Harry Belafonte
Known for Acting · 150 credits
- Born
- 1927-03-01
- Died
- 2023-04-25
- Place of birth
- New York City, New York, USA
- Also known as
- Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.
Biography
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.
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Known For
TV Shows (58)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
as Self - Guest Host / Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Colbert Report
2005
as Self - Guest
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
as Self
DAS!
1991
as Self
CBS News Sunday Morning
1979
as Self
Great Performances
1971
as Self
What's My Line?
1950
as Self - Mystery Guest
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
as Self
Champs-Elysées
1982
as Self
The Dick Cavett Show
1968
as Self - Guest
Tony Awards
1956
as Self - Presenter
Vivement dimanche
1998
as Self
Wetten, dass..?
1981
as Self
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948
as Self
Sacrée soirée
1987
as Self
Menschen bei Maischberger
2003
as Self
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950
as Self
Numéro un
1975
as Self
The Oscars
1953
as Self
The Steve Allen Show
1956
as Self - Singer
Le Grand Échiquier
1972
as Self
Goldene Kamera
1984
as Self - Laudatio
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
1995
as Magic Man (voice)
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
1968
as Self (uncredited)
Kulturplatz
2004
as Self
Sabine Christiansen
1998
as Self
The Muppet Show
1976
as Self - Special Guest Star
Heut' abend
1980
as Self
The Flip Wilson Show
1970
as Self
Was bin ich?
1955
as Self
The Danny Kaye Show
1963
as Self
The Bell Telephone Hour
1959
as Self
The Kennedy Center Honors
1978
as Self
PB&J Otter
1998
as The Ice Moose (voice)
V.I.P. Schaukel
1971
as Self
ABC Stage 67
1966
as Self
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
1967
as Self / Self - Cameo
Aktuelle Schaubude
1957
as Self
The Julie Andrews Hour
1972
as Self
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973
as Self
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
1996
as Self
Auf los geht's los
1977
as Self
Club 2
1976
as Self
Hamburg Journal
2011
as self
Gero von Boehm begegnet...
2002
as Self
Hollywood Black
2024
as Self (archive footage)
Flitterabend
1988
as Self - Singer
Tanner on Tanner
2004
as Self
Musik liegt in der Luft
1991
as Self - Singer
General Electric Theater
1953
as Vince
Bobby Kennedy for President
2018
as Self
TV Story Superstar
2020
as Self (archive footage)
Bei Bio
1983
as Self
Jackie Robinson
2016
as Self
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
2006
as Self
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
1988
Sternstunde Musik
2013
as Self
Willemsens Woche
1995
as Self
Movies (92)
BlacKkKlansman
2018
as Jerome Turner
The Player
1992
as Harry Belafonte
Bobby
2006
as Nelson
The Greatest Night in Pop
2024
as Self (archive footage)
Jim Henson Idea Man
2024
as Self (archive footage)
2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
2022
as Self - Inductee (archive footage)
Prêt-à-Porter
1994
as Self
Sidney
2022
as Self
Night of 100 Stars
1982
as Self
The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
1986
as Self (archive footage)
Carmen Jones
1954
as Joe
Kansas City
1996
as Seldom Seen
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
1970
as Self (archive footage)
The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson
1990
as Self
Is That Black Enough for You?!?
2022
as Self
Buck and the Preacher
1972
as Preacher
The Angel Levine
1970
as Alexander Levine
TV in Black: The First Fifty Years
2004
as Self (archive footage)
White Man's Burden
1995
as Thaddeus Thomas
Swing Vote
1999
as Will Dunn
The One and Only Dick Gregory
2021
as Self
Bright Road
1953
as Mr. Williams - School Principal
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
2014
as Self
We Are the World: The Story Behind the Song
1985
as Self
Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist
1998
as Self
Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute
1988
as Self
Uptown Saturday Night
1974
as Geechie Dan Beauford
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism
2004
as Self (archive footage)
Tony Curtis: Driven to Stardom
2012
as Self
Altman on His Own Terms
2000
as Self
The World, the Flesh and the Devil
1959
as Ralph Burton
Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
2002
as Self (uncredited)
The World of Jim Henson
1994
as Self
Odds Against Tomorrow
1959
as Johnny Ingram
Nationtime
1972
as Self
Island in the Sun
1957
as David Boyeur
Free to Be… You and Me
1974
as Self
The Peace!
2005
as Self
Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan
2023
as Self
Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley
2013
as Self
Marsha Hunt's Sweet Adversity
2015
as Self
Muppet Music Moments
2004
as Self
Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes / Feeling Heart
2017
as Self
King in the Wilderness
2018
as Self
The World of Nat King Cole
2004
as Self
Martin Luther King by Trevor Mcdonald
2018
as Self - Singer
Nat King Cole: Afraid of the Dark
2014
as Self
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
2011
as Self (voice)
The Strolling '20s
1966
as Self
Best Ever Muppet Moments
2006
as Self
The Unforgettable Nat King Cole
1989
as Self
The Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Concert
1988
as Self
The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts The Tonight Show
2020
as Self
Motherland
2010
as Self
Rise Up: The Movement that Changed America
2018
as Self
Sing Your Song
2012
as Self
Mama Africa
2011
as Self (archive footage)
Paul Robeson: Here I Stand
1999
as Self
Martin Luther King and the March on Washington
2013
as Self
Mr. SOUL!
2018
as Self
The Best Of Danny Kaye - The Television Years
1993
as Self (archive footage)
Petula
1968
as Self
Hava Nagila: The Movie
2012
as Self
Året var 1966
2016
as Self (archive footage)
The Legendary Nat King Cole
2004
as Self
The Madding Crowd
2017
as Self (archive footage)
The Muppet Revue
1985
as Self
Grambling's White Tiger
1981
as Coach Eddie Robinson
The Royal Variety Performance 1977
1977
as Self
JFK: The Lost Inaugural Gala
2017
as Self
Legenden: Audrey Hepburn
2005
as Self
Nat King Cole & Friends Unforgettable Hits
as Self (archive footage)
Audrey Hepburn: The Fairest Lady
1997
as Self
Jazz '34
1997
as Self - Narrator
Mo & Me
2006
CIRILO, A Legacy Untold
2025
Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes
2023
as Self
Anecdotes about Fidel
2009
Dom Salvador & The Abolition
2020
as Self
The Man Behind the White Guitar
2019
as Self
The Day of the Oath
1965
as Self
Donald McKayle: Heartbeats of a DanceMaker
2004
as self
American Renegade: Confessions of a Radical Humanist
2009
as Self
JFK: The Private President
2013
as Self
Following Harry
2024
as Self (archive footage)
Rise Like Lions
2011
as Self
Harry Belafonte: Between Calypso and Justice
2022
as Self - Subject (archive footage)
Nana Mouskouri, Momente ihres Lebens
2020
as Self (archive footage)
The Tallest Tree in Our Forest
1977
as Self
The University of Sing Sing
2011
as Self
We Shall Overcome
1989
as Self - Narrator
Harry Belafonte in Concert
1960
as Self
About Harry Belafonte
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 Boa… With 150 credits spanning from 1948 to 2025, Harry Belafonte has appeared in 92 films and 58 TV shows.
Fans searching for Harry Belafonte movies, Harry Belafonte filmography, or the latest projects starring Harry Belafonte can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular Harry Belafonte Movies
- BlacKkKlansman (2018) — as Jerome Turner
- The Player (1992) — as Harry Belafonte
- Bobby (2006) — as Nelson
- The Greatest Night in Pop (2024) — as Self (archive footage)
- Jim Henson Idea Man (2024) — as Self (archive footage)
Where to Watch Harry Belafonte Films
Most Harry Belafonte movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring Harry Belafonte, check our movies catalogue and browse page.