- Harry Belafonte is a singer, well-known as the ‘King of Calypso.’
- He married three times, wedding his third and final wife Pamela Frank in 2008.
- He was a father to four adult children.
- Harry died on April 25, 2023.
Harry Belafonte was one of the most iconic musicians of all time. He’s often been nicknamed “The King of Calypso” for popularizing the genre with tons of hits like “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” or “Jump In The Line.” Besides his hit songs, he was also an actor, starring in films like Island In The Sun, and an outspoken civil rights activist.
Harry died at 96 in his Upper West Side home in New York City on Tuesday, April 25. His rep said that his cause of death was congestive heart failure, according to The New York Times. He’s survived by his wife Pamela Frank, who he had been married to since 2008, as well as his four children, two step-children, and three step-grandchildren.
As a singer, Harry penned a number of different love songs (like “I Do Adore Her” and “In The Name Of Love”) over the years, and it’s clear that he’s always been a bit of a romantic. For his final years, he was married to photographer Pamela Frank, but he’s been married twice before. Find out all about Harry’s relationship with Pamela and his past marriages here.
Pamela Frank
Four years after his 2004 divorce, Harry re-married photographer Pamela Frank in April 2008. Besides her profession, not much else is known about Pamela or her marriage to Harry, but the couple seemed to be very happy together nearly 15 years after they first tied the knot. Pamela accompanied her husband to a number of different events over the years, and they always seemed happy when they were photographed together. The pair were married until Harry’s passing in 2023.
Julie Robinson
Harry’s longest-lasting relationship was with his second wife Julie Robinson. The pair tied the knot in 1957, and they were married for 47 years before they divorced in 2004. Julie was also an entertainer herself, and she was a dancer when she met the iconic singer, per Cleveland Jewish News. Besides dancing, she was also an actress, making her on-screen debut in 1954’s Mambo, per IMDb. She also had roles in 1956’s Lust For Life and 1971’s A Safe Place. She also got to work with Harry in the 1972 flick Buck and the Preacher.
From their marriage, Julie and Harry had two children: David, 65, and Gina, 61. Gina has followed in her parents’ footsteps and become an actress, starring in a number of projects including, perhaps most notably, 2018’s Blackkklansmen, via IMDb. David also dabbled in acting and modeling, with a few small roles in the 90s. He is now the head of the Belafonte Family Foundation, per his LinkedIn.
Marguerite Byrd
Harry’s first marriage began before he was a successful musician. He wed his first wife Marguerite Byrd back in 1949. While not much is known about Marguerite, she did have a small role in the 1959 movie Night of the Quarter Moon. She and Harry split up in 1957.
The pair had two daughters Adrienne and Shari, 68. Adrienne appeared in her dad’s 2011 documentary Sing Your Song, per IMDb. She also founded the Anir Foundation, which aims to promote “cultural understanding” through volunteer opportunities. Shari is also an actress and singer, having starred in TV shows like Hotel and movies like The Player.
While the details of Harry and Marguerite’s split haven’t been made public, Harry’s Island In The Sun co-star Joan Collins claimed that she had an affair with the singer as they were working on the movie in her 2013 memoir Passion For Life. She said that the singer was “mesmerizing” and she claimed that members of the crew would tease her “relentlessly” as when they saw Harry give her “suggestive glances” on the set. “We soon began an affair, away from prying eyes, in my tiny apartment. But, after a few exciting liaisons, we knew we had to cool it. He went back to his wife and I moved on,” she wrote, per Parade.