Tessa Quinn
Lena Horne was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on June 30, 1917. She was born into middle-class surroundings in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Her father was in the middle of a card game on the day she was born, trying to get money to pay for the hospital costs.
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What You'll Learn
Lena Horne's birth date and birthplace
Lena Horne was born on June 30, 1917, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbourhood of Brooklyn, New York. Her birth name was Lena Mary Calhoun Horne. Her parents were Edna and Teddy Horne, and her father was playing cards on the day she was born, trying to get money together to pay for the hospital costs.
Horne's parents divorced when she was a toddler, and her mother left to pursue work as an actress. Horne was raised by her paternal grandparents, Edwin and Cora Horne, until her mother returned four years later. Horne's paternal grandparents were members of the black middle class and early members of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People. In 1919, at the age of two, Horne was on the cover of the organisation's monthly bulletin.
Horne's mother pulled her out of school when she was 16 so that she could audition for the dance chorus at the Cotton Club, a famous Harlem nightclub. She got the job and later became a singer there. She went on to have a career spanning more than seventy years, working in film, television, and theatre.
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Her family and early life
Lena Horne was born on June 30, 1917, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbourhood of Brooklyn, New York City. Her parents were Edna Scottron and Teddy Horne. Both sides of Horne's family were of European American, Native American, and African-American descent, belonging to the upper stratum of the black middle class. Her paternal grandparents, Cora Calhoun Horne and Edwin Horne, were early members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and were active in the women's suffrage campaign. Horne's maternal great-grandmother, Amelie Louise Ashton, was a Senegalese slave.
Horne's father, Teddy, was a numbers kingpin in the gambling trade. He left the family when Horne was three years old and moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Horne's mother, Edna, was an actress with a black theatre troupe and travelled extensively. Horne was mainly raised by her paternal grandparents until her mother took her back when she was around five years old. When Horne was five, she was sent to live in Georgia, and for several years, she travelled with her mother.
Horne's parents' marriage was troubled, and they eventually divorced. When Horne was 12, she and her mother returned to New York, and Horne attended Girls High School, an all-girls public high school in Brooklyn. However, she dropped out of school without earning a diploma. In 1933, Horne's mother pulled her out of school at the age of 16 to audition for the dance chorus at the Cotton Club, a famous Harlem nightclub. Horne was hired as a dancer at the Cotton Club, making her Broadway debut in the chorus of the show Dance With Your Gods.
In 1936, Horne toured with Noble Sissle's band, and in 1937, at the age of 19, she married her first husband, Louis Jones, a 28-year-old political operative. Their daughter, Gail, was born later that year. Horne kept Gail after her divorce from Jones, but he refused to give up their son, Teddy, born in 1940, though he allowed the boy long visits with his mother.
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Horne's career beginnings
Lena Horne was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on June 30, 1917. She was raised by her paternal grandparents, Cora Calhoun Horne and Edwin Horne, until her mother, Edna, an actress with a Black theatre troupe, took her back four years later. Horne's father, Edwin Fletcher "Teddy" Horne Jr., left the family when she was three years old. Horne's family was part of the well-educated upper stratum of Black New Yorkers, with several members holding college degrees and distinguished positions in civil rights organisations.
Horne left school in 1933 at the age of 16 to pursue a career in performance, joining the chorus line of the Cotton Club in Harlem, a famous "black and tan club". The following year, she made her Broadway debut in the chorus of the show Dance With Your Gods. In 1935, she became the featured singer with the Noble Sissle Society Orchestra, which performed in many first-rate hotel ballrooms and nightclubs.
In 1936, Horne toured with Noble Sissle's band, and in 1937, she married Louis Jones, a minor politician. They had two children, Gail and Edwin, before separating in 1940 and divorcing in 1944. Horne left Sissle in 1938 to perform as a solo singer in a variety of New York City clubs. She gained early stage experience in Lew Leslie's revues, Blackbirds of 1939 and Blackbirds of 1940, and in 1940, she joined the Charlie Barnet Orchestra, a well-known white swing band.
In 1941, Horne returned to New York to work at the Cafe Society as a solo singer. That same year, she was chosen by impresario Felix Young to star at the Trocadero, a nightclub he was planning to open in Hollywood. She signed a seven-year deal with MGM Studios, becoming the first African American to sign a contract with a major studio. Despite this, Horne faced racial discrimination in her film career, with her musical numbers often shot separately from the films' narratives so they could be easily deleted for screenings in the segregated South.
Horne's first Hollywood movie was Panama Hattie (1942), and she went on to star in several other films, including Stormy Weather (1943) and Cabin in the Sky (1943). She refused to take on any roles that were disrespectful to her as a woman of colour.
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Her early Hollywood career
Lena Horne was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on 30 June 1917. Her career spanned over seventy years and covered film, television, and theatre.
Horne's career began in 1933 when she joined the chorus line of the Cotton Club, a famous black and tan club in Harlem, New York City. She made her first screen appearance as a dancer in the 1935 musical short Cab Calloway's Jitterbug Party. In 1936, she toured with Noble Sissle's band and made her first records, issued by Decca.
In 1941, Horne was hired to perform at the Trocadero, a Hollywood nightclub. She made her Hollywood film debut in 1942 with Panama Hattie, followed by several other films in 1943, including Show Business at War, Thousands Cheer, I Dood It, Swing Fever, and Boogie-Woogie Dream. In these films, Horne's musical numbers were often shot separately from the film's narrative, making them easily deletable for screenings in the segregated South.
Horne's early Hollywood career was marked by her refusal to play the stereotypical role of a maid, which was typically assigned to black actresses at the time. Despite this, she struggled to acquire leading roles and was often typecast in singing parts. She was also limited by the industry's racial biases, as her performances were often confined to discrete songs that could be cut from films shown in the segregated South.
During the McCarthy era, Horne was blacklisted due to her alleged Communist sympathies and associations with blacklisted actor Paul Robeson. This halted her onscreen career, and she shifted her focus to nightclub performances and television appearances.
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Lena Horne's death
Lena Horne, the groundbreaking African-American performer, died aged 92 on the 9th of May 2010 at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan. Horne was a singer, actress, dancer, and civil rights activist whose career spanned more than seventy years across film, television, and theatre.
Horne was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on the 30th of June 1917. She began her career in 1933 at the age of sixteen when she joined the chorus line of the Cotton Club in Harlem, a famous New York speakeasy. She soon progressed to a featured role in the Cotton Club Parade starring Adelaide Hall, who took Horne under her wing. Horne made her first screen appearance as a dancer in the 1935 musical short Cab Calloway's Jitterbug Party. She joined Noble Sissle's Orchestra, with whom she toured and made her first records.
In 1937, Horne married Louis Jordan Jones, a political operative, in Pittsburgh. Their daughter, Gail, was born in December of that year. Horne's marriage ended soon after the birth of her son, Teddy, in 1940. She kept Gail, but Jones refused to give up Teddy, although he allowed the boy long visits with his mother.
Horne's Hollywood career began in 1941 when she was chosen to star at the Trocadero, a nightclub impresario Felix Young was planning to open in Hollywood. She made her first Hollywood movie in 1942, Panama Hattie, which was released in 1944. She went on to star in several other films, including Show Business at War (1943), Thousands Cheer (1943), I Dood It (1943), Swing Fever (1943), Boogie-Woogie Dream (1944), Two Girls and a Sailor (1944), and Ziegfeld Follies (1945).
Horne was a trailblazer for black performers, signing a long-term contract with a major Hollywood studio and achieving international fame. She refused to play roles that stereotyped African American women, a stance that was often controversial. She also worked with civil rights groups, performing at rallies around the country on behalf of the NAACP and the National Council for Negro Women.
Despite her success, Horne faced challenges due to racial prejudice in the entertainment industry. Many of her musical numbers were shot independently of her films' narratives, making them easily deletable when screened in the segregated South. She also experienced difficulties with touring, as black singers and musicians were barred from staying in the same hotels in which they performed.
In 1980, Horne announced her retirement, but the following year, she made a triumphant return to Broadway with her one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music. The show ran for more than 300 performances on Broadway and then toured the country, earning numerous awards and accolades.
Horne continued to record and perform sporadically into the 1990s, retreating from the public eye in 2000. Her legacy is that of a multi-talented performer who rose above the racism and limitations of her time to become one of the most popular and groundbreaking artists of her era.
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Frequently asked questions
I cannot find the name of the hospital in which Lena Horne was born. However, I can confirm that she was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on 30 June 1917.
Lena Horne's parents were Edna Scottron and Teddy Horne. Horne's mother was an actress.
Lena Horne's paternal grandparents were Edwin and Cora Calhoun Horne. Horne was raised by her grandparents until her mother took her back four years later.
