Although she took abuse at times from both ends -- “too black” for superstardom, “too white” for black audiences -- Lena Horne epitomized class, dignity and elan like no artist of her time.
Horne, a true New Yorker, was 92 when she died Sunday night at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. She leaves a legacy that only music historians could truly appreciate.
Horne was the first black performer signed to a long-term deal by a major Hollywood studio. She moved from Brooklyn to Harlem to be onstage, and later caused a stir marrying a prominent arranger who happened to be white -- and gay.
Famed drama critic Brooks Atkinson put Horne on the map when he singled her out in a Broadway review, “Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds of 1939.”
Then came a trip to Hollywood and a breakthrough performance in “Stormy Weather,” caressing a signature title song that forever remained linked to her career. FOR THE FULL, GLORIOUS STORY, CLICK HERE....
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