As well known for her acting and singing as for her fight for civil rights, the lovely Lena Horne left us just this year. Horne started her career in Harlem's Cotton Club after leaving school at 16 to help provide for her mother. She became the first African-American to sign a long term contract with a studio and was the highest paid black actor in the 1940s. She was one of the many actors to be persecuted by the anti-Communist hysteria in the 50s because of her activities in civil rights. Not one to be bullied, Horne marched on Washington in 1963.
Strong, beautiful, and trail-blazing; that was Lena Horne.
Thanks to http://www.biography.com/articles/Lena-Horne-9344086 and http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/lena-horne/about-the-performer/487/ for the additional information.
Oh, my... when I was a kid, I was just in awe of this woman. Her voice, her beauty and grace were otherworldly and so it remains.
ReplyDeleteAn excellent addition to the pantheon.