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Harry Belafonte, the singer and actor who turned a civil rights activist, has died at 96.
The Grammy, Emmy and Tony profitable star died of congestive coronary heart failure at his New York residence on Tuesday, together with his spouse by his facet, based on a spokesperson.
Belafonte (R) with actress Jayne Mansfield, her boyfriend Mickey Hargitay (L), and film columnist Mike Connolly (C) in 1957
Recognized for his signature tune Banana Boat (Day-O), and reluctantly nicknamed “The King of Calypso”, he was largely chargeable for bringing Caribbean music to a world viewers within the Nineteen Fifties, and the primary singer, in any style, to promote one million information in a yr.
One of many first black performers to achieve a large following on movie, he starred in films together with Carmen Jones, Island within the Solar and Odds In opposition to Tomorrow.
Simply final yr, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Corridor Of Fame, turning into the oldest individual ever to obtain the honour.
Alongside his glowing Hollywood profession, he was a dedicated activist, working carefully with Martin Luther King Jr in the course of the Civil Rights Motion of the Nineteen Fifties and Sixties.
Extra not too long ago, he reached out to youthful black celebrities, scolding Jay Z and Beyonce for failing to fulfill their “social obligations,” and mentoring stars together with singer Usher, rapper Frequent and actor Danny Glover.
Fittingly, Belafonte made an apt cameo look in Spike Lee’s Oscar profitable 2018 movie BlacKkKlansman, enjoying an elder statesman education younger activists about America’s previous.
Born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr on 1 March, 1927, in Harlem, New York, he was despatched to reside with a grandmother in Jamaica aged 5, the place he stayed till he was purchased residence aged 13, in the beginning of World Conflict II.
Becoming a member of the Navy after attending Excessive Faculty in New York, he served for nearly two years as a munitions loader earlier than being honourably discharged.
On his return to New York, he labored as a caretaker, and after being gifted a theatre ticket in return for some repairs, fell in love with the theatre.
He went on to coach as an actor with the Dramatic Workshop of the New Faculty of Social Analysis, with classmates together with Marlon Brando, Walter Matthau, Bea Arthur, Rod Steiger and Tony Curtis.
Belafonte (L) pictured with Sidney Poitier in 2012
Sidney Poitier, the primary black actor to win an Oscar for greatest actor, went on to grow to be an excellent buddy.
His first Broadway look in 1954 gained him a Tony Award for his starring position in John Murray Anderson’s Almanac.
5 years later, he turned the primary black performer to win an Emmy for his TV particular Tonight with Harry Belafonte.
Appointed by President John F Kennedy, he served for 5 years within the Peace Corps, and went on to grow to be a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, devoting himself to civil and human rights points in each the US and Africa.
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