Harry Belafonte: podcast appearances and interviews

Harry Belafonte, born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr., was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist. He gained international fame in the 1950s and 1960s by popularizing calypso music, with his 1956 album Calypso becoming the first LP by a single artist to sell over a million copies. Belafonte is well known for recordings such as Day-O (The Banana Boat Song), Jamaica Farewell, and Mary's Boy Child. His musical repertoire spanned numerous genres including blues, folk, gospel, show tunes, and American standards. As an actor, he starred in films like Carmen Jones, Island in the Sun, Odds Against Tomorrow, Buck and the Preacher, and Uptown Saturday Night, with his final film appearance in Spike Lee's BlackkKlansman in 2018. Belafonte regarded actor and singer Paul Robeson as a mentor and was a close confidant of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Throughout his life, he served as the American Civil Liberties Union celebrity ambassador for juvenile justice and was an outspoken critic of various U.S. policies. Recognized with multiple awards including three Grammys, a Primetime Emmy, a Tony Award, and the Kennedy Center Honors, he was also a recipient of the National Medal of Arts. Other distinctions include the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Belafonte's contributions extend beyond entertainment into activism and humanitarian efforts, making him one of the few performers to have received an EGOT.