2023-04-25 21:09:09
Harry Belafonte was a multi-talent – and always represented everywhere. Millions of fans around the world worshiped him for it. Now Belafonte has died at the age of 96.
With two long drawn-out syllables, Harry Belafonte became a world star: he sang “Daaaay-Ooo” at the start of the calypso hit “Banana Boat Song”, which has long since become a catchy tune. Belafonte then sold more than 100 million albums with songs like “Island in the Sun”, “Matilda” and “Jump in the Line”, acted in more than 40 films – and was always politically involved.
He fought alongside Martin Luther King Jr. for black civil rights in the USA, with Nelson Mandela against apartheid in South Africa and as a UNICEF ambassador for children in Haiti and Sudan.
Belafonte died on Tuesday at the age of 96, as the agency of his longtime spokesman Ken Sunshine confirmed to the German Press Agency. The New York Times had previously reported. Belafonte died of heart failure at his New York home on Tuesday morning, with his wife Pamela by his side. In addition to his wife and four children, Belafonte leaves behind two stepchildren and eight grandchildren.
sadness all over the world
Numerous companions and fans publicly mourned Belafonte. “In music, film and theatre, he has touched millions with his inimitable charm and charisma, but he has also dedicated his life to fighting for human rights and against injustice in all its forms,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “In this moment of sadness, let’s take an example from him.” Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth commented that the world had lost a “legendary artist and humanist” in Belafonte.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre hailed Belafonte as an “incredible legend, barrier-breaker and significant talent”. Former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Belafonte a “cultural giant who charted the path in American music and in the struggle to realize America’s highest ideals”.
Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., recalled via Twitter how Belafonte once supported her family – and how he mourned with her mother after her father was murdered. “We have to thank God we had Harry Belafonte for 96 years,” said singer John Legend. “If you think about what it means to be an artist and an activist, he totally embodied it.”
Belafonte was a “pioneer and hero,” wrote moderator Oprah Winfrey on Instagram. Actress Mia Farrow commented, “I already miss you Harry.”
EGOT winner
Belafonte is one of the few people to have won all of America’s major entertainment awards – Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony – so is a so-called “EGOT”. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in November.
His life story is the history of America in the 20th century. Belafonte was born in Harlem in 1927 but spent much of his youth in his mother’s native Jamaica. When World War II broke out, his mother brought him back to New York. Belafonte did not finish high school there – instead he joined the US Navy, where he served as a munitions loader for nearly two years. Back in New York, he worked in tailor shops and in the cleaning service, among other things.
One day, as a thank you, he received a ticket for a theater performance for repair work in an apartment – and Belafonte had found his passion. He went to the legendary acting school of the émigré German director Erwin Piscator – with colleagues like Tony Curtis and Marlon Brando.
He would have liked to have become the “first black Hamlet”, as he once said in an interview. Instead, it became Hollywood with films like Bright Road (1953) and Otto Preminger’s Carmen Jones (1954).
“Calypso-King”: Outcry against slavery
Music was added and Belafonte, son of a Martinique ship’s cook and a Jamaican laborer, became the “calypso king”. Behind the cheerful holiday music is an outcry against slavery. “That’s how my ancestors packaged their protest. Black art was always encrypted,” said Belafonte. Away from the music, he didn’t encode his criticism – whether of presidents like George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump, or of his music colleagues, whom he accused of paying too little attention to their “social duties”.
In his autobiography “My Song”, published in 2012, Belafonte also spoke of his darker sides, of his gambling addiction and infidelity, for example. Two marriages broke up, in the third marriage the father of four children and grandfather of eight grandchildren had been married to the photographer Pamela Frank since 2008.
Enthusiastic about the German audience
Belafonte has always had a very special relationship with Germany. The Germans are his biggest fans, he once said. “I’m not sure if I really see through the reasons for this.” In 1958 he came to Germany for the first time. Berlin, which is still partly in ruins, seemed gray and unwelcoming to him – but the German audience inspired him. “The gratitude – the love and warmth – shown to me by this German audience is one of the most beautiful memories of my career.”
Last year, stars like John Legend, Lenny Kravitz and Michael Moore celebrated the all-rounder’s 95th birthday with a very special party entitled “HB95”. With the spectacle, they had also collected donations for the organization founded by Belafonte, Sankofa, which his daughter Gina now runs and wants to bring the artists together to fight for equality. “I’m honored that so many people are coming together to celebrate my birthday, my life and my legacy,” Belafonte said at the time.
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