Today we are celebrating the life of a entertainment legend, Lena Horne, who died last night at the age of 92. There already is a memorial diary on the rec list, but while I still have some creative juices in me before I begin to correct research papers, I want to discuss two aspects of Ms. Horne's life that hopefully will be discussed in regards to the larger picture of American society and life.
As was mentioned in a previous diary and various news stories, Ms. Horne was a tireless and committed defender for civil rights and progress. She was active in the civil rights struggles of the 1960s and she was proudly lauded for it. Perhaps something in her early career triggered her activism.
Lena Horne was one of the few African American faces on motion picture screens during the 1940s and 1950s. In fact, when MGM held a party featured on film of all of their stars, she was the lone black face in the crowd. It was something she was used to and was able to lift herself above it in her own classy way. But class wasn't enough when it came to the color of her skin. When she was featured in MGM films as the lone person of color, her scenes were cut from films shown in the south due to Jim Crow.
An even bigger injustice was made when she was cast in the role of Julie Laverne, a mulatto singer passing herself as white, in the 1951 musical Show Boat. She had previously sang a song from the Jerome Kern musical in the biopic of Kern's life 'Til the Clouds Roll By. Unfortunately, pressure from southern theater owners forced MGM to replace Horne in the film with white actress Ava Gardner, whose singing voice was dubbed. Although disappointed, Ms. Horne had said in interviews that she was happy that her friend, Gardner, took the role. Ironically, it was one of Gardner's best performances.
Racism also played a significant role in her personal life as well. Ms. Horne and her second husband, musician and songwriter Lenny Hayton, could not appear in public together nor publicize their marriage due to the miscegenation laws which were overturned in 1967. Ironically, her only daughter, Gail, was wed to white director Sidney Lumet, who directed Ms. Horne in the movie The Wiz, where she played Glinda the Good Witch.
It is interesting to discuss the legality of interracial marriages, particularly in regards to the 44th President of the United States when he wrote in his book Dreams From My Father, he mentioned that his own father would have been hanged in 1961 for getting involved with a white woman. As someone mentioned in a previous diary, for all Ms. Horne has been through, both professionally and personally, it's wonderful that she lived to see America elect a black man as President of the United States. An unforgettable life indeed.