Harry Belafonte, who stormed the pop charts and smashed racial barriers in the 1950s with his highly personal brand of folk music, and who went on to become a dynamic force in the civil rights movement, died at his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He was 96.

At a time when segregation was still widespread and Black faces were still a rarity on screens large and small, Mr. Belafonte’s ascent to the upper echelon of show business was historic. He was not the first Black entertainer to transcend racial boundaries; Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and others had achieved stardom before him. But none had made as much of a splash as he did, and for a while no one in music, Black or white, was bigger. (Click here to see photos of Louis Armstrong and other Black jazz greats by Hugh Bell, represented by GME.)

Harry Belafonte was also among the iconic subjects of photographer Jack Mitchell’s camera. Jack Mitchell (1925 – 2013) photographed artists, dancers, film and theatre performers, musicians and writers in more than 6,000 individual sessions. His work frequently appeared on the cover of major magazines as well as in newspapers.

GME represents on an exclusive basis the sale of the Jack Mitchell archive to a cultural institution, as well as initiating exhibitions of his work worldwide. Click here for news about Jack Mitchell.

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GME Notes the Recent Passing of Barrier-Breaking Singer, Actor and Activist Harry Belafonte