Obituary: Harry Belafonte

 Singer-actor Harry Belafonte, who also was quite prominent in the civil rights movement, has died after a long, distinguished life.  He was 96 years old, but he always seemed ageless.  He was like Cary Grant that way, for years looking about the same as he did when he was young.

I am not going to say much about him.   I did like his work in films and in music.  I always liked him for speaking his mind about political topics.  In his long career he made movies like Carmen Jones in the 1950s.  He wrote his memoirs back in 2011.

Anyway, I will let the NYT do the talking.

Born in Harlem to West Indian immigrants, he almost single-handedly ignited a craze for Caribbean music with hit records like “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” and “Jamaica Farewell.” His album “Calypso,” which included both those songs, reached the top of the Billboard album chart shortly after its release in 1956 and stayed there for 31 weeks. Coming just before the breakthrough of Elvis Presley, it was said to be the first album by a single artist to sell more than a million copies.

Of course, I have to post his signature song, "Jamaican Farewell":

Of course, he sang this live on live television.  Ed Sullivan required his performers to sing live.