---
name: "Harry Belafonte"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/harry-belafonte"
fi1m_id: "harry-belafonte"
imdb_id: "nm0000896"
tmdb_id: 33162
wikidata_id: "Q214959"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "1 March 1927"
died: "25 April 2023"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 76
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-25T06:52:02.468301+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Harry Belafonte

## Identity

Harry Belafonte

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/harry-belafonte
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** harry-belafonte
- **IMDb ID:** nm0000896
- **TMDB ID:** 33162
- **Wikidata ID:** Q214959
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Belafonte, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q214959, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000896/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/33162

Actor. Born 1 March 1927 in New York City, New York, USA. Died 25 April 2023.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 1 March 1927, New York City, New York, USA
- **Died:** 25 April 2023
- **Active:** 1954–2018
- **Also known as:** Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.
- **Primetime Emmy Awards:** 1 Emmy (1 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 76, as actor, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1950s 65 (1), 1990s 85 (1), 2010s 78 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 76 to 75 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 1 of 1 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 3, Comedy 2, Crime 2, History 1, Mystery 1, Romance 1
- **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $125m across 3 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Belafonte, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q214959, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000896/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/33162

## Fi1m on Harry Belafonte

> Harry Belafonte brought a seriousness to the screen that could make a romance feel laboured. We find more to recommend in the later parts that let him be comic or menacing, rather than merely an earnest leading man.

When Harry Belafonte’s Joe begins to sing in *Carmen Jones* (1954), the voice belongs to Le Vern Hutcherson. The change puts distance between the man on screen and the feelings the song is meant to convey. Marilyn Horne supplies Carmen’s singing voice too, so the difficulty is not confined to his side of the romance. We were frustrated by that separation, because it made the romance harder to believe just when it needed to persuade us. Otto Preminger’s musical gives Belafonte a leading role, but it does not give him an easy one.

The problem is not entirely someone else’s voice. Belafonte’s seriousness as Joe makes the drama heavier than it needs to be, while Dorothy Dandridge gives the film its compelling centre. There is enough musical pleasure to reward some patience, and his constrained performance contributes to the awkwardness.

His screen debut had been opposite Dandridge in *Bright Road* (1953), but the leading-man period was short. He co-produced *Odds Against Tomorrow* (1959), a heist film that puts his Johnny Ingram alongside a racist partner. That was a different demand from the musical romance, with conflict built into the criminal partnership. After 1959 he largely stepped away from leading screen roles, returning only intermittently.

Sidney Poitier’s *Buck and the Preacher* (1972) and *Uptown Saturday Night* (1974) offered a less solemn use for him. The latter gives him a hot-tempered underworld boss, Geechie Dan Beauford, and room for broad parody. Robert Altman later cast him as the laconic gangster Seldom Seen in *Kansas City* (1996), a role that makes menace part of the attraction. These are welcome alternatives to the earnestness of Joe, and better reasons to keep watching beyond the early leading roles. Try the preacher or the gangster before deciding that the romantic lead tells the whole story.

## Biography

Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.) was an American actor and singer. He made his feature film debut in *Bright Road* (1953) and played Joe in Otto Preminger’s *Carmen Jones* (1954).

His other screen roles include Johnny Ingram in *Odds Against Tomorrow* (1959), a part in *The Player* (1992), and Jerome Turner in *BlacKkKlansman* (2018). Belafonte also appeared as a guest on *The Muppet Show* (1976). He died in 2023.

*Sources: moviefone.com, bfi.org.uk, theguardian.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *BlacKkKlansman* (2018), Fi1m 78, as Jerome Turner — [page](https://film.one/film/blackkklansman.md)
- *The Player* (1992), Fi1m 85, as Harry Belafonte — [page](https://film.one/film/the-player.md)
- *Carmen Jones* (1954), Fi1m 65, as Joe — [page](https://film.one/film/carmen-jones.md)

## Complete filmography (31)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *CIRILO, A Legacy Untold* (2025), Actor
- *BlacKkKlansman* (2018), as Jerome Turner — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/film/blackkklansman.md)
- *Anecdotes about Fidel* (2009), Actor
- *Bobby* (2006), as Nelson
- *Mo & Me* (2006), Actor
- *Pictoplasma: Characters in Motion, Vol. 1* (2005), Music
- *Swing Vote* (1999), as Will Dunn
- *PB&J Otter* (1998), series, as The Ice Moose (voice)
- *Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist* (1998), Thanks
- *Kansas City* (1996), as Seldom Seen
- *White Man's Burden* (1995), as Thaddeus Thomas
- *The Affair* (1995), Executive Producer
- *Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child* (1995), series, as Magic Man (voice)
- *Haiti: Killing the Dream* (1992), Producer
- *The Player* (1992), as Harry Belafonte — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/the-player.md)
- *Jim Henson's Memorial Service* (1990), Actor
- *The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour* (1988), series, Actor
- *An All-Star Celebration Honoring Martin Luther King Jr.* (1986), Actor
- *Beat Street* (1984), Original Music Composer
- *Grambling's White Tiger* (1981), as Coach Eddie Robinson
- *Uptown Saturday Night* (1974), as Geechie Dan Beauford
- *Buck and the Preacher* (1972), as Preacher · Producer
- *The Angel Levine* (1970), as Alexander Levine · Producer
- *ABC Stage 67* (1966), series, Executive Producer
- *Odds Against Tomorrow* (1959), as Johnny Ingram · Co-Producer
- *The World, the Flesh and the Devil* (1959), as Ralph Burton · Producer
- *Island in the Sun* (1957), as David Boyeur
- *Carmen Jones* (1954), as Joe — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/film/carmen-jones.md)
- *Bright Road* (1953), as Mr. Williams - School Principal
- *General Electric Theater* (1953), series, as Vince
- *King Leopold’s Ghost*, Producer

## Gallery

- ![Harry Belafonte at the Vanity Fair party celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Tribeca Film Festival. (2011)](https://film.one/media/person/329643/gallery-f9d5a3c7b05f.png) Harry Belafonte at the Vanity Fair party celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Tribeca Film Festival. (2011) — David Shankbone, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Belafonte-cropped.png/1280px-Belafonte-cropped.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Portrait of Harry Belafonte, Almanac, 1954 Feb. 18.](https://film.one/media/person/329643/gallery-1f69c23fc6de.jpg) Portrait of Harry Belafonte, Almanac, 1954 Feb. 18. — Carl Van Vechten, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Harry_Belafonte_Almanac_1954_b.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Harry Belafonte leaving the press conference for the film "Sing Your Song" (2011)](https://film.one/media/person/329643/gallery-42054658554d.jpg) Harry Belafonte leaving the press conference for the film "Sing Your Song" (2011) — Siebbi, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Harry_Belafonte_%28Berlin_Film_Festival_2011%29_3.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Harry Belafonte at the premiere of the documentary movie "Sing Your Song" about himself at the FriedrichstadtPalast, Berlin, Berlinale 2011](https://film.one/media/person/329643/gallery-917bc39b5ebd.jpg) Harry Belafonte at the premiere of the documentary movie "Sing Your Song" about himself at the FriedrichstadtPalast, Berlin, Berlinale 2011 — Siebbi, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Harry_Belafonte_%28Berlin_Film_Festival_2011%29.jpg/1280px-Harry_Belafonte_%28Berlin_Film_Festival_2011%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Harry Belafonte](https://film.one/media/person/329643/gallery-39838a09b77c.jpg) Harry Belafonte — Image via TMDB
- ![Harry Belafonte](https://film.one/media/person/329643/gallery-4a87489b0e0d.jpg) Harry Belafonte — Image via TMDB
- ![Harry Belafonte](https://film.one/media/person/329643/gallery-7af8c25bf23b.jpg) Harry Belafonte — Image via TMDB
- ![American singer Harry Belafonte at the Miami Book Fair International 2011](https://film.one/media/person/329643/gallery-68c4aad5123d.jpg) American singer Harry Belafonte at the Miami Book Fair International 2011 — Rodrigo Fernández, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Belafonte%2C_Harry_IMGP2441-A.jpg/1280px-Belafonte%2C_Harry_IMGP2441-A.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![120th Anniversary Of Carnegie Hall MOMA, New York City April 12th 2011](https://film.one/media/person/329643/gallery-e5ab1382aabf.jpg) 120th Anniversary Of Carnegie Hall MOMA, New York City April 12th 2011 — Joella Marano from Manhattan, NY, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Harry_Belafonte_and_Pamela_Belafonte_%40_120th_Anniversary_Of_Carnegie_Hall.jpg/1280px-Harry_Belafonte_and_Pamela_Belafonte_%40_120th_Anniversary_Of_Carnegie_Hall.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Primetime Emmy Awards — 1 won

- 1960: Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program (won)

### Other awards — 14 won

- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2022: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (won)
- Four Freedoms Award – Freedom Medal 2017: Four Freedoms Award – Freedom Medal (won)
- Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award 2014: Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (won)
- Ambassador of Conscience Award 2013: Ambassador of Conscience Award (won)
- Spingarn Medal 2012: Spingarn Medal (won)
- Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award 2002: Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award (won)
- Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award 2000: Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (won)
- Marian Anderson Award 1998: Marian Anderson Award (won)
- National Medal of Arts 1994: National Medal of Arts (won)
- honorary degree from Spelman College 1990: honorary degree from Spelman College (won)
- Kennedy Center Honors 1989: Kennedy Center Honors (won)
- Paul Robeson Award 1979: Paul Robeson Award (won)
- Theatre World Award 1954: Theatre World Award (won)
- Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical 1954: Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/harry-belafonte