Editing Harry Belafonte (section)

==Early life==
Belafonte was born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.<ref name=Belafontemovie>{{cite web|title=Life in Harlem|url=http://singyoursongthemovie.com/life-in-harlem/|work=Sing Your Song|publisher=S2BN Belafonte Productions|access-date=February 20, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014005929/http://singyoursongthemovie.com/life-in-harlem/|archive-date=October 14, 2016}}</ref> on March 1, 1927, at Lying-in Hospital in [[Harlem]], New York City, the son of Jamaican-born parents Harold George Bellanfanti Sr. (1900–1990), who worked as a chef, and Melvine Love (1906–1988), a housekeeper.<ref>{{cite book |title=Harry Belafonte |first=Genia |last=Fogelson |publisher=Holloway House Publishing |year=1996 |page=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oadlz5gMG9UC&pg=PA13 |isbn=0-87067-772-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1 = Hardy | first1 = Phil |first2=Dave |last2=Laing | title = The Faber Companion to Twentieth Century Music | publisher = Faber | year = 1990 | page = 54 | isbn = 0-571-16848-5 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/62/Harry-Belafonte.html |title=Harry Belafonte Biography (1927–) |publisher=Film Reference |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref> There are disputed claims of his father's place of birth, which is also stated as [[Martinique]].<ref name = Keepnews/>

His mother was the child of a [[Scottish Jamaican]] mother and an [[Afro-Jamaican]] father, and his father was the child of an Afro-Jamaican mother and a [[History of the Jews in the Netherlands|Dutch-Jewish]] father of [[Sephardic Jews|Sephardic Jewish]] descent. Harry Jr. was raised [[Catholic]] and attended parochial school at [[St. Charles Borromeo Church (New York City)|St. Charles Borromeo]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Keillor|first=Garrison|date=October 21, 2011|title=The Radical Entertainment of Harry Belafonte (Published 2011)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/books/review/my-song-by-harry-belafonte-with-michael-shnayerson-book-review.html|access-date=March 1, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

From 1932 to 1940, Belafonte lived with one of his grandmothers in her native country of Jamaica, where he attended [[Wolmer's Boys' School|Wolmer's Schools]]. Upon returning to New York City, he had a brief, unsuccessful stay at [[George Washington High School (Manhattan)|George Washington High School]].<ref>Arenson, Karen W. (June 2, 2000), [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E07EFDA103CF931A35755C0A9669C8B63 "Commencements; Belafonte Lauds Diversity Of Baruch College Class"], ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved April 16, 2008. "He said that he had not gotten past the first year at George Washington High School, and that the only college degrees he had were honorary ones."</ref> It was later reported that undiagnosed [[dyslexia]] and blindness in one eye contributed to his academic difficulties.<ref>{{cite news |last=Betts |first=Reginald Dwayne |title=Harry Belafonte Used Fame to Fight for Freedom |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/12/22/magazine/harry-belafonte-death.html |date=22 December 2023 |series=The Lives They Lived}}</ref> After dropping out of high school, he joined the [[U.S. Navy]] and served during [[World War II]].<ref name="autogenerated4">The African American Registry [http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/harry-belafonte-entertainer-truth Harry Belafonte, an entertainer of truth] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716110440/http://www.aaregistry.org/historic_events/view/harry-belafonte-entertainer-truth|date=July 16, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=WUNC|url=https://www.wunc.org/2023-04-25/harry-belafonte-singer-actor-and-activist-has-died-at-age-96|date=April 25, 2023|access-date=April 30, 2023|title=Harry Belafonte, singer, actor and activist, has died at age 96|last=Blair|first=Elizabeth}}</ref> In the 1940s, he worked as a janitor's assistant, during which a tenant gave him, as a gratuity, two tickets to see the [[American Negro Theater]]. He fell in love with the art form and befriended [[Sidney Poitier]], who was also financially struggling. They regularly purchased a single seat to local plays, trading places in between acts, after informing the other about the progression of the play.<ref>{{cite web|last=Belafonte |first=Harry |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/10/12/141243628/harry-belafonte-out-of-struggle-a-beautiful-voice |title=Harry Belafonte: Out Of Struggle, A Beautiful Voice |publisher=NPR |date=October 12, 2011 |access-date=November 5, 2013}}</ref>

At the end of the 1940s, Belafonte took classes in acting at the [[Dramatic Workshop]] of [[The New School]] in New York City with German director [[Erwin Piscator]] alongside [[Marlon Brando]], [[Tony Curtis]], [[Walter Matthau]], [[Bea Arthur]], and Poitier, while performing with the American Negro Theater.<ref name="vn-25apr2023">{{cite magazine |last1=Susman |first1=Gary |title=Harry Belafonte – Singer, Actor, and Activist – Has Died at 96 |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/04/harry-belafonte-obituary |access-date=April 25, 2023 |magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |date=April 25, 2023}}</ref> He subsequently received a [[Tony Award]] for his participation in the Broadway revue ''[[John Murray Anderson's Almanac]]'' (1954).<ref name="guard-25apr2023">{{cite news |last1=Beaumont-Thomas |first1=Ben |title=Harry Belafonte, singer, actor and tireless activist, dies aged 96 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/25/harry-belafonte-singer-dies-actor-singer-activist |access-date=April 25, 2023 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=April 25, 2023}}</ref>
He also starred in the 1955 Broadway revue ''[[3 for Tonight]]'' with [[Gower Champion]].<ref name="play-25apr2023">{{cite magazine |last1=Hall |first1=Margaret |title=Tony Winner Harry Belafonte Passes Away at 96 |url=https://www.playbill.com/article/tony-winner-harry-belafonte-passes-away-at-96 |access-date=April 25, 2023 |magazine=[[Playbill (magazine)|Playbill]] |date=April 25, 2023}}</ref>