“Lena Horne, the mahogany goddess, stands in her own pantheon as a singer, actress, a legend. That is how Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer saw her in one film in the forties. But she, as America’s first black beauty on celluloid, was filmed in a convenient way so that her big moments could be deleted for white audiences in the racist claim of Southern cities. Lena Horne made her mark in that film with the song that gave her fame, “Stormy Weather” – her pivotal imagespeak moment. In the film The Wiz (1978), when she sings “If You Believe” it is a song about faith in one’s hopes, aspirations, one’s dreams. It grows into a universal message through her vocal magic as well as her gaze, which is at all times, serenely hypnotic …”
/ André Leon Talley reflecting on Lena Horne in the book Mega-Stars (1984) /
Born on this day: regal trailblazing diva Lena Horne (30 June 1917 - 9 May 2010). My favourite songs by Horne will always be her alluring renditions of “Honeysuckle Rose”, “Love Me or Leave Me” and “Give Me Love.” For anyone remotely curious about her tempestuous life, times and activism, James Gavin’s 2009 biography Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne is compulsory reading. (And note that Gavin’s new book Cool Heat: Anita O'Day and Her Dangerous Jazz Life just recently dropped! Jump on it!). Pictured: 1943 portrait of Horne by Eric Carpenter.
