Last night, the world lost the legendary Lena Hone...one of the 20th century's most popular performers and civil rights trailblazer whose career suffered gravely for her principles.
Shortly after moving to Hollywood in 1941, she became the first black performer signed to a major film studio, MGM. But due to the racial climate in the country during that time, MGM rarely gave her actual acting roles, mostly limiting her appearances to show-stopping musical numbers that would be edited out entirely in racially sensitive markets like the American south.
In 1947 she secretly wed a Jewish American,(MGM's musical director) Lennie Hayton in France.
The iconic Lena Horne's humble beginnings were at Harlem's legendary Cotton Club when she was just 16 years old. She soon caught Hollywood fever...and moved to the West Coast to headline a new Hollywood nightspot. During those times, blacks were not allowed to live in Hollywood, so she had someone rent her a house and "when the neighbors found out, Humphrey Bogart, who lived right across the street from me, raised hell with them for passing around a petition to get rid of me. [Bogart] sent word over to the house that if anybody bothered me, please let him know."
