson, a friend of an employee of the Ambassador Hotel ([[Anthony Hopkins]]).<ref name=":2" /> His final film appearance was in [[Spike Lee]]'s Academy Award-winning ''[[BlacKkKlansman]]'' (2018) as an elderly civil rights pioneer.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/25/arts/music/harry-belafonte-dead.html | title=Harry Belafonte, 96, Dies; Barrier-Breaking Singer, Actor and Activist | work=The New York Times | date=April 25, 2023 | last1=Keepnews | first1=Peter }}</ref>
==Political and humanitarian activism==
[[File:Kung king belafonte.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Belafonte with King [[Gustav VI Adolf]] and [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] in 1964]]
Belafonte is said to have married politics and pop culture.<ref name = people39>{{cite magazine |url= https://people.com/celebrity/tribute-to-black-icons-by-their-family-members/ |title= A Tribute to Black Icons — from Harry Belafonte to Whitney Houston — by the Family Members Who Know Them Best |magazine= [[People (magazine)|People]] |date= February 21, 2022 }}</ref> Belafonte's political beliefs were greatly inspired by the singer, actor, and civil rights activist [[Paul Robeson]], who mentored him.<ref name="aaj-31jul2022">{{cite web |last1=Passarella |first1=Christine |title=Harry Belafonte: Humanitarian, Social Justice Leader and Artist Extraordinaire |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/harry-belafonte-humanitarian-social-justice-leader-and-artist-extraordinaire |website=[[All About Jazz]] |access-date=April 25, 2023 |date=July 31, 2022}}</ref> Robeson opposed not only racial prejudice in the United States but also western [[colonialism]] in Africa. He{{who|Robeson or Belafonte?|date=December 2022}} refused to perform in the American South from 1954 until 1961.
In 1960, Belafonte appeared in a campaign commercial for [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] Presidential candidate [[John F. Kennedy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1960/harry-belafonte |title=Commercials - 1960 - Harry Belafonte |website=The Living Room Candidate |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> Kennedy later named Belafonte cultural advisor to the [[Peace Corps]]. Belafonte supported [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] for the [[1964 United States presidential election]].<ref>Jet, October 1, 1964</ref>
Belafonte gave the keynote address at the ACLU of Northern California's annual Bill of Rights Day Celebration In December 2007 and was awarded the Chief Justice [[Earl Warren]] Civil Liberties Award. The 2011 [[Sundance Film Festival]] featured the documentary film ''[[Sing Your Song]]'', a biographical film focusing on Belafonte's contribution to and his leadership in the civil rights movement in America and his endeavors to promote social justice globally.<ref>{{cite news|last=Macdonald |first=Moira |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/movies/2017343454_mr27sing.html?prmid=head_main |title=Movies | 'Sing Your Song' recounts Harry Belafonte's life |newspaper=[[The Seattle Times]] |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> In 2011, Belafonte's memoir ''My Song'' was published by [[Knopf Books]].<ref name="wp-25nov2011">{{cite news |last1=Haygood |first1=Wil |title=Book review: ‘My Song,’ a memoir by Harry Belafonte |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-review-my-song-a-memoir-by-harry-belafonte/2011/10/17/gIQA4rjevN_story.html |access-date=April 25, 2023 |work=[[The Washington Post]] |date=November 25, 2011}}</ref>
===Involvement in the Civil Rights Movement===
[[File:Poitier Belafonte Heston Civil Rights March 1963.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Belafonte (center) at the 1963 [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom|Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C]] with [[Sidney Poitier]] (left) and [[Charlton Heston]]]]
Belafonte supported the [[Civil Rights Movement]] in the 1950s and 1960s and was one of [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]'s confidants.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Trott |first=Bill |date=April 25, 2023 |title=Harry Belafonte, who mixed music, acting, and activism, dies at 96 - NY Times |url=https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/harry-belafonte-who-mixed-music-acting-and-activism-dies-at-96-ny-times-0 |website=Nasdaq, Reuters}}</ref> He provided for King's family since King made only $8,000 a year as a preacher. Like many other civil rights activists, Belafonte was [[Hollywood blacklist|blacklisted]] during the [[McCarthyism|McCarthy era]]. During the 1963 [[Birmingham Campaign]], he bailed King out of [[Birmingham, Alabama]] City Jail and raised $50,000<ref>{{cite book
|last=King
|first=Martin Luther Jr.
|title=The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
|date=January 2001
|page=[https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofm00king_0/page/185 185]
|isbn=978-0-446-67650-2
|url-access=registration
|url=https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofm00king_0/page/185
}}</ref> to release other civil rights protesters. He contributed to the 1961 [[Freedom Rides]], supported [[voter registration drive]]s, and helped to organize the 1963 [[March on Washington]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Settle |first=Tracy Wilson, WaTeasa Freeman, Alexis Clark & Jimmy |title=Bigger than music: How Harry Belafonte contributed to Freedom Rides |url=https://www.theleafchronicle.com/story/news/2021/07/06/harry-belafonte-freedom-rides-music-activism-civil-rights/7727321002/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=The Leaf-Chronicle |language=en-US}}</ref>
During the "[[Freedom Summer|Mississippi Freedom Summer]]" of 1964, Belafonte bankrolled the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]], flying to [[Mississippi]] that August with Sidney Poitier and $60,000 in cash and entertaining crowds in [[Greenwood, Mississippi|Greenwood]].
In 1968, Belafonte appeared on a [[Petula Clark]] primetime television special on [[NBC]]. In the middle of a duet of ''On the Path of Glory'', Clark smiled and briefly touched Belafonte's arm,<ref>{{YouTube|gQXVjY1oqRo|title=Harry Belafonte with Petula Clark – On The Path Of Glory}}</ref> which prompted complaints from Doyle Lott, the advertising manager of the show's sponsor, [[Plymouth Motors]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=q2VYAAAAIBAJ&pg=6371%2C1119906 |title=Tempest in TV Tube Is Sparked by Touch |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |agency=AP |date=March 5, 1968 |newspaper=Spokane Daily Chronicle |access-date=July 25, 2016}}</ref> Lott wanted to retape the segment,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7AkeAAAAIBAJ&pg=5727%2C478890 |title=Bellafonte Hollers; Chrysler Says Everything's All Right |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |agency=UPI |date=March 7, 1968 |newspaper=The Dispatch |location=Lexington, North Carolina |access-date=July 25, 2016}}</ref> but Clark, who had ownership of the special, told NBC that the performance would be shown intact or she would not allow it to be aired at all. Newspapers reported the controversy,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6SVIAAAAIBAJ&pg=2374%2C536509 |title=Chrysler Rejects Charges Of Discrimination In Show |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |agency=AP |date=March 7, 1968 |newspaper=The Morning Record |location=Meriden–Wallingford, Connecticut |access-date=July 25, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=meVfAAAAIBAJ&pg=5089%2C1074881 |title=Belafonte says apologies can't change heart, color |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=March 16, 1968 |newspaper=The Afro American |access-date=July 25, 2016}}</ref> Lott was relieved of his responsibilities,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hz0xAAAAIBAJ&pg=7269%2C3917099 |title=Belafonte Ire Brings Penalty: Chrysler Official Apologizes To Star |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |agency=AP |date=March 11, 1968 |newspaper=Toledo Blade |access-date=July 25, 2016}}</ref> and when the special aired, it attracted high ratings.
In 2005, Belafonte founded [https://www.gatheringforjustice.org/ The Gathering for Justice] after he witnessed news reports of a 5-year-old Black girl, Jaiesha Scott, being handcuffed and arrested in her [[Florida]] classroom for “being unruly”. After dedicating his life to the Civil Rights movement, and seeing so many gains, he was struck in that moment with the distance left to go. The mission of The Gathering for Justice is to end child incarceration and eliminate the racial inequities that permeate the justice system. The Gathering for Justice has two state-based task forces, Justice League NYC (established in 2013) and Justice League California (established in 2017), both of which bring together juvenile and criminal justice experts, advocates, artists, and individuals who’ve experienced or been impacted by incarceration directly.
Belafonte taped an appearance on an episode of ''[[The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour]]'' to be aired on September 29, 1968, performing a controversial "[[Mardi Gras]]" number intercut with footage from the [[1968 Democratic National Convention]] riots. [[CBS]] censors deleted the segment. The full unedited content was broadcast in 1993 as part of a complete [[Smothers Brothers]] Hour syndication package.
=== Humanitarian activism ===
[[File:Harry Belafonte (left) with opera star Stacey Robinson in 1988.jpg|thumb|right|Belafonte (left) with activist and opera star Stacey Robinson in 1988.]]
In 1985, Belafonte helped organize the [[Grammy Awards|Grammy Award]]-winning song "[[We Are the World]]", a multi-artist effort to raise funds for Africa. He performed in the [[Live Aid]] concert that same year. In 1987, he received an appointment to [[UNICEF]] as a [[goodwill ambassador]]. Following his appointment, Belafonte traveled to [[Dakar]], [[Senegal]], where he served as chairman of the International Symposium of Artists and Intellectuals for African Children. He also helped to raise funds—alongside more than 20 other artists—in the largest concert ever held in [[sub-Saharan Africa]]. In 1994, he went on a mission to [[Rwanda]] and launched a media campaign to raise awareness of the needs of Rwandan children.<ref name=":0" />
In 2001, Belafonte went to South Africa to support the campaign against [[HIV/AIDS]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=CNN.com - Harry Belafonte on the AIDS crisis in Africa - June 26, 2001 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/06/26/Belafonte.cnna/index.html |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=www.cnn.com}}</ref> In 2002, [[Africare]] awarded him the [[Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award]] for his efforts to assist Africa.<ref name=time-25apr2023 /> In 2004, Belafonte went to [[Kenya]] to stress the importance of educating children in the region.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2004-02-16 |title=Harry Belafonte urges all countries to end school fees, UNICEF reports {{!}} UN News |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2004/02/94202 |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=news.un.org |language=en}}</ref>
Belafonte had been involved in [[prostate cancer]] advocacy since 1996, when he was diagnosed and successfully treated for the disease.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.phoenix5.org/stories/famous/Belafonte.html |title=Harry Belafonte and prostate cancer |publisher=Phoenix5.org |date=April 21, 1997 |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> On June 27, 2006, Belafonte was the recipient of the [[Black Entertainment Television|BET]] Humanitarian Award at the 2006 [[BET Awards]]. He was named one of nine 2006 Impact Award recipients by ''[[AARP The Magazine]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.aarpmagazine.org/people/impact_awards_bela.html |title=Feel Great. Save Money. Have Fun |magazine=AARP The Magazine |date=May 26, 2013 |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> On October 19, 2007, Belafonte represented [[UNICEF]] on Norwegian television to support the annual telethon ([http://www.tvaksjonen.no TV Aksjonen]) in support of that charity and helped raise a world record of $10 per inhabitant of [[Norway]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Harry Belafonte {{!}} UNICEF |url=https://www.unicef.org/goodwill-ambassadors/harry-belafonte |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=www.unicef.org |language=en}}</ref> Belafonte was also an ambassador for the [[Bahamas]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Harry Belafonte, EGOT Winner and Activist, Dead at 96 {{!}} Entertainment Tonight |url=https://www.etonline.com/harry-belafonte-egot-winner-and-activist-dead-at-96-116105 |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=www.etonline.com |language=en-US}}</ref> He sat on the board of directors of the Advancement Project.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.advancementproject.org |title=Advancement Project |publisher=Advancement Project |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> He also served on the Advisory Council of the [[Nuclear Age Peace Foundation]].
=== Political activism ===
{{American socialism |expanded=Activists}}
Belafonte was a longtime critic of [[U.S. foreign policy]]. He began making controversial political statements on this subject in the early 1980s. At various times he made statements opposing the U.S. embargo on [[Cuba]]; praising Soviet peace initiatives; attacking the [[U.S. invasion of Grenada]]; praising the [[Abraham Lincoln Brigade]]; honoring [[Ethel and Julius Rosenberg]]; and praising [[Fidel Castro]].<ref name=var-25apr2023 /><ref>{{Cite web |last=World |first=Special to People’s |date=2017-02-28 |title=This week in history: Singer/activist Harry Belafonte thriving at 90 |url=https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/this-week-in-history-singeractivist-harry-belafonte-thriving-at-90/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=People's World |language=en-US}}</ref> Belafonte is additionally known for his visit to Cuba which helped ensure [[hip-hop]]'s place in Cuban society. According to Geoffrey Baker's article "Hip hop, Revolucion! Nationalizing Rap in Cuba", in 1999, Belafonte met with representatives of the rap community immediately before meeting with Fidel Castro. This meeting resulted in Castro's personal approval of, and hence the government's involvement in, the incorporation of rap into his country's culture.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Baker | first = Geoffrey |title=¡Hip Hop, Revolución! Nationalizing Rap in Cuba |journal= Ethnomusicology | volume = 49 | pages = 368–402 | issue = 3 | url = https://www.jstor.org/stable/20174403 |date=Fall 2005 | jstor = 20174403 }}</ref> In a 2003 interview, Belafonte reflected upon this meeting's influence:
[[File:Harry Belafonte Civil Rights March 1963.jpg|thumb|left|Belafonte speaking at the 1963 [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom|Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C]]]]
"When I went back to [[Havana, Cuba|Havana]] a couple years later, the people in the hip-hop community came to see me and we hung out for a bit. They thanked me profusely and I said, 'Why?' and they said, 'Because your little conversation with Fidel and the Minister of Culture on hip-hop led to there being a special division within the ministry and we've got our own studio.'."<ref>{{cite news | last = Levinson | first = Sandra |title=An exclusive interview with Harry Belafonte on Cuba |work= Cuba Now | url = http://www.afrocubaweb.com/belafonte03interview.htm |access-date= October 25, 2003 }}</ref>
Belafonte was active in the [[Anti-Apartheid Movement]]. He was the Master of Ceremonies at a reception honoring [[African National Congress]] President [[Oliver Tambo]] at Roosevelt House, [[Hunter College]], in New York City. The reception was held by the American Committee on Africa (ACOA) and The Africa Fund.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://africanactivist.msu.edu/document_metadata.php?objectid=32-130-F4A |title=Reception Honoring Oliver R. Tambo, President, The African National Congress (South Africa) |website=[[African Activist Archive]] |publisher=Matrix |access-date=December 10, 2013}}</ref> He was a board member of the [[TransAfrica Forum]] and the [[Institute for Policy Studies]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ips-dc.org/about/trustees |title=Institute for Policy Studies: Trustees |publisher=Ips-dc.org |access-date=November 5, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311180901/http://www.ips-dc.org/about/trustees |archive-date=March 11, 2008 }}</ref>
===Opposition to the George W. Bush administration===
Belafonte achieved widespread attention for his political views in 2002 when he began making a series of comments about President [[George W. Bush]], his administration and the [[Iraq War]]. During an interview with [[Ted Leitner]] for [[San Diego]]'s 760 KFMB, on October 10, 2002, Belafonte referred to a quote made by [[Malcolm X]].<ref name=CNNpowell /> Belafonte said:
{{blockquote|There is an old saying, in the days of [[slavery]]. There were those slaves who lived on the plantation, and there were those [[House slave|slaves who lived in the house]]. You got the privilege of living in the house if you served the master, do exactly the way the master intended to have you serve him. That gave you privilege. [[Colin Powell]] is committed to come into the house of the master, as long as he would serve the master, according to the master's purpose. And when Colin Powell dares to suggest something other than what the master wants to hear, he will be turned back out to pasture. And you don't hear much from those who live in the pasture.}}
Belafonte used the quote to characterize former [[United States Secretary of State|United States Secretaries of State]] Colin Powell and [[Condoleezza Rice]]. Powell and Rice both responded, with Powell calling the remarks "unfortunate"<ref name=CNNpowell>{{cite news | url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/10/15/belafonte.powell/ | work=CNN | title=Belafonte won't back down from Powell slave reference | date=October 14, 2002 | access-date=May 4, 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091225224441/http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/10/15/belafonte.powell/ | archive-date=December 25, 2009 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> and Rice saying: "I don't need Harry Belafonte to tell me what it means to be black."<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,66288,00.html | work=Fox News | title=Powell, Rice Accused of Toeing the Line | date=October 22, 2002}}</ref>
[[File:Harry Belafonte-IPS.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Belafonte in 2003]]
The comment was brought up again in an interview with [[Amy Goodman]] for ''[[Democracy Now!]]'' in 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/30/157217&mode=thread&tid=25 |title=Harry Belafonte on Bush, Iraq, Hurricane Katrina and Having His Conversations with Martin Luther King Wiretapped by the FBI |website=Democracy Now!|access-date=November 5, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071116221213/http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06%2F01%2F30%2F157217&mode=thread&tid=25 |archive-date=November 16, 2007 }}</ref> In January 2006, Belafonte led a delegation of activists including actor [[Danny Glover]] and activist/professor [[Cornel West]] to meet with [[President of Venezuela]] [[Hugo Chávez]]. In 2005, Chávez, an outspoken Bush critic, initiated a program to provide cheaper [[heating oil]] for poor people in several areas of the United States. Belafonte supported this initiative.<ref>{{cite news| url= http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/01/08/2003288040 |title=Venezuela plans to expand program to provide cheap heating oil to US poor | newspaper= Taipei Times |date=October 29, 2013|access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> He was quoted as saying, during the meeting with Chávez, "No matter what the greatest tyrant in the world, the greatest [[terrorism|terrorist]] in the world, George W. Bush says, we're here to tell you: Not hundreds, not thousands, but millions of the American people support your revolution."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/10767465 |title=Belafonte calls Bush 'greatest terrorist' - World news - Americas|website=[[NBC News]] |date=January 8, 2006|access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> Belafonte and Glover met again with Chávez in 2006.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,214973,00.html | work=[[Fox News]] | title=Chavez Repeats 'Devil' Comment at Harlem Event | date=September 21, 2006}}</ref> The comment ignited a great deal of controversy. [[Hillary Clinton]] refused to acknowledge Belafonte's presence at an awards ceremony that featured both of them.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/382483p-324705c.html |location=New York |work=Daily News |title=Hillary's not wild about Harry |first=Katherine|last=Thomson|date=January 12, 2006| url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218064934/http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/382483p-324705c.html |archive-date=February 18, 2007 }}</ref> [[AARP]], which had just named him one of its 10 Impact Award honorees 2006, released this statement following the remarks: "AARP does not condone the manner and tone which he has chosen and finds his comments completely unacceptable."<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.aarp.org/research/press-center/presscurrentnews/harry_belafonte_comments.html |title= Harry Belafonte Comments |publisher=AARP.org |date=November 1, 2013 |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> During a [[Martin Luther King Jr. Day]] speech at [[Duke University]] in 2006, Belafonte compared the American government to the [[9/11 hijackers|hijackers]] of the [[September 11 attacks]], saying: "What is the difference between that terrorist and other terrorists?" <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/30/157217 |title=Harry Belafonte on Bush, Iraq, Hurricane Katrina and Having His Conversations with Martin Luther King Wiretapped by the FBI |website=[[Democracy Now!]]|access-date=November 5, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114183807/http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06%2F01%2F30%2F157217 |archive-date=November 14, 2007 }}</ref> In response to criticism about his remarks Belafonte asked, "What do you call Bush when the war he put us in to date has killed almost as many Americans as died on 9/11 and the number of Americans wounded in war is almost triple? ... By most definitions Bush can be considered a terrorist." When he was asked about his expectation of criticism for his remarks on the war in Iraq, Belafonte responded: "Bring it on. [[Dissent]] is central to any democracy."<ref>{{cite web |last=Williams |first=Brad |url=http://dailybeacon.utk.edu/showarticle.php?articleid=50447 |title=Audience applauds Belafonte |work=[[The Daily Beacon]] |publisher=University of Tennessee, Knoxville |date=September 13, 2006|access-date=November 5, 2013|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016110632/http://dailybeacon.utk.edu/showarticle.php?articleid=50447 |archive-date=October 16, 2007 }}</ref>
In another interview, Belafonte remarked that while his comments may have been "hasty", nevertheless he felt the Bush administration suffered from "arrogance wedded to ignorance" and its policies around the world were "[[morally bankrupt]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35313 |title=POLITICS-US: Belafonte on Thinking Outside the Ballot Box |publisher=Ipsnews.net |access-date=November 4, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220131219/http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35313 |archive-date=February 20, 2012 }}</ref> In January 2006, in a speech to the annual meeting of the Arts Presenters Members Conference, Belafonte referred to "the new [[Gestapo]] of [[Homeland Security]]," saying, "You can be arrested and have no [[right to counsel]]!"<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,182413,00.html | work=Fox News | title=Belafonte Blasts 'Gestapo' Security | date=January 23, 2006}}</ref> During the Martin Luther King Jr. Day speech at [[Duke University]] in [[Durham, North Carolina]] in January 2006, Belafonte said that if he could choose his [[epitaph]] it would be, "Harry Belafonte, Patriot".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.democracynow.org/2011/5/16/sing_your_song_harry_belafonte_on |title=''Sing Your Song'': Harry Belafonte on Art & Politics, Civil Rights & His Critique of President Obama |last1=Goodman |first1=Amy |website=[[Democracy Now!]]|date= May 16, 2011|access-date=December 10, 2013}}</ref>
In 2004, he was awarded the Domestic Human Rights Award in San Francisco by [[Global Exchange]].
===Obama administration===
[[File:Harry belafonte 0103.JPG|thumb|right|200px|Belafonte in 2013]]
In the 1950s, Belafonte was a supporter of the African American Students Foundation, which gave a grant to [[Barack Obama Sr.]], the late father of the 44th US president, [[Barack Obama]], to study at the [[University of Hawaii]] in 1959.<ref>{{Cite news|date=April 17, 2012|title=Barack Obama's father on colonial list of Kenyan students in US|url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/apr/18/barack-obama-father-colonial-list|access-date=June 17, 2020|newspaper=The Guardian|author-link=Richard Norton-Taylor|first=Richard|last=Norton-Taylor|language=en}}</ref>
In 2011, Belafonte commented on the [[Obama administration]] and the role which popular opinion played in shaping its policies. "I think [Obama] plays the game that he plays because he sees no threat from evidencing concerns for the poor."<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/26/harry_belafonte_on_obama_he_plays|title=Harry Belafonte on Obama: "He Plays the Game that He Plays Because He Sees No Threat from Evidencing Concerns for the Poor"|work=[[Democracy Now!]]|date=January 26, 2011}}</ref>
On December 9, 2012, in an interview with [[Al Sharpton]] on [[MSNBC]], Belafonte expressed dismay that many political leaders in the United States continue to oppose Obama’s policies even after his re-election: "The only thing left for Barack Obama to do is to work like a third-world dictator and just put all of these guys in jail. You're violating the American desire."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thegrio.com/2012/12/14/harry-belafonte-obama-should-work-like-a-third-world-dictator/|title=Harry Belafonte: Obama should 'work like a third world dictator'|author=Francis, Marquise|work=[[The Grio]]|publisher=MSNBC|date=December 14, 2012|access-date=June 20, 2013}}</ref>
On February 1, 2013, Belafonte received the [[NAACP]]'s [[Spingarn Medal]], and in the televised ceremony, he counted [[Constance L. Rice]] among those previous recipients of the award whom he regarded highly for speaking up "to remedy the ills of the nation".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-ZRo5ws44I |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/T-ZRo5ws44I| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|title=NAACP Image Awards | Harry Belafonte Speaks on Gun Control in Acceptance Speech | Feb 1, 2013 |via=YouTube |date=February 2, 2013 |access-date=February 19, 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
=== New York City Pride ===
In 2013, Belafonte was named a Grand Marshal of the New York City Pride Parade, alongside [[Edith Windsor|Edie Windsor]] and Earl Fowlkes.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.nycpride.org/uploads/press_releases/2013%20NYC%20Pride%20Grand%20Marshals.pdf|title = NYC Pride Press Release|website =Nycpride.org}}</ref>
===2016 presidential election===
In 2016, Belafonte endorsed Vermont U.S. Senator [[Bernie Sanders]] for the [[Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016|Democratic primaries]], saying: "I think he represents opportunity, I think he represents a moral imperative, I think he represents a certain kind of truth that's not often evidenced in the course of politics".<ref>{{citation|title = Harry Belafonte Endorses Bernie Sanders for President|url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NunNrElCRDs|date = February 11, 2016|access-date = February 11, 2016|last = Bernie 2016}}</ref>
Belafonte was an honorary co-chair of the [[2017 Women's March|Women's March on Washington]], which took place on January 21, 2017, the day after the [[inauguration of Donald Trump]] as president.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://time.com/4641011/gloria-steinem-harry-belafonte-on-activism-trump/|title=Gloria Steinem Harry Belafonte March on Washington VIDEO|last=Aneja|first=Arpita|date=January 21, 2017|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=March 30, 2017}}</ref>
=== The Sanders Institute ===
Belafonte was a fellow at [[The Sanders Institute]], which has a mission to "revitalize democracy by actively engaging individuals, organizations and the media in the pursuit of progressive solutions to economic, environmental, racial and social justice issues."<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.sandersinstitute.com/about/fellow/belafonte|title = Harry Belafonte - The Sanders Institute|website =sandersinstitute.com}}</ref>
==Business career==
Belafonte liked and often visited the Caribbean island of [[Bonaire]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://knipselkrant-curacao.com/tpo-ode-aan-bonaire-een-ongrijpbare-liefde-in-de-caraibische-branding/ |title=Ode aan Bonaire, een ongrijpbare liefde in de Caraïbische branding |website=ThePostOnline via Knipselkrant Curacao|access-date=May 3, 2021|language=nl}}</ref> He and Maurice Neme of [[Oranjestad, Aruba]], formed a joint venture to create a luxurious [[private community]] on Bonaire. On June 3, 1966, the construction of the neighbourhood started which was named [[Belnem]] after Belafonte and Neme.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/view?query=belnem&coll=ddd&identifier=ddd:010640638:mpeg21:a0057&resultsidentifier=ddd:010640638:mpeg21:a0057&rowid=3 |title=Belnemproject|website=Amigoe via Delpher.nl|date=April 21, 1981|access-date=May 3, 2021|language=nl}}</ref> The neighbourhood is managed by the Bel-Nem Caribbean Development Corporation. Belafonte and Neme served as its first directors.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/view?query=belnem&coll=ddd&page=1&facets%5Bperiode%5D%5B%5D=2%7C20e_eeuw%7C1960-1969%7C1966%7C&identifier=ddd:010462950:mpeg21:a0092&resultsidentifier=ddd:010462950:mpeg21:a0092&rowid=2 |title=Statuten Bel-Nem goedgekeurd|website=Amigoe di Curacao via Delpher.nl|date=June 29, 1966|access-date=May 3, 2021|language=nl}}</ref> In 2017, Belnem was home to 717 people.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/maatwerk/2018/17/bonaire-bevolkingscijfers-per-buurt |title=Bonaire, bevolkingscijfers per buurt|website=Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek|access-date=May 3, 2021|year=2017|language=nl}}</ref>
==Personal life==
[[File:Julie Belafonte 1998.jpg|thumb|upright|Second wife Julie Robinson in 1998]]
[[File:HarryPamelaBelafonteApr2011.jpg|thumb|upright|Belafonte with third wife Pamela in April 2011]]
Belafonte and Marguerite Byrd were married from 1948 to 1957. They had two daughters: Adrienne and [[Shari Belafonte]]. They separated when Byrd was pregnant with Shari.<ref name = people39/> Adrienne and her daughter Rachel Blue founded the Anir Foundation / Experience, focused on humanitarian work in southern Africa.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.anirfoundation.org/About_Anir.html |title=Anir Experience |publisher=Anir Foundation| access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> Shari is a photographer, model, singer, and actress and is married to actor [[Sam Behrens]].
In 1953, Belafonte was financially able to move from [[Washington Heights, Manhattan]], "into a white neighborhood in [[Elmhurst, Queens]]."<ref>[[Henry Louis Gates, Jr.|Gates Jr., Henry Louis]]. [http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/08/26/belafontes-balancing-act "Belafonte's Balancing Act"], ''[[The New Yorker]]'', August 26, 1996. Accessed March 19, 2019. "In 1953, enjoying his first real taste of affluence, Belafonte moved from Washington Heights into a white neighborhood in Elmhurst, Queens."</ref>
Belafonte had an affair with actress [[Joan Collins]] during the filming of [[Island in the Sun (film)|''Island in the Sun'']].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://parade.com/211568/erinhill/joan-collins-shares-steamy-details-of-affairs-with-harry-belafonte-and-warren-beatty/|title=Joan Collins Shares Steamy Details of Affairs with Harry Belafonte and Warren Beatty|last=Hill|first=Erin|date=October 14, 2013|website=Parade}}</ref>
On March 8, 1957, Belafonte married his second wife Julie Robinson, a former dancer with the [[Katherine Dunham Company]] who was of [[American Jews|Jewish]] descent.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bloom|first=Nate|title=Jewish Stars 11/18 |newspaper=[[Cleveland Jewish News]]|date=November 17, 2011|url=https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/archives/jewish-stars/article_7913ef9e-115a-11e1-a5a7-001cc4c03286.html|quote=His second wife, dancer Julie Robinson, to whom he was married from 1958-2004, is Jewish. They had a daughter Gina, 50, and a son David, 54}}</ref> They had two children, David and Gina. David, the only son of Harry Belafonte, is a former model and actor and is an [[Emmy Award|Emmy]]-winning and Grammy nominated music producer and the executive director of the family-held company Belafonte Enterprises Inc. As a music producer, David has been involved in most of Belafonte's albums and tours and productions. He is married to model and singer [[Malena Belafonte]] who toured with Belafonte. Gina Belafonte is a TV and film actress and worked with her father as coach and producer on more than six films. She now leads Sankofa, a non-profit established by her father to support political activism in the arts.<ref>{{cite web |title=SANKOFA |url=https://sankofa.org |website=sankofa.org |access-date=April 16, 2023}}</ref>
After 47 years of marriage,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/music/interview-harry-belafonte-singer-1-2321445 |title= Interview: Harry Belafonte, singer |first= James |last= Mottran |date= May 27, 2012 |work= The Scotsman }}</ref> Belafonte and Robinson divorced in 2004. In April 2008, Belafonte married photographer Pamela Frank.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/07/us/harry-belafonte-fast-facts/index.html |title=Harry Belafonte Fast Facts |publisher= CNN|date=July 7, 2013 |access-date = December 10, 2013}}</ref>
Belafonte had five grandchildren, Rachel and Brian, through his children with Marguerite Byrd, and Maria, Sarafina, and Amadeus through his children with Julie Robinson. In October 1998, Belafonte contributed a letter to [[Liv Ullmann]]'s book ''Letter to My Grandchild''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ullmann|first=Liv|title=Letter to My Grandchild|publisher=Atlantic Monthly Press|date=October 1998|isbn=0-87113-728-3}}</ref>
===Death===
On April 25, 2023, Belafonte died from [[congestive heart failure]] at his home on the [[Upper West Side]] of [[Manhattan]], at the age of 96.<ref name = Keepnews>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/25/arts/music/harry-belafonte-dead.html|title = Harry Belafonte, 96, Dies; Barrier-Breaking Singer, Actor and Activist|last = Keepnews|first = Peter|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]|date = April 25, 2023|accessdate = April 25, 2023|url-access = limited}}</ref>
==Discography==
{{further|Harry Belafonte discography}}
Belafonte released 30 studio albums and eight live albums, and achieved critical and commercial success.
==Filmography==
{{columns-list|colwidth=400px|
* ''[[Bright Road]]'' (1953)
* ''[[Carmen Jones (film)|Carmen Jones]]'' (1954)
* ''[[Island in the Sun (film)|Island in the Sun]]'' (1957)
* ''The Heart of Show Business'' (1957 short)
* ''[[The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959 film)|The World, the Flesh and the Devil]]'' (1959)
* ''[[Odds Against Tomorrow]]'' (1959)
* ''[[King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis]]'' (1970 documentary) (narrator)
* ''[[The Angel Levine]]'' (1970)
* ''[[Buck and the Preacher]]'' (1972)
* ''[[Uptown Saturday Night]]'' (1974)
* ''Fundi: The Story of [[Ella Baker]]'' (1981 documentary)
* ''A veces miro mi vida'' (1982)
* ''Drei Lieder'' (1983 short)
* ''Sag nein'' (1983 documentary)
* ''Der Schönste Traum'' (1984 documentary)
* ''We Shall Overcome'' (1989 documentary) (narrator)
* ''[[The Player (1992 film)|The Player]]'' (1992) (cameo)
* ''[[Prêt-à-Porter (film)|Ready to Wear]]'' (1994) (cameo)
* ''[[Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream]]'' (1995)
* ''[[White Man's Burden (film)|White Man's Burden]]'' (1995)
* ''Jazz '34'' (1996)
* ''[[Kansas City (1996 film)|Kansas City]]'' (1996)
* ''Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist'' (1998 documentary)
* ''Swing Vote'' (1999 TV movie)
* ''[[Fidel (2001 documentary)|Fidel]]'' (2001 documentary)
* ''XXI Century'' (2003 documentary)
* ''Conakry Kas'' (2003 documentary)
* ''Ladders'' (2004 documentary) (narrator)
* ''Mo & Me'' (2006 documentary)
* ''[[Bobby (2006 film)|Bobby]]'' (2006)
* ''[[Motherland (2010 film)|Motherland]]'' (2009 documentary)
* ''[[Sing Your Song]]'' (2011 documentary)
* ''Hava Nagila: The Movie'' (2013 documentary)
* ''[[BlacKkKlansman]]'' (2018)
* ''The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte hosts the Tonight Show '' (2020 documentary)}}
==Television work==
[[File:After Dark 11th June 1988.jpg|300px|right|thumb|Appearing (second from left) on British television discussion programme ''[[After Dark (TV programme)|After Dark]]'' in 1988]]
{{columns-list|colwidth=400px|
* ''[[Sugar Hill Times]]'' (1949–1950)
* ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' (1953-1964, 10 times)
* ''The Nat King Cole Show'' (1957)
* ''[[The Steve Allen Show]]'' (1958)<ref>[http://www.tv.com/shows/the-steve-allen-show/harry-belafonte-and-the-belafonte-singers-johnny-carson-martha-raye-676944/cast/ Cast] (Harry Belafonte and the Belafonte Singers; Johnny Carson; Martha Raye). ''The Steve Allen Show'' Season 4 Episode 9.</ref>
* ''Tonight With Belafonte'' (1959)
* ''1963 Round Table'' (1963)
* ''The Danny Kaye Show'' (1965)
* ''Petula'' (1968)
* ''[[The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour]]'' (1968)
* ''[[The Tonight Show]]'' (1968)
* ''A World in Music'' (1969)
* ''Harry & Lena, For The Love Of Life'' (1969)
* ''A World in Love'' (1970)
* ''[[The Flip Wilson Show]]'' (1973)
* ''[[Free to Be ... You and Me]]'' (1974)
* ''[[The Muppet Show]]'' (1978)
* ''[[Grambling's White Tiger]]'' (1981)
* ''Don't Stop The Carnival'' (1985)
* ''[[After Dark (TV series)|After Dark]]'' (1988) (extended appearance on political discussion programme, more [[After Dark (TV series)#Harry Belafonte, Denis Worrall and "South Africa"|here]])
* ''[[An Evening with Harry Belafonte and Friends]]'' (1997)
* ''Swing Vote'' (1999)
* ''[[PB&J Otter]]'' "The Ice Moose" (1999)
* ''[[Tanner on Tanner]]'' (2004)
* ''That's What I'm Talking About'' (2006) (miniseries)
* ''[[When the Levees Broke|When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts]]'' (2006) (miniseries)
* ''Speakeasy'', interviewing [[Carlos Santana]] (2015)<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Grow|first1=Kory|title=Roger Waters, John Mellencamp Choose Interviewers for 'Speakeasy' TV Show|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/roger-waters-john-mellencamp-choose-interviewers-new-speakeasy-tv-show-20150108|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=January 27, 2015|date=January 8, 2015}}</ref>
}}
==Concert videos==
* ''En Gränslös Kväll På Operan'' (1966)
* ''Don't Stop The Carnival'' (1985)
* ''Global Carnival'' (1988)
* ''[[An Evening with Harry Belafonte and Friends]]'' (1997)
==Stage work==
* ''John Murray Anderson's Almanac'' (1953)
* ''3 for Tonight'' (1955)
* ''Moonbirds'' (1959) (producer)
* ''Belafonte at the Palace'' (1959)
* ''Asinamali!'' (1987) (producer)
==Legacy==
Belafonte celebrated his 93rd birthday on March 1, 2020, at Harlem's [[Apollo Theater]] in a tribute event that concluded "with a thunderous audience singalong" with rapper [[Doug E. Fresh]] to 1956's "Banana Boat Song". Soon after, the New York Public Library's [[Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture]] announced it had acquired Belafonte's vast personal archive - a lifetime's worth of "photographs, recordings, films, letters, artwork, clipping albums," etc.<ref name="Schomburg archive">{{cite news |last1=Schuessler |first1=Jennifer |title=A Great Day-O for Black Culture |issue=Arts pp C1, C3 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=March 14, 2020}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[List of peace activists]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |last1=Sharlet |first1= Jeff|year= 2013|title=Voice and Hammer |journal=[[Virginia Quarterly Review]] |issue=Fall 2013 |pages= 24–41|url= http://www.vqronline.org/articles/2013/fall/sharlet-belafonte/|access-date=October 4, 2013}}
* Smith, Judith. ''Becoming Belafonte: Black Artist, Public Radical''. University of Texas Press, 2014. {{ISBN|0292729146}}, {{ISBN|9780292729148}}.
* Wise, James. ''Stars in Blue: Movie Actors in America's Sea Services''. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1997. {{ISBN|1557509379}}. {{OCLC|36824724}}.
==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
*[https://snccdigital.org/people/harry-belafonte/ SNCC Digital Gateway: Harry Belafonte], Documentary website created by the SNCC Legacy Project and Duke University, telling the story of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee & grassroots organizing from the inside-out
*{{IMDb name}}
*[https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/12907%7C66480/Harry-Belafonte Harry Belafonte] at the [[Turner Classic Movies|TCM Movie Database]]
*{{IBDB name}}
*{{iobdb name}}
*{{Discogs artist|Harry Belafonte}}
*{{C-SPAN}}
{{Harry Belafonte|state=expanded}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Harry Belafonte
|list =
{{EmmyAward VarietyPerformance 1959–1973}}
{{Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award}}
{{Kennedy Center Honorees 1980s}}
{{NAACP Image Award – Chairman's Award}}
{{National Medal of Arts recipients 1990s}}
{{2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame}}
{{Spingarn Medal}}
{{TonyAward MusicalFeaturedActor 1947-1975}}
{{Billboard Year-End number one albums 1956–1969}}
}}
{{EGOT winners}}
{{Civil rights movement}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belafonte, Harry}}
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:2023 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
[[Category:20th-century American male singers]]
[[Category:21st-century American memoirists]]
[[Category:African-American Catholics]]
[[Category:American anti-war activists]]
[[Category:American feminists]]
[[Category:American folk singers]]
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[[Category:American male stage actors]]
[[Category:American musicians of Jamaican descent]]
[[Category:American people of Dutch-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:American people of Martiniquais descent]]
[[Category:American people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:American people of Sephardic-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:American socialists]]
[[Category:American world music musicians]]
[[Category:Calypsonians]]
[[Category:Deaths from congestive heart failure]]
[[Category:Donaldson Award winners]]
[[Category:Feminist musicians]]
[[Category:George Washington Educational Campus alumni]]
[[Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners]]
[[Category:Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award winners]]
[[Category:Jubilee Records artists]]
[[Category:Kennedy Center honorees]]
[[Category:Male feminists]]
[[Category:Military personnel from New York City]]
[[Category:New York (state) socialists]]
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[[Category:People from Harlem]]
[[Category:People from the Upper West Side]]
[[Category:People from Washington Heights, Manhattan]]
[[Category:Primetime Emmy Award winners]]
[[Category:RCA Victor artists]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Four Freedoms Award]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo]]
[[Category:Spingarn Medal winners]]
[[Category:The New School alumni]]
[[Category:Tony Award winners]]
[[Category:UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors]]
[[Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:United States Navy sailors]]
[[Category:Activists for African-American civil rights]]' |
New page wikitext, after the edit (new_wikitext ) | '{{short description|American singer, activist, and actor (1927–2023)}}
{{redirect|Belafonte|his album|Belafonte (album)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Harry Belafonte
| image = Harry Belafonte 1964 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Belafonte in 1964
| birth_name = Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.
| birth_date = {{birth date|1927|3|1}}
| birth_place = [[New York City]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|4|25|1927|3|1}}
| death_place = New York City, U.S.
| other_names = {{plainlist|
* Harold George Belafonte Jr.
* Harry Bellanfanti Jr.
}}
| years_active = 1949–2023
| occupation = {{hlist|Singer|actor|activist}}
| party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| spouse = {{unbulleted list
| {{marriage|Marguerite Byrd|1948|1957|end=divorced}}
| {{marriage|Julie Robinson|1957|2004|end=divorced}}
| {{marriage|Pamela
Frank|2008}}
}}
| children = 4, including [[Shari Belafonte|Shari]]
| module = {{Infobox musician|embed=yes
| associated_acts =
| genre = {{hlist|[[Calypso music|Calypso]]|[[mento]]||[[pop music|pop]]|[[Folk music|folk]]|[[World music|world]]}}
| instrument = Vocals
| website =
}}
}}
'''Harry Belafonte''' (born '''Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.'''; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor and activist, who popularized [[calypso music]] with international audiences in the 1950s. His breakthrough album ''[[Calypso (album)|Calypso]]'' (1956) was the first million-selling [[LP album|LP]] by a single artist.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.allmusic.com/album/calypso-mw0000313800 |title= Harry Belafonte - Calypso |publisher=AllMusic (All Media Network) |access-date=December 10, 2013}}</ref>
Belafonte was best known for his recordings of "[[The Banana Boat Song]]", with its signature "Day-O" lyric, "[[Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)]]", "[[Jamaica Farewell]]", and "[[Mary's Boy Child]]". He recorded and performed in many genres, including [[blues]], [[folk music|folk]], [[gospel music|gospel]], [[show tune]]s, and [[Great American Songbook|American standards]]. He also starred in several films, including ''[[Carmen Jones (film)|Carmen Jones]]'' (1954), ''[[Island in the Sun (film)|Island in the Sun]]'' (1957), and ''[[Odds Against Tomorrow]]'' (1959).
Belafonte considered the actor, singer, and activist [[Paul Robeson]] a mentor, and he was a close confidant of [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] during the [[Civil Rights Movement]] of the 1950s and 1960s. As he later recalled, "Paul Robeson had been my first great formative influence; you might say he gave me my backbone. Martin King was the second; he nourished my soul."<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Belafonte|first1=Harry|title=My Song: A Memoir|last2=Shnayerson|first2=Michael|publisher=Knopf|year=2011|isbn=978-0-307-27226-3|location=New York|pages=297}}</ref> Throughout his career, Belafonte was an advocate for political and humanitarian causes, such as the [[Anti-Apartheid Movement]] and [[USA for Africa]]. From 1987 until his death, he was a [[UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=Unicef Names Belafonte Good-Will Ambassador|date=March 9, 1987|work=[[The New York Times]]|via=ProQuest Historical Newspapers}}</ref> He was a vocal critic of the policies of the [[Presidency of George W. Bush|George W. Bush]] presidential administration. Belafonte acted as the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] celebrity ambassador for juvenile justice issues.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.aclu.org/ambassadors |title= ACLU Ambassadors - Harry Belafonte |publisher=aclu.olrg (American Civil Liberties Union) |access-date=January 5, 2015}}</ref>
Belafonte won three [[Grammy Award]]s (including a [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]]), an [[Emmy Award]],<ref name="emmys.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.emmys.com/awards/nominations/award-search?search_api_views_fulltext=Harry+Belafonte&submit=Search&search_api_views_fulltext_1=&search_api_views_fulltext_3=&search_api_views_fulltext_2=&search_api_views_fulltext_4=&field_nominations_year=1949-01-01+00%3A00%3A00&field_nominations_year_1=2013-01-01+00%3A00%3A00&field_nomination_category=All |title=Awards search for Harry Belafonte |publisher=[[Emmy Award|Emmys]] |access-date=December 10, 2013}}</ref> 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 [[Governors Awards#6th Annual Governors Awards|6th Annual Governors Awards]]<ref name="reuters.com">{{cite news|last=Sinha-Roy |first=Piya |url= http://in.reuters.com/article/us-film-governorsawards-idINKBN0GS2G820140828 |title=Belafonte, Miyazaki to receive Academy's Governors Awards |work=Reuters |date= August 28, 2014 |access-date= August 28, 2014}}</ref> and in 2022 was inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] in the Early Influence category.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wkyc.com/article/entertainment/music/rock-hall/rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-2022-inductees-induction-class-dolly-parton-pat-benatar-eminem-duran-duran-eurythmics-judas-priest-carly-simon/95-780d297f-76c2-4105-a73d-58bedbe693b4#longform_chapter_1|title=Artist: Harry Belafonte:Early Influence Award|author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2022 |website=www.wkyc.com|access-date=May 4, 2022}}</ref>
==Early life==
Belafonte was born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.<ref name=Belafontemovie>{{cite web|title=Life in Harlem|url=http://singyoursongthemovie.com/life-in-harlem/|work=Sing Your Song|publisher=S2BN Belafonte Productions|access-date=February 20, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014005929/http://singyoursongthemovie.com/life-in-harlem/|archive-date=October 14, 2016}}</ref> on March 1, 1927 at Lying-in Hospital in [[Harlem]], New York, the son of Jamaican-born parents Harold George Bellanfanti Sr., who worked as a chef, and Melvine (née Love), a housekeeper.<ref>{{cite book |title=Harry Belafonte |author=Genia Fogelson |publisher=Holloway House Publishing |year=1996 |page=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oadlz5gMG9UC&pg=PA13 |isbn=0-87067-772-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Hardy | first = Phil |author2=Dave Laing | title = The Faber Companion to Twentieth Century Music | publisher = Faber | year = 1990 | page = 54 | isbn = 0-571-16848-5 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/62/Harry-Belafonte.html |title=Harry Belafonte Biography (1927-) |publisher=Film Reference |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated4">The African American Registry [http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/harry-belafonte-entertainer-truth Harry Belafonte, an entertainer of truth] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716110440/http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/harry-belafonte-entertainer-truth |date=July 16, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://calypsoworld.org/noflash/artists-04.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090208081530/http://calypsoworld.org/noflash/artists-04.htm |archive-date=February 8, 2009 |title=Calypso Artists: Harry Belafonte |website=Calypso World|date=February 8, 2009 |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Oadlz5gMG9UC&q=%22Harold+George+Belafonte%22&pg=PA13 | title = Harry Belafonte | isbn = 978-0-87067-772-4 | last1 = Fogelson | first1 = Genia | date = September 1, 1996}}</ref> His mother was the child of a [[Scottish Jamaican]] mother and an [[Afro-Jamaican]] father, and his father was the child of a [[Black American]] mother and a [[History of the Jews in the Netherlands|Dutch-Jewish]] father of [[Sephardic Jewish]] descent. Harry, Jr. was raised [[Catholic]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Keillor|first=Garrison|date=October 21, 2011|title=The Radical Entertainment of Harry Belafonte (Published 2011)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/books/review/my-song-by-harry-belafonte-with-michael-shnayerson-book-review.html|access-date=March 1, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
From 1932 to 1940, Belafonte lived with one of his grandmothers in her native country of Jamaica, where he attended [[Wolmer's Boys' School|Wolmer's Schools]]. Upon returning to New York City, he attended [[George Washington High School (Manhattan)|George Washington High School]],<ref>Arenson, Karen W. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E07EFDA103CF931A35755C0A9669C8B63 "Commencements; Belafonte Lauds Diversity Of Baruch College Class"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', June 2, 2000. Retrieved April 16, 2008. "(He said that he had not gotten past the first year at George Washington High School, and that the only college degrees he had were honorary ones.)"</ref> after which he joined the [[U.S. Navy]] and served during [[World War II]].<ref name="autogenerated4" /> In the 1940s, he was working as a janitor's assistant when a tenant gave him, as a gratuity, two tickets to see the [[American Negro Theater]]. He fell in love with the art form and also became friends with [[Sidney Poitier]]. The financially struggling pair regularly purchased a single seat to local plays, trading places in between acts, after informing the other about the progression of the play.<ref>{{cite web|last=Belafonte |first=Harry |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/10/12/141243628/harry-belafonte-out-of-struggle-a-beautiful-voice |title=Harry Belafonte: Out Of Struggle, A Beautiful Voice |publisher=NPR |date=October 12, 2011 |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref>
At the end of the 1940s, Belafonte took classes in acting at the [[Dramatic Workshop]] of [[The New School]] in New York City with the influential German director [[Erwin Piscator]] alongside [[Marlon Brando]], [[Tony Curtis]], [[Walter Matthau]], [[Bea Arthur]], and Poitier, while performing with the American Negro Theater.<ref name="vn-25apr2023">{{cite magazine |last1=Susman |first1=Gary |title=Harry Belafonte—Singer, Actor, and Activist—Has Died at 96 |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/04/harry-belafonte-obituary |access-date=April 25, 2023 |magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |date=April 25, 2023}}</ref> He subsequently received a [[Tony Award]] for his participation in the Broadway revue ''[[John Murray Anderson's Almanac]]'' (1954).<ref name="guard-25apr2023">{{cite news |last1=Beaumonth-Thomas |first1=Ben |title=Harry Belafonte, singer, actor and tireless activist, dies aged 96 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/25/harry-belafonte-singer-dies-actor-singer-activist |access-date=April 25, 2023 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=April 25, 2023}}</ref> He also starred in the 1955 Broadway revue ''[[3 for Tonight]]'' with [[Gower Champion]].<ref name="play-25apr2023">{{cite magazine |last1=Hall |first1=Margaret |title=Tony Winner Harry Belafonte Passes Away at 96 |url=https://www.playbill.com/article/tony-winner-harry-belafonte-passes-away-at-96 |access-date=April 25, 2023 |magazine=[[Playbill (magazine)|Playbill]] |date=April 25, 2023}}</ref>
==Musical career==
[[File:Harry Belafonte singing 1954.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Belafonte in 1954]]
Belafonte started his career in music as a club singer in New York to pay for his acting classes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chad |date=2019-10-25 |title=Harry Belafonte |url=https://walkoffame.com/harry-belafonte/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Hollywood Walk of Fame |language=en-US}}</ref> The first time he appeared in front of an audience, he was backed by the Charlie Parker band, which included [[Charlie Parker]] himself, [[Max Roach]], and [[Miles Davis]], among others.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Myers |first=Marc |date=February 15, 2017 |title=Jazz news: Harry Belafonte: 1949 |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/news/harry-belafonte-1949/ |access-date=April 25, 2023 |website=[[All About Jazz]] |language=en}}</ref> He launched his recording career as a pop singer on the Roost label in 1949, but quickly developed a keen interest in [[folk music]], learning material through the [[Library of Congress]]' American folk songs archives. With guitarist and friend Millard Thomas, Belafonte soon made his debut at the legendary jazz club [[The Village Vanguard]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Iconic Voices of Black History – Harry Belafonte – VocaliD |url=https://vocalid.ai/iconic-voices-of-black-history-harry-belafonte/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |language=en-US}}</ref> He signed a contract with [[RCA Victor]] in 1953, recording regularly for the label until 1974.<ref name=nbc-25apr2023>{{Cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Alex |last2=Dasrath |first2=Diana |title=Harry Belafonte, calypso star and civil rights champion, dies at 96 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/harry-belafonte-calypso-star-civil-rights-champion-dies-96-rcna42389 | date=April 25, 2023 |access-date=April 25, 2023 |work=[[NBC News]] |language=en}}</ref> Belafonte also performed during the [[Rat Pack]] era in [[Las Vegas]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Singer-activist Harry Belafonte dies at 96 due to heart failure |url=https://www.freepressjournal.in/entertainment/hollywood/singer-activist-harry-belafonte-dies-at-96-due-to-heart-failure |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Free Press Journal |language=en}}</ref>
===''Calypso''===
Belafonte's first widely [[art release|released]] single, which went on to become his "signature" audience participation song in virtually all his live performances, was "[[Matilda (calypso song)|Matilda]]", recorded April 27, 1953.<ref name=nbc-25apr2023 /> His breakthrough album ''[[Calypso (album)|Calypso]]'' (1956) became the first [[LP album|LP]] in the world to sell over 1 million copies within a year.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-25 |title=Harry Belafonte, singer, actor, activist, dies at 96 |url=https://www.wcpo.com/harry-belafonte-singer-actor-activist-dies-at-96 |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=WCPO 9 Cincinnati |language=en}}</ref> He stated that it was the first million-selling album ever in England. The album is number four on ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''{{'}}s "Top 100 Album" list for having spent 31 weeks at number 1, 58 weeks in the top ten, and 99 weeks on the U.S. chart.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017 |title="Calypso"—Harry Belafonte (1956) |url=https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/calypso.pdf |website=Library of Congress}}</ref> The album introduced American audiences to [[calypso music]] (which had originated in [[Trinidad and Tobago]] in the early 19th century), and Belafonte was dubbed the "King of Calypso", a title he wore with reservations since he had no claims to any [[Calypso Monarch]] titles.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Puente |first=Maria |title=Harry Belafonte, trailblazing singer, actor and activist, dies at 96 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2023/04/25/harry-belafonte-dies-actor-singer-activist-king-of-calypso/2750984001/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref>
One of the songs included in the album is the now famous "[[Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)|Banana Boat Song]]" (listed as "Day-O" on the ''Calypso'' LP), which reached number five on the pop chart, and featured its signature lyric "Day-O".<ref name=pc18>{{cite web |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19768/m1/ |title=Show 18 – Blowin' in the Wind: Pop discovers folk music. [Part 1] : UNT Digital Library |year=1969 |last=Gilliland |first=John |author-link=John Gilliland |website=[[Pop Chronicles]]|access-date=November 4, 2013 }}</ref>
Many of the compositions recorded for ''Calypso'', including "Banana Boat Song" and "[[Jamaica Farewell]]", gave songwriting credit to [[Irving Burgie]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kennedy |first=Mark |title=Irving Burgie, songwriter of calypso hit 'Day-O,' dies at 95 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2019/12/01/irving-burgie-day-o-songwriter-dies-95/4345996002/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}</ref>
===Middle career===
[[File:Julie Andrews Harry Belafonte 1969.jpg|thumb|With [[Julie Andrews]] on the NBC special ''An Evening with Julie Andrews and Harry Belafonte'' (1969)]]
While primarily known for calypso, Belafonte recorded in many different genres, including [[blues]], [[folk music|folk]], [[gospel music|gospel]], [[show tune]]s, and [[Great American Songbook|American standards]]. His second-most popular hit, which came immediately after "The Banana Boat Song", was the comedic tune "[[Mama Look at Bubu]]", also known as "Mama Look a Boo-Boo" (originally recorded by [[Lord Melody]] in 1955<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Lord-Melody-Caribbean-All-Stars-Band-The-Bo-Bo-Man-Saxophone-Limbo/release/4459202|title=Lord Melody / Caribbean All Stars Band - The Bo-Bo-Man / Saxophone Limbo|website=Discogs|language=en|access-date=July 16, 2019}}</ref>), in which he sings humorously about misbehaving and disrespectful children. It reached number eleven on the pop chart.
In 1959, Belafonte starred in ''Tonight With Belafonte'', a nationally televised special that featured [[Odetta]], who sang "[[Waterboy (song)|Water Boy]]" and who performed a duet with Belafonte of "[[There's a Hole in My Bucket]]" that hit the national charts in 1961.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.spclarke.com/?page_id=165 |title=Odetta |publisher=WordPress |access-date=December 10, 2013}}</ref> Belafonte was the first Jamaican American to win an [[Emmy]], for ''Revlon Revue: Tonight with Belafonte'' (1959).<ref name="emmys.com"/> Two live albums, both recorded at [[Carnegie Hall]] in 1959 and 1960, enjoyed critical and commercial success. From his 1959 album, "[[Hava Nagila]]" became part of his regular routine and one of his signature songs.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJqXjvlKa2w |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/zJqXjvlKa2w| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|title=Video – What does Hava Nagila mean? |year=2011 |last=Grossman |first=Roberta |website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He was one of many entertainers recruited by [[Frank Sinatra]] to perform at the [[United States presidential inaugural balls|inaugural gala]] of President [[John F. Kennedy]] in 1961, which included [[Ella Fitzgerald]], [[Mahalia Jackson]], and others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=President-elect and Mrs. Kennedy arrive at the Inaugural Gala, January 19, 1961 {{!}} JFK Library |url=https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/president-elect-and-mrs-kennedy-arrive-at-the-inaugural-gala-january-19-1961 |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=www.jfklibrary.org}}</ref> Later that year, RCA Victor released another calypso album, ''[[Jump Up Calypso]]'', which went on to become another million seller. During the 1960s he introduced several artists to U.S. audiences, most notably South African singer [[Miriam Makeba]] and Greek singer [[Nana Mouskouri]]. His album ''[[Midnight Special (Harry Belafonte album)|Midnight Special]]'' (1962) included a young harmonica player named [[Bob Dylan]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Harry Belafonte, civil rights activist and trailblazing artist, dead at 96 |url=https://news.yahoo.com/harry-belafonte-civil-rights-activist-135200001.html |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-US}}</ref>
As [[the Beatles]] and other stars from Britain began to dominate the U.S. pop charts, Belafonte's commercial success diminished; 1964's ''[[Belafonte at The Greek Theatre]]'' was his last album to appear in ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''{{'}}s Top 40. His last hit single, "A Strange Song", was released in 1967 and peaked at number 5 on the [[adult contemporary music]] charts. Belafonte received [[Grammy Award]]s for the albums ''[[Swing Dat Hammer]]'' (1960) and ''[[An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba]]'' (1965). The latter album dealt with the political plight of black [[South Africans]] under [[apartheid]]. He earned six [[Gold Record]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url =https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?content_selector=gold-platinum-searchable-database# |title=Searchable Database - Search: Belafonte Makeba |publisher=RIAA |access-date=December 10, 2013}}</ref>
During the 1960s, Belafonte appeared on TV specials alongside such artists as [[Julie Andrews]], [[Petula Clark]], [[Lena Horne]], and [[Nana Mouskouri]]. In 1967, Belafonte was the first non-classical artist to perform at the prestigious [[Saratoga Performing Arts Center]] (SPAC) in Upstate New York,<ref name="sl-12jul2018">{{cite web |last1=Levith |first1=Will |title=5 Most Memorable Music Moments In SPAC History |url=https://saratogaliving.com/5-most-memorable-moments-spac-history-saratoga-springs/ |website=Saratoga Living |access-date=April 25, 2023 |date=July 12, 2018}}</ref> soon to be followed by concerts there by [[the Doors]], [[the 5th Dimension]], [[the Who]], and [[Janis Joplin]].
From February 5 to 9, 1968, Belafonte guest hosted ''[[The Tonight Show]]'' substituting for [[Johnny Carson]].<ref name="npr-8sep2020">{{cite news |last1=Bianculli |first1=David |title='The Sit-In' Revisits A Landmark Week With Harry Belafonte As 'Tonight Show' Host |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/09/08/910650652/the-sit-in-revisits-a-landmark-week-with-harry-belafonte-as-tonight-show-host |access-date=April 25, 2023 |work=[[NPR]] |date=September 8, 2020}}</ref> Among his interview guests were [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] and Sen. [[Robert F. Kennedy]].<ref name="npr-8sep2020" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive/document/mlk-appears-tonight-show-harry-belafonte |title=MLK Appears on "Tonight" Show with Harry Belafonte |publisher=The Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change|date=February 2, 1968 |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref>
===Later recordings and other activities===
{{off topic|date=April 2018}}
Belafonte's fifth and final calypso album, ''[[Calypso Carnival]]'', was issued by RCA in 1971. Belafonte's recording activity slowed considerably after releasing his final album for RCA in 1974. From the mid-1970s to early 1980s, Belafonte spent the greater part of his time on tour, which included concerts in Japan, Europe, and [[Cuba]]. In 1977, [[Columbia Records]] released the album ''[[Turn the World Around]]'', with a strong focus on [[world music]]. Columbia never issued the album in the United States.
In 1978 he was a guest star on an episode of ''[[The Muppet Show]]'', on which he performed his signature song "Day-O". However, the episode is best known for Belafonte's rendition of the spiritual song "Turn the World Around", from the album of the same name, which he performed with specially made Muppets that resembled African tribal masks.<ref name=time-25apr2023>{{Cite magazine |date=April 25, 2023 |last=Chow |first=Andrew R. |title=Harry Belafonte, Trailblazing Performer and Fierce Civil Rights Activist, Dies |url=https://time.com/5750832/harry-belafonte-dies/ |access-date=April 25, 2023 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name="ob-25apr2023">{{cite news |last1=Duquette |first1=Michael |title=Harry Belafonte: The Icon’s Life In Music, Movies and TV |url=https://observer.com/2023/04/harry-belafonte-the-icons-life-in-music-movies-and-tv/ |access-date=April 25, 2023 |work=[[Observer.com|Observer]] |date=April 25, 2023}}</ref> It became one of the series' most famous performances and was reportedly [[Jim Henson]]'s favorite episode. After Henson's death in May 1990, Belafonte was asked to perform the song at Henson's memorial service.<ref name="ob-25apr2023" /><ref name="avc-25apr2023">{{cite news |last1=McLevy |first1=Alex |title=R.I.P. Harry Belafonte, actor, singer, and Civil Rights icon |url=https://www.avclub.com/rip-harry-belafonte-musician-and-civil-rights-activist-1850372680 |access-date=April 25, 2023 |work=[[The A.V. Club]] |date=April 25, 2023}}</ref> "Turn the World Around" was also included in the 2005 official hymnal supplement of the [[Unitarian Universalist Association]], ''Singing the Journey''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uua.org/publications/singingjourney/songinformation/93778.shtml |title=Song Information |publisher=UUA |date=April 9, 2012 |access-date=November 5, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101012095016/http://www.uua.org/publications/singingjourney/songinformation/93778.shtml |archive-date=October 12, 2010 }}</ref>
[[File:Harry Belafonte 1983.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Belafonte performing in 1983]]
Belafonte's involvement in [[USA for Africa]] during the mid-1980s resulted in renewed interest in his music, culminating in a record deal with [[EMI]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hlzzkd_S174C&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA175&dq=Belafonte's+involvement+in+USA+for+Africa+during+the+mid-1980s+resulted+in+renewed+interest+in+his+music,+culminating+in+a+record+deal+with+EMI.&hl=en |title=Why I Am So Proud to Be a Black Man: The Many Reasons to Uplift and Celebrate Our Uniqueness in the Universe |last2=C |first2=Ms |date=March 2013 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=978-1-4759-7928-2 |language=en}}</ref> He subsequently released his first album of original material in over a decade, ''[[Paradise in Gazankulu]]'', in 1988, and contained ten protest songs against the South African former [[Apartheid]] policy, and was his last studio album.<ref>{{Citation |title=Harry Belafonte - Paradise in Gazankulu Album Reviews, Songs & More {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/paradise-in-gazankulu-mw0000200433 |access-date=2023-04-25 |language=en}}</ref> In the same year Belafonte, as [[UNICEF]] Goodwill Ambassador, attended a symposium in [[Harare, Zimbabwe]], to focus attention on child survival and development in Southern African countries. As part of the symposium, he performed a concert for UNICEF. A [[Kodak]] video crew filmed the concert, which was released as a 60-minute concert video titled "Global Carnival".
Following a lengthy recording hiatus, ''[[An Evening with Harry Belafonte and Friends]]'', a soundtrack and video of a televised concert, were released in 1997 by [[Island Records]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Heckman |first=Don |date=1997-03-01 |title=Forever the Renaissance Man |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-03-01-ca-33507-story.html |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> ''[[The Long Road to Freedom: An Anthology of Black Music]]'', a huge multi-artist project recorded by RCA during the 1960s and 1970s, was finally released by the label in 2001. Belafonte went on the ''[[Today (American TV program)|Today Show]]'' to promote the album on September 11, 2001, and was interviewed by [[Katie Couric]] just minutes before the first plane hit the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://archive.org/details/nbc200109110831-0912 | title=NBC Sept. 11, 2001 8:31 am - 9:12 am| date=September 11, 2001|publisher=Internet Archive | access-date=January 10, 2016}}</ref> The album was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Awards for Best Boxed Recording Package, for Best Album Notes, and for Best Historical Album.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-25 |title=Appreciation: Harry Belafonte, dead at 96, championed 'Long Road to Freedom' in his music and his life |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/music/story/2023-04-25/appreciation-harry-belafonte-dead-at-96 |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=San Diego Union-Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref>
[[File:Harry Belafonte 1996.jpg|thumb|upright|Belafonte in 1996]]
Belafonte received the [[Kennedy Center Honors]] in 1989.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1989-08-08 |title=Kennedy Center Announces '89 Awards |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/08/arts/kennedy-center-announces-89-awards.html |access-date=2023-04-25 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He was awarded the [[National Medal of Arts]] in 1994 and he won a [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]] in 2000. He performed sold-out concerts globally through the 1950s to the 2000s. His last concert was a benefit concert for the [[Atlanta Opera]] on October 25, 2003. In a 2007 interview, he stated that he had since retired from performing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pr-inside.com/de/besser-als-es-jetzt-ist-kann-r53408.htm |title=kostenloses PR und Pressemitteilungen |publisher=Pr-inside.com |access-date=November 5, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120708033506/http://www.pr-inside.com/de/besser-als-es-jetzt-ist-kann-r53408.htm |archive-date=July 8, 2012 }}</ref>
On January 29, 2013, Belafonte was the Keynote Speaker and 2013 Honoree for the MLK Celebration Series at the [[Rhode Island School of Design]]. Belafonte used his career and experiences with Dr. King to speak on the role of artists as activists.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://events.risd.edu/event/2013_mlk_series_keynote_address_harry_belafonte_artist_as_activist#.VdJh2vlVhBc|title=2013 MLK Series Keynote Address – Harry Belafonte 'Artist as Activist'|date=January 29, 2013|publisher=RISD}}</ref>
Belafonte was inducted as an honorary member of [[Phi Beta Sigma]] fraternity on January 11, 2014.<ref>{{cite news|first=DeNeen L.|last=Brown|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/local/wp/2014/01/12/harry-belafonte-challenges-phi-beta-sigma-to-join-movement-to-stop-oppression-of-women/ |title= Harry Belafonte challenges Phi Beta Sigma to join movement to stop oppression of women|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=January 12, 2014|access-date=January 14, 2014}}</ref>
In March 2014, Belafonte was awarded an honorary doctorate from [[Berklee College of Music]] in [[Boston]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aclu.org/issues/aclu-ambassador-project|title=ACLU Ambassador Project|website=American Civil Liberties Union|language=en|access-date=July 16, 2019}}</ref>
In 2017, Belafonte released ''When Colors Come Together'', an anthology of some of Belafonte's earlier recordings produced by his son David who wrote lyrics for an updated version of "Island In The Sun", arranged by longtime Belafonte musical director Richard Cummings, and featuring Harry Belafonte's grandchildren Sarafina and Amadeus and a children's choir.<ref name="bet-15feb2017">{{cite web |last1=Robertson |first1=Iyana |title=Harry Belafonte's 'When Colors Come Together' Proves the Truth About Children and Race |url=https://www.bet.com/article/6a1max/when-colors-come-together-tackles-children-and-race |website=[[BET]] |access-date=April 25, 2023 |date=February 15, 2017}}</ref>
==Film career==
[[File:Harry Belafonte (Berlin Film Festival 2011) cropped.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Belafonte at the 2011 Berlin Film Festival]]
Belafonte starred in numerous films. His first film role was in ''[[Bright Road]]'' (1953), in which he supported female lead [[Dorothy Dandridge]].<ref name=var-25apr2023>{{Cite web |last=Morris |first=Chris |date=2023-04-25 |title=Harry Belafonte, Calypso King Who Worked for African American Rights, Dies at 96 |url=https://variety.com/2023/film/news/harry-belafonte-dead-dies-singer-1235593910/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref> The two subsequently starred in [[Otto Preminger]]'s hit musical ''[[Carmen Jones (film)|Carmen Jones]]'' (1954). Ironically, Belafonte's singing in the film was dubbed by an opera singer, as was Dandridge's, both voices being deemed unsuitable for their roles.<ref name="vn-25apr2023" /><ref name=var-25apr2023 />
Using his star clout, Belafonte was subsequently able to realize several then-controversial film roles. In 1957's ''[[Island in the Sun (film)|Island in the Sun]]'', there are hints of an affair between Belafonte's character and the character played by [[Joan Fontaine]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-04-25 |title=Harry Belafonte obituary: A US icon of music, film and civil rights |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-11811290 |access-date=2023-04-25}}</ref> The film also starred [[James Mason]], Dandridge, [[Joan Collins]], [[Michael Rennie]], and [[John Justin]]. In 1959, he starred in and produced, through his company HarBel Productions, [[Robert Wise]]'s ''[[Odds Against Tomorrow]]'', in which he plays a bank robber uncomfortably teamed with a racist partner ([[Robert Ryan]]). He also co-starred with [[Inger Stevens]] in ''[[The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959 film)|The World, the Flesh and the Devil]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=Variety |date=1959-01-01 |title=The World, the Flesh and the Devil |url=https://variety.com/1958/film/reviews/the-world-the-flesh-and-the-devil-1200419259/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref> Belafonte was offered the role of [[Porgy (novel)|Porgy]] in Preminger's ''[[Porgy and Bess (film)|Porgy and Bess]]'', where he would have once again starred opposite Dandridge, but refused the role because he objected to its [[racial stereotype|racial stereotyping]]; [[Sidney Poitier]] played the role instead.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jnpickens |date=2019-02-25 |title=Musical Monday: Porgy and Bess (1959) |url=https://cometoverhollywood.com/2019/02/25/musical-monday-porgy-and-bess-1959/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Comet Over Hollywood |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Harry Belafonte, the Activist Who Became an Artist, Dies at 96 |url=https://autos.yahoo.com/harry-belafonte-activist-became-artist-135305222.html |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=autos.yahoo.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
[[File:Harry Belafonte Viennale2011b.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Belafonte at the 2011 [[Viennale]]]]
Dissatisfied with most of the film roles offered to him during the 1960s, Belafonte concentrated on music. In the early 1970s, Belafonte appeared in more films, among which are two with Poitier: ''[[Buck and the Preacher]]'' (1972) and ''[[Uptown Saturday Night]]'' (1974).<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Obenson |first=Tambay |date=2023-04-25 |title=Harry Belafonte, the Activist Who Became an Artist, Dies at 96 |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2023/04/harry-belafonte-dead-1234639195/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=IndieWire |language=en}}</ref> In 1984, Belafonte produced and scored the musical film ''[[Beat Street]]'', dealing with the rise of [[hip hop|hip-hop]] culture.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=AllHipHop |date=2023-04-25 |title=Harry Belafonte Influenced Hip-Hop - From "Beat Street" To Social Justice In The Genre |url=https://allhiphop.com/features/rip-harry-belafonte-hip-hop-influence-beat-street-activism/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=AllHipHop |language=en-US}}</ref> Together with [[Arthur Baker (musician)|Arthur Baker]], he produced the gold-certified soundtrack of [[Beat Street (soundtrack)|the same name]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-06-06 |title=The Story of How ‘Beat Street’ Went From a Box Office Failure to One of Hip-Hop’s Most Important Movies - Okayplayer |url=https://www.okayplayer.com/culture/1984-beat-street-release-story.html,%20https://www.okayplayer.com/culture/1984-beat-street-release-story.html |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=www.okayplayer.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Belafonte next starred in a major film in the mid-1990s, appearing with [[John Travolta]] in the race-reverse drama ''[[White Man's Burden (film)|White Man's Burden]]'' (1995);<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Insider |first=Martin Holmes, TV |title=Harry Belafonte Dies: Singer, Actor & Activist Was 96 |url=https://www.wfmz.com/entertainment/harry-belafonte-dies-singer-actor-activist-was-96/article_37e912ac-2fed-572d-9479-b3bb991dc2d6.html |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=WFMZ.com |language=en}}</ref> and in [[Robert Altman]]'s [[jazz age]] drama ''[[Kansas City (1996 film)|Kansas City]]'' (1996), the latter of which garnered him the [[New York Film Critics Circle Award]] for Best Supporting Actor.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-25 |title=Harry Belafonte, barrier-smashing entertainer and activist, dies at 96 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/04/25/harry-belafonte-singer-dies/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Washington Post |language=en}}</ref> He also starred as an Associate Justice of the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] in the TV drama ''[[Swing Vote (1999 film)|Swing Vote]]'' (1999).<ref name=":1" /> In 2006, Belafonte appeared in ''[[Bobby (2006 film)|Bobby]]'', [[Emilio Estevez]]'s ensemble drama about the [[assassination of Robert F. Kennedy]]; he played Nelson, a friend of an employee of the Ambassador Hotel ([[Anthony Hopkins]]).<ref name=":2" /> His final film appearance was in [[Spike Lee]]'s Academy Award-winning ''[[BlacKkKlansman]]'' (2018) as an elderly civil rights pioneer.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/25/arts/music/harry-belafonte-dead.html | title=Harry Belafonte, 96, Dies; Barrier-Breaking Singer, Actor and Activist | work=The New York Times | date=April 25, 2023 | last1=Keepnews | first1=Peter }}</ref>
==Political and humanitarian activism==
[[File:Kung king belafonte.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Belafonte with King [[Gustav VI Adolf]] and [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] in 1964]]
Belafonte is said to have married politics and pop culture.<ref name = people39>{{cite magazine |url= https://people.com/celebrity/tribute-to-black-icons-by-their-family-members/ |title= A Tribute to Black Icons — from Harry Belafonte to Whitney Houston — by the Family Members Who Know Them Best |magazine= [[People (magazine)|People]] |date= February 21, 2022 }}</ref> Belafonte's political beliefs were greatly inspired by the singer, actor, and civil rights activist [[Paul Robeson]], who mentored him.<ref name="aaj-31jul2022">{{cite web |last1=Passarella |first1=Christine |title=Harry Belafonte: Humanitarian, Social Justice Leader and Artist Extraordinaire |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/harry-belafonte-humanitarian-social-justice-leader-and-artist-extraordinaire |website=[[All About Jazz]] |access-date=April 25, 2023 |date=July 31, 2022}}</ref> Robeson opposed not only racial prejudice in the United States but also western [[colonialism]] in Africa. Belafonte refused to perform in the American South from 1954 until 1961.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Simmons |first=Charlotte |date=2023-04-25 |title=Actor, singer, and activist Harry Belafonte dies at 96 |url=https://wegotthiscovered.com/celebrities/actor-singer-and-activist-harry-belafonte-dies-at-96/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=We Got This Covered |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 1960, Belafonte appeared in a campaign commercial for [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] Presidential candidate [[John F. Kennedy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1960/harry-belafonte |title=Commercials - 1960 - Harry Belafonte |website=The Living Room Candidate |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> Kennedy later named Belafonte cultural advisor to the [[Peace Corps]]. Belafonte supported [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] for the [[1964 United States presidential election]].<ref>Jet, October 1, 1964</ref>
Belafonte gave the keynote address at the ACLU of Northern California's annual Bill of Rights Day Celebration In December 2007 and was awarded the Chief Justice [[Earl Warren]] Civil Liberties Award. The 2011 [[Sundance Film Festival]] featured the documentary film ''[[Sing Your Song]]'', a biographical film focusing on Belafonte's contribution to and his leadership in the civil rights movement in America and his endeavors to promote social justice globally.<ref>{{cite news|last=Macdonald |first=Moira |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/movies/2017343454_mr27sing.html?prmid=head_main |title=Movies | 'Sing Your Song' recounts Harry Belafonte's life |newspaper=[[The Seattle Times]] |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> In 2011, Belafonte's memoir ''My Song'' was published by [[Knopf Books]].<ref name="wp-25nov2011">{{cite news |last1=Haygood |first1=Wil |title=Book review: ‘My Song,’ a memoir by Harry Belafonte |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/book-review-my-song-a-memoir-by-harry-belafonte/2011/10/17/gIQA4rjevN_story.html |access-date=April 25, 2023 |work=[[The Washington Post]] |date=November 25, 2011}}</ref>
===Involvement in the Civil Rights Movement===
[[File:Poitier Belafonte Heston Civil Rights March 1963.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Belafonte (center) at the 1963 [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom|Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C]] with [[Sidney Poitier]] (left) and [[Charlton Heston]]]]
Belafonte supported the [[Civil Rights Movement]] in the 1950s and 1960s and was one of [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]'s confidants.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Trott |first=Bill |date=April 25, 2023 |title=Harry Belafonte, who mixed music, acting, and activism, dies at 96 - NY Times |url=https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/harry-belafonte-who-mixed-music-acting-and-activism-dies-at-96-ny-times-0 |website=Nasdaq, Reuters}}</ref> He provided for King's family since King made only $8,000 a year as a preacher. Like many other civil rights activists, Belafonte was [[Hollywood blacklist|blacklisted]] during the [[McCarthyism|McCarthy era]]. During the 1963 [[Birmingham Campaign]], he bailed King out of [[Birmingham, Alabama]] City Jail and raised $50,000<ref>{{cite book
|last=King
|first=Martin Luther Jr.
|title=The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
|date=January 2001
|page=[https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofm00king_0/page/185 185]
|isbn=978-0-446-67650-2
|url-access=registration
|url=https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofm00king_0/page/185
}}</ref> to release other civil rights protesters. He contributed to the 1961 [[Freedom Rides]], supported [[voter registration drive]]s, and helped to organize the 1963 [[March on Washington]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Settle |first=Tracy Wilson, WaTeasa Freeman, Alexis Clark & Jimmy |title=Bigger than music: How Harry Belafonte contributed to Freedom Rides |url=https://www.theleafchronicle.com/story/news/2021/07/06/harry-belafonte-freedom-rides-music-activism-civil-rights/7727321002/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=The Leaf-Chronicle |language=en-US}}</ref>
During the "[[Freedom Summer|Mississippi Freedom Summer]]" of 1964, Belafonte bankrolled the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]], flying to [[Mississippi]] that August with Sidney Poitier and $60,000 in cash and entertaining crowds in [[Greenwood, Mississippi|Greenwood]].
In 1968, Belafonte appeared on a [[Petula Clark]] primetime television special on [[NBC]]. In the middle of a duet of ''On the Path of Glory'', Clark smiled and briefly touched Belafonte's arm,<ref>{{YouTube|gQXVjY1oqRo|title=Harry Belafonte with Petula Clark – On The Path Of Glory}}</ref> which prompted complaints from Doyle Lott, the advertising manager of the show's sponsor, [[Plymouth Motors]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=q2VYAAAAIBAJ&pg=6371%2C1119906 |title=Tempest in TV Tube Is Sparked by Touch |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |agency=AP |date=March 5, 1968 |newspaper=Spokane Daily Chronicle |access-date=July 25, 2016}}</ref> Lott wanted to retape the segment,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7AkeAAAAIBAJ&pg=5727%2C478890 |title=Bellafonte Hollers; Chrysler Says Everything's All Right |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |agency=UPI |date=March 7, 1968 |newspaper=The Dispatch |location=Lexington, North Carolina |access-date=July 25, 2016}}</ref> but Clark, who had ownership of the special, told NBC that the performance would be shown intact or she would not allow it to be aired at all. Newspapers reported the controversy,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6SVIAAAAIBAJ&pg=2374%2C536509 |title=Chrysler Rejects Charges Of Discrimination In Show |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |agency=AP |date=March 7, 1968 |newspaper=The Morning Record |location=Meriden–Wallingford, Connecticut |access-date=July 25, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=meVfAAAAIBAJ&pg=5089%2C1074881 |title=Belafonte says apologies can't change heart, color |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=March 16, 1968 |newspaper=The Afro American |access-date=July 25, 2016}}</ref> Lott was relieved of his responsibilities,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hz0xAAAAIBAJ&pg=7269%2C3917099 |title=Belafonte Ire Brings Penalty: Chrysler Official Apologizes To Star |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |agency=AP |date=March 11, 1968 |newspaper=Toledo Blade |access-date=July 25, 2016}}</ref> and when the special aired, it attracted high ratings.
In 2005, Belafonte founded [https://www.gatheringforjustice.org/ The Gathering for Justice] after he witnessed news reports of a 5-year-old Black girl, Jaiesha Scott, being handcuffed and arrested in her [[Florida]] classroom for “being unruly”. After dedicating his life to the Civil Rights movement, and seeing so many gains, he was struck in that moment with the distance left to go. The mission of The Gathering for Justice is to end child incarceration and eliminate the racial inequities that permeate the justice system. The Gathering for Justice has two state-based task forces, Justice League NYC (established in 2013) and Justice League California (established in 2017), both of which bring together juvenile and criminal justice experts, advocates, artists, and individuals who’ve experienced or been impacted by incarceration directly.
Belafonte taped an appearance on an episode of ''[[The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour]]'' to be aired on September 29, 1968, performing a controversial "[[Mardi Gras]]" number intercut with footage from the [[1968 Democratic National Convention]] riots. [[CBS]] censors deleted the segment. The full unedited content was broadcast in 1993 as part of a complete [[Smothers Brothers]] Hour syndication package.
=== Humanitarian activism ===
[[File:Harry Belafonte (left) with opera star Stacey Robinson in 1988.jpg|thumb|right|Belafonte (left) with activist and opera star Stacey Robinson in 1988.]]
In 1985, Belafonte helped organize the [[Grammy Awards|Grammy Award]]-winning song "[[We Are the World]]", a multi-artist effort to raise funds for Africa. He performed in the [[Live Aid]] concert that same year. In 1987, he received an appointment to [[UNICEF]] as a [[goodwill ambassador]]. Following his appointment, Belafonte traveled to [[Dakar]], [[Senegal]], where he served as chairman of the International Symposium of Artists and Intellectuals for African Children. He also helped to raise funds—alongside more than 20 other artists—in the largest concert ever held in [[sub-Saharan Africa]]. In 1994, he went on a mission to [[Rwanda]] and launched a media campaign to raise awareness of the needs of Rwandan children.<ref name=":0" />
In 2001, Belafonte went to South Africa to support the campaign against [[HIV/AIDS]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=CNN.com - Harry Belafonte on the AIDS crisis in Africa - June 26, 2001 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/06/26/Belafonte.cnna/index.html |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=www.cnn.com}}</ref> In 2002, [[Africare]] awarded him the [[Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award]] for his efforts to assist Africa.<ref name=time-25apr2023 /> In 2004, Belafonte went to [[Kenya]] to stress the importance of educating children in the region.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2004-02-16 |title=Harry Belafonte urges all countries to end school fees, UNICEF reports {{!}} UN News |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2004/02/94202 |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=news.un.org |language=en}}</ref>
Belafonte had been involved in [[prostate cancer]] advocacy since 1996, when he was diagnosed and successfully treated for the disease.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.phoenix5.org/stories/famous/Belafonte.html |title=Harry Belafonte and prostate cancer |publisher=Phoenix5.org |date=April 21, 1997 |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> On June 27, 2006, Belafonte was the recipient of the [[Black Entertainment Television|BET]] Humanitarian Award at the 2006 [[BET Awards]]. He was named one of nine 2006 Impact Award recipients by ''[[AARP The Magazine]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.aarpmagazine.org/people/impact_awards_bela.html |title=Feel Great. Save Money. Have Fun |magazine=AARP The Magazine |date=May 26, 2013 |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> On October 19, 2007, Belafonte represented [[UNICEF]] on Norwegian television to support the annual telethon ([http://www.tvaksjonen.no TV Aksjonen]) in support of that charity and helped raise a world record of $10 per inhabitant of [[Norway]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Harry Belafonte {{!}} UNICEF |url=https://www.unicef.org/goodwill-ambassadors/harry-belafonte |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=www.unicef.org |language=en}}</ref> Belafonte was also an ambassador for the [[Bahamas]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Harry Belafonte, EGOT Winner and Activist, Dead at 96 {{!}} Entertainment Tonight |url=https://www.etonline.com/harry-belafonte-egot-winner-and-activist-dead-at-96-116105 |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=www.etonline.com |language=en-US}}</ref> He sat on the board of directors of the Advancement Project.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.advancementproject.org |title=Advancement Project |publisher=Advancement Project |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> He also served on the Advisory Council of the [[Nuclear Age Peace Foundation]].
=== Political activism ===
{{American socialism |expanded=Activists}}
Belafonte was a longtime critic of [[U.S. foreign policy]]. He began making controversial political statements on this subject in the early 1980s. At various times he made statements opposing the U.S. embargo on [[Cuba]]; praising Soviet peace initiatives; attacking the [[U.S. invasion of Grenada]]; praising the [[Abraham Lincoln Brigade]]; honoring [[Ethel and Julius Rosenberg]]; and praising [[Fidel Castro]].<ref name=var-25apr2023 /><ref>{{Cite web |last=World |first=Special to People’s |date=2017-02-28 |title=This week in history: Singer/activist Harry Belafonte thriving at 90 |url=https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/this-week-in-history-singeractivist-harry-belafonte-thriving-at-90/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=People's World |language=en-US}}</ref> Belafonte is additionally known for his visit to Cuba which helped ensure [[hip-hop]]'s place in Cuban society. According to Geoffrey Baker's article "Hip hop, Revolucion! Nationalizing Rap in Cuba", in 1999, Belafonte met with representatives of the rap community immediately before meeting with Fidel Castro. This meeting resulted in Castro's personal approval of, and hence the government's involvement in, the incorporation of rap into his country's culture.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Baker | first = Geoffrey |title=¡Hip Hop, Revolución! Nationalizing Rap in Cuba |journal= Ethnomusicology | volume = 49 | pages = 368–402 | issue = 3 | url = https://www.jstor.org/stable/20174403 |date=Fall 2005 | jstor = 20174403 }}</ref> In a 2003 interview, Belafonte reflected upon this meeting's influence:
[[File:Harry Belafonte Civil Rights March 1963.jpg|thumb|left|Belafonte speaking at the 1963 [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom|Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C]]]]
"When I went back to [[Havana, Cuba|Havana]] a couple years later, the people in the hip-hop community came to see me and we hung out for a bit. They thanked me profusely and I said, 'Why?' and they said, 'Because your little conversation with Fidel and the Minister of Culture on hip-hop led to there being a special division within the ministry and we've got our own studio.'."<ref>{{cite news | last = Levinson | first = Sandra |title=An exclusive interview with Harry Belafonte on Cuba |work= Cuba Now | url = http://www.afrocubaweb.com/belafonte03interview.htm |access-date= October 25, 2003 }}</ref>
Belafonte was active in the [[Anti-Apartheid Movement]]. He was the Master of Ceremonies at a reception honoring [[African National Congress]] President [[Oliver Tambo]] at Roosevelt House, [[Hunter College]], in New York City. The reception was held by the American Committee on Africa (ACOA) and The Africa Fund.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://africanactivist.msu.edu/document_metadata.php?objectid=32-130-F4A |title=Reception Honoring Oliver R. Tambo, President, The African National Congress (South Africa) |website=[[African Activist Archive]] |publisher=Matrix |access-date=December 10, 2013}}</ref> He was a board member of the [[TransAfrica Forum]] and the [[Institute for Policy Studies]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ips-dc.org/about/trustees |title=Institute for Policy Studies: Trustees |publisher=Ips-dc.org |access-date=November 5, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311180901/http://www.ips-dc.org/about/trustees |archive-date=March 11, 2008 }}</ref>
===Opposition to the George W. Bush administration===
Belafonte achieved widespread attention for his political views in 2002 when he began making a series of comments about President [[George W. Bush]], his administration and the [[Iraq War]]. During an interview with [[Ted Leitner]] for [[San Diego]]'s 760 KFMB, on October 10, 2002, Belafonte referred to a quote made by [[Malcolm X]].<ref name=CNNpowell /> Belafonte said:
{{blockquote|There is an old saying, in the days of [[slavery]]. There were those slaves who lived on the plantation, and there were those [[House slave|slaves who lived in the house]]. You got the privilege of living in the house if you served the master, do exactly the way the master intended to have you serve him. That gave you privilege. [[Colin Powell]] is committed to come into the house of the master, as long as he would serve the master, according to the master's purpose. And when Colin Powell dares to suggest something other than what the master wants to hear, he will be turned back out to pasture. And you don't hear much from those who live in the pasture.}}
Belafonte used the quote to characterize former [[United States Secretary of State|United States Secretaries of State]] Colin Powell and [[Condoleezza Rice]]. Powell and Rice both responded, with Powell calling the remarks "unfortunate"<ref name=CNNpowell>{{cite news | url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/10/15/belafonte.powell/ | work=CNN | title=Belafonte won't back down from Powell slave reference | date=October 14, 2002 | access-date=May 4, 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091225224441/http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/10/15/belafonte.powell/ | archive-date=December 25, 2009 | df=mdy-all }}</ref> and Rice saying: "I don't need Harry Belafonte to tell me what it means to be black."<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,66288,00.html | work=Fox News | title=Powell, Rice Accused of Toeing the Line | date=October 22, 2002}}</ref>
[[File:Harry Belafonte-IPS.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Belafonte in 2003]]
The comment was brought up again in an interview with [[Amy Goodman]] for ''[[Democracy Now!]]'' in 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/30/157217&mode=thread&tid=25 |title=Harry Belafonte on Bush, Iraq, Hurricane Katrina and Having His Conversations with Martin Luther King Wiretapped by the FBI |website=Democracy Now!|access-date=November 5, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071116221213/http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06%2F01%2F30%2F157217&mode=thread&tid=25 |archive-date=November 16, 2007 }}</ref> In January 2006, Belafonte led a delegation of activists including actor [[Danny Glover]] and activist/professor [[Cornel West]] to meet with [[President of Venezuela]] [[Hugo Chávez]]. In 2005, Chávez, an outspoken Bush critic, initiated a program to provide cheaper [[heating oil]] for poor people in several areas of the United States. Belafonte supported this initiative.<ref>{{cite news| url= http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/01/08/2003288040 |title=Venezuela plans to expand program to provide cheap heating oil to US poor | newspaper= Taipei Times |date=October 29, 2013|access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> He was quoted as saying, during the meeting with Chávez, "No matter what the greatest tyrant in the world, the greatest [[terrorism|terrorist]] in the world, George W. Bush says, we're here to tell you: Not hundreds, not thousands, but millions of the American people support your revolution."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/10767465 |title=Belafonte calls Bush 'greatest terrorist' - World news - Americas|website=[[NBC News]] |date=January 8, 2006|access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> Belafonte and Glover met again with Chávez in 2006.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,214973,00.html | work=[[Fox News]] | title=Chavez Repeats 'Devil' Comment at Harlem Event | date=September 21, 2006}}</ref> The comment ignited a great deal of controversy. [[Hillary Clinton]] refused to acknowledge Belafonte's presence at an awards ceremony that featured both of them.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/382483p-324705c.html |location=New York |work=Daily News |title=Hillary's not wild about Harry |first=Katherine|last=Thomson|date=January 12, 2006| url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218064934/http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/382483p-324705c.html |archive-date=February 18, 2007 }}</ref> [[AARP]], which had just named him one of its 10 Impact Award honorees 2006, released this statement following the remarks: "AARP does not condone the manner and tone which he has chosen and finds his comments completely unacceptable."<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.aarp.org/research/press-center/presscurrentnews/harry_belafonte_comments.html |title= Harry Belafonte Comments |publisher=AARP.org |date=November 1, 2013 |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> During a [[Martin Luther King Jr. Day]] speech at [[Duke University]] in 2006, Belafonte compared the American government to the [[9/11 hijackers|hijackers]] of the [[September 11 attacks]], saying: "What is the difference between that terrorist and other terrorists?" <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/30/157217 |title=Harry Belafonte on Bush, Iraq, Hurricane Katrina and Having His Conversations with Martin Luther King Wiretapped by the FBI |website=[[Democracy Now!]]|access-date=November 5, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114183807/http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06%2F01%2F30%2F157217 |archive-date=November 14, 2007 }}</ref> In response to criticism about his remarks Belafonte asked, "What do you call Bush when the war he put us in to date has killed almost as many Americans as died on 9/11 and the number of Americans wounded in war is almost triple? ... By most definitions Bush can be considered a terrorist." When he was asked about his expectation of criticism for his remarks on the war in Iraq, Belafonte responded: "Bring it on. [[Dissent]] is central to any democracy."<ref>{{cite web |last=Williams |first=Brad |url=http://dailybeacon.utk.edu/showarticle.php?articleid=50447 |title=Audience applauds Belafonte |work=[[The Daily Beacon]] |publisher=University of Tennessee, Knoxville |date=September 13, 2006|access-date=November 5, 2013|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016110632/http://dailybeacon.utk.edu/showarticle.php?articleid=50447 |archive-date=October 16, 2007 }}</ref>
In another interview, Belafonte remarked that while his comments may have been "hasty", nevertheless he felt the Bush administration suffered from "arrogance wedded to ignorance" and its policies around the world were "[[morally bankrupt]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35313 |title=POLITICS-US: Belafonte on Thinking Outside the Ballot Box |publisher=Ipsnews.net |access-date=November 4, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220131219/http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35313 |archive-date=February 20, 2012 }}</ref> In January 2006, in a speech to the annual meeting of the Arts Presenters Members Conference, Belafonte referred to "the new [[Gestapo]] of [[Homeland Security]]," saying, "You can be arrested and have no [[right to counsel]]!"<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,182413,00.html | work=Fox News | title=Belafonte Blasts 'Gestapo' Security | date=January 23, 2006}}</ref> During the Martin Luther King Jr. Day speech at [[Duke University]] in [[Durham, North Carolina]] in January 2006, Belafonte said that if he could choose his [[epitaph]] it would be, "Harry Belafonte, Patriot".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.democracynow.org/2011/5/16/sing_your_song_harry_belafonte_on |title=''Sing Your Song'': Harry Belafonte on Art & Politics, Civil Rights & His Critique of President Obama |last1=Goodman |first1=Amy |website=[[Democracy Now!]]|date= May 16, 2011|access-date=December 10, 2013}}</ref>
In 2004, he was awarded the Domestic Human Rights Award in San Francisco by [[Global Exchange]].
===Obama administration===
[[File:Harry belafonte 0103.JPG|thumb|right|200px|Belafonte in 2013]]
In the 1950s, Belafonte was a supporter of the African American Students Foundation, which gave a grant to [[Barack Obama Sr.]], the late father of the 44th US president, [[Barack Obama]], to study at the [[University of Hawaii]] in 1959.<ref>{{Cite news|date=April 17, 2012|title=Barack Obama's father on colonial list of Kenyan students in US|url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/apr/18/barack-obama-father-colonial-list|access-date=June 17, 2020|newspaper=The Guardian|author-link=Richard Norton-Taylor|first=Richard|last=Norton-Taylor|language=en}}</ref>
In 2011, Belafonte commented on the [[Obama administration]] and the role which popular opinion played in shaping its policies. "I think [Obama] plays the game that he plays because he sees no threat from evidencing concerns for the poor."<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/26/harry_belafonte_on_obama_he_plays|title=Harry Belafonte on Obama: "He Plays the Game that He Plays Because He Sees No Threat from Evidencing Concerns for the Poor"|work=[[Democracy Now!]]|date=January 26, 2011}}</ref>
On December 9, 2012, in an interview with [[Al Sharpton]] on [[MSNBC]], Belafonte expressed dismay that many political leaders in the United States continue to oppose Obama’s policies even after his re-election: "The only thing left for Barack Obama to do is to work like a third-world dictator and just put all of these guys in jail. You're violating the American desire."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thegrio.com/2012/12/14/harry-belafonte-obama-should-work-like-a-third-world-dictator/|title=Harry Belafonte: Obama should 'work like a third world dictator'|author=Francis, Marquise|work=[[The Grio]]|publisher=MSNBC|date=December 14, 2012|access-date=June 20, 2013}}</ref>
On February 1, 2013, Belafonte received the [[NAACP]]'s [[Spingarn Medal]], and in the televised ceremony, he counted [[Constance L. Rice]] among those previous recipients of the award whom he regarded highly for speaking up "to remedy the ills of the nation".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-ZRo5ws44I |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/T-ZRo5ws44I| archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live|title=NAACP Image Awards | Harry Belafonte Speaks on Gun Control in Acceptance Speech | Feb 1, 2013 |via=YouTube |date=February 2, 2013 |access-date=February 19, 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
=== New York City Pride ===
In 2013, Belafonte was named a Grand Marshal of the New York City Pride Parade, alongside [[Edith Windsor|Edie Windsor]] and Earl Fowlkes.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.nycpride.org/uploads/press_releases/2013%20NYC%20Pride%20Grand%20Marshals.pdf|title = NYC Pride Press Release|website =Nycpride.org}}</ref>
===2016 presidential election===
In 2016, Belafonte endorsed Vermont U.S. Senator [[Bernie Sanders]] for the [[Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016|Democratic primaries]], saying: "I think he represents opportunity, I think he represents a moral imperative, I think he represents a certain kind of truth that's not often evidenced in the course of politics".<ref>{{citation|title = Harry Belafonte Endorses Bernie Sanders for President|url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NunNrElCRDs|date = February 11, 2016|access-date = February 11, 2016|last = Bernie 2016}}</ref>
Belafonte was an honorary co-chair of the [[2017 Women's March|Women's March on Washington]], which took place on January 21, 2017, the day after the [[inauguration of Donald Trump]] as president.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://time.com/4641011/gloria-steinem-harry-belafonte-on-activism-trump/|title=Gloria Steinem Harry Belafonte March on Washington VIDEO|last=Aneja|first=Arpita|date=January 21, 2017|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=March 30, 2017}}</ref>
=== The Sanders Institute ===
Belafonte was a fellow at [[The Sanders Institute]], which has a mission to "revitalize democracy by actively engaging individuals, organizations and the media in the pursuit of progressive solutions to economic, environmental, racial and social justice issues."<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.sandersinstitute.com/about/fellow/belafonte|title = Harry Belafonte - The Sanders Institute|website =sandersinstitute.com}}</ref>
==Business career==
Belafonte liked and often visited the Caribbean island of [[Bonaire]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://knipselkrant-curacao.com/tpo-ode-aan-bonaire-een-ongrijpbare-liefde-in-de-caraibische-branding/ |title=Ode aan Bonaire, een ongrijpbare liefde in de Caraïbische branding |website=ThePostOnline via Knipselkrant Curacao|access-date=May 3, 2021|language=nl}}</ref> He and Maurice Neme of [[Oranjestad, Aruba]], formed a joint venture to create a luxurious [[private community]] on Bonaire. On June 3, 1966, the construction of the neighbourhood started which was named [[Belnem]] after Belafonte and Neme.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/view?query=belnem&coll=ddd&identifier=ddd:010640638:mpeg21:a0057&resultsidentifier=ddd:010640638:mpeg21:a0057&rowid=3 |title=Belnemproject|website=Amigoe via Delpher.nl|date=April 21, 1981|access-date=May 3, 2021|language=nl}}</ref> The neighbourhood is managed by the Bel-Nem Caribbean Development Corporation. Belafonte and Neme served as its first directors.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.delpher.nl/nl/kranten/view?query=belnem&coll=ddd&page=1&facets%5Bperiode%5D%5B%5D=2%7C20e_eeuw%7C1960-1969%7C1966%7C&identifier=ddd:010462950:mpeg21:a0092&resultsidentifier=ddd:010462950:mpeg21:a0092&rowid=2 |title=Statuten Bel-Nem goedgekeurd|website=Amigoe di Curacao via Delpher.nl|date=June 29, 1966|access-date=May 3, 2021|language=nl}}</ref> In 2017, Belnem was home to 717 people.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/maatwerk/2018/17/bonaire-bevolkingscijfers-per-buurt |title=Bonaire, bevolkingscijfers per buurt|website=Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek|access-date=May 3, 2021|year=2017|language=nl}}</ref>
==Personal life==
[[File:Julie Belafonte 1998.jpg|thumb|upright|Second wife Julie Robinson in 1998]]
[[File:HarryPamelaBelafonteApr2011.jpg|thumb|upright|Belafonte with third wife Pamela in April 2011]]
Belafonte and Marguerite Byrd were married from 1948 to 1957. They had two daughters: Adrienne and [[Shari Belafonte]]. They separated when Byrd was pregnant with Shari.<ref name = people39/> Adrienne and her daughter Rachel Blue founded the Anir Foundation / Experience, focused on humanitarian work in southern Africa.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.anirfoundation.org/About_Anir.html |title=Anir Experience |publisher=Anir Foundation| access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> Shari is a photographer, model, singer, and actress and is married to actor [[Sam Behrens]].
In 1953, Belafonte was financially able to move from [[Washington Heights, Manhattan]], "into a white neighborhood in [[Elmhurst, Queens]]."<ref>[[Henry Louis Gates, Jr.|Gates Jr., Henry Louis]]. [http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1996/08/26/belafontes-balancing-act "Belafonte's Balancing Act"], ''[[The New Yorker]]'', August 26, 1996. Accessed March 19, 2019. "In 1953, enjoying his first real taste of affluence, Belafonte moved from Washington Heights into a white neighborhood in Elmhurst, Queens."</ref>
Belafonte had an affair with actress [[Joan Collins]] during the filming of [[Island in the Sun (film)|''Island in the Sun'']].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://parade.com/211568/erinhill/joan-collins-shares-steamy-details-of-affairs-with-harry-belafonte-and-warren-beatty/|title=Joan Collins Shares Steamy Details of Affairs with Harry Belafonte and Warren Beatty|last=Hill|first=Erin|date=October 14, 2013|website=Parade}}</ref>
On March 8, 1957, Belafonte married his second wife Julie Robinson, a former dancer with the [[Katherine Dunham Company]] who was of [[American Jews|Jewish]] descent.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bloom|first=Nate|title=Jewish Stars 11/18 |newspaper=[[Cleveland Jewish News]]|date=November 17, 2011|url=https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/archives/jewish-stars/article_7913ef9e-115a-11e1-a5a7-001cc4c03286.html|quote=His second wife, dancer Julie Robinson, to whom he was married from 1958-2004, is Jewish. They had a daughter Gina, 50, and a son David, 54}}</ref> They had two children, David and Gina. David, the only son of Harry Belafonte, is a former model and actor and is an [[Emmy Award|Emmy]]-winning and Grammy nominated music producer and the executive director of the family-held company Belafonte Enterprises Inc. As a music producer, David has been involved in most of Belafonte's albums and tours and productions. He is married to model and singer [[Malena Belafonte]] who toured with Belafonte. Gina Belafonte is a TV and film actress and worked with her father as coach and producer on more than six films. She now leads Sankofa, a non-profit established by her father to support political activism in the arts.<ref>{{cite web |title=SANKOFA |url=https://sankofa.org |website=sankofa.org |access-date=April 16, 2023}}</ref>
After 47 years of marriage,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/music/interview-harry-belafonte-singer-1-2321445 |title= Interview: Harry Belafonte, singer |first= James |last= Mottran |date= May 27, 2012 |work= The Scotsman }}</ref> Belafonte and Robinson divorced in 2004. In April 2008, Belafonte married photographer Pamela Frank.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/07/us/harry-belafonte-fast-facts/index.html |title=Harry Belafonte Fast Facts |publisher= CNN|date=July 7, 2013 |access-date = December 10, 2013}}</ref>
Belafonte had five grandchildren, Rachel and Brian, through his children with Marguerite Byrd, and Maria, Sarafina, and Amadeus through his children with Julie Robinson. In October 1998, Belafonte contributed a letter to [[Liv Ullmann]]'s book ''Letter to My Grandchild''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ullmann|first=Liv|title=Letter to My Grandchild|publisher=Atlantic Monthly Press|date=October 1998|isbn=0-87113-728-3}}</ref>
===Death===
On April 25, 2023, Belafonte died from [[congestive heart failure]] at his home on the [[Upper West Side]] of [[Manhattan]], at the age of 96.<ref name = Keepnews>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/25/arts/music/harry-belafonte-dead.html|title = Harry Belafonte, 96, Dies; Barrier-Breaking Singer, Actor and Activist|last = Keepnews|first = Peter|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]|date = April 25, 2023|accessdate = April 25, 2023|url-access = limited}}</ref>
==Discography==
{{further|Harry Belafonte discography}}
Belafonte released 30 studio albums and eight live albums, and achieved critical and commercial success.
==Filmography==
{{columns-list|colwidth=400px|
* ''[[Bright Road]]'' (1953)
* ''[[Carmen Jones (film)|Carmen Jones]]'' (1954)
* ''[[Island in the Sun (film)|Island in the Sun]]'' (1957)
* ''The Heart of Show Business'' (1957 short)
* ''[[The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959 film)|The World, the Flesh and the Devil]]'' (1959)
* ''[[Odds Against Tomorrow]]'' (1959)
* ''[[King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis]]'' (1970 documentary) (narrator)
* ''[[The Angel Levine]]'' (1970)
* ''[[Buck and the Preacher]]'' (1972)
* ''[[Uptown Saturday Night]]'' (1974)
* ''Fundi: The Story of [[Ella Baker]]'' (1981 documentary)
* ''A veces miro mi vida'' (1982)
* ''Drei Lieder'' (1983 short)
* ''Sag nein'' (1983 documentary)
* ''Der Schönste Traum'' (1984 documentary)
* ''We Shall Overcome'' (1989 documentary) (narrator)
* ''[[The Player (1992 film)|The Player]]'' (1992) (cameo)
* ''[[Prêt-à-Porter (film)|Ready to Wear]]'' (1994) (cameo)
* ''[[Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream]]'' (1995)
* ''[[White Man's Burden (film)|White Man's Burden]]'' (1995)
* ''Jazz '34'' (1996)
* ''[[Kansas City (1996 film)|Kansas City]]'' (1996)
* ''Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist'' (1998 documentary)
* ''Swing Vote'' (1999 TV movie)
* ''[[Fidel (2001 documentary)|Fidel]]'' (2001 documentary)
* ''XXI Century'' (2003 documentary)
* ''Conakry Kas'' (2003 documentary)
* ''Ladders'' (2004 documentary) (narrator)
* ''Mo & Me'' (2006 documentary)
* ''[[Bobby (2006 film)|Bobby]]'' (2006)
* ''[[Motherland (2010 film)|Motherland]]'' (2009 documentary)
* ''[[Sing Your Song]]'' (2011 documentary)
* ''Hava Nagila: The Movie'' (2013 documentary)
* ''[[BlacKkKlansman]]'' (2018)
* ''The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte hosts the Tonight Show '' (2020 documentary)}}
==Television work==
[[File:After Dark 11th June 1988.jpg|300px|right|thumb|Appearing (second from left) on British television discussion programme ''[[After Dark (TV programme)|After Dark]]'' in 1988]]
{{columns-list|colwidth=400px|
* ''[[Sugar Hill Times]]'' (1949–1950)
* ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' (1953-1964, 10 times)
* ''The Nat King Cole Show'' (1957)
* ''[[The Steve Allen Show]]'' (1958)<ref>[http://www.tv.com/shows/the-steve-allen-show/harry-belafonte-and-the-belafonte-singers-johnny-carson-martha-raye-676944/cast/ Cast] (Harry Belafonte and the Belafonte Singers; Johnny Carson; Martha Raye). ''The Steve Allen Show'' Season 4 Episode 9.</ref>
* ''Tonight With Belafonte'' (1959)
* ''1963 Round Table'' (1963)
* ''The Danny Kaye Show'' (1965)
* ''Petula'' (1968)
* ''[[The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour]]'' (1968)
* ''[[The Tonight Show]]'' (1968)
* ''A World in Music'' (1969)
* ''Harry & Lena, For The Love Of Life'' (1969)
* ''A World in Love'' (1970)
* ''[[The Flip Wilson Show]]'' (1973)
* ''[[Free to Be ... You and Me]]'' (1974)
* ''[[The Muppet Show]]'' (1978)
* ''[[Grambling's White Tiger]]'' (1981)
* ''Don't Stop The Carnival'' (1985)
* ''[[After Dark (TV series)|After Dark]]'' (1988) (extended appearance on political discussion programme, more [[After Dark (TV series)#Harry Belafonte, Denis Worrall and "South Africa"|here]])
* ''[[An Evening with Harry Belafonte and Friends]]'' (1997)
* ''Swing Vote'' (1999)
* ''[[PB&J Otter]]'' "The Ice Moose" (1999)
* ''[[Tanner on Tanner]]'' (2004)
* ''That's What I'm Talking About'' (2006) (miniseries)
* ''[[When the Levees Broke|When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts]]'' (2006) (miniseries)
* ''Speakeasy'', interviewing [[Carlos Santana]] (2015)<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Grow|first1=Kory|title=Roger Waters, John Mellencamp Choose Interviewers for 'Speakeasy' TV Show|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/roger-waters-john-mellencamp-choose-interviewers-new-speakeasy-tv-show-20150108|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=January 27, 2015|date=January 8, 2015}}</ref>
}}
==Concert videos==
* ''En Gränslös Kväll På Operan'' (1966)
* ''Don't Stop The Carnival'' (1985)
* ''Global Carnival'' (1988)
* ''[[An Evening with Harry Belafonte and Friends]]'' (1997)
==Stage work==
* ''John Murray Anderson's Almanac'' (1953)
* ''3 for Tonight'' (1955)
* ''Moonbirds'' (1959) (producer)
* ''Belafonte at the Palace'' (1959)
* ''Asinamali!'' (1987) (producer)
==Legacy==
Belafonte celebrated his 93rd birthday on March 1, 2020, at Harlem's [[Apollo Theater]] in a tribute event that concluded "with a thunderous audience singalong" with rapper [[Doug E. Fresh]] to 1956's "Banana Boat Song". Soon after, the New York Public Library's [[Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture]] announced it had acquired Belafonte's vast personal archive - a lifetime's worth of "photographs, recordings, films, letters, artwork, clipping albums," etc.<ref name="Schomburg archive">{{cite news |last1=Schuessler |first1=Jennifer |title=A Great Day-O for Black Culture |issue=Arts pp C1, C3 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=March 14, 2020}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[List of peace activists]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |last1=Sharlet |first1= Jeff|year= 2013|title=Voice and Hammer |journal=[[Virginia Quarterly Review]] |issue=Fall 2013 |pages= 24–41|url= http://www.vqronline.org/articles/2013/fall/sharlet-belafonte/|access-date=October 4, 2013}}
* Smith, Judith. ''Becoming Belafonte: Black Artist, Public Radical''. University of Texas Press, 2014. {{ISBN|0292729146}}, {{ISBN|9780292729148}}.
* Wise, James. ''Stars in Blue: Movie Actors in America's Sea Services''. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1997. {{ISBN|1557509379}}. {{OCLC|36824724}}.
==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
*[https://snccdigital.org/people/harry-belafonte/ SNCC Digital Gateway: Harry Belafonte], Documentary website created by the SNCC Legacy Project and Duke University, telling the story of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee & grassroots organizing from the inside-out
*{{IMDb name}}
*[https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/12907%7C66480/Harry-Belafonte Harry Belafonte] at the [[Turner Classic Movies|TCM Movie Database]]
*{{IBDB name}}
*{{iobdb name}}
*{{Discogs artist|Harry Belafonte}}
*{{C-SPAN}}
{{Harry Belafonte|state=expanded}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Harry Belafonte
|list =
{{EmmyAward VarietyPerformance 1959–1973}}
{{Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award}}
{{Kennedy Center Honorees 1980s}}
{{NAACP Image Award – Chairman's Award}}
{{National Medal of Arts recipients 1990s}}
{{2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame}}
{{Spingarn Medal}}
{{TonyAward MusicalFeaturedActor 1947-1975}}
{{Billboard Year-End number one albums 1956–1969}}
}}
{{EGOT winners}}
{{Civil rights movement}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belafonte, Harry}}
[[Category:1927 births]]
[[Category:2023 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
[[Category:20th-century American male singers]]
[[Category:21st-century American memoirists]]
[[Category:African-American Catholics]]
[[Category:American anti-war activists]]
[[Category:American feminists]]
[[Category:American folk singers]]
[[Category:American male film actors]]
[[Category:American male stage actors]]
[[Category:American musicians of Jamaican descent]]
[[Category:American people of Dutch-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:American people of Martiniquais descent]]
[[Category:American people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:American people of Sephardic-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:American socialists]]
[[Category:American world music musicians]]
[[Category:Calypsonians]]
[[Category:Deaths from congestive heart failure]]
[[Category:Donaldson Award winners]]
[[Category:Feminist musicians]]
[[Category:George Washington Educational Campus alumni]]
[[Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners]]
[[Category:Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award winners]]
[[Category:Jubilee Records artists]]
[[Category:Kennedy Center honorees]]
[[Category:Male feminists]]
[[Category:Military personnel from New York City]]
[[Category:New York (state) socialists]]
[[Category:People from Elmhurst, Queens]]
[[Category:People from Harlem]]
[[Category:People from the Upper West Side]]
[[Category:People from Washington Heights, Manhattan]]
[[Category:Primetime Emmy Award winners]]
[[Category:RCA Victor artists]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Four Freedoms Award]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo]]
[[Category:Spingarn Medal winners]]
[[Category:The New School alumni]]
[[Category:Tony Award winners]]
[[Category:UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors]]
[[Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients]]
[[Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:United States Navy sailors]]
[[Category:Activists for African-American civil rights]]' |
Unified diff of changes made by edit (edit_diff ) | '@@ -76,5 +76,5 @@
In 1978 he was a guest star on an episode of ''[[The Muppet Show]]'', on which he performed his signature song "Day-O". However, the episode is best known for Belafonte's rendition of the spiritual song "Turn the World Around", from the album of the same name, which he performed with specially made Muppets that resembled African tribal masks.<ref name=time-25apr2023>{{Cite magazine |date=April 25, 2023 |last=Chow |first=Andrew R. |title=Harry Belafonte, Trailblazing Performer and Fierce Civil Rights Activist, Dies |url=https://time.com/5750832/harry-belafonte-dies/ |access-date=April 25, 2023 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name="ob-25apr2023">{{cite news |last1=Duquette |first1=Michael |title=Harry Belafonte: The Icon’s Life In Music, Movies and TV |url=https://observer.com/2023/04/harry-belafonte-the-icons-life-in-music-movies-and-tv/ |access-date=April 25, 2023 |work=[[Observer.com|Observer]] |date=April 25, 2023}}</ref> It became one of the series' most famous performances and was reportedly [[Jim Henson]]'s favorite episode. After Henson's death in May 1990, Belafonte was asked to perform the song at Henson's memorial service.<ref name="ob-25apr2023" /><ref name="avc-25apr2023">{{cite news |last1=McLevy |first1=Alex |title=R.I.P. Harry Belafonte, actor, singer, and Civil Rights icon |url=https://www.avclub.com/rip-harry-belafonte-musician-and-civil-rights-activist-1850372680 |access-date=April 25, 2023 |work=[[The A.V. Club]] |date=April 25, 2023}}</ref> "Turn the World Around" was also included in the 2005 official hymnal supplement of the [[Unitarian Universalist Association]], ''Singing the Journey''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.uua.org/publications/singingjourney/songinformation/93778.shtml |title=Song Information |publisher=UUA |date=April 9, 2012 |access-date=November 5, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101012095016/http://www.uua.org/publications/singingjourney/songinformation/93778.shtml |archive-date=October 12, 2010 }}</ref>
[[File:Harry Belafonte 1983.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Belafonte performing in 1983]]
-Belafonte's involvement in [[USA for Africa]] during the mid-1980s resulted in renewed interest in his music, culminating in a record deal with [[EMI]]. He subsequently released his first album of original material in over a decade, ''[[Paradise in Gazankulu]]'', in 1988. The album contains ten protest songs against the South African former [[Apartheid]] policy and is his last studio album. In the same year Belafonte, as [[UNICEF]] Goodwill Ambassador, attended a symposium in [[Harare, Zimbabwe]], to focus attention on child survival and development in Southern African countries. As part of the symposium, he performed a concert for UNICEF. A [[Kodak]] video crew filmed the concert, which was released as a 60-minute concert video titled "Global Carnival".
+Belafonte's involvement in [[USA for Africa]] during the mid-1980s resulted in renewed interest in his music, culminating in a record deal with [[EMI]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hlzzkd_S174C&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA175&dq=Belafonte's+involvement+in+USA+for+Africa+during+the+mid-1980s+resulted+in+renewed+interest+in+his+music,+culminating+in+a+record+deal+with+EMI.&hl=en |title=Why I Am So Proud to Be a Black Man: The Many Reasons to Uplift and Celebrate Our Uniqueness in the Universe |last2=C |first2=Ms |date=March 2013 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=978-1-4759-7928-2 |language=en}}</ref> He subsequently released his first album of original material in over a decade, ''[[Paradise in Gazankulu]]'', in 1988, and contained ten protest songs against the South African former [[Apartheid]] policy, and was his last studio album.<ref>{{Citation |title=Harry Belafonte - Paradise in Gazankulu Album Reviews, Songs & More {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/paradise-in-gazankulu-mw0000200433 |access-date=2023-04-25 |language=en}}</ref> In the same year Belafonte, as [[UNICEF]] Goodwill Ambassador, attended a symposium in [[Harare, Zimbabwe]], to focus attention on child survival and development in Southern African countries. As part of the symposium, he performed a concert for UNICEF. A [[Kodak]] video crew filmed the concert, which was released as a 60-minute concert video titled "Global Carnival".
Following a lengthy recording hiatus, ''[[An Evening with Harry Belafonte and Friends]]'', a soundtrack and video of a televised concert, were released in 1997 by [[Island Records]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Heckman |first=Don |date=1997-03-01 |title=Forever the Renaissance Man |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-03-01-ca-33507-story.html |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> ''[[The Long Road to Freedom: An Anthology of Black Music]]'', a huge multi-artist project recorded by RCA during the 1960s and 1970s, was finally released by the label in 2001. Belafonte went on the ''[[Today (American TV program)|Today Show]]'' to promote the album on September 11, 2001, and was interviewed by [[Katie Couric]] just minutes before the first plane hit the [[World Trade Center (1973–2001)|World Trade Center]].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://archive.org/details/nbc200109110831-0912 | title=NBC Sept. 11, 2001 8:31 am - 9:12 am| date=September 11, 2001|publisher=Internet Archive | access-date=January 10, 2016}}</ref> The album was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Awards for Best Boxed Recording Package, for Best Album Notes, and for Best Historical Album.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-25 |title=Appreciation: Harry Belafonte, dead at 96, championed 'Long Road to Freedom' in his music and his life |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/music/story/2023-04-25/appreciation-harry-belafonte-dead-at-96 |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=San Diego Union-Tribune |language=en-US}}</ref>
@@ -102,5 +102,5 @@
==Political and humanitarian activism==
[[File:Kung king belafonte.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Belafonte with King [[Gustav VI Adolf]] and [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] in 1964]]
-Belafonte is said to have married politics and pop culture.<ref name = people39>{{cite magazine |url= https://people.com/celebrity/tribute-to-black-icons-by-their-family-members/ |title= A Tribute to Black Icons — from Harry Belafonte to Whitney Houston — by the Family Members Who Know Them Best |magazine= [[People (magazine)|People]] |date= February 21, 2022 }}</ref> Belafonte's political beliefs were greatly inspired by the singer, actor, and civil rights activist [[Paul Robeson]], who mentored him.<ref name="aaj-31jul2022">{{cite web |last1=Passarella |first1=Christine |title=Harry Belafonte: Humanitarian, Social Justice Leader and Artist Extraordinaire |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/harry-belafonte-humanitarian-social-justice-leader-and-artist-extraordinaire |website=[[All About Jazz]] |access-date=April 25, 2023 |date=July 31, 2022}}</ref> Robeson opposed not only racial prejudice in the United States but also western [[colonialism]] in Africa. He{{who|Robeson or Belafonte?|date=December 2022}} refused to perform in the American South from 1954 until 1961.
+Belafonte is said to have married politics and pop culture.<ref name = people39>{{cite magazine |url= https://people.com/celebrity/tribute-to-black-icons-by-their-family-members/ |title= A Tribute to Black Icons — from Harry Belafonte to Whitney Houston — by the Family Members Who Know Them Best |magazine= [[People (magazine)|People]] |date= February 21, 2022 }}</ref> Belafonte's political beliefs were greatly inspired by the singer, actor, and civil rights activist [[Paul Robeson]], who mentored him.<ref name="aaj-31jul2022">{{cite web |last1=Passarella |first1=Christine |title=Harry Belafonte: Humanitarian, Social Justice Leader and Artist Extraordinaire |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/harry-belafonte-humanitarian-social-justice-leader-and-artist-extraordinaire |website=[[All About Jazz]] |access-date=April 25, 2023 |date=July 31, 2022}}</ref> Robeson opposed not only racial prejudice in the United States but also western [[colonialism]] in Africa. Belafonte refused to perform in the American South from 1954 until 1961.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Simmons |first=Charlotte |date=2023-04-25 |title=Actor, singer, and activist Harry Belafonte dies at 96 |url=https://wegotthiscovered.com/celebrities/actor-singer-and-activist-harry-belafonte-dies-at-96/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=We Got This Covered |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 1960, Belafonte appeared in a campaign commercial for [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] Presidential candidate [[John F. Kennedy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1960/harry-belafonte |title=Commercials - 1960 - Harry Belafonte |website=The Living Room Candidate |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> Kennedy later named Belafonte cultural advisor to the [[Peace Corps]]. Belafonte supported [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] for the [[1964 United States presidential election]].<ref>Jet, October 1, 1964</ref>
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0 => 'Belafonte's involvement in [[USA for Africa]] during the mid-1980s resulted in renewed interest in his music, culminating in a record deal with [[EMI]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hlzzkd_S174C&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA175&dq=Belafonte's+involvement+in+USA+for+Africa+during+the+mid-1980s+resulted+in+renewed+interest+in+his+music,+culminating+in+a+record+deal+with+EMI.&hl=en |title=Why I Am So Proud to Be a Black Man: The Many Reasons to Uplift and Celebrate Our Uniqueness in the Universe |last2=C |first2=Ms |date=March 2013 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=978-1-4759-7928-2 |language=en}}</ref> He subsequently released his first album of original material in over a decade, ''[[Paradise in Gazankulu]]'', in 1988, and contained ten protest songs against the South African former [[Apartheid]] policy, and was his last studio album.<ref>{{Citation |title=Harry Belafonte - Paradise in Gazankulu Album Reviews, Songs & More {{!}} AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/paradise-in-gazankulu-mw0000200433 |access-date=2023-04-25 |language=en}}</ref> In the same year Belafonte, as [[UNICEF]] Goodwill Ambassador, attended a symposium in [[Harare, Zimbabwe]], to focus attention on child survival and development in Southern African countries. As part of the symposium, he performed a concert for UNICEF. A [[Kodak]] video crew filmed the concert, which was released as a 60-minute concert video titled "Global Carnival".',
1 => 'Belafonte is said to have married politics and pop culture.<ref name = people39>{{cite magazine |url= https://people.com/celebrity/tribute-to-black-icons-by-their-family-members/ |title= A Tribute to Black Icons — from Harry Belafonte to Whitney Houston — by the Family Members Who Know Them Best |magazine= [[People (magazine)|People]] |date= February 21, 2022 }}</ref> Belafonte's political beliefs were greatly inspired by the singer, actor, and civil rights activist [[Paul Robeson]], who mentored him.<ref name="aaj-31jul2022">{{cite web |last1=Passarella |first1=Christine |title=Harry Belafonte: Humanitarian, Social Justice Leader and Artist Extraordinaire |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/harry-belafonte-humanitarian-social-justice-leader-and-artist-extraordinaire |website=[[All About Jazz]] |access-date=April 25, 2023 |date=July 31, 2022}}</ref> Robeson opposed not only racial prejudice in the United States but also western [[colonialism]] in Africa. Belafonte refused to perform in the American South from 1954 until 1961.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Simmons |first=Charlotte |date=2023-04-25 |title=Actor, singer, and activist Harry Belafonte dies at 96 |url=https://wegotthiscovered.com/celebrities/actor-singer-and-activist-harry-belafonte-dies-at-96/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=We Got This Covered |language=en-US}}</ref> '
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0 => 'Belafonte's involvement in [[USA for Africa]] during the mid-1980s resulted in renewed interest in his music, culminating in a record deal with [[EMI]]. He subsequently released his first album of original material in over a decade, ''[[Paradise in Gazankulu]]'', in 1988. The album contains ten protest songs against the South African former [[Apartheid]] policy and is his last studio album. In the same year Belafonte, as [[UNICEF]] Goodwill Ambassador, attended a symposium in [[Harare, Zimbabwe]], to focus attention on child survival and development in Southern African countries. As part of the symposium, he performed a concert for UNICEF. A [[Kodak]] video crew filmed the concert, which was released as a 60-minute concert video titled "Global Carnival".',
1 => 'Belafonte is said to have married politics and pop culture.<ref name = people39>{{cite magazine |url= https://people.com/celebrity/tribute-to-black-icons-by-their-family-members/ |title= A Tribute to Black Icons — from Harry Belafonte to Whitney Houston — by the Family Members Who Know Them Best |magazine= [[People (magazine)|People]] |date= February 21, 2022 }}</ref> Belafonte's political beliefs were greatly inspired by the singer, actor, and civil rights activist [[Paul Robeson]], who mentored him.<ref name="aaj-31jul2022">{{cite web |last1=Passarella |first1=Christine |title=Harry Belafonte: Humanitarian, Social Justice Leader and Artist Extraordinaire |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/harry-belafonte-humanitarian-social-justice-leader-and-artist-extraordinaire |website=[[All About Jazz]] |access-date=April 25, 2023 |date=July 31, 2022}}</ref> Robeson opposed not only racial prejudice in the United States but also western [[colonialism]] in Africa. He{{who|Robeson or Belafonte?|date=December 2022}} refused to perform in the American South from 1954 until 1961. '
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