Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was born on June 30, 1917, in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of a banker/professional gambler and an actress. positions in organizations such as the National Association for the in New York City, New York, USA, This form allows you to report an error or to submit additional information about this family tree: Lena HORNE (1917), Copyright Wikipdia authors - This article is under licence CC BY-SA 3.0. because it was never for how great I was or what I contributed. Although absent from the screen, Ms. Horne found success in nightclubs and on records. Ms. Horne is survived by her daughter; Gail Lumet Buckley; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. For memorials with more than one photo, additional photos will appear here or on the photos tab. In 1981 Horne had her greatest triumph, a Broadway show called Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Urban League (a group that Lena Horne: Singer, Actress, Activist - ThoughtCo My identity is very clear to me now. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. She was 92. Please enter your email and password to sign in. It was This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Lena Horn's Great Grandparents, Sini and Henry Reynolds, were brought to Newnan Georgia by Silas Reynolds. late 1940s she sued a number of restaurants and theaters for race ", Ms. Horne first achieved fame in the 1940s, became a nightclub and recording star in the 1950s and made a triumphant return to the spotlight with a one-woman Broadway show in 1981. Lena Horne - New Georgia Encyclopedia I wasnt born a singer, she told Strayhorns biographer, David Hajdu. In a First for Broadway, a Theater Will Be Renamed for Lena Horne death in 1971, Hayton was also her pianist, arranger, conductor, and Horne remained active in the Civil Rights Movement, performing at rallies around the country on behalf of the NAACP and the National Council for Negro Women, and she participated in the 1963 March on Washington. * Edwin Horne, Lena Horne's grandfather, born in 1859, the son of a British captain of a Tennessee River trading boat, and an American Indian mother, most likely a Creek or Cherokee. Her pride in her heritage, her refusal She received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for music, the other for film. Translation on Find a Grave is an ongoing project. ''The family decided that it would be 'colored' rather than Indian because it was rougher to be Indian,'' Mrs. Buckley said. Failed to report flower. Horne, despite her great fame, continued to experience humiliating Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. The union was significantly impacted by racial prejudice, and they separated in the 1960s but never divorced. They lived in various parts of the Horne also attended the March on Washington and entertained the troops during World War II, famously refusing to sing for segregated audiences. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. ''That comes through to me more than the show business, and I know it must have been hard for Gail to have had a mother who most of the time wore another hat. Dionne Warwick on Lena Horne and her musical influences In her biography she stated that, on the day she was born, her father was in the midst of a card game trying to get money to pay the hospital costs. [33] Horne was Catholic. Family. He was just everything that I wanted in a man, she told Mr. Hajdu, except he wasnt interested in me sexually.. Lena Horne: Entertainer. Billy Strayhorn, at the JVC Jazz Festival. Save to an Ancestry Tree, a virtual cemetery, your clipboard for pasting or Print. (Buckley also chronicles the family's history in her 1986 book, The Hornes.) Gail Lumet Buckley (left) and her mother, Lena Horne, at an awards ceremony in 1987. But her career, which spanned more than 60 years and consisted of mainly bit parts, ended on a high note: In 1981, she received a Tony Award for her one-woman Broadway show, Lena Horne: The. and make their situations in life better. cemeteries found in will be saved to your photo volunteer list. (1943), she was given a starring role in an allblack story, The couple got divorced in the year 1944. She sang on television, she sang next to Caucasian (people)," Lumet said. . I am a Black woman. Lena Horne Biography - Facts, Childhood, Family Life & Achievements "This was her life, and what it meant to cross the street meant something different for a person of color than for anybody else. Lena Horne Facts. Cabin in the Sky He insisted that Arthur Freed, the producer of MGMs lavish musicals, listen to Ms. Horne sing. + - Leaflet | MapTiler, Map data OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA In the same topic And you have to do it.' manager. In 1969, after a lengthy hiatus from the big screen, she returned with her first dramatic role opposite Richard Widmark in "Death of a Gunfighter." She had been singing at the Manhattan nightclub Caf Society when the impresario Felix Young chose her to star at the Trocadero, a nightclub he was planning to open in Hollywood in the fall of 1941. There is a problem with your email/password. The person she always credited as her main influence was not another singer but a pianist and composer, Duke Ellingtons longtime associate Billy Strayhorn. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. This is a carousel with slides. Its taken me 40-some-odd years to grow comfortable with this song ["Stormy Weather"]. Actress: Cabin in the Sky. Ms. Horne in 1981 after she won two Grammy awards for Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music.. We'll Be Together Again. In her teens, she started singing in New York City's Cotton Club, which had a strictly white audience, and she went on to have a Tony-winning one-woman show, "Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music," on Broadway in the '80s. the United States), she used her own money to travel and entertain the Then Freed insisted that Louis B. Mayer, who ran the studio, hear her, too. "It was an imitation of a white woman, and she said that. She had a hit single with her version of "Love Me or Leave Me" and her live set Lena Horne at the Waldorf Astoria became at the time the biggest selling album by a woman for her label, RCA. Lennie Hayton's death in 1971, which followed the deaths of '', As for the next generation, what impressed Mrs. Buckley's daughters, Amy Lumet, 21, and Jenny Lumet, 19 ''Oh that's easy,'' Mrs. Buckley said with a laugh. Lena Horne. One in which music became my refuge and then my salvation. In 1994, Horne gave one of her last concerts, at New Yorks Supper Club. There was an error deleting this problem. Buckley, Gail Lumet. Miss Horne was not involved in writing or researching the book. The N.A.A.C.P. Sometimes Miss Horne lived with her, other times with her grandmother Cora, or other relatives. person accused of a crime without a trial). Asked what her grandmother would make of today's racial climate, she replied, "Everything's the same, but everything's different. Wrong username or password. Horne's life started before women had the right to vote, and a year before she died in 2010, she got to see a Black man, Barack Obama, become president of the United States, Lumet noted. Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was born in Brooklyn, NY. Include gps location with grave photos where possible. [34] [35] From 1946 to 1962, she resided in St. Albans, Queens, New York, enclave of prosperous African Americans, where she counted among her neighbors Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, and other jazz luminaries. Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. "She said, 'He's too thin, and I hope they don't shoot him.' She broke through racial barriers as the first black performer to sign a long-term contract with a major Hollywood studio. Steals & Deals: Wireless speakers, smartphone stands, Solawave and morestarting at $22. ''She did not allow herself to be judged by any ordinary rules,'' Miss Horne said. Lena Calhoun Horne was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Edna Scottron and Edwin "Teddy" Horne on June 30, 1917. She Thanks for your help! Lena Horne - Death, Songs & Children - Biography The ban had eased by the mid-1950s, and Horne returned to the screen in the 1956 comedy Meet Me in Las Vegas, though she would not act in another film for more than a decade. New York: Knopf, 1986. Chelsea, MI: Scarborough House, 1991. She became the first African American to be a part of the roster of a major studio in Hollywood and that opened the gates for plenty of new talents from the community. Birthday June 30, 1917. In that sequence she played Julie, a mulatto forced to flee the showboat because she has married a white man. Her parents separated when she was a child, and she lived with her paternal grandparents and uncle. Always be smarter than the people who hire you. Yet, she still moved a great deal in her early years because her mother often took her with her on the road. Feb 28: Brooklyn Black History Maker, Lena Horne - BKReader Verify and try again. A system error has occurred. and I'm free. . They said, 'You're trying to take work away from us. It took Mrs. Buckley two years to research the book and three to write it. At age 16, Horne dropped out of school and began performing at the Cotton Club in Harlem. Try again later. Lumet recalled that after Horne left hotels, staff would sometimes burn the sheets. In Brooklyn she By age seven, her mother had reclaimed her, and, at age 16, Lena (who attended Girls High School in Brooklyn and took dance lessons while there) dropped out of school to join the chorus at the Cotton Club in Harlem. In 1978, she appeared in the film "The Wiz," and won a special Tony Award for her performances in the Broadway production "Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music" in 1981. Born Lena Mary Calhoun Horne, her grandparents were active in the NAACP and she was a cover girl for the organization's monthly bulletin at the age of two. The acclaimed, emotionally searing production ran on Broadway for 14 months, then toured in the United States and abroad. This was not quite true: as Mr. Gavin has documented, she appeared frequently on Your Show of Shows and other television shows in the 1950s, and in fact found more acceptance on television than almost any other black performer. And Mr. Gavin and others have suggested that there were other factors in addition to politics or race involved in her lack of film work. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1989. Horne would also be moved by the young people, especially Generation Z, and their creativity and inclusivity. Lena Horne was mainly raised by her grandparents, Cora Calhoun and Edwin Horne. Lena Horne made her last public appearance in 1999. Make sure that the file is a photo. ", The palpable anger among today's activists would also please Horne because "Grandma had to hide her anger," Lumet said. After some time out of the limelight during the '70s, she made a revered, award-winning comeback with her 1981 show Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music. Please try again later. Lena Horne Wiki, Biography, Age, Career, Relationship, Net Worth & Know record crowds to the Empire Room of the Waldorf-Astoria, and in 1958 and But though the family would embody antebellum behavior and solidly middle-class values for many decades, it also included rugged individualists, outspoken civil rights activists, poets, entrepreneurs and politicians. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel. It won a In 1969 Horne starred in the movie ''She didn't think it was impressive to bake a good pie but to go out and help juvenile delinquents and pregnant teen-agers. NBC News' Nancy Dickerson and Horne during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom political rally in Washington, D.C., Aug. 28, 1963. Share this memorial using social media sites or email. ''They knew nothing about their ancestors at all, so their reaction was 'Oh wow, we're Indian.' Though she toured with Tony Bennett in 1973 and 1974 and made some television appearances, she spent several years in deep mourning and was less visible. Lena in Concert, In 1957 she drew Lena Horne tea (her kids and grandkids) & how they washed out their Her scenes were often filmed separately, so that they could be completely cut out of movies screened in the South. Use the links under See more to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc. He did, and soon she had signed a seven-year contract with MGM. ), In 1945 the critic and screenwriter Frank S. Nugent wrote in Liberty magazine that Ms. Horne was the nations top Negro entertainer. In addition to her MGM salary of $1,000 a week, she was earning $1,500 for every radio appearance and $6,500 a week when she played nightclubs. part of that movement. Barnet was one of the first bandleaders to integrate his band, but because of racial prejudice, Horne was unable to stay or socialize at many of the venues in which the orchestra performed, and she soon left the tour. In 1970 and 1971, Hornes son, father and brother died. at rallies in the South and elsewhere, and worked on behalf of the Add to your scrapbook. You may request to transfer up to 250,000 memorials managed by Find a Grave. I am a 51 yr old woman that grew up watching the wonderful old movies. Anyone can read what you share. Her success as an actress was also recognised when she became a member of the board of the Screen Actors Guild. Americans in the United States. Please try again. Two Girls and a Sailor term contract with a film studio. I dont want her in the movies playing maids.. In 1986, Buckley joined Terry Gross on Fresh Air to trace the Horne family's roots, from slavery in the Deep South to their move north, where they became one of the most prosperous and influential black families in Harlem -- and then west to Hollywood, where Horne began performing on stage and screen. At the age of 12 in 1929, Horne moved to New York with his mother and attended a school in Brooklyn which was simply named the Girls High School. The people who matter are out there -- the Pullman porters, those people. She is survived by her daughter Gail Lumet Buckley, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Lena Horne Height, Weight, Age, Facts, Biography, Family, Spouse racial discrimination (wrongful treatment because of race), and in the There are no volunteers for this cemetery. Lena Horne, who broke new ground for black performers when she signed a long-term contract with a major Hollywood studio and who went on to achieve international fame as a singer, died on Sunday night in Manhattan. "She was supposed to be ladylike, and I guess that kind of raw fully passionate performance was too scary.". This memorial has been copied to your clipboard. Lena Horne, better known by her family name Lena Mary Calhoun Horne, was a popular American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer (1917-2010). In Charles Whiting's book "The Long March on Rome", he reports that she Louis Jones & Lena Horne Divorced, Children, Joint Family Tree A substantial portion deals with the rise of Lena Horne, from the Junior Theater Guild show in Brooklyn to the Broadway stage and the Hollywood film set. Weve updated the security on the site. "She wasn't allowed to be an artist in the beginning," Lumet said. Lena Horne's Story, As Told By Her Daughter - NPR Miss Lena Horne, as she was usually billed, was a walking and singing self-contradiction. significant voice in the struggle for equality and justice for African Lena hit the big time when she signed a contract with Hollywood heavyweights Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer in the year 1943. Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. Im free. Horne is survived by her daughter, Gail Lumet Buckley, and six grandchildren. was mainly raised by her grandparents, Cora Calhoun and Edwin Horne. She played Glinda the Good Witch in the 1978 film The Wiz . Spouses. Throughout her career, she was a passionate advocate for civil rights. Lena Horne appeared in Jamaica, a musical that ran on Broadway from 1957 to 1959. In. In 1947 she married a white bandleader, Lennie Hayton, a marriage that Previously sponsored memorials or famous memorials will not have this option. made her a legendary figure. improve the status of African Americans in the performing arts has Teddy was a bon vivant and gadabout; Edna, the indulged daughter of a family described as ''Yankee to their marrow,'' was emotionally erratic. See how this article appeared when it was originally published on NYTimes.com. Resend Activation Email. "She sang where we (were) not supposed to sing. "And they were bowled over by this. This flower has been reported and will not be visible while under review. "We were very close," Lumet laughed. What are you trying to do?' Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was born on June 30, 1917 in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York to Teddy Horne Jr. and Edna Louise Scottron. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request, There is an open photo request for this memorial. Born on June 30, 1917 Lena Horne was the daughter of Edwin Fletcher Horne Junior and Edna Louise Scrotton in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. They had no children and the couple separated after 15 years of marriage. That made her the enemy of a lot of black actors in Hollywood, who were very upset. "[In Words and Music] they would cut out 'The Lady Is a Tramp,' which she sang in it. They were slaves on the Dr A B Calhoun plantation. Lennie Hayton (December 14, 1947 - April 24, 1971) (his death) Louis . Try again later. During World War II (193945; a war in which Germany, Italy, and She rekindled her acquaintance with Paul Robeson (18981976), Oops, something didn't work. She reached her listeners emotionally by acting as well as singing the romantic standards like The Man I Love and Moon River that dominated her repertory. In my house, musically, it ran the gamut of music. Please enter your email address and we will send you an email with a reset password code. Lena Hayden (born Horn) in MyHeritage family trees (Landau-Goodman Family Website) view all Immediate Family Louis Jordan Jones ex-husband Private child Teddy Jones son Lennie Hayton husband Edwin Fletcher Horne, Jr. father Edna Louise Horne mother Irene Horne stepmother About Lena Horne https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lena_Horne '', There were many such black families, she continued ''quietly achieving as doctors, lawyers, jurists, architects, but the quiet truth doesn't make headlines.''. Horne left school at age 16 to help support her ailing mother and became a dancer at the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City. troops. After having been a featured player in the 1969 screen western Death of a Gunfighter, Horne made her final film appearance in the 1978 movie The Wiz. We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,contact us! Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. IE 11 is not supported. ", She made you think about what was inside you.. star with many of the African American actors of the day and her roles In 1969, she returned briefly to films, playing the love interest of a white actor, Richard Widmark, in Death of a Gunfighter.. Horne shares a laugh with Lumet and actor Laurence Fishburne at a gala honoring Horne at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City in 1999. Failed to delete memorial. The Lena and Judy Show Horne and Judy Garland had many things in common: a long tenure at MGM, a mentor and vocal coach in Kay Thompson, andsome saidan intimate relationship with Vincente. She is survived by her daughter; Gail Lumet Buckley; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Hamlisch at the Westbury (New York) Music Fair. Two years later she featured in shorter movie known as Boogie Woogie Dream. He stretched me vocally. Strayhorn occasionally worked as her accompanist and, she said, taught me the basics of music, because I didnt know anything., Strayhorn was also the only man I ever loved, she said, but Strayhorn was openly gay, and their close friendship never became a romance. Blackbirds of 1940, I no longer have to be a 'credit.' No substitutions whatsoever. During her MGM contract, Horne performed in Panama Hattie, Stormy Weather and a number of MGM musicals, including Cabin in the Sky. provided a permanent legacy.
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