Following 118 days on strike, SAG-AFTRA secured a deal with the studios that was worth over $1B that it said had ““unprecedented provisions”.
But the guild isn’t resting on its laurels, it’s already looking ahead to its next contract with the AMPTP in 2026.
Over the weekend, SAG-AFTRA’s EVP, Linda Powell, LA VP Jodi Long, who is also LA Local President and SAG-AFTRA VP, Actors/Performers Shari Belafonte were in Denver at SeriesFest to discuss the contract and what’s next for the guild.
The trio discussed the contract gains, including new money for healthcare, protections on AI, new measures on self-tapes and the guild’s new streaming residual bonus.
But they also highlighted the fact that there’s another contract to negotiate in 2026.
Powell said she was “feeling ready for the next fight”.
“We’re watching A.I., we’ve got a lot of legislation going on to...
But the guild isn’t resting on its laurels, it’s already looking ahead to its next contract with the AMPTP in 2026.
Over the weekend, SAG-AFTRA’s EVP, Linda Powell, LA VP Jodi Long, who is also LA Local President and SAG-AFTRA VP, Actors/Performers Shari Belafonte were in Denver at SeriesFest to discuss the contract and what’s next for the guild.
The trio discussed the contract gains, including new money for healthcare, protections on AI, new measures on self-tapes and the guild’s new streaming residual bonus.
But they also highlighted the fact that there’s another contract to negotiate in 2026.
Powell said she was “feeling ready for the next fight”.
“We’re watching A.I., we’ve got a lot of legislation going on to...
- 5/6/2024
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Harry Belafonte is a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador and one of the leading human rights activists in show business.
Harry Belafonte exposed America to world music and spent his life challenging and overturning racial barriers across the globe. Belafonte met a young Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on King’s historic visit to New York in the early 1950s and developed a deep and abiding friendship. Belafonte played a key role in the civil rights movement, including the 1963 March on Washington. In 1985, disturbed by war, drought, and famine in Africa, Belafonte helped organize the Grammy-winning song “We Are the World,” a multi-artist effort to raise funds for Africa. Belafonte was active in efforts to end apartheid in South Africa and to release Nelson Mandela.
Belafonte served as the cultural advisor for the Peace Corps, a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador and was honored as an Ambassador of Conscience by Amnesty International. Recently, Belafonte...
Harry Belafonte exposed America to world music and spent his life challenging and overturning racial barriers across the globe. Belafonte met a young Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on King’s historic visit to New York in the early 1950s and developed a deep and abiding friendship. Belafonte played a key role in the civil rights movement, including the 1963 March on Washington. In 1985, disturbed by war, drought, and famine in Africa, Belafonte helped organize the Grammy-winning song “We Are the World,” a multi-artist effort to raise funds for Africa. Belafonte was active in efforts to end apartheid in South Africa and to release Nelson Mandela.
Belafonte served as the cultural advisor for the Peace Corps, a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador and was honored as an Ambassador of Conscience by Amnesty International. Recently, Belafonte...
- 4/12/2024
- Look to the Stars
Harry Belafonte’s Daughters Criticize Grammys for Not Doing More to Recognize Singer During Ceremony
Harry Belafonte’s daughters, Shari and Gina, are calling out the Grammys for not doing more to recognize the late singer during the 2024 awards ceremony Sunday.
During the In Memoriam segment, Stevie Wonder, Annie Lennox, Fantasia Barrino and Jon Batiste took to the stage to perform emotional tributes for Tina Turner, Tony Bennett, Sinead O’Connor, Clarence Avant and more.
While they performed, images of other artists the music industry lost last year were displayed onscreen behind them, including Belafonte, while Batiste sang “The Best Is Yet to Come.”
But Shari and Gina feel the Grammys should have given the singer a special tribute, similar to the ones for Turner, Bennett, O’Connor and Avant.
“While the folks who had a bit more of a #shoutout on the #GrammyAwards this year were absolutely deserving of accolades, I’m a bit appalled that our father was not included in a #SpecialTribute and...
During the In Memoriam segment, Stevie Wonder, Annie Lennox, Fantasia Barrino and Jon Batiste took to the stage to perform emotional tributes for Tina Turner, Tony Bennett, Sinead O’Connor, Clarence Avant and more.
While they performed, images of other artists the music industry lost last year were displayed onscreen behind them, including Belafonte, while Batiste sang “The Best Is Yet to Come.”
But Shari and Gina feel the Grammys should have given the singer a special tribute, similar to the ones for Turner, Bennett, O’Connor and Avant.
“While the folks who had a bit more of a #shoutout on the #GrammyAwards this year were absolutely deserving of accolades, I’m a bit appalled that our father was not included in a #SpecialTribute and...
- 2/8/2024
- by Carly Thomas
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Robert Wise’s Odds Against Tomorrow came along at the tail end of film noir’s steady decline in popularity in the 1950s and just before the civil rights movement reached its peak in the ’60s. The quintessential male icons of these two distinct eras clash in the film through the extremely confrontational yet mutually beneficial collaboration between a virulently racist ex-con, Earle (Robert Ryan), and a slick, Black jazz musician, Johnny (Harry Belaafonte).
The unlikely pair are brought together by a disgraced retired cop, Burke (Ed Begley), who caught wind of a robbery that’s a sure thing. If something sounds too good to be true in a noir, it always is, but the weaselly Earle’s too macho to let his doting wife, Lorry (Shelley Winters), continue being the breadwinner. Meanwhile, Johnny’s gambling debts have caused him to be estranged from his wife, Ruth (Kim Hamilton), as...
The unlikely pair are brought together by a disgraced retired cop, Burke (Ed Begley), who caught wind of a robbery that’s a sure thing. If something sounds too good to be true in a noir, it always is, but the weaselly Earle’s too macho to let his doting wife, Lorry (Shelley Winters), continue being the breadwinner. Meanwhile, Johnny’s gambling debts have caused him to be estranged from his wife, Ruth (Kim Hamilton), as...
- 2/1/2024
- by Derek Smith
- Slant Magazine
Everyone knows that (almost) all of America’s biggest pop and rock stars crammed into a Los Angeles recording studio on the night of January 28, 1985 in order to lay down the vocals for the charity single “We Are the World,” a semi-tolerable earworm that would ultimately raise more than $68 million to provide food and relief aid to people suffering from starvation in Africa. What Bao Nguyen’s light and fluffy new Netflix documentary presupposes is that it would be entertaining to revisit the room where it happened and watch as this legendary session nearly devolved into an absolute shitshow that threatened to fall apart in 100 different ways due to the egos and insecurities of the singular artists involved.
And while “The Greatest Night in Pop” may not amount to anything more than a sanitized and somewhat masturbatory look back at one of the wildest get-togethers in the modern history of music,...
And while “The Greatest Night in Pop” may not amount to anything more than a sanitized and somewhat masturbatory look back at one of the wildest get-togethers in the modern history of music,...
- 1/24/2024
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Courtesy of Kino Lorber
by Chad Kennerk
Considered the first film noir to feature a leading black protagonist, Odds Against Tomorrow is a vital entry in the noir canon. Directed by legend Robert Wise and produced by star Harry Belafonte’s HarBel Productions, the gritty look at racial tension is also one of cinema’s most important films about prejudice. Created amidst growing disquiet in America, the film heralds the explosive events to come at the dawn of the 1960s and the Civil Rights Movement.
The screenplay was based on the novel by William P. McGivern (The Big Heat) and secretly written by Abraham Polonsky, who penned the screenplays for films such as Body and Soul and Force of Evil. Polonsky had been blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee, so Belafonte approached black novelist and friend John O. Killens to serve as the credited screenwriter. It would take until...
by Chad Kennerk
Considered the first film noir to feature a leading black protagonist, Odds Against Tomorrow is a vital entry in the noir canon. Directed by legend Robert Wise and produced by star Harry Belafonte’s HarBel Productions, the gritty look at racial tension is also one of cinema’s most important films about prejudice. Created amidst growing disquiet in America, the film heralds the explosive events to come at the dawn of the 1960s and the Civil Rights Movement.
The screenplay was based on the novel by William P. McGivern (The Big Heat) and secretly written by Abraham Polonsky, who penned the screenplays for films such as Body and Soul and Force of Evil. Polonsky had been blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee, so Belafonte approached black novelist and friend John O. Killens to serve as the credited screenwriter. It would take until...
- 1/20/2024
- by Chad Kennerk
- Film Review Daily
As a global pop culture event, it’s hard to match the release of “We Are the World,” the charity single that sold more than 20 million copies in 1985 and united 46 musical stars as enormous and disparate as Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and Diana Ross at an all-night secret recording session. The story of that night — the scrambling, the egos, the moments of creative kismet — is now told in Bao Nguyen’s documentary The Greatest Night in Pop, which will premiere Jan. 19 at Sundance before streaming on Netflix beginning Jan. 29.
“When I heard how they assembled the team, to me it was almost like a heist film,” says Nguyen, who directed the 2020 Bruce Lee documentary Be Water. “You have Quincy Jones as the Danny Ocean of the whole effort. And they’re assembling [the team] — who’s the best rock star, who’s the best legend? There’s a bit of...
“When I heard how they assembled the team, to me it was almost like a heist film,” says Nguyen, who directed the 2020 Bruce Lee documentary Be Water. “You have Quincy Jones as the Danny Ocean of the whole effort. And they’re assembling [the team] — who’s the best rock star, who’s the best legend? There’s a bit of...
- 1/18/2024
- by Rebecca Keegan
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Tom Smothers, who with his younger brother Dick changed the face of comedy with their musical humor and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, died Tuesday in Santa Rosa, California, following a cancer battle. The news was announced by the National Comedy Center, on behalf of Smothers’ family. He was 86.
Tom and Dick Smothers started out as folk musicians in the early ’60s, and soon discovered that, while they were not good enough to be professional musicians, the act worked if they mixed in comedy.
Dick Smothers said in a statement, “Tom was not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life, he was a one-of-a-kind creative partner. I am forever grateful to have spent a lifetime together with him, on and off stage, for over 60 years. Our relationship was like a good marriage – the longer we were together, the more we loved and respected one another.
Tom and Dick Smothers started out as folk musicians in the early ’60s, and soon discovered that, while they were not good enough to be professional musicians, the act worked if they mixed in comedy.
Dick Smothers said in a statement, “Tom was not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life, he was a one-of-a-kind creative partner. I am forever grateful to have spent a lifetime together with him, on and off stage, for over 60 years. Our relationship was like a good marriage – the longer we were together, the more we loved and respected one another.
- 12/27/2023
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
And now … they celebrate!
Spirits were high Wednesday evening as SAG-AFTRA members gathered at All Season Brewing in Los Angeles to toast the union reaching a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract with studios and streamers and the end of the 118-day actors strike.
Party organizers said they chose the brewery due to its proximity to SAG-AFTRA headquarters, where just a few hours earlier the union’s negotiating committee approved the agreement in a unanimous vote.
Actors erupted in cheers when negotiating committee members, including Frances Fisher, Shari Belafonte and Avis Boone, arrived and joined the celebration after Wednesday’s vote and a marathon 10-hour session Tuesday.
Fisher, Belafonte and Boone told The Hollywood Reporter they’re “relieved” and “excited” following the end of the strike, and they shed some light on the tentative deal.
“Not just one thing, it’s the whole package,” Fisher told THR regarding what...
Spirits were high Wednesday evening as SAG-AFTRA members gathered at All Season Brewing in Los Angeles to toast the union reaching a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract with studios and streamers and the end of the 118-day actors strike.
Party organizers said they chose the brewery due to its proximity to SAG-AFTRA headquarters, where just a few hours earlier the union’s negotiating committee approved the agreement in a unanimous vote.
Actors erupted in cheers when negotiating committee members, including Frances Fisher, Shari Belafonte and Avis Boone, arrived and joined the celebration after Wednesday’s vote and a marathon 10-hour session Tuesday.
Fisher, Belafonte and Boone told The Hollywood Reporter they’re “relieved” and “excited” following the end of the strike, and they shed some light on the tentative deal.
“Not just one thing, it’s the whole package,” Fisher told THR regarding what...
- 11/9/2023
- by Tiffany Taylor
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Hollywood television production is starting to ramp back up following the resolution of the 148-day Writers’ Guild of America strike. Late-night programming is set to return this week and writing is slated to resume on hits like HBO’s “The Last of Us” Season 2.
But production of scripted series like ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” NBC’s “Law & Order,” HBO’s “Euphoria” and others still hinges on SAG-AFTRA striking its own deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to get actors back to work and promoting upcoming shows.
After a “full day bargaining session” on Monday between the guild’s negotiating committee and the studios, talks are slated to resume on Wednesday to resolve the actors strike, which began on July 14.
Here is a look at five of the top issues at stake for TV actors in the talks between the AMPTP and the union.
Artificial Intelligence
As in the writers’ strike,...
But production of scripted series like ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” NBC’s “Law & Order,” HBO’s “Euphoria” and others still hinges on SAG-AFTRA striking its own deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to get actors back to work and promoting upcoming shows.
After a “full day bargaining session” on Monday between the guild’s negotiating committee and the studios, talks are slated to resume on Wednesday to resolve the actors strike, which began on July 14.
Here is a look at five of the top issues at stake for TV actors in the talks between the AMPTP and the union.
Artificial Intelligence
As in the writers’ strike,...
- 10/4/2023
- by Lucas Manfredi
- The Wrap
Though their demands may be different, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA are taking one of the core tenants of unionization to heart as they continue to strike. They’re sticking together.
“We’ve been sort of calling this phase two of the strike,” Sasha Stewart, a WGA East council member and strike captain told TheWrap this week during a WrapPRO roundtable on union solidarity. “It really feels like the energy levels are back to the beginning”
Stewart noted that members of SAG-AFTRA have been on the WGA picket lines since “day one,” which started months ago on May 2 and joked that their involvement was a “great rehearsal” for what was to come. Though she wishes that SAG-AFTRA had gotten a “fair contract” with the AMPTP, having two Hollywood unions on strike has made organization easier. And that’s not just because the WGA and SAG-AFTRA now get to take turns when it comes to permit requests.
“We’ve been sort of calling this phase two of the strike,” Sasha Stewart, a WGA East council member and strike captain told TheWrap this week during a WrapPRO roundtable on union solidarity. “It really feels like the energy levels are back to the beginning”
Stewart noted that members of SAG-AFTRA have been on the WGA picket lines since “day one,” which started months ago on May 2 and joked that their involvement was a “great rehearsal” for what was to come. Though she wishes that SAG-AFTRA had gotten a “fair contract” with the AMPTP, having two Hollywood unions on strike has made organization easier. And that’s not just because the WGA and SAG-AFTRA now get to take turns when it comes to permit requests.
- 7/28/2023
- by Kayla Cobb
- The Wrap
WGA West President Meredith Stiehm, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and SAG-AFTRA national board members Frances Fisher and Shari Belafonte joined hundreds of striking writers and actors on the picket line today outside the main gate of Fox Studios in Century City.
Also on hand were Yvonne Wheeler, the newly elected president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, and Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, executive secretary treasurer of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO.
Stiehm, noting that this is the 87th day of the writers strike, told the sign-carrying picketers gathered in front of the studio’s huge water fountain on Pico Boulevard: “If we want something enough and think it’s really worthwhile, we may have to struggle for it. That’s how you get things of value – you fight for it.”
Chanting “On strike, shut it down, L.A. is a union town,” the peaceful and cheerful picketers carried signs that read,...
Also on hand were Yvonne Wheeler, the newly elected president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, and Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, executive secretary treasurer of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO.
Stiehm, noting that this is the 87th day of the writers strike, told the sign-carrying picketers gathered in front of the studio’s huge water fountain on Pico Boulevard: “If we want something enough and think it’s really worthwhile, we may have to struggle for it. That’s how you get things of value – you fight for it.”
Chanting “On strike, shut it down, L.A. is a union town,” the peaceful and cheerful picketers carried signs that read,...
- 7/27/2023
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
Tribeca Enterprises Chief Content Officer Paula Weinstein surprised a packed house tonight at Tribeca Festival’s annual Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award presentation with a special, never before seen, extended sneak peek of Susanne Rostock’s upcoming Harry Belafonte documentary “Following Harry.”
The four-minute clip, presented below, represents the prologue of Rostock’s upcoming documentary. The reveal was the climax of the event, during which the annual award was presented to Jane Fonda at Indeed Theater at Spring Studios.
The footage shows the elderly activist, who passed away at the age of 96 on April 25 of this year, reflecting on his life and the frustration that he has seen so many negative forces emerging upon the public stage in his twilight years.
“The truth of the matter is that the enemy doesn’t sleep,” Belafonte states amid scenes of torch-bearing Charlottesville Nazi protestors shouting “blood and soil.”
Belafonte collaborated...
The four-minute clip, presented below, represents the prologue of Rostock’s upcoming documentary. The reveal was the climax of the event, during which the annual award was presented to Jane Fonda at Indeed Theater at Spring Studios.
The footage shows the elderly activist, who passed away at the age of 96 on April 25 of this year, reflecting on his life and the frustration that he has seen so many negative forces emerging upon the public stage in his twilight years.
“The truth of the matter is that the enemy doesn’t sleep,” Belafonte states amid scenes of torch-bearing Charlottesville Nazi protestors shouting “blood and soil.”
Belafonte collaborated...
- 6/10/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
Edward L. Rissien, who produced the Burt Lancaster-starring war film Castle Keep and served as an executive at ABC, Bing Crosby Productions, Filmways and Playboy Productions, has died. He was 98.
Rissien died April 8 of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles, his nephew, Emmy-nominated director Michael Zinberg (The Bob Newhart Show, The Good Wife, NCIS), told The Hollywood Reporter.
“Eddie was a well-respected man who had beautiful taste in material,” Zinberg said. “He was always looking for something that would make a difference.”
An Iowa native who started out as a stage manager on Broadway, Rissien helped set up Harry Belafonte‘s HarBel Productions after acquiring the film rights for Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), the Robert Wise-directed drama that starred Belafonte, Robert Ryan and Shelley Winters.
He also produced Snow Job (1972), starring legendary French skier and Olympic champion Jean-Claude Killy as a thief in his only feature role,...
Rissien died April 8 of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles, his nephew, Emmy-nominated director Michael Zinberg (The Bob Newhart Show, The Good Wife, NCIS), told The Hollywood Reporter.
“Eddie was a well-respected man who had beautiful taste in material,” Zinberg said. “He was always looking for something that would make a difference.”
An Iowa native who started out as a stage manager on Broadway, Rissien helped set up Harry Belafonte‘s HarBel Productions after acquiring the film rights for Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), the Robert Wise-directed drama that starred Belafonte, Robert Ryan and Shelley Winters.
He also produced Snow Job (1972), starring legendary French skier and Olympic champion Jean-Claude Killy as a thief in his only feature role,...
- 5/10/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The recent passing of Harry Belafonte — and the viral proliferation of a clip featuring the iconic singer/actor/activist crooning “Day-o” in front of a boat packed with dancing pigs — was a reminder of how many stars of a certain generation were at their most relaxed and ebullient as participants on The Muppet Show.
Some 44 years after Belafonte did The Muppet Show, the powers that be at Disney and the Muppet Studio continue to go out of their way to find avenues for Muppet programming that inexplicably avoid just doing The Muppet Show for a new generation. There’s a willingness to fritter this priceless brand away on tangential projects that vanish quickly and forgettably instead of bringing the characters and the A-list stars who love them together in one spoof-and-song-driven space.
Disney+’s new effort at Muppet-mining — a third, following Muppets Haunted Mansion and Muppets Now — is The Muppets Mayhem,...
Some 44 years after Belafonte did The Muppet Show, the powers that be at Disney and the Muppet Studio continue to go out of their way to find avenues for Muppet programming that inexplicably avoid just doing The Muppet Show for a new generation. There’s a willingness to fritter this priceless brand away on tangential projects that vanish quickly and forgettably instead of bringing the characters and the A-list stars who love them together in one spoof-and-song-driven space.
Disney+’s new effort at Muppet-mining — a third, following Muppets Haunted Mansion and Muppets Now — is The Muppets Mayhem,...
- 5/9/2023
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI, and sign up for our weekly email newsletter by clicking here.REMEMBRANCEIsland in the Sun.The singer, actor, and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte has died, aged 96. Christina Newland wrote a piece on Belafonte for Notebook in 2020, praising his politics, his style, his music, and his work ss stage and screen. "His impact on American mid-century life has been so significant that it’s difficult to define him as any single thing, or to see him occupying only one role."NEWSNo Bears.Jafar Panahi has left Iran for the first time in fourteen years, it is being reported. Posting from an airport, his wife Tahereh Saeedi tweeted that, “after 14 years, Jafar’s ban was cancelled" and, that finally, the pair are "going to travel together for a few days…”The Cannes Film Festival have...
- 5/2/2023
- MUBI
The world continues to mourn after hearing the news that Harry Belafonte died on April 25 at 96 years old. Although he might be most instantly recognizable for his roles in Hollywood and his musical hits, his legacy within the civil rights movement is deeply felt today. He fiercely advocated for political and humanitarian causes throughout his life, working alongside fellow activists and leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
In 2005, Belafonte founded the Gathering for Justice, a nonprofit organization that provides an intergenerational forum for activists, community members, formerly incarcerated folks, and more to work towards ending child incarceration and eliminating the racial inequities in our justice system.
Carmen Perez-Jordan is president and CEO of the Gathering for Justice, and was a close mentee of Belafonte's for two decades. She's a pioneer within the social justice movement in her own right, cofounding Justice League NYC and organizing the 2017 Women's March as a cochair.
In 2005, Belafonte founded the Gathering for Justice, a nonprofit organization that provides an intergenerational forum for activists, community members, formerly incarcerated folks, and more to work towards ending child incarceration and eliminating the racial inequities in our justice system.
Carmen Perez-Jordan is president and CEO of the Gathering for Justice, and was a close mentee of Belafonte's for two decades. She's a pioneer within the social justice movement in her own right, cofounding Justice League NYC and organizing the 2017 Women's March as a cochair.
- 4/27/2023
- by Carmen Perez-Jordan
- Popsugar.com
Harry Belafonte was a child when his mother sent him and his brother to live with relatives in Jamaica.
He was born in Harlem on the cusp of the Great Depression, and after his father left the family, Belafonte’s mom thought her children might fare better in her home country. She wanted to save them from the deleterious effects of her precarious immigration status and poverty. Harry, as he writes in his memoir My Song, was a difficult child, prone to fighting with other kids. His mother — single, newly devout in her faith and working tirelessly to make ends meet — thought this move would help her troubled son.
Salvation is a tall order, but Jamaica did leave its mark. In Kingston, among his mother’s people, Belafonte discovered the sounds on which he would base part of his artistry. Many of the songs he sang later in his career,...
He was born in Harlem on the cusp of the Great Depression, and after his father left the family, Belafonte’s mom thought her children might fare better in her home country. She wanted to save them from the deleterious effects of her precarious immigration status and poverty. Harry, as he writes in his memoir My Song, was a difficult child, prone to fighting with other kids. His mother — single, newly devout in her faith and working tirelessly to make ends meet — thought this move would help her troubled son.
Salvation is a tall order, but Jamaica did leave its mark. In Kingston, among his mother’s people, Belafonte discovered the sounds on which he would base part of his artistry. Many of the songs he sang later in his career,...
- 4/26/2023
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Singer, actor, and activist Harry Belafonte has passed away at the age of 96. Along with his rich, prolific musical career, Belafonte leaves behind an impressive legacy on screen. From one of his earliest roles in Otto Preminger's "Carmen Jones" to his last appearance in Spike Lee's "BlacKkKlansman," Belafonte left an unforgettable impression. The actor worked with talented filmmakers like Robert Altman, Robert Wise, Ava DuVernay, and Sidney Poitier, and appeared in Lee's 2006 look at the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, "When The Levees Broke." But he and Lee would also work together one more time, in a role that the then-elderly Belafonte had to get approved by a doctor.
Belafonte's scene in "BlacKkKlansman" gives the darkly funny movie about a Black cop infiltrating the KKK a sense of gravity and history; in a nine-minute scene, Black students and activists sit rapt and engrossed around a seated Belafonte as he...
Belafonte's scene in "BlacKkKlansman" gives the darkly funny movie about a Black cop infiltrating the KKK a sense of gravity and history; in a nine-minute scene, Black students and activists sit rapt and engrossed around a seated Belafonte as he...
- 4/25/2023
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
Harry Belafonte, the singer, actor, and civil rights activist, passed away in New York on April 25 at the age of 96. Belafonte rose to fame in the 1950s as a singer and actor and ended up playing a major role in the civil rights movement. A friend of Martin Luther King Jr., he used his money to help fund the movement and used his connections to bring more celebrities and arts to the cause, including Tony Bennett, Marlon Brando, Joan Baez, and many more.
Through his phenomenal life, Belafonte made many celebrity friends, and in photos of him, he was almost always grinning widely or even laughing. As he grew older and became an elder statesman of Hollywood, he continued to befriend those of the younger generation, including Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, and Spike Lee. Lee remembered Belafonte on Instagram, sharing a photo together and writing, "May God Have My Dear...
Through his phenomenal life, Belafonte made many celebrity friends, and in photos of him, he was almost always grinning widely or even laughing. As he grew older and became an elder statesman of Hollywood, he continued to befriend those of the younger generation, including Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover, and Spike Lee. Lee remembered Belafonte on Instagram, sharing a photo together and writing, "May God Have My Dear...
- 4/25/2023
- by Victoria Edel
- Popsugar.com
Harry Belafonte, who died Tuesday, first crossed paths with Dr. Irwin Redlener, the healthcare reform activist who cofounded Children’s Health Fund, in boardroom meetings for USA for Africa during the mid-Eighties. Belafonte had gotten the idea for the organization after seeing how Band Aid’s 1984 recording “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” raised awareness about the Ethiopian famine, and launched a similar humanitarian effort that included the all-star song “We Are the World,” Hands Across America, and the disbursement of some $100,000,000 over the past 35 years to provide famine and...
- 4/25/2023
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
Oprah, Spike Lee, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Maria Shriver and Questlove were among the entertainers, artists, thinkers, activists and humanitarians who took to social media Tuesday to pay tribute to Harry Belafonte following the news that the talented Jamaican American multihyphenate died at the age of 96.
The singer and actor died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his Manhattan home on the Upper West Side, his rep told The Hollywood Reporter. The “Calyspo” singer released over 30 albums during his career, earned a Grammy lifetime achievement award and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and became a rare non-white leading man and sex symbol in Hollywood.
But Belafonte would also become a civil rights, humanitarian and activist icon, helping round up the celebrity presence at the Freedom March on Washington in 1963, where King delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech and participated in...
The singer and actor died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his Manhattan home on the Upper West Side, his rep told The Hollywood Reporter. The “Calyspo” singer released over 30 albums during his career, earned a Grammy lifetime achievement award and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and became a rare non-white leading man and sex symbol in Hollywood.
But Belafonte would also become a civil rights, humanitarian and activist icon, helping round up the celebrity presence at the Freedom March on Washington in 1963, where King delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech and participated in...
- 4/25/2023
- by Abbey White
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The right song can take a movie scene from memorable to simply unforgettable, and few movie-music combinations have had the impact and staying power of Harry Belafonte's "Day-o (The Banana Boat Song)" in Tim Burton's "Beetlejuice." Belafonte's songs are all throughout the 1988 dark comedy about a ghost couple being haunted by an annoying living family that moved into their home, but "Day-o" is the big one, with the cast lip-syncing and dancing to the song during a bizarre dinner party. The moment is incredible, as new homeowners Charles (Jeffrey Jones) and Delia Deetz (Catherine O'Hara) invite over some of their fancy friends from the city, hoping to impress them with their large, oddly decorated house in the country. Instead, the home's original owners, Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) decide to possess the dinner party in an attempt to scare them away and force the Deetzes to move out.
- 4/25/2023
- by Danielle Ryan
- Slash Film
”We’ve got to rally right now. People need to escape, be entertained and inspired.”
In a rare CinemaCon address by the head of a big media company Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav took to the stage ahead of Tuesday’s Warner Bros presentation and told attendees, “We believe in full windowing of motion pictures.”
In a stirring address in whch he portrayed himself as a man of the people, Zaslav touched on his own childhood going to the cinema with his father in Brooklyn every Saturday, being inspired by Sidney Poitier in To Sir With Love, and characterised...
In a rare CinemaCon address by the head of a big media company Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav took to the stage ahead of Tuesday’s Warner Bros presentation and told attendees, “We believe in full windowing of motion pictures.”
In a stirring address in whch he portrayed himself as a man of the people, Zaslav touched on his own childhood going to the cinema with his father in Brooklyn every Saturday, being inspired by Sidney Poitier in To Sir With Love, and characterised...
- 4/25/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Harry Belafonte, the singer who became one of the first Black leading men in Hollywood and later a major voice in the civil rights movement, died Tuesday at age 96.
Belafonte’s extraordinary career includes as a singer, movie star and TV producer (winning an Emmy for CBS’s Tonight with Belafonte).
Related: Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries
His legacy was cemented by his work as an activist and political change-agent. A confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Belafonte and was one of the organizers of the 1963 March on Washington. He backed several political and social causes including speaking out on behalf of the anti-apartheid movement, equal rights for women, juvenile justice, climate...
Belafonte’s extraordinary career includes as a singer, movie star and TV producer (winning an Emmy for CBS’s Tonight with Belafonte).
Related: Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries
His legacy was cemented by his work as an activist and political change-agent. A confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Belafonte and was one of the organizers of the 1963 March on Washington. He backed several political and social causes including speaking out on behalf of the anti-apartheid movement, equal rights for women, juvenile justice, climate...
- 4/25/2023
- by Robert Lang
- Deadline Film + TV
Today marks a sad day for the entertainment industry at large. Singer, actor, civil rights activist, and humanitarian Harry Belafonte has sadly passed away at the age of 96. Belafonte will be remembered for a great many things, but he is also one of the only artists to have a hit with the same song across two different decades. In 1956, the year of Elvis, Belafonte burst onto the charts with the timeless ear worm "Banana Boat (Day-o)" to quickly become the "King of Calypso" and create a new dance craze across the nation.
Fast forward to 1988, and the surprise success of Tim Burton's "Beetlejuice" introduced the "Day-o" song to a new generation of kids when the track was featured in one of the most memorable scenes in the film. The decision to use the song for the now infamous ghostly singalong dinner scene started with a phone call to Belafonte...
Fast forward to 1988, and the surprise success of Tim Burton's "Beetlejuice" introduced the "Day-o" song to a new generation of kids when the track was featured in one of the most memorable scenes in the film. The decision to use the song for the now infamous ghostly singalong dinner scene started with a phone call to Belafonte...
- 4/25/2023
- by Drew Tinnin
- Slash Film
The star with the gorgeous calypso voice was also a naturally passionate actor who appeared in heists, colonial confrontations – and even the last love triangle on Earth
In the middle of the 20th century, Harry Belafonte was at the dizzying high point of his stunning multi-hyphenate celebrity: this handsome, athletic, Caribbean-American star with a gorgeous calypso singing voice was at the top of his game in music, movies and politics. He was the million-selling artist whose easy and sensuous musical stylings and lighter-skinned image made him acceptable to white audiences. But this didn’t stop him having a fierce screen presence and an even fiercer commitment to civil rights. He was the friend and comrade of Paul Robeson and Martin Luther King Jr – and his crossover success, incidentally, never stopped him being subject to the ugliest kind of bigotry from racists who saw his fame as a kind of infiltration.
In the middle of the 20th century, Harry Belafonte was at the dizzying high point of his stunning multi-hyphenate celebrity: this handsome, athletic, Caribbean-American star with a gorgeous calypso singing voice was at the top of his game in music, movies and politics. He was the million-selling artist whose easy and sensuous musical stylings and lighter-skinned image made him acceptable to white audiences. But this didn’t stop him having a fierce screen presence and an even fiercer commitment to civil rights. He was the friend and comrade of Paul Robeson and Martin Luther King Jr – and his crossover success, incidentally, never stopped him being subject to the ugliest kind of bigotry from racists who saw his fame as a kind of infiltration.
- 4/25/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Harry Belafonte’s family is remembering his legacy.
The legendary singer, actor and activist died on Tuesday at age 96, and soon after the sad news broke, his family released a statement in tribute.
Read More: Harry Belafonte, Activist & Entertainer, Passes Away At 96
“It is with a heavy heart that we have said goodbye to our beloved dad, father-in-law, and grandpa, the beyond amazing Harry Belafonte,” they said. “To the world he was a legend, but to us he was Dad, Harry, Farfar – which means Grandpa in Danish – and he will always mean the world to us.”
The statement continued, “We are heartbroken to have lost such a big presence in our lives and we will honour him in everything we do. His legacy is passed on to his four children, Adrienne, Shari, David, and Gina, as well as his five grandchildren, Rachel Blue, Brian, Maria, Sarafina, and Amadeus, all of...
The legendary singer, actor and activist died on Tuesday at age 96, and soon after the sad news broke, his family released a statement in tribute.
Read More: Harry Belafonte, Activist & Entertainer, Passes Away At 96
“It is with a heavy heart that we have said goodbye to our beloved dad, father-in-law, and grandpa, the beyond amazing Harry Belafonte,” they said. “To the world he was a legend, but to us he was Dad, Harry, Farfar – which means Grandpa in Danish – and he will always mean the world to us.”
The statement continued, “We are heartbroken to have lost such a big presence in our lives and we will honour him in everything we do. His legacy is passed on to his four children, Adrienne, Shari, David, and Gina, as well as his five grandchildren, Rachel Blue, Brian, Maria, Sarafina, and Amadeus, all of...
- 4/25/2023
- by Corey Atad
- ET Canada
On Tuesday, the world lost an icon in the legendary performer, civil rights activist, and humanitarian Harry Belafonte. The Emmy, Grammy, and Tony winner passed away at the age of 96. After starting his career in his native New York City as a jazz singer in the late 1940s and early ’50s, often backed by the likes of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Max Roach, he released his first hit song “Matilda” in 1953. Then, a year later, he won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for “John Murray Anderson’s Almanac.” His first album “Calypso” was released in 1956 and brought unquestionably the most enduring song of his career, “Day-o (The Banana Boat Song).”
Belafonte went on to regularly perform with the Rat Pack in Las Vegas throughout the years while also transitioning to the screen. During the 1950s, he starred in such films as “Carmen Jones,” “Island in the Sun,...
Belafonte went on to regularly perform with the Rat Pack in Las Vegas throughout the years while also transitioning to the screen. During the 1950s, he starred in such films as “Carmen Jones,” “Island in the Sun,...
- 4/25/2023
- by Matt Tamanini
- The Streamable
Harry Belafonte, beloved singer, actor, and Egot winner, has died at age 96 of congestive heart failure. Belfonte died at his New York home on Apr. 25, 2023, with his wife, Pamela, by his side. Four children and two stepchildren survive him, reported ABC7 New York.
Harry Belafonte died at age 96 of congestive heart failure on Apr. 25, 2023, | Gary Gershoff/WireImage Harry Belafonte was a native New Yorker
Harry Belafonte was born Harold Bellanfanti Jr. in Harlem, New York, on March 1, 1927. He lived with his grandmother in Jamaica from 1932 to 1940 before returning to New York City and serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
Following the war, Belafonte took acting classes at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School in New York City while also performing with the American Negro Theatre. He developed an appreciation for folk music while working as a club singer in New York to help pay for acting lessons.
Harry Belafonte died at age 96 of congestive heart failure on Apr. 25, 2023, | Gary Gershoff/WireImage Harry Belafonte was a native New Yorker
Harry Belafonte was born Harold Bellanfanti Jr. in Harlem, New York, on March 1, 1927. He lived with his grandmother in Jamaica from 1932 to 1940 before returning to New York City and serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
Following the war, Belafonte took acting classes at the Dramatic Workshop of The New School in New York City while also performing with the American Negro Theatre. He developed an appreciation for folk music while working as a club singer in New York to help pay for acting lessons.
- 4/25/2023
- by Lucille Barilla
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Harry Belafonte, one of the most important and influential Black figures in entertainment, music, and throughout the last century of the civil rights movement, has sadly passed away at the age of 96. The news was first reported by The New York Times and confirmed by Belafonte's spokesman Ken Sunshine, the cause of death resulting from congestive heart failure.
The actor, singer, musician, and activist had most recently appeared in a small but significant supporting turn in director Spike Lee's provocative "BlacKkKlansman" in 2018, where he portrayed a fictionalized civil rights activist. In one of the most pivotal scenes towards the end of the film, Belafonte recounts the horrific real-life lynching of Black teenager Jesse Washington in 1916 and draws a direct parallel to the production of director D.W. Griffith's racist propaganda movie "The Birth of a Nation." The astute choice to cast Belafonte for this particular role speaks to...
The actor, singer, musician, and activist had most recently appeared in a small but significant supporting turn in director Spike Lee's provocative "BlacKkKlansman" in 2018, where he portrayed a fictionalized civil rights activist. In one of the most pivotal scenes towards the end of the film, Belafonte recounts the horrific real-life lynching of Black teenager Jesse Washington in 1916 and draws a direct parallel to the production of director D.W. Griffith's racist propaganda movie "The Birth of a Nation." The astute choice to cast Belafonte for this particular role speaks to...
- 4/25/2023
- by Jeremy Mathai
- Slash Film
Harry Belafonte, a beloved Hollywood star, iconic singer, and prominent civil rights activist, died on Tuesday at his home in Manhattan's Upper West Side, The New York Times reported. He was 96 years old. That outlet noted that Belafonte's longtime spokesperson Ken Sunshine confirmed the actor died of congestive heart failure.
Belafonte rose to astronomical heights in the 20th century as one of the most renowned entertainers of his time, who blazed trails for other Black performers alongside icons like his late friend Sidney Poitier. The actor became known as one of the first Black leading men in Hollywood, starring in iconic films like 1954's "Carmen Jones," as well as many TV variety specials. Belafonte also forayed into film production with features like "The World, the Flesh and the Devil" and heist picture "Odds Against Tomorrow," both from 1959.
According to Variety, Belafonte then stepped back from the big screen for...
Belafonte rose to astronomical heights in the 20th century as one of the most renowned entertainers of his time, who blazed trails for other Black performers alongside icons like his late friend Sidney Poitier. The actor became known as one of the first Black leading men in Hollywood, starring in iconic films like 1954's "Carmen Jones," as well as many TV variety specials. Belafonte also forayed into film production with features like "The World, the Flesh and the Devil" and heist picture "Odds Against Tomorrow," both from 1959.
According to Variety, Belafonte then stepped back from the big screen for...
- 4/25/2023
- by Njera Perkins
- Popsugar.com
Singer, actor, producer and activist Harry Belafonte, who spawned a calypso craze in the U.S. with his music and blazed new trails for African-American performers, has died of congestive heart failure at his Manhattan home, reports ‘Variety’. He was 96.
An award-winning Broadway performer and a versatile recording and concert star of the 1950s, notes ‘Variety’, the lithe, handsome Harold George Belafonte, who grew up in New York and Jamaica, became one of the first black leading men in Hollywood. He later branched into production work on theatrical films and telepics.
He’ll be remembered forever for his ageless ‘Banana Boat Song (Day-o)’, which Tim Burton employed to bright effect in his 1988 comedy ‘Beetlejuice’, reports ‘Variety’. And Belafonte also provided early employment to a future folk icon: His 1962 album ‘Midnight Special’ featured harmonica work by Bob Dylan.
Among the most honoured artistes of his era, Belafonte won two Grammys (and...
An award-winning Broadway performer and a versatile recording and concert star of the 1950s, notes ‘Variety’, the lithe, handsome Harold George Belafonte, who grew up in New York and Jamaica, became one of the first black leading men in Hollywood. He later branched into production work on theatrical films and telepics.
He’ll be remembered forever for his ageless ‘Banana Boat Song (Day-o)’, which Tim Burton employed to bright effect in his 1988 comedy ‘Beetlejuice’, reports ‘Variety’. And Belafonte also provided early employment to a future folk icon: His 1962 album ‘Midnight Special’ featured harmonica work by Bob Dylan.
Among the most honoured artistes of his era, Belafonte won two Grammys (and...
- 4/25/2023
- by Agency News Desk
- GlamSham
The legendary Harry Belafonte, whose calypso music is still enjoyed to this day, has been confirmed by his longtime spokesman, Ken Sunshine, to The Hollywood Reporter that the Caribbean-American artist passed on Tuesday due to congestive heart failure at his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Belafonte was also an actor who used his fame to garner attention to his causes which include shining a light on civil rights injustices around the world. Belafonte had received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences back in November of 2014.
Belafonte’s hits, “Day-o (Banana Boat Song)” and “Jump in the Line” have found an immortalized place in pop culture thanks in part to their use in the popular movie Beetlejuice, which still connects with younger audiences today. However, the calypso singer would explode onto the billboard charts with his first album, Belafonte, in...
Belafonte’s hits, “Day-o (Banana Boat Song)” and “Jump in the Line” have found an immortalized place in pop culture thanks in part to their use in the popular movie Beetlejuice, which still connects with younger audiences today. However, the calypso singer would explode onto the billboard charts with his first album, Belafonte, in...
- 4/25/2023
- by EJ Tangonan
- JoBlo.com
Harry Belafonte, the three-time Grammy-winning Caribbean-American pop star and Carmen Jones actor, has died. He was 96. According to the New York Times, Belafonte passed away Tuesday, April 25, at his home in Manhattan. The singer’s longtime spokesperson, Ken Sunshine, confirmed the cause of death was congestive heart failure. Born on March 1, 1927, in New York City, Belafonte started his music career in the 1940s, performing as a club singer in NYC to pay for acting classes. He helped ignite the craze for Caribbean music with his breakthrough 1956 album Calypso, which featured the hit records “Day-o (The Banana Boat Song)” and “Jamaica Farewell” and spent 31 weeks at the top of the Billboard album chart. He went on to release five more Top 5 albums. Everett Collection His success as a singer led to movie roles, with Belafonte becoming the first Black actor to achieve major success as a Hollywood leading man. He also...
- 4/25/2023
- TV Insider
Harry Belafonte, a singer and civil-rights activist who made frequent television appearances throughout his long career, died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his home in New York City.
Belafonte’s publicist confirmed the death via a statement to TVLine.
More from TVLineWWE Hall of Famer Terry Funk Dead at 79 - Ric Flair and Mick Foley Pay TributeAnother World's Nancy Frangione Dead at 70Ahsoka Pays Tribute to Ray Stevenson in Series Premiere: 'For Our Friend, Ray'
An actor and singer from a young age, Belafonte became synonymous with Caribbean music; his album Calypso, which included hits like “Day-o (The Banana Boat Song” and “Jamaica Farewell,...
Belafonte’s publicist confirmed the death via a statement to TVLine.
More from TVLineWWE Hall of Famer Terry Funk Dead at 79 - Ric Flair and Mick Foley Pay TributeAnother World's Nancy Frangione Dead at 70Ahsoka Pays Tribute to Ray Stevenson in Series Premiere: 'For Our Friend, Ray'
An actor and singer from a young age, Belafonte became synonymous with Caribbean music; his album Calypso, which included hits like “Day-o (The Banana Boat Song” and “Jamaica Farewell,...
- 4/25/2023
- by Kimberly Roots
- TVLine.com
Harry Belafonte, the civil rights and entertainment giant who began as a groundbreaking actor and singer and became an activist, humanitarian and conscience of the world, has passed away. He was 96.
Belafonte passed away Tuesday due to congestive heart failure at his New York home, his wife Pamela by his side, said Paula M. Witt, of public relations firm Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis.
With his glowing, handsome face and silky-husky voice, Belafonte was one of the first Black performers to gain a wide following on film and to sell a million records as a singer; many still know him for his signature hit “Banana Boat Song (Day-o),” and its call of “Day-o! Daaaaay-o.” But he forged a greater legacy once he scaled back his performing career in the 1960s and lived out his hero Paul Robeson’s decree that artists are “gatekeepers of truth.”
He stands as the model and...
Belafonte passed away Tuesday due to congestive heart failure at his New York home, his wife Pamela by his side, said Paula M. Witt, of public relations firm Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis.
With his glowing, handsome face and silky-husky voice, Belafonte was one of the first Black performers to gain a wide following on film and to sell a million records as a singer; many still know him for his signature hit “Banana Boat Song (Day-o),” and its call of “Day-o! Daaaaay-o.” But he forged a greater legacy once he scaled back his performing career in the 1960s and lived out his hero Paul Robeson’s decree that artists are “gatekeepers of truth.”
He stands as the model and...
- 4/25/2023
- by Divya Goyal
- ET Canada
Harry Belafonte, the actor, singer and civil rights trailblazer, died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his New York home, with his wife Pamela by his side. He was 96.
Belafonte is considered among the most successful Caribbean-American music stars of all time and one of the first Black leading men in Hollywood, making a name for himself during the 1950s and ’60s. An activist and social campaigner by nature, he was an early supporter of the Civil Rights movement and became a major figure in the American social and political history of the 20th century.
He was a confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and backed many historic political and social causes and events, including the anti-apartheid movement, equal rights for women, juvenile justice, climate change and the decolonization of Africa. He was one of the organizers of the 1963 March on Washington, leading a delegation of Hollywood including best friend Sidney Poitier,...
Belafonte is considered among the most successful Caribbean-American music stars of all time and one of the first Black leading men in Hollywood, making a name for himself during the 1950s and ’60s. An activist and social campaigner by nature, he was an early supporter of the Civil Rights movement and became a major figure in the American social and political history of the 20th century.
He was a confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and backed many historic political and social causes and events, including the anti-apartheid movement, equal rights for women, juvenile justice, climate change and the decolonization of Africa. He was one of the organizers of the 1963 March on Washington, leading a delegation of Hollywood including best friend Sidney Poitier,...
- 4/25/2023
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Harry Belafonte, the legendary singer, actor, and civil rights activist, died Tuesday, April 25, Rolling Stone has confirmed. He was 96.
Belafonte died at his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, with longtime spokesman Ken Sunshine adding the cause was congestive heart failure.
Related Harry Belafonte: Five Essential Songs Songwriter Keith Gattis, Whose Songs Were Cut by Kenny Chesney and George Strait, Dead at 52 Len Goodman, Longtime 'Dancing With the Stars' Judge, Dead at 78
Belafonte rose to prominence in the Fifties when his interpretation of calypso music popularized the sounds...
Belafonte died at his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, with longtime spokesman Ken Sunshine adding the cause was congestive heart failure.
Related Harry Belafonte: Five Essential Songs Songwriter Keith Gattis, Whose Songs Were Cut by Kenny Chesney and George Strait, Dead at 52 Len Goodman, Longtime 'Dancing With the Stars' Judge, Dead at 78
Belafonte rose to prominence in the Fifties when his interpretation of calypso music popularized the sounds...
- 4/25/2023
- by Jason Heller
- Rollingstone.com
Harry Belafonte, the actor, producer, singer and activist who made calypso music a national phenomenon with “Day-o” (The Banana Boat Song) and used his considerable stardom to draw attention to Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights issues and injustices around the world, has died. He was 96.
Belafonte, recipient of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2014, died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his Manhattan home on the Upper West Side with his wife, Pamela, by his side, longtime spokesman Ken Sunshine told The Hollywood Reporter.
A master at blending pop, jazz and traditional West Indian rhythms, the Caribbean-American Belafonte released more than 30 albums during his career and received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy from the Recording Academy in 2000.
Calypso, which featured “Day-o” and another hit, “Jamaica Farewell,” topped the Billboard pop album list for an incredible 31 weeks in 1956 and is credited as...
Belafonte, recipient of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2014, died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his Manhattan home on the Upper West Side with his wife, Pamela, by his side, longtime spokesman Ken Sunshine told The Hollywood Reporter.
A master at blending pop, jazz and traditional West Indian rhythms, the Caribbean-American Belafonte released more than 30 albums during his career and received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy from the Recording Academy in 2000.
Calypso, which featured “Day-o” and another hit, “Jamaica Farewell,” topped the Billboard pop album list for an incredible 31 weeks in 1956 and is credited as...
- 4/25/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Iconic actor, musician, and lifelong activist Harry Belafonte has died at the age of 96. The cause, per his longtime spokesman Ken Sunshine, was congestive heart failure.
Belafonte’s singing shaped a musical consciousness for generations of Americans, from traditional folk music and spirituals to Caribbean calypso and protest songs. His acting in films such as “Carmen Jones” and “Odds Against Tomorrow” won praise and helped pave the way for Black performers who would follow. And his activism took him to the front lines of the civil rights movement, where he marched with Martin Luther King Jr., lobbied for the release of an imprisoned Nelson Mandela, and joined other stars to raise money for famine relief on the African continent. Realizing from an early age the power of celebrity to advance social change, Belafonte was among the rare few to have been equally entrenched in the worlds of entertainment and politics with genuine results to spare.
Belafonte’s singing shaped a musical consciousness for generations of Americans, from traditional folk music and spirituals to Caribbean calypso and protest songs. His acting in films such as “Carmen Jones” and “Odds Against Tomorrow” won praise and helped pave the way for Black performers who would follow. And his activism took him to the front lines of the civil rights movement, where he marched with Martin Luther King Jr., lobbied for the release of an imprisoned Nelson Mandela, and joined other stars to raise money for famine relief on the African continent. Realizing from an early age the power of celebrity to advance social change, Belafonte was among the rare few to have been equally entrenched in the worlds of entertainment and politics with genuine results to spare.
- 4/25/2023
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
Harry Belafonte, the pioneering Calypso singer, actor, and civil rights leader, has died at the age of 96.
According to The New York Times, Belafonte passed away on Tuesday from congestive heart failure.
Born on March 1st, 1927 in Harlem, New York to Jamaican-American parents, Harold Bellanfanti, Jr. served in the Navy in World War II before becoming enamored with the stage while attending shows at the American Negro Theater with close friend Sidney Poitier. Eventually, he began performing at the venue after taking acting classes at The New School and won a Tony Award for the 1953 musical revue John Murray Anderson’s Almanac.
Belafonte began his musical career performing in nightclubs as a way to afford his acting classes. In 1953, he signed a recording contract with RCA Victor and released his debut single, “Matilda,” ahead of his breakthrough album Calypso. The 1956 LP topped the Billboard album chart for 31 weeks and spawned...
According to The New York Times, Belafonte passed away on Tuesday from congestive heart failure.
Born on March 1st, 1927 in Harlem, New York to Jamaican-American parents, Harold Bellanfanti, Jr. served in the Navy in World War II before becoming enamored with the stage while attending shows at the American Negro Theater with close friend Sidney Poitier. Eventually, he began performing at the venue after taking acting classes at The New School and won a Tony Award for the 1953 musical revue John Murray Anderson’s Almanac.
Belafonte began his musical career performing in nightclubs as a way to afford his acting classes. In 1953, he signed a recording contract with RCA Victor and released his debut single, “Matilda,” ahead of his breakthrough album Calypso. The 1956 LP topped the Billboard album chart for 31 weeks and spawned...
- 4/25/2023
- by Eddie Fu
- Consequence - Music
35 years since its release on March 30, 1988, what continues to stand out the most about Tim Burton's macabre and quirky film is its soundtrack — both the score by Danny Elfman and the inclusion of Harry Belafonte musical numbers. The eccentric mix of these sounds creates the ideal stage for Betelgeuse himself: the ghost with the most that teams up with the recently deceased Adam and Barbara Maitland (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) to haunt the pretentious, urbane Deetz family that moves into their New England-style home.
"Beetlejuice" was Tim Burton's first major feature after his breakthrough Pee-wee's Big Adventure. For the zany family film, Burton also collaborated with composer Danny Elfman, establishing a long-term creative partnership. But the "Beetlejuice" soundtrack that we all know and love almost never was.
The original screenplay by novelist Michael McDowell was decidedly grimmer, featuring a much darker alternate ending where Lydia sets herself on...
"Beetlejuice" was Tim Burton's first major feature after his breakthrough Pee-wee's Big Adventure. For the zany family film, Burton also collaborated with composer Danny Elfman, establishing a long-term creative partnership. But the "Beetlejuice" soundtrack that we all know and love almost never was.
The original screenplay by novelist Michael McDowell was decidedly grimmer, featuring a much darker alternate ending where Lydia sets herself on...
- 3/30/2023
- by Caroline Madden
- Slash Film
A late era noir which sets aside the femme fatales and short-lived husbands to focus on the simplest of crimes – robbery carried out for sake of accessing some ready cash – Odds Against Tomorrow taps into Fifties America’s deep social unease, finding the same problems amongst the criminal fraternity that exist elsewhere, and highlighting the damage they do to all concerned. It was produced by Harry Belafonte, who also stars in it as nightclub singer Johnny Ingram, a man whose gambling addiction forces him to go to desperate lengths. Still working at 96, Belafonte is now the only surviving member of its core cast, but it retains a fan following, as a screening in the Gloria Grahame strand at the 2023 Glasgow Film Festival made clear.
Grahame plays Helen, not quite a femme fatale but certainly a complicating influence in the life of career criminal Earle Slater (Robert Ryan),...
Grahame plays Helen, not quite a femme fatale but certainly a complicating influence in the life of career criminal Earle Slater (Robert Ryan),...
- 3/9/2023
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Exclusive: Principal photography has wrapped on Following Harry, a documentary that offers an inside view of 96-year-old civil rights icon Harry Belafonte’s continuing mission of social justice. The film directed and edited by Susanne Rostock is being readied for premiere at fall film festivals.
Belafonte, who celebrated his birthday on March 1, executive produces Following Harry. He, Rostock and producer Julius Nasso previously collaborated on the 2011 documentary Sing Your Song, a film that examined both Belafonte’s groundbreaking career in entertainment and his key role in the Civil Rights Movement. Following Harry is a present-tense account of Belafonte’s ongoing dedication to advance a more equitable and just society. It covers a span of time dating from the killing of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida more than a decade ago until today.
“Following Harry is a feature documentary that shares the lived experience of Harry Belafonte, in the most public...
Belafonte, who celebrated his birthday on March 1, executive produces Following Harry. He, Rostock and producer Julius Nasso previously collaborated on the 2011 documentary Sing Your Song, a film that examined both Belafonte’s groundbreaking career in entertainment and his key role in the Civil Rights Movement. Following Harry is a present-tense account of Belafonte’s ongoing dedication to advance a more equitable and just society. It covers a span of time dating from the killing of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida more than a decade ago until today.
“Following Harry is a feature documentary that shares the lived experience of Harry Belafonte, in the most public...
- 3/7/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Lionel Richie soared. Pat Benatar roared. Duran Duran stumbled but stayed sophisticated. Eminem was Eminem.
The four acts found very different ways to celebrate on Saturday night, but all can now say they’re Rock & Roll Hall of Famers. So are Carly Simon, Eurythmics, Harry Belafonte, Judas Priest and Dolly Parton, who gave the honor an enthusiastic embrace after temporarily turning it down.
The first act inducted at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles after a memorable speech from a shaven-headed Robert Downey Jr., Duran Duran took the stage and launched into their 1981 breakthrough hit “Girls on Film.”
The shrieking crowd was there for it, but the music wasn’t. The band was all but inaudible other than singer Simon Le Bon, whose vocals were essentially a cappella.
It was a fun if inauspicious beginning to a mostly slick and often triumphant show.
Lionel Richie soared. Pat Benatar roared. Duran Duran stumbled but stayed sophisticated. Eminem was Eminem.
The four acts found very different ways to celebrate on Saturday night, but all can now say they’re Rock & Roll Hall of Famers. So are Carly Simon, Eurythmics, Harry Belafonte, Judas Priest and Dolly Parton, who gave the honor an enthusiastic embrace after temporarily turning it down.
The first act inducted at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles after a memorable speech from a shaven-headed Robert Downey Jr., Duran Duran took the stage and launched into their 1981 breakthrough hit “Girls on Film.”
The shrieking crowd was there for it, but the music wasn’t. The band was all but inaudible other than singer Simon Le Bon, whose vocals were essentially a cappella.
It was a fun if inauspicious beginning to a mostly slick and often triumphant show.
- 11/7/2022
- by the Associated Press
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Hollywood talent agents are famously competitive with one another. Whether big or boutique, agencies parry and joust in wooing talent and sealing deals.
But some issues transcend money and ego. Hate speech is one of them.
Bob Gersh, longtime leader of the agency founded by his father in the 1960s, has watched Kanye West’s abhorrent outbursts of antisemitism over the past two weeks with dismay. On Saturday, the Gersh Agency chief reached out to Variety to express support for Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel’s call for businesses to condemn and cut ties with West. That list includes Apple, Spotify and Adidas. West has already had accounts restricted on Twitter and Instagram because of the nature of his comments about Jewish people.
“This is as low as it can get,” Gersh told Variety of West’s recent comments. “This is the most blatant form of hatred and antisemitism one could imagine.
But some issues transcend money and ego. Hate speech is one of them.
Bob Gersh, longtime leader of the agency founded by his father in the 1960s, has watched Kanye West’s abhorrent outbursts of antisemitism over the past two weeks with dismay. On Saturday, the Gersh Agency chief reached out to Variety to express support for Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel’s call for businesses to condemn and cut ties with West. That list includes Apple, Spotify and Adidas. West has already had accounts restricted on Twitter and Instagram because of the nature of his comments about Jewish people.
“This is as low as it can get,” Gersh told Variety of West’s recent comments. “This is the most blatant form of hatred and antisemitism one could imagine.
- 10/23/2022
- by Cynthia Littleton
- Variety Film + TV
He was our first Black movie star, in a certain, classical sense of that term. Other Black actors had appeared in popular Hollywood movies, had even gone so far as to win an Academy Award for their work before Sidney Poitier made it big (just one person — Hattie McDaniel — and just one time, in 1939, but still). And other Black image-makers had labored in other corners of the industry, working behind and in front of the camera some time before Poitier made his way to the United States from the Bahamas...
- 9/23/2022
- by K. Austin Collins
- Rollingstone.com
The great acting legend Sidney Poitier died in January at age 94. He did not live to see the thrilling new documentary on his life and career, Sidney, which had its world premiere Saturday night at the Toronto Film Festival. However, it had its blessing, and that of his family, for a film that has been percolating and in development and then production for five years. And although Poitier himself didn’t get to see the finished work, everyone else will beginning on September 23 when it begins streaming on Apple TV+ and playing in selected theaters.
With Oprah Winfrey on board as a producer (with Derik Murray) and Reginald Hudlin as director, Poitier gets an extraordinarily comprehensive and wide-ranging look at his life told in linear fashion and narrated by himself through the use of eight hours of interview footage done in 2012 with Winfrey, as well as other archival interviews. This...
With Oprah Winfrey on board as a producer (with Derik Murray) and Reginald Hudlin as director, Poitier gets an extraordinarily comprehensive and wide-ranging look at his life told in linear fashion and narrated by himself through the use of eight hours of interview footage done in 2012 with Winfrey, as well as other archival interviews. This...
- 9/11/2022
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
The songs nominated for the 2022 Best Music and Lyrics Emmy are “Corn Puddin’” (“Schmigadoon!”), “Elliot’s Song” and “I’m Tired” (“Euphoria”), “The Forever Now” (“This Is Us”) and “Maybe Monica” (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”). The last three shows are involved in a rematch after having all competed in the 2020 contest. In that case, “Euphoria” emerged victorious with the tune “All for Us.”
With its past win and pair of new notices, “Euphoria” seems like the one to watch this year. If vote-splitting doesn’t come into play, it should be able to beat “Maisel” and “This Is Us” again, but which of its songs should it push forward? And will TV academy members be able to resist “Corn Puddin’”? To determine which song most aligns with voters’ typical tastes, let’s take a look at each one individually. Be sure to make your Emmy predictions in this and 26 other...
With its past win and pair of new notices, “Euphoria” seems like the one to watch this year. If vote-splitting doesn’t come into play, it should be able to beat “Maisel” and “This Is Us” again, but which of its songs should it push forward? And will TV academy members be able to resist “Corn Puddin’”? To determine which song most aligns with voters’ typical tastes, let’s take a look at each one individually. Be sure to make your Emmy predictions in this and 26 other...
- 8/29/2022
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
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