Posted
Update
Video length: 2 min.
Article written by
American singer and actor Harry Belafonte died at the age of 96 on Tuesday April 25. Born in Harlem (United States), of Caribbean and Jamaican origin, he had become a fervent defender of civil rights. He had even helped in the release of Martin Luther King by paying his bond.
Captivating voice and charming physique, Harry Belafonte marked the history of black music. However, this New Yorker of Caribbean origin, raised in Jamaica, first dreamed of being an actor. In drama classes, his classmates are called Sidney Poitier or Marlon Brando. He will play in about fifteen films, but it is in the song, that he discovered a vocation.
He raises $50,000 to get Martin Luther King out of prison
In 1956, the title “Day-O” (The Banana Boat Song) consecrates him king of calypso, the Caribbean music of his youth. He commits his notoriety to the benefit of the fight for civil rights, alongside Martin Luther King. In 1953, he raised $50,000 to release the famous pastor from prison. Commitment also against apartheid in South Africa, with Nelson Mandela, or on the USA for Africa humanitarian project, which he initiated in 1985.
View comments