Harry Bellafonte was an iconic singer, humanitarian, and actor. His career spanned many decades

and award-winning performances, and he dazzled regardless of the genre or format, musicals,

noirs, sci-fi dramas, and Westerns.

In his later years he was best known for his humanitarian work and activism alongside civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr.

but he first rose to prominence as a recording artist and as the rare black actor cast in

leading man roles during the 1950s. I'm Aisha Harris.

And I'm Stephen Thompson.

On this episode of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour,

we're remembering the life and legacy of Harry Belafonte,

talking about some of his great performances.

Welcome back, it's just the two of us today.

Harry Belafante died today at the age of 96. He had a

decades-long career in show business and as a human rights activist. He first

attracted attention in the 1950s. During this period he made his name as a nightclub performer and a

recording artist. His 1956 album Calypso was a bestseller and featured the

hit song Deo, which is also known as the Banana Boat song. Around this time, Belafante also became a movie star, appearing alongside Dorothy Dandridge in a handful of movies, including the classic musical Carmen Jones, an all-black reimagining of the opera Carmen.

Later he would team up with Sidney Poitier

for the hit comedy Uptown Saturday night.

He was also a driving force behind the 1985 all-star charity single,

We Are the World.

We Are the World.

We are the children.

...