News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Tues. April 24, 2023: The man who the world came to know as the legendary actor, singer and activist, Harry Belafonte, who passed away on April 25, 2023, from congestive heart failure at his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, at the age of 96, was actually born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.
He was born on March 1, 1927, in Harlem, New York to a Martinique born father, Harold George Bellanfanti Sr., and a Jamaican mother, Melvine Love. His father worked as a chef while his mother was a dress maker.
His mom – who was not authorized to live in the US – later changed the family name to Belafonte to avoid the immigration authorities.
In 1936, Harry, his mother and his younger brother, Dennis, moved to Jamaica. Unable to find work there, his mother soon returned to New York, leaving him and his brother to be looked after by relatives who, he later recalled, were either “unemployed or above the law.” There he attended Wolmer’s Boys School. He did not return to the US until he was 13.
Upon returning to New York City, he attended George Washington High School after which he joined the Navy and served during World War II. Belafonte’s Caribbean roots would play a significant role in shaping his identity and his career.
Growing up in poverty, Belafonte’s childhood was marked by a deep sense of cultural identity and pride in his Jamaican heritage. He was introduced to the music of the Caribbean at a young age and developed a passion for calypso, a genre that originated in Trinidad and Tobago and was characterized by its upbeat rhythms and lyrics that often spoke to social and political issues.
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 began taking classes in acting at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School in New York with the influential German director Erwin Piscator alongside Caribbean born actor Sidney Poitier, Marlon Brando, Tony Curtis, Walter Matthau and Bea Arthur, while performing with the American Negro Theater.
To pay for his acting classes, Belafonte started his career in music as a club singer in New York. 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.
Belafonte’s love for calypso music would eventually become his ticket to fame. In the 1950s and 1960s, he rose to prominence as a singer of calypso, with hits like “Banana Boat Song (Day-O)” and “Jump in the Line.” His music not only entertained audiences but also provided a voice for the Caribbean community in America and beyond.
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. He signed a contract with RCA Victor in 1953, recording regularly for the label until 1974.
He almost single-handedly ignited a craze for Caribbean music with hit records like “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” and “Jamaica Farewell.” His album “Calypso,” which included both those songs, reached the top of the Billboard album chart shortly after its release in 1956 and stayed there for 31 weeks. Coming just before the breakthrough of Elvis Presley, it was said to be the first album by a single artist to sell more than a million copies.
In 1953 Belafonte made his film debut in Bright Road, playing a school principal. The following year he was the male lead (but did not sing) in the musical Carmen Jones; his costar was Dorothy Dandridge. The film was a huge success, and it led to a starring role in the film Island in the Sun (1957), which also featured Dandridge. He produced the film Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), in which he starred. He also starred in the TV special Tonight with Belafonte (1959), a revue of African American music; Belafonte won an Emmy Award for his work on the show.
In addition to his music career, Belafonte was a prominent civil rights activist. He used his platform to advocate for racial justice, drawing inspiration from the struggles of his fellow Caribbean immigrants who faced discrimination and inequality in America. He was a close friend of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and played a key role in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, participating in the March on Washington in 1963 and helping to fund the Freedom Rides.
He provided money to bail Dr. King and other civil rights activists out of jail. He took part in the March on Washington in 1963. His spacious apartment on West End Avenue in Manhattan became Dr. King’s home away from home. And he quietly maintained an insurance policy on Dr. King’s life, with the King family as the beneficiary, and donated his own money to make sure that the family was taken care of after Dr. King was assassinated in 1968.
Belafonte was active in African humanitarian efforts, notably appearing on the charity song “We Are the World” (1985). In 1987 he became a UNICEF goodwill ambassador. He received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2014. In 2022 Belafonte was selected for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Belafonte’s legacy as a musician, activist, and actor was shaped by his Caribbean immigrant roots. His music and activism not only entertained and inspired but also gave voice to marginalized communities and challenged the status quo. “About my own life, I have no complaints,” he wrote in his autobiography. “Yet the problems faced by most Americans of color seem as dire and entrenched as they were half a century ago.”
Belafonte also made headlines for his opposition of the Iraq War, similar to his opposition of the Vietnam War decades before. In 2006, he called President George W. Bush, “The greatest terrorist in the world.”
The music legend made headlines again in 2016 after the campaign of (at the time) presidential hopeful Donald Trump lit a fire under the civil rights activist. He served as co-chair for the national Women’s March protest against Trump in 2017.
When he was interviewed at the time, Belafonte said, “I’m playing a role that I feel equipped and I feel knowledgeable about. I’m going to be 90 years old in a couple of weeks, and I think that to be of mind and capacity to be able to still contribute to helping to make our union a better place, to help our country become a better place, is a joyous task.”
Belafonte is survived by his children: Adrienne Biesemeyer and Shari Belafonte from his first wife Marguerite Byrd; Gina Belafonte and David from his second wife Julie Robinson; and eight grandchildren. He also has a stepdaughter, Sarah Frank; a stepson, Lindsey Frank; and three step-grandchildren with his third wife, Pamela Frank.
