Harry Belafonte: singer, actor, and activist

Harry Belafonte was an American singer, actor, and activist. He is hailed as one of the most successful Caribbean pop stars throughout American history.

Belafonte is largely responsible for popularizing Jamaican mento folk songs throughout the 1950s and onwards. He was immensely popular, his breakout album ‘Calypso’ which was released in 1956 was the first million-selling LP by a single artist.

Beyond his music, he was also a prolific actor and civil rights activist. Unfortunately, Belafonte passed away on April 25 at 96 years old.

Let’s take a look back at Harry Belafonte’s prolific career, beginning in 1949.

Belafonte’s acting career

Belafonte started his acting career after taking acting classes at The Dramatic Workshop of The New School in New York City with director Erwin Piscator alongside Marlon Brando and Tony Curtis.

He later received a Tony Award for his role in the Broadway revue ‘John Murray Aderson’s Almanac’ in 1954. He continued his Broadway career by starring in ‘3 for Tonight’ a year later.

His first movie role was earlier in 1953 when he starred in ‘Bright Road’. His next role was in the hit musical ‘Carmen Hones’ in 1954, despite his strong vocal skills his voice was dubbed by an opera singer at the time.

Only a few years later Belafonte would become the first Black man to win an Emmy Award for his solo TV special ‘Tonight with Belafonte’ in 1959. He continued his successful acting career until his final movie role in Academy Award-winning ‘BlacKkKlansman’ in 2018.

Belafonte’s music career

Alongside his acting career, Belafonte was also a successful singer. He first developed his vocal skills working as a club singer in New York City to pay for his acting classes.

Belafonte launched his career as a pop singer initially but quickly developed an interest in folk music by learning material through reading folk song archives at the Library of Congress.

‘Calypso’ was Belafonte’s first released single, and went on to become one of his most popular. The subsequent LP also had major commercial success and spent 31 weeks at number one on the Billboard Top 100 album chart at the time.

Belafonte’s musical career continued until 2015, however, his last newly recorded album was released in 1997. Over his career, he received six Grammy Awards including the Lifetime Achievement award which he received in 2000.

Alongside a successful musical and acting career, Belafonte is also championed as a prominent activist. His work includes fighting for anti-apartheid movements in South America, participating in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s alongside Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and contributing to countless charities.