From 1932 to 1940, he lived with one of his grandmothers in her native country of Jamaica, where he attended Wolmer's Schools. īelafonte has described his grandfather, whom he never met, as 'a white Dutch Jew who drifted over to the islands after chasing gold and diamonds, with no luck at all'. His mother was the child of a Scottish Jamaican mother and an Afro-Jamaican father, and his father was the child of a black mother and Dutch-Jewish father of Sephardic Jewish descent. at Lying-in Hospital on March 1, 1927, in Harlem, New York, the son of Jamaican-born parents Melvine ( née Love), a housekeeper, and Harold George Bellanfanti Sr., who worked as a chef. Bush administrationīelafonte was born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.

5.1 Involvement in Civil Rights Movement.2.3 Later recordings and other activities.In 2014, he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Academy's 6th Annual Governors Awards. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1994. In 1989, he received the Kennedy Center Honors. īelafonte has won three Grammy Awards (including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award), an Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. Belafonte acts as the American Civil Liberties Union celebrity ambassador for juvenile justice issues. He was a vocal critic of the policies of the George W. Since 1987, he has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Martin King was the second he nourished my soul.' Throughout his career, Belafonte has been an advocate for political and humanitarian causes, such as the Anti-Apartheid Movement and USA for Africa. As he later recalled, 'Paul Robeson had been my first great formative influence you might say he gave me my backbone. in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. He has also starred in several films, including Carmen Jones (1954), Island in the Sun (1957), and Odds Against Tomorrow (1959).īelafonte considered the actor, singer and activist Paul Robeson a mentor and was a close confidant of Martin Luther King Jr. He has recorded and performed in many genres, including blues, folk, gospel, show tunes, and American standards. Belafonte is known for his recording of ' The Banana Boat Song', with its signature lyric 'Day-O'. His breakthrough album Calypso (1956) was the first million-selling LP by a single artist. One of the most successful Jamaican-American pop stars, as he popularised the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s. Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr., March 1, 1927) is an American singer, songwriter, activist, and actor.

Malena movie on youtube