Harry Belafonte

Jamaican-American singer, actor and activist called "The King of Calypso," whose breakthrough album Calypso (1956) was the first million-selling LP by a single artist. A worldwide show business star since 1950 with a repertory of folk and ethnic ballads, his performances were always sold out as outstanding entertainment. His best known recording was "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)", with its signature "Day-O" lyric. Belafonte won three Grammys (including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award), an Emmy and a Tony Award.

He was the eldest of two sons of an alcoholic dad, a chef, and a house-maid mom. From 5 to 12, he lived in Jamaica with his maternal grandparents before returning to New York. He dropped out of high school to enlist in the Navy in 1944 and when he returned, joined the American Negro Theater in New York. Learning to act and singing in jazz clubs, he became "King of the Calypso" in 1956. His career continued upward, with his first major film roles for years coming in White Man's Burden (1995) and Kansas City (1996).

In 1948, Belafonte married child psychologist Marguerite Byrd; they had two kids, Adrienne, who became a family counselor, and Shari, a gorgeous girl who is now a model and actress. They divorced on 28 February 1957. He and Julie Robinson, an antique dealer and costume designer whom he met in 1952, married on 8 March 1957; they had two kids, David, who ran his dad's production company, and Gina, an actress. In 1957, Belafonte tried to rent an apartment in New York, a feat he found impossible when landlords found that he was married to a white woman. When Eleanor Roosevelt related his plight in her newspaper column, he was able to find an Upper West Side apartment. He and Julie lived there, raising four kids in their 19 rooms and collecting art from the Caribbean, Africa and Europe. After 47 years of marriage, Belafonte and Robinson divorced in 2004. In April 2008, Belafonte married photographer Pamela Frank.