Harry Belafonte in the spotlight.

I've always thought Harry Belafonte to be impossibly handsome - and it's easy to forget just what a huge star he was in the 50s and early 60s. When I was at school we used to have group singing lessons where the teacher would bring a big Roberts or Hacker radio into the classroom and we'd all gather round to listen to "Singing Together" on the World Service. Nearly the all the songs I remember from those days are Harry Belafonte related: Yellow Bird, My Island in The Sun, Kingston Town.

In 1956 Belafonte was a leading figure in the American civil rights movement and was highly critical of U.S. domestic and international policy, and so Hush-Hush magazine does what any respectable red-baiting scandal rag would do—suggest he was brainwashed by communists. While the story is b*llocks, it did turn out to be prescient in one sense—Belafonte did begin explicitly endorsing communist ideals, and remains a supporter of Fidel Castro and other leftist leaders today.

Here he is, looking effortlessy better than Steak 'n' Kidney or Chuck