Harry belafonte

Singer and activist, Harry Belafonte has achieved some of the highest honors possible over more than a half century in the public eye. He was a recipient of Kennedy Center Honors in 1989, the National Medal of Arts in 1994 and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. Additionally, in 2014 he received the Jean […]

Harry Belafonte

Harry Belafonte (c. 1956)

In the 1950s, when segregation was still widespread, his ascent to the upper echelon of show business was historic. But his primary focus was civil rights.

It takes a certain kind of star—a Marlon Brando or a George Clooney, an Audrey Hepburn or a Nicole Kidman—to fuel the affair between fashion and film.

Felix Nadar Room: Beautiful young Harry Belafonte by Dorothy Wilding, 1954

Harry Belafonte's celebrity friends included Sidney Poitier, Sammy Davis Jr., Whoopi Goldberg, Cecily Tyson, and more. See photos of the legend.

Carl Van Vechten, featured in this week’s issue, photographed African-American cultural luminaries including James Baldwin and Zora Neale Hurston.

The honorary Oscar winner retired from performing as he entered his ninth decade, but never halted his work for civil rights.