Harry belafonte life biography

His spokesperson said the cause of death was congestive heart failure. The Biography. We have worked as daily newspaper reporters, major national magazine editors, and as editors-in-chief of regional media publications. Among our ranks are book authors and award-winning journalists. Our staff also works with freelance writers, researchers, and other contributors to produce the smart, compelling profiles and articles you see on our site.

Marcus Garvey. The 13 Most Memorable Inauguration Performances. Martin Luther King Jr. Nikki Giovanni. Malcolm X. Kamala Harris. Donald Glover. Jump to: Who Was Harry Belafonte? Getty Images Harry Belafonte performs a song at a recording studio, circa Watch Next. The couple shared two children, Gina and David. After nearly five decades together, they divorced in Four years later, inBelafonte wed Pamela Frank, a photographer.

His music brought joy to millions, and his activism brought hope to countless more. While he shined in the limelight, he never shied away from the challenges of confronting systemic racism and advocating for change. Harry Belafonte, an iconic performer and activist, garnered an impressive array of awards throughout his career. In addition to his musical accomplishments, Belafonte won an Emmy and a Tony Award.

The icing on the cake came inwhen he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. These are just a few of the most frequently asked harries belafonte life biography about legendary musician, actor and civil rights activist:. After serving in the U. Navy during the mids, he studied drama in New York. A singing role eventually propelled him into nightclub performances and a recording contract.

In the s, Harry Belafonte became a pivotal figure in popularizing folk and calypso music. In the former, he starred alongside American actor Gower Carlyle Champion — The work, which was his third studio album, went on to be his second consecutive number-one album on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart. About six decades after its release, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

His diverse musical repertoire spanned blues, folk, gospel, show tunes, and American standards. The latter is from his studio album, An Evening with Belafonte. Harry Belafonte was not just an iconic entertainer; he was a fervent advocate for civil rights. During the s and s, Belafonte stood shoulder to shoulder with Dr. Inspired by Paul Robeson and King, Belafonte said they shaped his backbone and nourished his soul, respectively.

He co-starred alongside Dorothy Dandridge. Fred Watkins Jr. Johnson Publishing Company Archive. Courtesy J. While primarily known for Calypso, Belafonte recorded in many different genres, including blues and jazz. Belafonte focused on the important issues of racism, poverty and oppression, not only among the African American community, but also around the world.

Harry Belafonte pictured with civil rights legends Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Moneta Sleet Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Isaac Sutton.

Harry belafonte life biography: › Lifestyles & Social Issues

Belafonte was also deeply involved in Hands Across America, an outgrowth organization benefiting hungry and homeless Americans. His first humanitarian odyssey in that position brought him to Dakar, Senegal, where he served as head of a four-day symposium in which African intellectuals and artists strove to publicize and consider solutions to the variegated problems besetting children on that continent.

His commitment to the survival and health of third-world children led Ebony magazine to dub him "The Children's Patron Saint" and a " prime minister of hope," and earned him the Danny Kaye Award by the U. As an outspoken critic of South Africa 's apartheid government, Belafonte orchestrated a burst of artistic, if not political, liberation with the release of his critically acclaimed album Paradise in Gazankulu.

Because of his arrest years earlier during an antiapartheid protest outside the South African embassy in Washington, DC, his advocacy of strict international economic sanctions, and his repeated calls for the release of then imprisoned African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela, Belafonte was considered a persona non grata—unaccepted or unwelcomed—in South Africa and could not go to that country to work on the album.

Belafonte was a host for the World Summit for Children, which was held in September of at the United Nations UNwhere world leaders and social workers met to discuss and debate the current state of children's issues. Leaders of the summit produced the World Declaration for the Survival, Protection, and Development of Children, a document that codified the goals of UN members toward protecting children's rights across the globe.

The effects of the World Summit translated into direct legislative efforts in many countries to enhance legal and social services for children. In he received the National Medal of the Arts for his lifetime achievements in both film and music. He continued performing and acting throughout the s, often winning critical acclaim for his performances.

In he appeared in the racial drama White Man's Burden ; he also appeared in the Robert Altman film Kansas Cityin which he portrayed "Seldom Seen," the head of a criminal organization in Altman's stylized homage to Kansas City 's underworld of the s. In Belafonte was honored with a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement. After the election of George W.

Bush inBelafonte emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of the Bush administration. Belafonte's remarks brought sharp criticism from both the White House and supporters of the Bush administration, who harried belafonte life biography Belafonte as a "celebrity liberal" whose accusations were uninformed. The incident elevated Belafonte's activism to the national stage as both Belafonte and Powell were asked to comment on a number of television and radio programs.

Belafonte refused to apologize for his characterization of Powell and expanded his criticisms to other African Americans in the administration. In Belafonte joined a group of activists and scholars that met with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez to discuss Chavez's leadership, the state of democracy in Venezuela, and the Bush administration's opposition to Chavez's government.

In interviews given during the meeting, Belafonte defended the "socialist revolution" in Venezuela and characterized Bush as a "tyrant" and "terrorist," who was attempting to portray Chavez as a dictator for political benefit. Despite the controversy surrounding his political activities, Belafonte's activism continued to win him praise from within the African-American community.

In Belafonte was honored by Black Entertainment Television with the Humanitarian Award for his passionate and multifaceted services to African Americans. When he accepted the award, E! Online quoted him as saying, "This award doesn't just touch vanity.

Harry belafonte life biography: Harry Belafonte was an American singer,

It is a validation of what I stand for, what Paul Robeson stood for. It's a validation of what W. Dubois stood for, what Malcolm X and Dr. King stood for. Harry Belafonte borntriumphed over a difficult childhood and racial barriers, as an African American growing up in the United States. His songs were extremely popular in middle class American households in the mids, and helped to popularize calypso music throughout the world.

Harry Belafonte stands out as one of the best-loved singers and entertainers of the 20th century. His dream began in Decemberwhen he saw his first play and enrolled in acting classes with Marlon Brando and Walter Matthau. Inhe sang for the first time at New York 's Royal Roost. This appearance opened the way to his first recording contract.

Later, a two-week singing engagement at the Village Vanguard, a showcase for the premier blues, jazz, and folk artists of the s and s, was extended to weeks.

Harry belafonte life biography: Harry Belafonte .

From that point, both Hollywood and Broadway took notice. Belafonte made an impact on screen, in addition to his recordings and stage performance. These achievements assisted him in his most vital passion: the civil rights cause. However much he loved to sing or act, Belafonte was most grateful for the access it gave him to large audiences, with whom he could make the biggest impact.

By the end of the s, he worked as a director and producer on film projects, breaking racial barriers and creating new opportunities for African Americans in the entertainment industry. Harold George Belafonte, Jr. He was baptized as an infant into the Roman Catholic faith. His father, Harold, Sr. His mother, Melvine Love, was from Jamaica.

Both were products of racially mixed marriages. In Arnold Shaw's biography, Belafonte, the singer explained: "On both sides of my family, my aunts and uncles intermarried. If you could see my whole family congregated together, you would see every tonality of harry belafonte life biography, from the darkest black, like my Uncle Hyne, to the ruddiest white, like my Uncle Eric, a Scotsman.

His father was gone often, working for British merchant boats as a chef. When Belafonte was six, his father left his mother for a white woman, which was thought to have added to his own hostility toward whites as a child. At the age of nine, his mother sent him and his brother to her native Kingston, Jamaica, where she thought it would be safer than the restless streets of a poverty-stricken, Depression-era Harlem.

There he attended private British boarding schools, where caning for misbehavior was a common practice. As a boy with darker skin, he was not always treated well by his lighter-skinned relatives. Still, he enjoyed the sounds of calypso music, which would influence his later career. In Shaw's biography, Belafonte noted his thoughts about of life in Jamaica: "I still have the impression of an environment that sang.

Nature sang and the people sang, too. The streets of Kingston constantly rang with the songs of piping peddlers or politicians drumming up votes in the lilting singsong of the island. I loved it. I loved also night gazing. I used to climb up a mango tree and lie back and munch mangoes and gaze through the leaves at the star-filled sky.

Inhe left school to join the Navy. That same year, he met his first wife, Margurite Byrd. Belafonte married Byrd on June 18, They had two daughters, Adrienne and Shari. Shari would grow up to be an actress. The troubled marriage eventually ended in divorce. InBelafonte married Julie Robinson. They had a son, David, and a daughter, Gina. Gina became an actress, as well, starring in the s hit television series, "The Commish.

Belafonte first studied acting at a dramatic workshop affiliated with the New School for Social Research and run by German director, Erwin Piscator. Belafonte's recording of "Calypso," with RCA Victor inwas the first recording ever to sell over one million copies. That same year he won a Tony award on Broadway for his performance in a musical revue, "Three for Tonight.

Carmen Jones, was the first movie with an entirely black cast to become a box office success. I'm the guy in the cutaway shirt and the tight pants, the guy doing all those catchy songs. People have always brought this image of me into the theater with them, and no matter what I've felt internally, they just wouldn't buy a lot of the things I was trying to project.

Whether Belafonte appeared on television, film or live concerts, the American public was unaware of his anger. He received Grammy awards for recordings in, and Inhe was recognized as a Kennedy Center Honoree, the annual award recognizing careers of distinction in the arts. His complete recording history numbers in the thousands. His soft melodic voice crossed any barriers of racial prejudice, whether or not he approached that subject directly.

After completing work on the light-hearted comedy, "Uptown Saturday Night" inBelafonte made few films, until he was approached by director Robert Altman in