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Harry Belafonte
New York City, New York, USA
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 a…
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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
Movies and shows, newest first
- 2026
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2025
CIRILO, A Legacy Untold
Movie
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2024
Hollywood Black
TV show Self (archive footage)
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2024
Following Harry
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2024
Jim Henson Idea Man
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2024
The Greatest Night in Pop
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2023
Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan
Movie Self
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2023
Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes
Movie Self
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2022
2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Movie Self - Inductee (archive footage)
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2022
Is That Black Enough for You?!?
Movie Self
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2022
Sidney
Movie Self
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2022
Harry Belafonte: Between Calypso and Justice
Movie Self - Subject (archive footage)
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2021
The One and Only Dick Gregory
Movie Self
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2020
Dom Salvador & The Abolition
Movie Self
- 2020
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2020
Nana Mouskouri, Momente ihres Lebens
Movie Self (archive footage)
More credits
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2020
TV Story Superstar
TV show Self (archive footage)
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2019
The Man Behind the White Guitar
Movie Self
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2018
BlacKkKlansman
Movie Jerome Turner
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2018
Bobby Kennedy for President
TV show Self
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2018
Mr. SOUL!
Movie Self
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2018
Rise Up: The Movement that Changed America
Movie Self
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2018
Martin Luther King by Trevor Mcdonald
Movie Self - Singer
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2018
King in the Wilderness
Movie Self
- 2017
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2017
JFK: The Lost Inaugural Gala
Movie Self
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2017
The Madding Crowd
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2016
Jackie Robinson
TV show Self
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2016
Året var 1966
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2015
Marsha Hunt's Sweet Adversity
Movie Self
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2014
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
Movie Self
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2014
Nat King Cole: Afraid of the Dark
Movie Self
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2013
Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley
Movie Self
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2013
Sternstunde Musik
TV show Self
- 2013
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2013
JFK: The Private President
Movie Self
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2012
Hava Nagila: The Movie
Movie Self
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2012
Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom
Movie Self
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2012
Sing Your Song
Movie Self
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2011
Rise Like Lions
Movie Self
