Legendary singer and actor, Harry Belafonte. - file

Claim to fame: Superstar singer/actor who became Hollywood's first black leading man; gave Caribbean music an international profile with his 1956 album, Calypso which included the classic songs, Banana Boat Song, Jamaica Farewell and Come Back Liza.

Facts

Surname is actually Belafonete; father was from Martinique, mother from Jamaica. Born in Harlem, New York in 1927 but lived in Jamaica from 1935 to 1939. Starred alongside Dorothy Dandridge (the Halle Berry of the 1950s) in the 1954 movie, Carmen Jones.

Belafonte recorded four calypso albums including Jump up Calypso (1961), Calypso in Brass (1966) and Calypso Carnival (1971).

One of Harry Belafonte's most popular movies in Jamaica is 1972's Buck and The Preacher with Sidney Poitier.

A passionate civil rights activist, he was a confidante of Dr Martin Luther King Jr.