Harry Belafonte

Acting · 1.1 popularity

Age

Movies

Born: March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023
From: New York City, New York, USA

Biography

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. Belafonte is one of the few performers to have received an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT), although he won the Oscar in a non-competitive category. He earned his career breakthrough with the album Calypso (1956), which was the first million-selling LP by a single artist. Belafonte was best known for his recordings of "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)", "Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)", "Jamaica Farewell", and "Mary's Boy Child". He recorded and performed in many genres, including blues, folk, gospel, show tunes, and American standards. He also starred in films such as Carmen Jones (1954), Island in the Sun (1957), Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), Buck and the Preacher (1972), and Uptown Saturday Night (1974). He made his final screen appearance in Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman (2018). 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. He was a vocal critic of the policies of the George W. Bush and Donald Trump administrations. Belafonte acted as the American Civil Liberties Union celebrity ambassador for juvenile justice issues. Belafonte won three Grammy Awards (including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award), an Emmy Award, 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 6th Annual Governors Awards and in 2022 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Early Influence category. Description above from the Wikipedia article Harry Belafonte, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Works

95 films

BlacKkKlansman

20187.5

The Player

19927.2

Prêt-à-Porter

19945.2

Bobby

20066.4

Jim Henson Idea Man

20247.9

The Greatest Night in Pop

20247.9

Sidney

20227.0

Altman on His Own Terms

20009.0

Carmen Jones

19546.2

Dom Salvador & The Abolition

20203.0

Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee

20141.5

Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan

20236.8

Is That Black Enough for You?!?

20226.2

Nationtime: Gary

19728.0

Odds Against Tomorrow

19596.8

Buck and the Preacher

19726.3

Night of 100 Stars

19825.8

The World of Nat King Cole

2004

The One and Only Dick Gregory

20217.9

The World of Jim Henson

19947.4

Mama Africa

20115.6

The Peace!

20055.0

White Man's Burden

19955.1

Mr. SOUL!

20187.0

The World, the Flesh and the Devil

19596.4

The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson

19906.8

2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

20228.2

Uptown Saturday Night

19746.2

Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom

20127.4

We Are the World: The Story Behind the Song

19858.5

Muppet Music Moments

2004

Marsha Hunt's Sweet Adversity

2015

Kansas City

19966.1

Following Harry

2024

The Royal Variety Performance 1977

1977

An All-Star Celebration Honoring Martin Luther King Jr.

1986

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975

20117.6

Island in the Sun

19576.5

The Madding Crowd

2017

TV in Black: The First Fifty Years

20045.3

Sesame Street: Elmo's World: The Street We Live On!

20047.6

The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years

19866.2

Best Ever Muppet Moments

20066.0

CIRILO, A Legacy Untold

202510.0

Martin Luther King by Trevor Mcdonald

2018

Swing Vote

19995.8

The Muppet Revue

198510.0

Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute

19886.5

King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis

19707.3

Audrey Hepburn: The Fairest Lady

19978.0

Nat King Cole: Afraid of the Dark

20147.0

The Tallest Tree in Our Forest

1977

Sing Your Song

20126.9

Motherland

20108.0

American Renegade: Confessions of a Radical Humanist

2009

Anecdotes about Fidel

2009

Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes

2023

Hava Nagila: The Movie

20127.0

Free to Be… You and Me

19746.8

The Unforgettable Nat King Cole

1989

Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley

20136.7

Mo & Me

2006

Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism

20047.0

Paul Robeson: Here I Stand

19998.0

Martin Luther King and the March on Washington

201310.0

Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

20024.5

The Legendary Nat King Cole

2004

The Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Concert

198810.0

The Angel Levine

19705.4

JFK: The Lost Inaugural Gala

2017

Harry Belafonte: Between Calypso and Justice

20228.2

The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show

20205.9

King in the Wilderness

20186.9

The Man Behind the White Guitar

2019

Grambling's White Tiger

19817.0

Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist

19988.3

We Shall Overcome

19897.0

Nana Mouskouri, Momente ihres Lebens

20206.0

Året var 1966

2016

Dangerous Citizen: The Life and Times of Abraham Polonsky

2026

Legenden: Audrey Hepburn

20056.0

The Best Of Danny Kaye - The Television Years

1993

Jazz '34

19976.5

Bright Road

19536.5

JFK: The Private President

2013

Donald McKayle: Heartbeats of a DanceMaker

2004

The Strolling '20s

1966

The University of Sing Sing

20115.5

Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes / Feeling Heart

20176.2

The Day of the Oath

1965

Harry Belafonte in Concert

1960

Petula

19688.0

Rise Up: The Movement that Changed America

2018

Rise Like Lions

2011

Nat King Cole & Friends Unforgettable Hits

2026