Early Life

2. Early Life • A multi-talented performer, Harry Belafonte was born on March 1, 1927, in New York City. • The oldest son of Caribbean immigrants, Harry Belafonte spent his early years in New York City. His mother worked as a dressmaker and a house cleaner, and his father served as a cook in the British Royal Navy. • As a young child, Belafonte's parents divorced. The boy was sent to Jamaica, his mother's native country, to live with relatives. There, he saw firsthand the oppression of blacks by the English authorities, which left a lasting impression on him. • Belafonte returned to New York City's Harlem neighborhood in 1939 to live with his mother. • Dropping out of high school, Belafonte enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1944. He served in the Pacific during the end of World War II. After being discharged from the service, Belafonte returned to New York City. He seemed directionless for a time, working a series of odd jobs. But Belafonte soon found his career inspiration after attending a performance of the American Negro Theater.

3. Career • Belafonte decided that he wanted to become an actor. He appeared in numerous American Negro Theater productions, but he caught his first big break, singing for a class project. He impressed Monte Kay, who offered Belafonte the opportunity to perform at a jazz club called the Royal Roost. In 1949, he landed his first recording deal. • Debuting on Broadway in 1953, Belafonte won a Tony Award for his performance in John Murray Anderson's Almanac, in which he performed several of his own songs. • Around this time, Belafonte launched his film career. The success of the movie Carmen Jones made Belafonte a star. • After signing with RCA Victor Records, he released Calypso (1956), an album his take on traditional Caribbean folk music. "The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)" proved to be proved a huge hit. More than just a popular tune, it also had a special meaning for Belafonte. "That song is a way of life," Belafonte later told The New York Times. "It's a song about my father, my mother, my uncles, the men and women who toil in the banana fields, the cane fields of Jamaica." • Calypso introduced America to a new genre of music, and became the first album to sell more than one million copies. In 1961, Belafonte had another big hit with "Jump in the Line."

4. Activism • In the 1950s, Belafonte met civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. The pair became good friends, and Belafonte emerged as a strong voice for the civil rights movement. Belafonte was with King when the civil rights leader gave his famous "I Have A Dream" speech in Washington, D.C., and visited with him days before King was assassinated in 1968. • In the 1980s, Belafonte led an effort to help people in Africa. He came up the idea of recording a song with other celebrities, which would be sold to raise funds to provide famine relief in Ethiopia. Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie, "We Are the World" featured vocals by such music greats as Ray Charles, Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen and Smokey Robinson. The song was released in 1985, raising millions of dollars and becoming an international hit. • Over the years, Belafonte has supported for many other causes as well. In addition to his role as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, the performer has campaigned to end the practice of apartheid in South Africa, and has spoken out against U.S. military actions in Iraq.