Harry Belafonte, a renowned American singer, actor and civil rights activist, has died at his longtime Upper West Side home in New York City at the age of 96. Belafonte was one of the first Black artists to achieve widespread commercial success in the United States. Although he was raised Catholic, his life frequently dovetailed with Jewish causes, values and people. Among Belafonte’s many Jewish connections, including brokering a meeting between Nelson Mandela and Jewish leaders in 1989, was his marriage to his Jewish second wife, dancer Julie Robinson. The couple, who were married from 1958 to 2004, raised two children, Gina and David.
In 2011, Belafonte revealed in his autobiography, “My Song: A Memoir” that his paternal grandfather was Jewish. Belafonte’s parents were both Jamaican immigrants: his mother, Melvine,
was the child of a white mother from Scotland and a Black father, and his father, Harold George Bellanfanti, who later changed the family name, was the son of a Black mother and white Dutch-
Jewish father. In his book, Belafonte describes his paternal grandfather, whom he never met, as “a white Dutch Jew who drifted over to the islands after chasing gold and diamonds, with no luck at all.”
Belafonte was born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr. in Harlem on March 1, 1927. His father was largely absent during his childhood; his mother, who struggled with finding work, forged a relationship with a Jewish tailor who taught her how to mend garments. In his memoir, Belafonte wrote that “That tailor gave me my first sense of kinship with Jews, which would deepen over time.” He spent a portion of his childhood with his grandmother in Jamaica but returned to New York to attend George Washington High School in Washington Heights before dropping out.
Following a stint in the US Navy during World War II, Belafonte became interested in acting after he was given a pair of tickets to the American Negro Theater as a gift. He enrolled in acting classes where he met his lifelong friend Sidney Poitier. To pay for acting classes, Belafonte began singing at nightclubs, and one of his early successes was his performances of the Hebrew dance hit “Hava Nagila” at the classic downtown folk club the Village Vanguard. His rendition of the song made him “the most popular Jew in America,” according to Belafonte.
Belafonte frequently attended parties with Jewish actor Tony Curtis and other Jewish celebrities, such as Elaine Stritch and Bea Arthur. In his book, he wrote that he and Curtis would often attend
parties together, and Curtis would ask why he should live downtown when he could live uptown for free. Belafonte befriended many Jewish people over the course of his life, and he often expressed admiration for Jewish causes, values and people.
Belafonte had a long and illustrious career as a singer, actor and activist, and he was a powerful force in the civil rights movement. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Bill
Clinton in 1994, and he received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1989. He was also a recipient of the NAACP Image Award, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Harry Belafonte was a trailblazer and an inspiration to many, and his legacy will continue to live on.