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Harry Belafonte, the civil rights and entertainment giant who began as a groundbreaking actor and singer and became an activist, humanitarian and conscience of the world, has died. He was 96.

Belafonte died Tuesday of congestive heart failure at his New York home, his wife Pamela by his side, said Paula M. Witt, of public relations firm Sunshine Sachs Morgan & Lylis.

With his glowing, handsome face and silky-husky voice, Belafonte was one of the first Black performers to gain a wide following on film and to sell a million records as a singer; many still know him for his signature hit “Banana Boat Song (Day-O),” and its call of “Day-O! Daaaaay-O.” But he forged a greater legacy once he scaled back his performing career in the 1960s and lived out his hero Paul Robeson’s decree that artists are “gatekeepers of truth.”

He stands as the model and the epitome of the celebrity activist. Few kept up with Belafonte’s time and commitment and none his stature as a meeting point among Hollywood, Washington and the civil rights movement.

Belafonte not only participated in protest marches and benefit concerts, but helped organize and raise support for them. He worked closely with his friend and generational peer the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., often intervening on his behalf with both politicians and fellow entertainers and helping him financially. He risked his life and livelihood and set high standards for younger Black celebrities, scolding Jay Z and Beyonce for failing to meet their “social responsibilities,” and mentoring Usher, Common, Danny Glover and many others. In Spike Lee’s 2018 film “BlacKkKlansman,” he was fittingly cast as an elder statesman schooling young activists about the country’s past.

Belafonte’s friend, civil rights leader Andrew Young, would note that Belafonte was the rare person to grow more radical with age. He was ever engaged and unyielding, willing to take on Southern segregationists, Northern liberals, the billionaire Koch brothers and the country’s first Black president, Barack Obama, whom Belafonte would remember asking to cut him “some slack.”

Belafonte responded, “What makes you think that’s not what I’ve been doing?”

Belafonte had been a major artist since the 1950s. He won a Tony Award in 1954 for his starring role in John Murray Anderson’s “Almanac” and five years later became the first Black performer to win an Emmy for the TV special “Tonight with Harry Belafonte.”

In 1954, he co-starred with Dorothy Dandridge in the Otto Preminger-directed musical “Carmen Jones,” a popular breakthrough for an all-Black cast. The 1957 movie “Island in the Sun” was banned in several Southern cities, where theater owners were threatened by the Ku Klux Klan because of the film’s interracial romance between Belafonte and Joan Fontaine.

 
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Jury selection began Monday in a trial to determine whether British pop star Ed Sheeran plagiarized American music legend Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” in his 2014 hit “Thinking Out Loud.”   

The plaintiffs are the heirs of Ed Townsend, a musician and producer who co-wrote Gaye’s 1973 soul classic.  

They allege that there are “striking similarities and overt common elements” between Gaye’s sultry classic and Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud.”   

It’s not the first time Sheeran has been taken to court, as copyright lawsuits in the music industry flourish.    

Sheeran testified in a London court in April last year in a case centered around his song “Shape of You.” He is among the potential witnesses to be called in this trial, as well, in which opening arguments were due to begin Tuesday after a jury is selected, a lawyer working on the case told Agence France-Presse.    

Townsend’s family has pointed out that the group Boyz II Men has performed mashups of the two songs, and that Sheeran has blended the songs together on stage, as well.   

Sheeran’s team contests the allegations, saying “there are dozens, if not hundreds, of songs that predate and postdate” Gaye’s song, “utilizing the same or similar chord progression.”   

“These medleys are irrelevant to any issue in the case and would be misleading [and] confuse the jury,” Sheeran’s team said.   

Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” shot up America’s Billboard Hot 100 charts when it was released and won Sheeran a Grammy Award for “Song of the Year” in 2016.   

The lawsuit, filed in 2016 — and refiled in 2017 after being rejected on procedural grounds — also names Sony.   

In Sheeran’s London trial, the singer called the lawsuit emblematic of copyright litigation that goes too far, potentially stifling creativity.   

The judge agreed, declaring that Sheeran had “neither deliberately nor subconsciously copied” part of the melody in the song “Oh Why” by Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue.   

The judge acknowledged similarities between the two songs, but ultimately ruled there were large differences, and that Chokri’s lawyers failed to prove Sheeran had ever heard the song.   

Gaye’s family is not part of the New York lawsuit against Sheeran, though his estate successfully sued the artists Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams, and T.I. over similarities between the song “Blurred Lines” and Gaye’s “Got to Give it Up.” 
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Len Goodman, the urbane, long-serving judge on “Dancing with the Stars” and “Strictly Come Dancing,” has died, his agent said Monday. He was 78. 

Agent Jackie Gill said Goodman “passed away peacefully,” without giving a cause. 

A former dancer and British champion, Goodman was a judge on “Strictly Come Dancing” for 12 years from its launch on the BBC in 2004. The ballroom dancing competition, which pairs celebrities with professional dance partners, has become one of the network’s most popular shows. 

Goodman was head judge on the U.S. version of the show, “Dancing With the Stars,” for 15 years until his retirement in November.  

BBC director-general Tim Davie said Goodman was “a wonderful, warm entertainer who was adored by millions. He appealed to all ages and felt like a member of everyone’s family. Len was at the very heart of ‘Strictly’s success. He will be hugely missed by the public and his many friends and family.” 

Goodman was also a recipient of the Carl Alan Award in recognition of outstanding contributions to dance and owned the Goodman Academy dance school in southern England.  
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“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” continued to rack up coins at the box office, leading ticket sales for the third straight weekend, as the animation hit neared $1 billion after just 18 days in theaters.

The weekend’s top new release, the horror reboot “Evil Dead Rise” debuted solidly, launching with $23.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. But that was no match for Universal Pictures’ “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which grossed $58.2 million in its third weekend.

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is setting a torrid pace for an animated movie. This week, it became the highest-grossing animated released of the pandemic era, with domestic ticket sales up to $434.3 million through Sunday and its global tally at $871.1 million. When “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” soon passes $1 billion worldwide, it will be just the fourth film of the pandemic era to reach that benchmark, following “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Top Gun Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water.”

“Evil Dead Rise,” From Warner Bros. and New Line, is the fifth installment (and first in a decade) in the thriller franchise that Sam Raimi began with this 1981 ultra-low-budget classic, “Evil Dead.” Though Raimi’s subsequent and much-adored films starring Bruce Campbell grew increasingly slapstick, marrying comedy and horror, the 2013 reboot and “Evil Dead Rise” (with Raimi as an executive producer) rely on chillier frights.

“Evil Dead Rise,” which had a reported budget of $17 million, also had originally been planned as an HBO Max release. When Warner Bros. decided direct-to-streaming films weren’t financially appealing, it pushed some films – including “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” and “House Party” – to theaters, and simply canned a few others including “Batgirl” and “Scoob! Holiday Haunt.”

Amazon Studios’ “Air,” likewise initially was intended to go straight to streaming, has also continued to perform well theatrically. The Ben Affleck-directed film, about Nike’s courting of Michael Jordan, dipped a modest 29% in its third weekend with $5.5 million to bring its cumulative total to $41.3 million.

But while horror remains one of the most dependable genres at the box office, and families — after a long dry spell of all-audience releases — have flocked to “Super Mario,” some adult-oriented releases have continued to have a harder time attracting audiences.

Guy Ritchie’s “The Covenant,” starring Jake Gyllenhaal as an injured army sergeant in Afghanistan, opened with $6.3 million in 2,611 theaters. But with mostly good reviews (81% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and an “A” CinemaScore from ticket buyers, the MGM release may hold well in coming weeks.

Ari Aster’s “Beau Is Afraid,” the most expensive movie ever made by specialty studio A24, expanded until near-wide release, going from four theaters to 926. Aster’s three-hour opus, received with more mixed reviews than his previous two films (“Hereditary,” “Midsommar”), took in $2.7 million.

Searchlight’s “Chevalier,” starring Kelvin Harrison as the 18th century French composer and violinist Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, also failed to make a dent. It took in $1.5 million in 1,275 theaters.

But with overall business in movie theaters largely thriving thanks to spring hits like “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and “John Wick: Chapter 4” ($168.9 million domestically in five weeks of release), the theatrical industry will have much to celebrate when it convenes Monday in Las Vegas for the annual CinemaCon. Studios, beginning with Sony Pictures on Monday, will hype their summer blockbusters as Hollywood looks to return to pre-pandemic box-office levels.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “Super Mario Bros,” $58.2 million.

2. “Evil Dead Rise,” $23.5 million.

3. “The Covenant,” $6.3 million.

4. “John Wick: Chapter 4,” $5.8 million.

5. “Air,” $5.5 million.

6. “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” $5.4 million.

7. “The Pope’s Exorcist,” $3.3 million.

8. “Renfield,” $3.1 million.

9. “Beau Is Afraid,” $2.7 million.

10. “Suzume,” $1.6 million.
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Tony Award-winning comedian Barry Humphries, internationally renowned for his garish stage persona Dame Edna Everage, a condescending and imperfectly-veiled snob whose evolving character has delighted audiences over seven decades, has died. He was 89.

His death in a Sydney, Australia, hospital, where he spent several days with complications following hip surgery, was confirmed by his family.

“He was completely himself until the very end, never losing his brilliant mind, his unique wit and generosity of spirit,” a family statement said. “With over 70 years on the stage, he was an entertainer to his core, touring up until the last year of his life and planning more shows that will sadly never be.” 

Humphries had lived in London for decades and returned to native Australia in December for Christmas.

He told The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper last month that his physiotherapy had been “agony” following his fall and hip replacement.

“It was the most ridiculous thing, like all domestic incidents are,” Humphries said of his fall. “I was reaching for a book, my foot got caught on a rug or something, and down I went.”

Humphries has remained an active entertainer, touring Britain last year with his one-man show “The Man Behind the Mask.”

Dame Edna’s roots

The character of Dame Edna began as a dowdy Mrs. Norm Everage, who first took to the stage in Humphries’ hometown of Melbourne in the mid-1950s. She reflected a postwar suburban inertia and cultural blandness that Humphries found stifling.

Edna is one of Humphries’ several enduring characters. The next most famous is Sir Les Patterson, an ever-drunk, disheveled and lecherous Australian cultural attache.

Patterson reflected a perception of Australia as a Western cultural wasteland that drove Humphries along with many leading Australian intellectuals to London.

Humphries, a law school dropout, found major success as an actor, writer and entertainer in Britain in the 1970s, but the United States was an ambition that he found stubbornly elusive.

A high point in the United States was a Tony Award in 2000 for his Broadway show “Dame Edna: The Royal Tour.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to the celebrated comedian.

“For 89 years, Barry Humphries entertained us through a galaxy of personas, from Dame Edna to Sandy Stone,” Albanese tweeted, referring to the melancholic and rambling Stone, one of Humphries’ most enduring characters. “But the brightest star in that galaxy was always Barry. A great wit, satirist, writer and an absolute one-of-kind, he was both gifted and a gift.”

British comedian Ricky Gervais tweeted: “Farewell, Barry Humphries, you comedy genius.”

Piers Morgan, British television personality, tweeted: “One of the funniest people I’ve ever met.”

“A wondrously intelligent, entertaining, daring, provocative, mischievous comedy Genius,” Morgan added.

Actor, writer, painter

The multi-talented Humphries was also a respected character actor with many stage and screen credits, an author of novels and an autobiography, and an accomplished landscape painter.

John Barry Humphries was born in Melbourne on Feb. 17, 1934. His parents were comfortable, loving and strait-laced, and must have wondered about their eldest son, whom they called Sunny Sam. His mother used to tell him to stop drawing attention to himself.

Before he had finished at the prestigious Melbourne Grammar School, Humphries was more interested in art and secondhand bookshops than football. At 16, his favorite author was Kafka and later said he “felt a little foreign.”

He spent two years at Melbourne University, where he embraced Dadaism — the subversive, anarchic and absurdist European art movement.

His contributions included “Pus In Boots,” waterproof rubber boots filled with custard, and on the performance art side, getting on a tram with an apparently blind accomplice whom Humphries would kick in the shins while yelling “Get out of my way, you disgusting blind person.”

In 1959, he settled in London and was soon working in Peter Cook’s comedy venue The Establishment. He played Sowerberry in the original London production of “Oliver!” in 1960 and repeated the role on Broadway. He appeared with Spike Milligan and William Rushton in “Treasure Island.”

Humphries, with New Zealand artist Nicholas Garland, created the Barry McKenzie comic strip for the satirical magazine Private Eye in 1964.

When the strips came out as a book, the Australian government banned it because it “relied on indecency for its humor.” Humphries professed delight at the publicity and implored authorities not to lift the ban.

By then Humphries’ drinking was out of control. In Melbourne in late 1970, he was charged with being drunk and disorderly. He finally admitted himself to a hospital specializing in alcoholism for the treatment that would turn him into a lifelong abstainer.

In 1972 came the first Barry McKenzie film — financially supported by the Australian government, despite the earlier ban. It was savaged by the critics, largely because they trembled at what the world’s first film to feature beer induced vomiting would do to Australia’s image overseas.

But it was a popular success and a sequel two years later included then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam knighting Edna, who was McKenzie’s aunt.

Married four times, Humphries is survived by his wife Lizzie Spender, four children and 10 grandchildren.
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