Famed singer, actor, and activist Harry Belafonte has passed away at 96. The news was confirmed by his longtime spokesperson Ken Sunshine, who revealed Belafonte died of congestive heart failure at his home in New York City.
Belafonte served in the Navy during World War II before he scored his first hit in 1953 with "Matilda," and he went on to release several other hit songs, including "Day-O," "Angelina," and "There's a Hole in My Bucket." Aside from his musical career, which earned him the nickname of the "King of Calypso," Belafonte was a Tony winner. He also was the first Black artist to win an Emmy for Revlon Revue: Tonight with Belafonte.
In addition to his impressive entertainment career, Belafonte became a force in the civil rights movement. He was a close confidant of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and Belafonte was appointed as the executor of King’s estate after his assassination in 1968.
Belafonte was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors in 1989, the National Medal of Arts in 1994, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000, the BET Humanitarian Award in 2006, the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP in 2013 and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Motion Picture Academy in 2014.
He is survived by his wife, Pamela Frank; his three daughters, Adrienne Belafonte Biesemeyer and Shari Belafonte, and Gina Belafonte; and his son, actor and producer David Belafonte.
Source: NBC News
