Editor’s note: This story was originally published on Nov. 9, 1998.

Harry Belafonte may be the Jimmy Carter of entertainers.

Since Belafonte’s biggest wave of popularity, back in the 1950s, he’s gone on to distinguish himself in civil rights, children’s rights, and as an actor and film producer. Like President Carter, Belafonte’s greatest achievements have come after the glare of public attention started to fade.

UNICEF goodwill ambassador Harry Belafonte, center, speaks about the plight of the children of southern African countries at a press conference at UNICEF House at the United Nations in New York, Jan. 28, 1988. With Belafonte are Matilda Cuomo, wife of New York Governor Mario Cuomo, and Djbril Diallo, a UNICEF official. (AP Photo/Ron Frehm) AP

And like Carter, Belafonte doesn’t stop. At age 71, Belafonte is producing a television mini-series for ABC on the civil rights movement and is preparing to travel to Bosnia on a children’s relief effort sponsored by UNICEF. Last year, critics praised his portrayal of a crime boss in Robert Altman’s film “Kansas City.” He still does more than 150 concerts a year, one of which will be Friday at Portland’s Merrill Auditorium.

He says he’ll sing the old favorites that made him famous, such as “Banana Boat” and “Jamaica Farewell,” but he’ll do them in new and different ways, and complement them with new songs from all over the world.

“I’m the most eclectic artist you’ll find, at my age,” Belafonte said in a telephone interview from his New York City office. “I do new material, work with new musicians from all over the world. And I try to bring back the old songs in fresh ways. That’s central to my own growth and my own expressions. I’ve found many ways to do ‘Banana Boat.'”

Belafonte’s raspy voice is raspier than ever, but it’s full of energy. He answers questions with wit and humor. Asked whether he lives in New York, Belafonte responded, “I live in New York; I exist everywhere else.” Asked whether he’s ever vacationed in Maine, he replied, “It’s a little out of the way. I don’t think there’s a New York-Paris-Maine route yet.”

Cicely Tyson, front center, and from left, Harry Belafonte, Laurence Fishburne and Sidney Poitier pose in the audience at the 43rd NAACP Image Awards on Friday, Feb. 17, 2012, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) AP

Born in Harlem but raised in Jamaica, Belafonte became a pop music sensation in the mid-1950s by exposing millions of Americans to world music for the first time. In 1956 and 1957, six of his songs made Billboard magazine’s Top 40 list of hit singles. All the songs showcased the rhythms and stories of the Caribbean. His 1956 album “Calypso” was the first album to sell more than a million copies.

“I guess I’m the godfather, the mentor to world music,” Belafonte said. “I didn’t introduce Third World music; I just took it up a few notches.”

Though he stopped having hits in the late 1950s, Belafonte’s celebrity status helped him in his role as a leader of the civil rights movement in the early 1960s. He was so involved in the movement that government agencies tapped many of his phone calls to civil rights leaders. Belafonte found out about that when he began producing a civil right’s mini-series, which will air in 2000.

The series will feature the prominent figures of the day, as well as a focus of the “regular” people involved, Belafonte said. “It really is a look at America at a time that was most critical, when the American mosaic came to play out the themes of the day,” he said.

Though he’s busy producing and performing, Belafonte says his most satisfying vocation is working as a world ambassador for the United Nations Children’s Fund. He’s made a habit of traveling to war-torn countries to crusade for the welfare of children there. Recently, he’s been to Rwanda and Somalia, and he is planning to go Bosnia soon. He has also worked with UNICEF on the creation of a “universal declaration on the human rights of the child” and on an international ban on land mines.

“Some 40,000 children a day die from curable diseases, like chicken pox. That’s the kind of thing we have to work on,” Belafonte said.