Lena Horne
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Related e |
Featured: |
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress and dancer.
Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the films Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather . Due to the Red Scare and her progressive political views, Horne found herself blacklisted and unable to get work in Hollywood.
Returning to her roots as a nightclub performer, Horne took part in the March on Washington, and continued to work as a performer, both in nightclubs as well as television, and releasing well received albums. In the early 1970s, her husband, son and father died within a period of twelve months. Horne announced her retirement in March 1980, but the next year starred in a one woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, which ran for more than three hundred performances on Broadway, and earned her numerous awards and accolades. Horne recorded sporadically following the show, but no longer made public appearances.
Contents |
Filmography
Film
- The Duke Is Tops (1938)
- Panama Hattie (1942)
- Cabin in the Sky (1943)
- Stormy Weather (1943)
- Thousands Cheer (1943)
- I Dood It (1943)
- Swing Fever (1943)
- Boogie-Woogie Dream (1944)
- Broadway Rhythm (1944)
- Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)
- Studio Visit (1946)
- Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)
- Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
- Words and Music (1948)
- Some of the Best (1949)
- Duchess of Idaho (1950)
- Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956)
- The Heart of Show Business (1957)
- Now (1965) (includes Horne's performance of the song Now!)
- Death of a Gunfighter (1969)
- The Wiz (1978)
- That's Entertainment! III (1994)
Television
- What's My Line? (as Mystery Guest September 27, 1953)
- The Judy Garland Show (as herself October 13, 1963)
- Sesame Street (as herself, 1971)
- Sanford & Son ("A Visit from Lena Horne," as herself, #2.12, 1973)
- The Muppet Show (as herself, Syndicated, 1976)
- Sesame Street (as herself, Episode 11, November 1, 1976)
- The Cosby Show ("Cliff's Birthday" as herself, May 9, 1985)
- A Different World ("A Rock, a River, a Lena" as herself, July 1993)
Discography
Albums
- "Moanin' Low" (1942; A Victor Musical Smart Set)
- Little Girl Blue (1947; Black & White)
- Classics in Blue (1947; Black & White)
- It's Love (1955; RCA)
- Lena Horne at the Waldorf Astoria (1957; RCA)
- Stormy Weather (1956-1957; RCA)
- Lena Horne at the Cocanut Grove (1957; RCA)
- Jamaica [Original Cast Recording] (1957; RCA)
- Give the Lady What She Wants (1958; RCA)
- Porgy & Bess (1959; RCA) - with Harry Belafonte
- Songs by Burke and Van Heusen (1960; RCA)
- Lena Horne at the Sands (1961; RCA)
- Lena on the Blue Side (1962; RCA)
- Lena...Lovely and Alive (1963; RCA)
- Lena Horne Sings Your Requests (1963; Charter)
- Lena Like Latin [later retitled Lena Goes Latin] (1963; Charter)
- Here's Lena Now! (1964; 20th Century)
- Feelin' Good (1965; United Artists)
- Lena in Hollywood (1966; United Artists)
- Merry from Lena (1966; United Artists)
- Soul (1966; United Artists)
- Lena and Gabor (1970; Skye) - with Gábor Szabó
- Harry & Lena (1970; RCA) - with Harry Belafonte
- Nature's Baby (1971; (Buddah)
- Lena & Michel (1975; RCA)
- Lena: A New Album (1976; RCA)
- Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music (1981; Qwest) - Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
- The Men in My Life (1988; Three Cherries)
- We'll Be Together Again (1994; Blue Note)
- An Evening with Lena Horne (1995; Blue Note) - Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album
- Being Myself (1998; Blue Note)
- Seasons of a Life (2006; Blue Note; recorded 1994-2000)
Singles
- "Stormy Weather" (1943)
- "Love Me or Leave Me" (1955) #19 U.S. Pop