LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Singer, actor, and activist Harry Belafonte will be the focus of an auction featuring nearly 400 artifacts from his seven-decade career, Julien’s Auctions and Turner Classic Movies announced today.
The auction, titled “Harry Belafonte: A Man of Action,” will take place March 6 in Los Angeles and online at juliensauctions.com.
Belafonte, who rose to fame as a calypso singer in the 1950s, starred in films such as “Carmen Jones,” “Island in the Sun” and “Odds Against Tomorrow” and became heavily involved in the civil rights movement, died from congestive heart failure on April 25, 2023, at age 96.
Julien’s and TCM, in partnership with Black Music Action Coalition, will also host a special screening of the documentary “Following Harry” on Feb. 19 with a panel featuring the documentary’s director Susanne Rostock, BMAC President and CEO Willie Stiggers, singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc and rap icon Chuck D of Public Enemy.
Several items relating to Martin Luther King Jr. will be a centerpiece of the auction, including the following:
— a Chesterfield tan leather sofa that furnished King’s guest suite at Belafonte’s New York City apartment (with an estimated value of $3,000-$5,000);
— a typed letter dated April 30, 1964, from King regarding a Southern Christian Leadership Conference booklet ($5,000-$7,000);
— a Southern Christian Leadership Award given to Belafonte by King in 1962 ($500-$700);
— a framed photograph of King that hung in Belafonte’s office ($300-$500);
— a black and white photograph of Belafonte with King (likely taken in 1968 when Belafonte hosted “The Tonight Show”) along with a 1966 album recorded during a benefit concert for King in Stockholm, Sweden and the “A Call To Conscience” box set of original recordings of MLK Jr. speeches ($300-$500).
Some of the other notable items at the auction include:
— original lead sheet music for “We are the World” signed and inscribed to Belafonte by Bruce Springsteen, Lindsey Buckingham, Kenny Loggins, Lionel Richie, Huey Lewis, Kim Carnes, Cyndi Lauper, Dionne Warwick, Kenny Rogers, and Paul Simon (estimated value $30,000-$50,000);
— black and white photograph signed and dated by photographer Mark Seliger featuring Nelson Mandela and celebrities including Belafonte, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Elton John, Elizabeth Taylor, Tom Hanks, Will Smith, Ashley Judd, Richard Gere, Sharon Stone and Whoopi Goldberg for a Kenneth Cole and KNOW HIV/AIDS campaign on World’s AIDS Day in 2005 ($600-$900);
— a typed letter from President John F. Kennedy to Belafonte signed “John F. Kennedy Many Thanks,” referencing the 1962 event “New York’s Birthday Salute to President Kennedy at Madison Square Garden” ($3,000-
$5,000);
— Tony Bennett’s bronze portrait bust of Harry Belafonte, sculpted by Bennett and with plaque reading, “The Patriot / Benedetto / 2013″ ($1,000-$1,500) (photo left) and his signed charcoal on paper portrait of Harry
Belafonte ($1,000-$2,000);
— Belafonte’s numerous awards, including his 1989 Kennedy Center
Honor Award ($500-$700), “Belafonte at Carnegie Hall” 1960 Gold Record Award ($800-$1,200) and 2012 “My Song” NAACP Image Award ($100-$200).