Harry Belafonte was a famous entertainer known for his charm on stage and screen. He was also an artist who didn’t separate his art from his activism. Here are eight things you should know about him.
1. Belafonte wasn’t his birth name.
Harry Belafonte was born in Harlem, New York, on March 1, 1927. His parents were both from Jamaica, although some say his father was from Martinique. Belafonte spent part of his childhood in Jamaica. When his mother’s work visa expired in New York, they had to live secretly, moving often and avoiding being photographed to avoid immigration officials.
“In order to avoid being caught, my mother changed her name and got fake papers more than once,” he wrote in his memoir, My Song: A Memoir of Art, Race, and Defiance. “Bellanfanti became Belanfonte, and then, after a few more changes, Belafonte.”
2. He served in the Navy during World War II.
School was tough for Belafonte, and he later thought he might have had dyslexia, a learning disability. He left school in ninth grade and joined the Navy in 1944. The Navy was still segregated back then. Belafonte spent around a year and a half loading weapons onto ships in New Jersey and left the Navy in 1945.
When he got back to New York, he got into the Dramatic Workshop at the New School. The G.I. Bill paid for his tuition. He had to convince the program’s founder, Erwin Piscator, and the board to let him in even though he didn’t have a high school diploma. He was in class with famous people like Marlon Brando, Tony Curtis, Elaine Stritch, Bea Arthur, and Walter Matthau.
3. He and Sidney Poitier used to share a single ticket at plays.
Belafonte and Sidney Poitier became friends when they were 20 years old and both working and studying at Harlem’s American Negro Theatre. They didn’t have much money, so they would split the cost of one ticket to see local plays. One of them would watch the first half, keep the ticket stub, then tell the other one what happened. Then the other person would watch the second half. They called it “sharing the burden and the joy.”
They later acted together in movies like Buck and the Preacher in 1972 and Uptown Saturday Night in 1974. Sidney Poitier passed away in January 2022 at 94, and Harry Belafonte passed away in April 2023 at 96.
4. Calypso was the first solo artist album to sell 1 million copies in a year.
In 1956, Belafonte released his third album, Calypso, which included hits like “Day-O” and “Jamaica Farewell.” It became very popular, staying at the top of Billboard’s pop album chart for 31 weeks. Calypso is known for making calypso music famous worldwide and for being the first solo artist album to sell 1 million copies in a year.
5. He helped organize the 1963 March on Washington.
Belafonte was an activist all his life and a good friend of Martin Luther King Jr. He played a big role in the civil rights movement. He made sure that Hollywood celebrities took part in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963.
“We can use celebrity status to help others. Why not use it to help those who need freedom?” he said to Smithsonian Magazine in 2013. “My job was to convince famous people in the arts to come to Washington that day. Some sat on the platform, but many of us mingled with ordinary people. You could just turn around and see Paul Newman.”
Belafonte asked Marlon Brando to lead the California group, and they gathered a big group of stars like Lena Horne, Rita Moreno, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Ruby Dee, and others to join the peaceful protest with 250,000 other people on August 28.
6. He loved the Muppets.
Belafonte appeared as a guest star on an episode of The Muppet Show in 1979. He said it was his favorite moment ever. He loved the Muppets because he thought they were a positive part of world culture.
During the show, he sang “Day-O” with Fozzie Bear and had a drum battle with Animal. He ended the episode by singing “Turn the World Around,” a song from his album in 1977. The song was inspired by a story he heard from someone in Guinea. Belafonte sang it with custom Muppets made to look like African masks. He also sang the song at Jim Henson’s memorial service in 1990.
7. Beetlejuice earned him a new contingent of young fans.
In the mid-1980s, producer David Geffen asked Belafonte for permission to use the original 1956 version of “Day-O” in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice (1988). Belafonte liked the idea and Geffen, so he said yes. He even made a music video to go along with the movie. Besides “Day-O,” other songs like “Sweetheart from Venezuela” and “Man Smart (Woman Smarter)” were also included in the movie. Towards the end, there’s a memorable moment with “Jump in the Line (Shake, Señora).”
Beetlejuice made Belafonte popular with a new group: kids. For about a year, children recognized him from the movie. He enjoyed being recognized by a younger audience, even when they got ketchup and mustard on his clothes.
8. He’s an EGOT winner … sort of.
In 1960, Belafonte won the first Emmy ever given to a Black person. He won for Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Musical Program or Series. He starred in a special episode of The Revlon Revue celebrating Black American music. The next year, he won his first Grammy for Best Folk Performance with “Swing Dat Hammer.”
By then, he had already won a Tony Award in 1954 for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his role in John Murray Anderson’s Almanac. This meant he only needed an Oscar to complete the EGOT. Although he was never nominated for an Oscar, The Academy gave him the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2014. Since this award isn’t competitive, some people don’t count it towards the EGOT. But Belafonte is in good company with Quincy Jones, who also has an Emmy, Grammy, Tony, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.
