While Harry Belafonte had a highly successful career as both a singer and actor, it was his work on behalf of social justice for over six decades that received the most attention on April 25th, as news spread of his passing at age 96. During his lifetime he often found ways to combine these passions of his, which helped to bring about some of the change for which he relentlessly fought.
Harold George Bellanfanti Jr. was born in Harlem on March 1, 1927, but he also spent much of his youth living with one of his grandmothers in Jamaica. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he decided to get into acting, and met such other future stars along the way as Sidney Poitier (who was cited in the final quote of our 2021-2022 season). After getting a chance to sing at Manhattan’s Village Vanguard, Harry signed a deal with RCA Records in 1953, leading to the recording of one of his best-known songs, “Matilda”.
In 1954 he won a Tony for his work in the Broadway musical “John Murray Anderson’s Almanac”, while also starring alongside Dorothy Dandridge and Pearl Bailey in “Carmen Jones”, a film adaptation of Georges Bizet’s opera “Carmen”. In 1956 he released some of his most popular singles, with “Mary’s Boy Child” and “Jamaica Farewell” reaching the top-20 and the Banana Boat Song (“Day-O”) making the top-5.
Two of his albums reached #1 that year, with the second, “Calypso” (featuring the Banana Boat Song), spending over half the year at the top and soon becoming the first LP to sell a million copies. The following year, he was one of many stars to appear in the box-office hit “Island In The Sun”, notable for its more open depictions of such issues as interracial romance and inequality. (He also had one of his last pop hits with the title theme.)
Recordings of his performances at Carnegie Hall resulted in two more hit albums, and in 1961 he had his last major chart success with the LP “Jump Up Calypso”, perhaps best known for the track “Jump In The Line”.
For much of the 1960s, Mr. Belafonte used his star power to draw attention to a variety of causes close to this heart. Upon the request of Frank Sinatra, he sang at the inaugural gala for John F. Kennedy; four years later, he got such performers as Tony Bennett and Joan Baez to join his friend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his march from Selma to Mongomery. During his multiple television specials, he’d showcase lesser-known artists who often went on to receive international recognition. His duet partners included Odetta, memorably joining him for a version of “There’s A Hole In My Bucket”; Mirian Makeba, among the first to speak out against South Africa’s apartheid policies; and Greek vocalist Nana Mouskouri.
In February of 1968 Harry guest-hosted “The Tonight Show” for an entire week, using the platform to discuss matters that would rarely get discussed on late-night talk shows. There were appearances by Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy – both among the last of their lifetimes – along with Lena Horne, Aretha Franklin, Paul Newman, and the Smothers Brothers.
A month later, Mr. Belafonte and Petula Clark broke an unspoken taboo during the filming of her NBC special, when she placed her hand on his forearm during their duet on “On The Path To Glory”. An advertiser from Plymouth, who had already questioned Belafonte’s participation, objected to that moment. That advertiser was apparently removed from his position shortly afterwards, and the special aired to positive reviews.
By the 1970s Harry was only recording sporadically, but one new song helped him to reach a younger generation. Two years after recording “Turn The World Around” (co-written with Robert Freedman), he performed it on “The Muppet Show” with a group of Muppets that Jim Henson designed just for the sketch, all with the look of authentic African masks. Harry even introduced the song with a brief story of how it was based on a story he heard while making a trip to the nation of Guinea.
During much of the 1980s he worked on various humanitarian causes – including his work to bring together the artists who sang on the 1985 charity single “We Are The World”, for Ethiopian famine relief. He sang on it as well, making it the only time he was part of a #1 single. Shortly before this offered support to the next generation of musicians by co-producing the hip-hop film “Beat Street”. That film included an appearance by Brenda K. Starr, whom he cast for a singing scene, and it led to a successful singing career for the future Latin-pop star. In 1988 Harry released what would turn out to be his final studio album: “Paradise In Gazankulu”, a concept album of sorts that addressed several topics – with apartheid, at that point in its final months, chief among them. It even featured another duet, this time with Jennifer Warnes on “Skin To Skin”.
He continued to balance his passions in the 1990s, and in 1993 he received an honorary degree from Columbia University for his humanitarian work (and even led the graduating class in a chorus of “Day-O”). He performed at Stamford’s Palace Theatre in 1998, where he joked about the town being “the land of affordable housing”, a cause he supported at the time (and a matter that still isn’t settled in the state). At the time he was also promoting his final live CD and performed many of the same numbers.
The start of the new century got off to a rocky start, as some of his harsher criticisms of public officials received some backlash. In 2018, however, he received high marks for his final memorable appearance onscreen with a cameo in Spike Lee’s “BlaKKKlansman”. One of his final public appearances came just over a year later, as he attended a celebration of his 93rd birthday at the Apollo Theater. The event included such hip-hop stars as Common and Doug E. Fresh, and the entire cast came out at the end to serenade the man of the evening.
In 2011 Harry Belafonte was the subject of the documentary “Sing Your Song”, and two follow-up films, showing how younger activists have followed in his footsteps, are currently in the works. Through his achievements, both in the arts and for social justice, Mr. Belafonte has left behind a proud and lasting legacy – which can now serve as a guide for younger artists and activists looking to turn the world around.
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