Singer, actor and activist Harry Belafonte dies at 96

Singer, actor and activist Harry Belafonte dies.
He was one of the first Black actors to star in Hollywood films.
He was a tireless civil rights activist.

Harry Belafonte dies. The activist, who began his career as a groundbreaking actor and singer and became a civil rights icon, has passed away. He was 96 years old. Reports indicate that Belafonte died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his New York home. He was accompanied by his wife Pamela, said Ken Sunshine of public relations firm Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis.

The Associated Press noted that with his handsome face and a haunting, husky voice, Belafonte was one of the first Black artists to garner a large following in movies and sell a million records as a singer. Many still know him for his hit Banana Boat Song (Day-O).

Harry Belafonte dies

Belafonte forged a lasting legacy after winding down his acting career in the 1960s and fulfilled his hero Paul Robeson’s decree that artists are «guardians of the truth.» Belafonte remains a model and the epitome of the celebrity activist. Few shared his commitment and none with his stature as a meeting point between Hollywood, Washington and the Civil Rights movement.

Belafonte not only participated in protest marches and benefit concerts, but also helped organize and receive support for them. He worked closely with his friend and contemporary, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., often intervening on his behalf with both politicians and other artists and helping him financially, according to The Associated Press.

He advised international stars

Belafonte risked his life and livelihood by setting high standards for younger Black celebrities. He even called out Jay Z and Beyonce for not living up to their “social responsibilities” and mentored Usher, Common, Danny Glover and many others.

The Associated Press reported that in Spike Lee’s 2018 film, BlacKkKlansman, he was appropriately cast as an elder statesman tutoring young activists about the country’s past. Belafonte’s friend, civil rights leader Andrew Young, noted that Belafonte was that rare person who became more radical with age. He was always committed to his cause.

Harry Belafonte’s incredible career

Belafonte had been a well-known performer since the 1950s. He won a Tony Award in 1954 for his starring role in John Murray Anderson’s Almanac, and five years later became the first Black actor to win an Emmy for the television special Tonight with Harry Belafonte.

In 1954, he co-starred with Dorothy Dandridge in the musical Carmen Jones, directed by Otto Preminger, which marked a breakthrough for all-Black casts. The 1957 film Island in the Sun was banned in several southern cities, where theater owners were threatened by the Ku Klux Klan over the interracial romance between Belafonte’s and Joan Fontaine’s characters.

Calypso became the first solo album to sell millions of copies

His album Calypso, released in 1955, became the first by a solo artist to officially sell millions of copies and sparked a fever for Caribbean rhythms (Belafonte was nicknamed «King of Calypso,» though he rejected the nickname). The Associated Press reported that Belafonte’s admirers included the young Bob Dylan, who made his album debut in the early 1960s playing harmonica on Belafonte’s Midnight Special.

“Harry was the best balladeer in the country and everyone knew it,” Dylan later wrote. “He was a fantastic artist, he sang about lovers and slaves: chain gang workers, saints, sinners and children… Harry was that rare kind of character who exudes greatness, and you hope some of that rubs off on you.”