Belafonte, Harry (1927–)

Known as the “King of Calypso,” Harold George Belafonte, Jr. has achieved fame as a recording artist, actor, composer, producer, and author, as well as for serving as an outspoken advocate and activist for global human rights issues. Born in Harlem, New York, Belafonte was the son of Caribbean-born immigrants. When he was 8 years old, his mother sent him to her native home in Jamaica, where he lived until 1939. Living there fostered a deep love of Caribbean music that would later catapult him to stardom. After serving in the navy during World War II, Belafonte resettled in New York to follow a career of musical performance and acting that would span more than five decades.

A prolific recording artist, Belafonte has released more than 40 original albums, and his third album with RCA Victor, Calypso (1955), made him the first recording artist with album sales of over a million copies. Belafonte has also made numerous significant contributions to theater, film, and television, often using his art to foster cultural and racial awareness and understanding. In 1960, President John F. Kennedy appointed Belafonte as the entertainment industry's first cultural advisor to the Peace Corps, an experience that heightened his awareness of global human rights issues, particularly in Africa. Since that time, his art has often given voice to the struggles and gifts in the lives of people of color—such as in his 1969 production of the off-Broadway “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black” and, in 1987, his coproduction of the drama “Asinamali,” about life in prison in South Africa.

Belafonte's ongoing humanitarian and activist efforts have often mixed controversy with his celebrity, as he has maintained close alignment among his personal, professional, and political lives. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, he was a prominent figure in the U.S. civil rights movement, and a close friend and advisor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. According to the William Morris Agency, King cited Belafonte's global popularity as a key ingredient in the global [Page 226]struggle for freedom. After King's assassination, Belafonte chaired the New York State Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission and spearheaded the Martin Luther King, Jr. Institute for Nonviolence. He was a vigorous anti-apartheid activist and a close associate of Nelson Mandela. Most recently he has publicly criticized the Bush administration for its policies in Cuba and Venezuela and for its failure to support the struggle of blacks globally.

Belafonte has received honors from a wide range of artistic and humanitarian organizations, including Grammy, Tony, and Emmy awards; the Nelson Mandela Courage Award; the American National Medal of the Arts in 1994; and the Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. He was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund in 1987 and has been repeatedly honored for his ongoing work with children and youth. He has also been recognized by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Urban League, the National Council of Black Mayors, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the American Jewish Congress.