2023-04-25 20:35:21
The agency of his longtime spokesman Ken Sunshine confirmed the death of Belafonte to the German Press Agency. Belafonte is considered one of the most influential stage figures of the 20th century. He became the first black actor to receive an Emmy in a major category in 1960. He has also received several Grammys, including for lifetime achievement. In 2014 he was awarded an honorary Oscar for his humanitarian commitment.
Numerous companions and fans publicly mourned Belafonte. “In music, film and theater he has touched millions with his inimitable charm and charisma, but he has also dedicated his life to fighting for human rights and once morest injustice in all its forms,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “In this moment of mourning, let us 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.
Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., recalled via Twitter how Belafonte once supported her family – and how he mourned with her mother following her father was murdered. “We have to thank God we had Harry Belafonte for 96 years,” said singer John Legend. “If you think regarding what it means to be an artist and an activist, then he completely embodied it.” Belafonte was a “pioneer and hero,” wrote moderator Oprah Winfrey on Instagram. Actress Mia Farrow commented, “I already miss you Harry.”
Belafonte increasingly turned to political activism throughout his career. His commitment to human rights also took him to Austria several times: He was a guest at the Vienna Opera Ball in 1992 and also made guest appearances at concerts in this country. He was also a guest at the Viennale in 2011. There he presented his documentary “Sing Your Song”. In the Gartenbaukino he was honored with standing ovations even before the film was shown. Visibly touched, the then 84-year-old was cheered and applauded, and then thanked the audience with anecdotes until midnight.
Belafonte once became a world star with two long drawn-out syllables: “Daaaay-Ooo” at the start of the calypso hit “Banana Boat Song”, which has long been a catchy classic. Belafonte sold more than 100 million records 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 once morest apartheid in South Africa and as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador for children in Haiti and Sudan.
Born in New York, in the borough of Harlem, Belafonte spent much of his youth in his mother’s Jamaican homeland. During World War II he served in the US Navy and then attended the legendary drama school in New York run by the émigré German director Erwin Piscator with colleagues such as Tony Curtis and Marlon Brando. Music was added and Belafonte, the son of a Martinique ship’s cook and a Jamaican laborer, became the “Calypso King”. Behind the cheerful holiday music, however, was an outcry once morest slavery.
After seeing a news report regarding the famine in Ethiopia in 1984, he took the initiative that led to the recording of the fundraising song “We Are the World”. On the world hit he sang together with Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson and Ray Charles.
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