From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Belafonte on March 1, 1927) is a Harlem-born calypso musician and actor who used his fame as an entertainer in the cause of human rights.
He is perhaps best known for singing the "Banana Boat Song" with its signature lyric "Day-O". His breakthrough album Calypso (1956) was the first album to sell over 1 million copies. He was the first Afro-American to win an Emmy, with his first solo TV special “tonight with Belafonte”.
From 1935 to 1939 he lived with his mother in her homeland Jamaica. When he returned to New York he attended George Washington High school after which he joined the navy and served during the second world war. At the end of the fourties he took classes in acting and subsequently received a Tony Award for his participation in John Murray’s Anderson’s Almanac. He has won a Grammy award in 1985 for lifetime achievement and has been made a Unicef goodwill ambassador.
