Harry Belafonte
Biography
Harry Belafonte was an American singer and actor who popularized calypso music with international audiences. Born in New York City in 1927, he studied acting at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School and performed with the American Negro Theater. After starting as a club singer, he signed with RCA Victor in 1953 and had his breakthrough with the album Calypso (1956), which became the first solo album to sell a million copies. He made his film debut in Bright Road (1953) and starred in Carmen Jones (1954), Island in the Sun (1957), Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), Buck and the Preacher (1972), Uptown Saturday Night (1974), White Man's Burden (1995), Kansas City (1996), and Bobby (2006). He last appeared in BlacKkKlansman (2018). He won three Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy, and a Tony, and received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1989, the National Medal of Arts in 1994, and entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
96years old at death
- Born New York City, New York, USA
- Died Upper West Side
- Star sign: PiscesThe sign runs February 19 to March 20
- Harold George Bellanfanti (birth name)Also credited as Harold George Belafonte Jr., Belafonte, Harold George Bellanfanti Jr., Harry Bellanfanti Jr. and Harold George Belafonte
Movie Career
- Films
- 20
- Career span
- 68 years1954 to 2022
Genres
- Documentary45%, 9 films
- Drama45%, 9 films
- Biography25%, 5 films
- Music20%, 4 films
- Crime15%, 3 films
Did you know?!
A role that slipped away
Belafonte turned down the part of Porgy in Preminger's Porgy and Bess, a role that would have paired him again with Dandridge, since he found its racial stereotyping objectionable. Sidney Poitier took the part instead.
Early training
Belafonte studied acting at The New School's Dramatic Workshop in New York City at the close of the 1940s. His teacher there was German director Erwin Piscator, and Marlon Brando, Tony Curtis, Walter Matthau, Bea Arthur, and Poitier were among his classmates.
A first
After appearing in Carmen Jones in 1954, Belafonte released Calypso in 1956. That album was his breakthrough, and it was the first LP anywhere to sell over a million copies within a single year.
A first
In 1967, Belafonte performed at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Upstate New York, the first non-classical artist to do so. Concerts by the Doors, the 5th Dimension, the Who, and Janis Joplin came soon after.
Behind the camera
Belafonte produced and scored the 1984 musical film Beat Street, about the rise of hip-hop culture, and produced its gold-certified soundtrack with Arthur Baker.
Harry Belafonte movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Sidney Poitier directed two of these films. Sidney Poitier appears in four of them, more than any other actor. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Sidney Poitier's page
Diahann Carroll's page
Laurence Fishburne's page
Margaret Avery's page
Dorothy Dandridge's page
Nina Simone's page
Also two films together2 more actors
- Coretta Scott KingKing in the Wilderness (2018) and Sing Your Song (2011)
- Stokely CarmichaelWhat Happened, Miss Simone? (2015) and The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (2011)
When several people share the same number of films, the ones with the most films on Netflix are in the chart.
Box office
What Harry Belafonte's films earned in cinemas worldwide.
Combined worldwide box office
$30.8 million
6 of the 20 films have a worldwide figure, in dollars of the day.
Of the 20 films: 6 worldwide figure; 4 us gross only; 6 never in cinemas; 4 figure not found.
- 6Worldwide figure
- 4US gross only
- 6Never in cinemas
- 4Figure not found
Top grosser
Highest grossing
The six biggest films earned 100% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.
- 1$9.8M31.8% of the total
- 2$9.0M29.2% of the total
- 3$6.7M21.8% of the total
- 4$5.0M16.2% of the total
- 5$269K0.9% of the total
- 6$29K0.1% of the total
Awards
Twelve awards and honors from 1954 to 2022, three of them major.
| Year | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emmy Awards | |||
| 1960 | Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program | Won | |
| Tony Awards | |||
| 1954 | Best Featured Actor in a Musical | Won | |
| Grammy Awards | |||
| 2000 | Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award | Won | |
| Other honors | |||
| 2022 | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame | Won | |
| 2017 | Four Freedoms Award – Freedom Medal | Won | |
| 2014 | Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award | Won | |
| 2013 | Ambassador of Conscience Award | Won | |
| 2012 | Spingarn Medal | Won | |
| 2002 | Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award | Won | |
| 2000 | Library of Congress Living Legend | Won | |
| 1998 | Marian Anderson Award | Won | |
| 1989 | Kennedy Center Honors | Won | |
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.