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Actor Harry Belafonte is awarded the National Medal of Arts.
1994 (Oct 14)
President Bill Clinton awarded the National Medal of Arts to actor and singer Harry Belafonte. A prominent civil rights crusader, Belafonte in 1959 became the first Black American to have an hour-long television special. Born in New York City, he lived in Jamaica from 1935 to 1940. He received a Tony Award in 1954 for a supporting role in John Murray Anderson's Almanac. In 1966 Belafonte was the first Black American to produce a major show for television. During President John F. Kennedy's administration, he became the first cultural adviser to the Peace Corps. In 1990 he was the first person to receive the Nelson Mandela Courage Award of TransAfrica Forum.
References:
- • Hornsby, Alton. Chronology of African-American History: Significant Events and People from 1619 to the Present. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.