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Lena Horne Essay

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Lena Horne

Lena Horne was born on June 30, 1917 in Brooklyn, New York. Her parents were Teddy and Edna Scottron Horne. After her father left her at the age of two in order to pursue his gambling career; her mother leaving soon after that to pursue her acting career; she went to live with her grandparents. Through her grandparents influence she became involved with organizations like the NAACP, at an early age.

In 1924 she went back to live with her mother, traveling and being schooled all over the state until she was fourteen. At the age of fourteen she decided to drop out of school and go to work. Because she was talented and light skinned it was not hard for her to find a job. She became a chorus girl in Harlem’s Cotton …show more content…

Being a strong believer in equal rights she demanded a contract. Right then Lena earned her place in African American history as “the first African-American actress in history to sign a long-term contract with a major film studio.” (AMC)

Lena began to emerge as the first pinup girl for African American GI’s. Also she was the first African American actress to be on the cover of a movie magazine, Motion Picture Magazine 1944.

Lena Horne married a white musical arranger in 1947. His name was Lennie
Hayton. They kept their marriage a secret for three years because of the controversy over interracial marriages. When the marriage finally came out in the open, the couple was bombarded with numerous threatening letters. The couple was married for 24 years when he died in 1971. Devastated by his death; she moved in with her daughter.

It wasn’t until three years later when Tony Bennett convinced her to return to show business that she did any performing. In 1981 she put on the performance of a lifetime. Her one women show entitled “Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music” ran for fourteen months straight before she took the production on tour.

She has always been a strong believer in equal rights. Lena has actively participated in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National Council of Negro women, the Delta Sigma Theta sorority and the Urban League. Lena often offered her

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