Harry Belafonte & Sidney Poitier: A Beautiful Friendship In Photos

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As we look back on the life of Harry Belafonte, we remember his amazing friendship with fellow entertainer Sidney Poitier.

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Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier shared a deep and unique friendship. Their bond transcended their status as icons in the entertainment space. Each shared a genuine commitment to social justice and the Civil Rights Movement, which strengthened their love for one another.  

The two meet in the 1940s while working at the American Negro Theatre in Harlem. Belafonte was a stagehand and Poitier was a janitor and drama student. Sharing West Indian roots the two bonded over their cultures and dreams to become two of the world’s most popular entertainers. 

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The two also shared a love for the Civil Rights Movement. Both men were close friends and allies with Martin Luther King Jr. and played a huge role financially in the movement. 

Belafonte, along with Sidney Poitier, helped bankroll the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee during the “Mississippi Freedom Summer” of 1964.

They were both also key players in the March on Washington in 1963. In 1972, the best friends starred in their first movie together called Buck and the Preacher, which Poitier directed.  

When Poitier died in 2022, Belafonte’s daughter told People, “Losing Sidney is probably the most difficult thing my father has had to fathom, more so than losing Martin L. King.”

“They were closer than brothers,” she said, “They have known and loved each other for more than 70 years, collaborating, living life to the fullest. While Harry was much more vocal and seemingly more instrumental in the Civil Rights Movement via his stage presence and his navigating the dynamics between Leaders and politicians, Sidney broke those barriers in a much more creative way by taking a stand in the characters he portrayed so brilliantly on film.”

Below we’ve gathered some of the best photos that show the enduring friendship between Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier. We hope the two are looking down together and enjoying some laughs, because that’s what we wish they’d be doing if they were still with us.

Rest in paradise legends.

MORE:Harry Belafonte Blended Music And Politics To Make Lasting Social Change

1. Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte

Academy Award-winning actor Sidney Poitier (left) and singer Harry Belafonte talk to reporters after presenting a $70.00 check to civil rights leaders to carry on their works in Mississippi. They are pictured at the airport, heading to New York. (Photo by Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

2. Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier – Heathrow Airport

Smart line in headgear for actors, who both trained at the American Negro Theatre in Harlem, seen on arrival from New York. Sidney Poitier (right) is here to make a film and Harry Belafonte, whose new film, “The Angel Levine”, opened in London yesterday, is here on a private visit. (Photo by PA Images via Getty Images) 

3. Buck and the Preacher

Buck And The Preacher, Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier Buck, 1972. (Photo by FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images) 

4. At The Lincoln Memorial During March On Washington

American actor Sidney Poitier (left) listens to singer Harry Belafonte (center) as actor Charleton Heston (1923 – 2008) stands with them in the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Washington DC, August 28, 1963. The march and rally provided the setting for the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr’s iconic ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. (Photo by PhotoQuest/Getty Images) 

5. The 38th Annual Chaplin Award Honoring Sidney Poitier

NEW YORK, NY – MAY 02: (EXCLUSIVE ACCESS) Harry Belafonte and honoree Sidney Poitier attend The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s presentation of the 38th Annual Chaplin Award at Alice Tully Hall on May 2, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images) 

6. 44th NAACP Image Awards

LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 01: Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier attend the 44th NAACP Image Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on February 1, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images for NAACP Image Awards) 

7. Poster For 'Buck And The Preacher'

Movie poster advertises the German release of ‘Buck and the Preacher’ (Columbia Pictures), starring Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee, and Clarence Muse, 1972. (Photo by John Kisch Archive/Getty Images) 

8. Harry Belafonte And Sidney Poitier In 'Buck And The Preacher'

Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier arm themselves in a scene from the film ‘Buck And The Preacher’, 1972. (Photo by Columbia Pictures/Getty Images) 

9. 44th NAACP Image Awards – Show

LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 01: Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte attend the 44th NAACP Image Awards – show held at The Shrine Auditorium on February 1, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Tran/FilmMagic)

10. 44th NAACP Image Awards

LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 01: Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte attend the 44th NAACP Image Awards – show held at The Shrine Auditorium on February 1, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Tran/FilmMagic)

11. Poitier And Belafonte

circa 1965: American actor and singer Harry Belafonte with American actor Sidney Poitier at the New York premiere of director George Stevens’ film, ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told,’ in which Poitier starred, New York City. Both men are dressed in formal evening wear. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) 

12. Sir Sidney Poitier Honored At Gala

384739 01: Actor and singer Harry Belafonte stands next to Sir Sidney Poitier who is honored January 24, 2001 by The University of the West Indies Gala 2001at the New York Marriott Marquis in New York City. (Photo by George De Sota/Newsmakers) 

13. Actors At The Washington March

Actors (left to right) Harry Belafonte, Charlton Heston, Burt Lancaster and Sidney Poitier attending the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a huge civil rights rally in Washington D C, August 28th 1963. (Photo by Express/Archive Photos/Getty Images) 

14. Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences' 2014 Governors Awards

HOLLYWOOD, CA – NOVEMBER 08: Honoree Harry Belafonte (L) accepts the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from actor Sidney Poitier onstage during the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences’ 2014 Governors Awards at The Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center on November 8, 2014 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) 

15. Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences' 2014 Governors Awards

HOLLYWOOD, CA – NOVEMBER 08: Honoree Harry Belafonte (L) accepts the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from actor Sidney Poitier onstage during the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences’ 2014 Governors Awards at The Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center on November 8, 2014 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) 

16. Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences' 2014 Governors Awards

HOLLYWOOD, CA – NOVEMBER 08: Honoree Harry Belafonte (L) accepts the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from actor Sidney Poitier (R) onstage during the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences’ 2014 Governors Awards at The Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center on November 8, 2014 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

17. Martin Luther King Jr., Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier

Martin Luther King, Jr., Harry Belafonte, Asa Philip Randolph, Sidney Poitier, Portrait, circa 1960. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

18. Civil Rights Leaders Pay Bond

Actor Sidney Poitier (R) and singer=actor Harry Belafonte (2nd from R) leave Criminal Courts building after poising $50 bond each for James Forman (L) and John Lewis. Forma, Lewis, and three others charged with disorderly conduct and trespassing after refusing to leave the South African Consulate. (Photo by Bettmann Archive/Getty Images) 

19. Harry Belafonte And Sidney Poitier

American singer Harry Belafonte (left) and actor Sidney Poitier at Heathrow Airport in London, UK, March 1972. The two men starred in the western film ‘Buck and the Preacher’ that same year. (Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) 

20. Nelson Mandela "Bridge to Freedom" Awards

Harry Belafonte (left) and Sidney Poitier attend First Annual Nelson Mandela “Bridge to Freedom” Awards at Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA, United States. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

21. NAACP Legal Defense Fund Gala

(L-R) Charlton Heston, Sidney Poitier, and Harry Belafonte attend NAACP Legal Defense Fund Gala at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Beverly Hills, California, November 27, 1993. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

22. NAACP Legal Defense Fund Gala

Harry Belafonte (left) and Sidney Poitier attend NAACP Legal Defense Fund Gala at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Beverly Hills, California, November 27, 1993. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)