US actor, singer, and activist Harry Belafonte, known for his role in Island In The Sun, has died at the age of 96.
Known as the ‘King of Calypso’, Belafonte made history with his third studio album Calypso (1956) which was said to be the first album by a solo artist to sell more than a million copies in the US and featured the beloved song ‘Day-O’ (The Banana Boat Song).
He earned his acclaim on the screen after he starred alongside James Mason, Joan Fontaine and Joan Collins in Robert Rossen’s Island In The Sun (1957) which was an instant box office hit.
His other film roles included Kansas City (1996), Bobby (2006), and BlacKkKlansman (2018).
In 2014 he was awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his activism. Throughout his career he campaigned for civil rights and was a close friend of Martin Luther King Jr. He was also awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000.
Belafonte was born in Harlem, New York in 1927 and dreamed of being an actor after watching plays at the New York’s American Negro Theatre with fellow aspiring actor Sidney Poitier. He began his music career to fund his acting classes alongside the likes of Marlon Brando and Walter Matthau.
The news was confirmed by his spokesperson Ken Sunshine who said the cause of death was congestive heart failure.
Belafonte is survived by his wife, four children, two stepchildren, and eight grandchildren.
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