Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor and activist, who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s. Belafonte is one of the few performers to have received an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony (EGOT), although he won the Oscar in a non-competitive category. He earned his career breakthrough with the album Calypso (1956), which was the first million-selling LP by a single artist. Belafonte was best known for his recordings of "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)", "Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)", "Jamaica Farewell", and "Mary's Boy Child". He recorded and performed in many genres, including blues, folk, gospel, show tunes, and American standards. He also starred in films such as Carmen Jones (1954), Island in the Sun (1957), Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), Buck and the Preacher (1972), and Uptown Saturday Night (1974). He made his final screen appearance in Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman (2018). Belafonte considered the actor, singer, and activist Paul Robeson a mentor, and he was a close confidant of Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. He was a vocal critic of the policies of the George W. Bush and Donald Trump administrations. Belafonte acted as the American Civil Liberties Union celebrity ambassador for juvenile justice issues. Belafonte won three Grammy Awards (including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award), an Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. In 1989, he received the Kennedy Center Honors. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1994. In 2014, he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Academy's 6th Annual Governors Awards and in 2022 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Early Influence category. Description above from the Wikipedia article Harry Belafonte, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- March 1, 1927
- April 25, 2023 (aged 96)
- New York City, New York, USA
- Actor and producer, also composer
- 19 on MovieCove · 32 credits in all
What are Harry Belafonte's films like?
Across their 30 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Society and Morality.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 29
A split, not a type: Light 8 · Serious 10 · Dark 11
Grounded 23 · Stylized 5 · Heightened 1
Gentle 6 · Charged 18 · Intense 5
Steady 21 · Shifting 7 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 23 · Some laughs 4 · Funny 2
Slow burn 17 · Even-paced 12 · Relentless 0
Casual 9 · Engaged 15 · Full focus 5
A split, not a type: Easy watch 9 · Affecting 7 · Heavy 13
Resolved 24 · Open-ended 4 · Ambiguous 1
Roles they play
Usually the Hero: 3 of 12 analyzed roles.
Show the 12 rolesHide the roles
- Mentoras Mr. Williams - School Principal in Bright Road (1953)
- Heroas Joe in Carmen Jones (1954)
- Heroas David Boyeur in Island in the Sun (1957)
- Shapeshifteras Ingram in Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)
- Heroas Ralph Burton in The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959)
- Shapeshifteras Alexander Levine in The Angel Levine (1970)
- Mentoras Alexander Levine in The Angel Levine (1970)
- Shapeshifteras Preacher in Buck and the Preacher (1972)
- Tricksteras Geechie Dan Beauford in Uptown Saturday Night (1974)
- Shadowas Thaddeus Thomas in White Man's Burden (1995)
- Threshold guardianas Seldom Seen in Kansas City (1996)
- Allyas Nelson in Bobby (2006)
Moods and endings
- Happy2
- Bittersweet12
- Tragic7
- Ambiguous9
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Harry Belafonte's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 10 of their 19 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Harry Belafonte's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
32 credits, 19 with a MovieCove page; 130 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
CIRILO, A Legacy Untold (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
BlacKkKlansman(2018)
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films
Anecdotes about Fidel (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Bobby(2006)
Midcredits score: 73rd percentile of all films
Mo & Me(2006)
Midcredits score: 82nd percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Pictoplasma: Characters in Motion, Vol. 1 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)
Midcredits score: 87th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Swing Vote (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1999)
PB&J Otter(1998)
Midcredits score: 42nd percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 86th percentile of all films
Kansas City(1996)
Midcredits score: 51st percentile of all films
White Man's Burden(1995)
Midcredits score: 18th percentile of all films
The Affair (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1995)
Midcredits score: 34th percentile of all shows
Haiti: Killing the Dream (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1992)
The Player(1992)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
Jim Henson's Memorial Service (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1990)
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1988)
An All-Star Celebration Honoring Martin Luther King Jr. (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1986)
Beat Street(1984)
Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all filmsGrambling's White Tiger (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1981)
Uptown Saturday Night(1974)
Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all films
Buck and the Preacher(1972)
Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all films
The Angel Levine(1970)
Midcredits score: 44th percentile of all films
ABC Stage 67 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1966)
Odds Against Tomorrow(1959)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all films
Island in the Sun(1957)
Midcredits score: 45th percentile of all films
Carmen Jones(1954)
Midcredits score: 70th percentile of all films
Bright Road(1953)
Midcredits score: 68th percentile of all films
General Electric Theater (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1953)
King Leopold’s Ghost (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
Star power in the 95th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 31 titles, 30 of them dated from 1953 to 2025; peak year 1995.
Biggest box office
Bobby (2006)
Highest rated
King In The Wilderness (2018)
Most popular right now
Sidney (2022)
Film career
Peak 1995 · back in prominent film roles after a quiet stretch. Top draw in 2 MovieCove titles. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.
- 1954Screen debut· Carmen Jones
- 1954First top-billed film· Carmen Jones
- 2006Screen Actors Guild Award nomination· Bobby
- 2018Screen Actors Guild Award nomination· BlacKkKlansman
Billing
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30.
Awards
an Oscar, a Primetime Emmy and 4 other major awards from 22 major nominations, 1956–2019.
- Screen Actors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
- Oscar, won
- Berlinale award, won
- Screen Actors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
+1 other major body · 1 nomination
- Critics Choice Award, nominated · Best Acting Ensemble
- Grammy Award, nominated · Best Historical Album
- Grammy Award, won · Lifetime Achievement Award
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Single Program - Variety or Musical - Variety and Popular Music
- Grammy Award, won · Best Folk Recording
Show 6 earlier yearsShow fewer
- Grammy Award, nominated · Best Folk Recording
- Grammy Award, nominated · Best Folk Recording
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Musical Program or Series
+1 other major body · 1 win and 2 nominations
- Grammy Award, won · Best Performance- Folk
- Grammy Award, nominated · Album of the Year
- Grammy Award, nominated · Best Vocal Performance Album, Male
- Primetime Emmy, won · Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Musical Program or Series
- Grammy Award, nominated · Album of the Year
- Grammy Award, nominated · Best Performance - Folk
- Grammy Award, nominated · Best Rhythm & Blues Performance
- Grammy Award, nominated · Best Vocal Performance, Male
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Best Male Singer
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Best Specialty Act - Single or Group
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Harry Belafonte's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 71st percentile, the median of all 17; across their 29 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 78th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up6
- 50th to 74th8
- 25th to 49th4
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
12 of their 19 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Divisive1
- Cult Classic2
- Crowd Pleaser12
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed3
Reviewers score the acting 69/100 in their films, across 16 reviewed titles; fans 76, detractors 49. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Harry Belafonte work with?
People who share at least 2 of Harry Belafonte's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Sidney Poitier shares the most, 5.
Directors
- Sidney PoitierShared titles: Sidney (2022), Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley (2013), Uptown Saturday Night (1974), Buck and the Preacher (1972), Nationtime (1972)See all 5 shared titles with Sidney Poitier
Actors
- Dorothy DandridgeShared titles: Dorothy Dandridge: An American Beauty (2003), Island in the Sun (1957), Carmen Jones (1954), Bright Road (1953)See all 4 shared titles with Dorothy Dandridge
- Joan BaezShared titles: Lead Belly: Life, Legend, Legacy (2021), King In The Wilderness (2018), Smothered: The Censorship Struggles of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (2002)See all 3 shared titles with Joan Baez
- Martin Luther King Jr.Shared titles: The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show (2020), King In The Wilderness (2018), King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1969)See all 3 shared titles with Martin Luther King Jr.
- QuestloveShared titles: Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes (2023), The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show (2020), The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (2011)See all 3 shared titles with Questlove
Cinematographers and editors
- Martina RadwanShared titles: The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show (2020), Mama Africa (2011)See all 2 shared titles with Martina Radwan
- Maya MummaShared titles: King In The Wilderness (2018), Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley (2013)See all 2 shared titles with Maya Mumma
- Pembroke J. HerringShared titles: Uptown Saturday Night (1974), Buck and the Preacher (1972)See all 2 shared titles with Pembroke J. Herring
Producers
- Sam PollardShared titles: Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes (2023), When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006)See all 2 shared titles with Sam Pollard
- Jacqueline GloverShared titles: King In The Wilderness (2018), When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006)See all 2 shared titles with Jacqueline Glover
Mixed roles
- Spike LeeShared titles: Sidney (2022), When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006)See all 2 shared titles with Spike Lee
- Danny GloverShared titles: The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (2011), The Peace! DVD (2005)See all 2 shared titles with Danny Glover
