Harry Belafonte
Born: 1927-03-01 in New York City, New York, USA
Died: 2023-04-25
Known For: Acting
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.
Filmography
2024
- The Greatest Night in Pop as Self (archive footage)
- Jim Henson Idea Man as Self (archive footage)
- Following Harry as Self (archive footage)
2023
2022
- 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony as Self - Inductee (archive footage)
- Is That Black Enough for You?!? as Self
- Sidney as Self
- Harry Belafonte: Between Calypso and Justice as Self - Subject (archive footage)
2021
- The One and Only Dick Gregory as Self
2020
- The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show as Self
- TV Story Superstar as Self (archive footage)
- Dom Salvador & The Abolition as Self
- Nana Mouskouri, Momente ihres Lebens as Self (archive footage)
2019
- The Man Behind the White Guitar as Self
2018
- BlacKkKlansman as Jerome Turner
- Bobby Kennedy for President as Self
- Mr. SOUL! as Self
- Martin Luther King by Trevor Mcdonald as Self - Singer
- King in the Wilderness as Self
- Rise Up: The Movement that Changed America as Self
2017
- Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes / Feeling Heart as Self
- The Madding Crowd as Self (archive footage)
- JFK: The Lost Inaugural Gala as Self
2016
- Jackie Robinson as Self
- Året var 1966 as Self (archive footage)
2015
- Marsha Hunt's Sweet Adversity as Self
2014
- Nat King Cole: Afraid of the Dark as Self
- Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee as Self
2013
- Martin Luther King and the March on Washington as Self
- JFK: The Private President as Self
- Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley as Self
- Sternstunde Musik as Self
2012
- Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom as Self
- Sing Your Song as Self
- Hava Nagila: The Movie as Self
2011
- The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 as Self (voice)
- Hamburg Journal as self
- Rise Like Lions as Self
- The University of Sing Sing as Self
- Mama Africa as Self (archive footage)
2010
- Motherland as Self
2006
- Best Ever Muppet Moments as Self
- Bobby as Nelson
- When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts as Self
- Mo & Me
2005
- The Colbert Report as Self - Guest
- Pictoplasma: Characters in Motion, Vol. 1 ... (Music)
- The Peace! as Self
- Legenden: Audrey Hepburn as Self
2004
- Kulturplatz as Self
- Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism as Self (archive footage)
- TV in Black: The First Fifty Years as Self (archive footage)
- Muppet Music Moments as Self
- Tanner on Tanner as Self
- The World of Nat King Cole as Self
- The Legendary Nat King Cole as Self
2003
- Menschen bei Maischberger as Self
2002
- Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour as Self (uncredited)
- Gero von Boehm begegnet... as Self
2000
- Altman on His Own Terms as Self
1999
- Swing Vote as Will Dunn
- Paul Robeson: Here I Stand as Self
1998
- Vivement dimanche as Self
- Sabine Christiansen as Self
- PB&J Otter as The Ice Moose (voice)
- Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist as Self
1997
- Jazz '34 as Self - Narrator
- Audrey Hepburn: The Fairest Lady as Self
1996
- The Rosie O'Donnell Show as Self
- Kansas City as Seldom Seen
1995
- Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child as Magic Man (voice)
- The Affair ... (Executive Producer)
- White Man's Burden as Thaddeus Thomas
- Willemsens Woche as Self
1994
- Prêt-à-Porter as Self
- The World of Jim Henson as Self
1993
- The Best Of Danny Kaye - The Television Years as Self (archive footage)
1992
- The Player as Harry Belafonte
1991
- DAS! as Self
- Musik liegt in der Luft as Self - Singer
1990
- The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson as Self
1989
- The Unforgettable Nat King Cole as Self
1988
- The Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Concert as Self
- Flitterabend as Self - Singer
- The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
1987
- Sacrée Soirée as Self
1986
- The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years as Self (archive footage)
1985
- We Are the World: The Story Behind the Song as Self
- The Muppet Revue as Self
1984
- Goldene Kamera as Self - Laudatio
- Beat Street ... (Original Music Composer)
1983
- Bei Bio as Self
1982
- Champs-Elysées as Self
- Night of 100 Stars as Self
1981
- Wetten, dass..? as Self
- Grambling's White Tiger as Coach Eddie Robinson
1980
- Heut' abend as Self
1979
- CBS News Sunday Morning as Self
1978
- The Kennedy Center Honors as Self
1977
- Auf los geht's los as Self
- The Tallest Tree in Our Forest as Self
1976
- The Muppet Show as Self - Special Guest Star
- Club 2 as Self
1975
- Numéro un as Self
1974
- Free to Be… You and Me as Self
- Uptown Saturday Night as Geechie Dan Beauford
1973
1972
- Le Grand Échiquier as Self
- Nationtime as Self
- The Julie Andrews Hour as Self
- Buck and the Preacher as Preacher
1971
- Great Performances as Self
- V.I.P. Schaukel as Self
1970
- King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis as Self (archive footage)
- The Flip Wilson Show as Self
- The Angel Levine as Alexander Levine
1968
- The Dick Cavett Show as Self - Guest
- Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In as Self
- Petula as Self
1967
1966
- ABC Stage 67 as Self
- The Strolling '20s as Self
1965
- The Day of the Oath as Self
1963
- The Danny Kaye Show as Self
1962
- The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as Self
- The Merv Griffin Show as Self
1961
- The Mike Douglas Show as Self
1960
- Harry Belafonte in Concert as Self
1959
- The Bell Telephone Hour as Self
- The World, the Flesh and the Devil as Ralph Burton
- Odds Against Tomorrow as Johnny Ingram
1957
- Aktuelle Schaubude as Self
- Island in the Sun as David Boyeur
1956
- Tony Awards as Self - Presenter
- The Steve Allen Show as Self - Singer
1955
- Was bin ich? as Self
1954
- Carmen Jones as Joe
1953
- The Oscars as Self
- General Electric Theater as Vince
- Bright Road as Mr. Williams - School Principal
1950
- What's My Line? as Self - Mystery Guest
- The Colgate Comedy Hour as Self
1948
- The Ed Sullivan Show as Self