The singer-actor-activist, who died on April 25 at age 96, ranged over a multitude of mediums and was captivating in each. As a vocalist, his mega-hit recording of the Jamaican folk song “Day-O ” birthed a midcentury mania for calypso, and his performances in such formidable films as Carmen Jones and Odds Against Tomorrow established him as a leading man of rare grace and force.
Belafonte was among the stars who participated in the 1963 March on Washington — a famous photograph from the march shows Belafonte, Sidney Poitier, and Charlton Heston, the statue of Lincoln looming over their shoulders, standing side by side — and he was willing to use his own checkbook in furtherance of the cause. Having established a close bond with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Belafonte organized the effort to post bail for the civil rights icon who had been jailed in Birmingham.
Belafonte mined this tradition in his inaugural record, 1954’s Mark Twain and Other Folk Favorites, and brought it to the mainstream with his third outing, 1956’s Calypso, which included “Day-O,” “Jamaica Farewell,” and “Man Smart .” A huge hit with listeners, Belafonte churned out record after record during these years: a blues album , a Christmas compilation , and a selection of spirituals .
Five years later, Belafonte himself was the prime mover behind Odds Against Tomorrow, a notably serious film noir that traded the genre’s superficial trappings, shadow and light and smoky rooms, for a glimpse into an authentic social evil: The film, produced by Belafonte and directed by Robert Wise, starred Robert Ryan as a prejudiced felon who unhappily agrees to cooperate on a heist with a black man, brilliantly played by Belafonte.
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