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Actress and singer Lena Horne was one of the most popular performers of her time, known for films such as The Wiz and her trademark song, "Stormy Weather."
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Lena Horne - Stormy Weather (1:11)
Lena Horne - Stormy Weather
Watch a short video about actress Lena Horne and learn how she faced many odds to become a Hollywood legend.
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Play NowLena Horne. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 09:01, May 24, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/lena-horne-9344086.
Lena Horne. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/lena-horne-9344086 [Accessed 24 May 2013].
"Lena Horne." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 24 2013, 09:01 http://www.biography.com/people/lena-horne-9344086.
"Lena Horne," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/lena-horne-9344086 [accessed May 24, 2013].
"Lena Horne," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/lena-horne-9344086 (accessed May 24, 2013).
Lena Horne [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 24] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/lena-horne-9344086.
Lena Horne, http://www.biography.com/people/lena-horne-9344086 (last visited May 24, 2013).
Lena Horne. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/lena-horne-9344086. Accessed May 24, 2013.
In 1970 and 1971, Horne’s son, father and brother all died. Though she toured with Tony Bennett in 1973 and 1974 and made some television appearances, she spent several years mourning and was less visible.
Later Career
Horne made her final film appearance in the 1978 movie The Wiz. The film was a version of The Wizard of Oz that featured an entirely African-American cast including Michael Jackson and Diana Ross, and Horne played Glinda the Good Witch.
In 1981 she made a triumphant return to Broadway with her one-woman show Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music. The show ran on Broadway for 14 months, then toured in the United States and abroad, and won a Drama Desk Award and a Tony Award, as well as two Grammy Awards for its soundtrack.
In 1994 Horne gave one of her last concerts, at New York’s Supper Club. The performance was recorded and was released in 1995 as An Evening With Lena Horne: Live at the Supper Club, which won a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album. Though she contributed occasional recordings after this, she largely retreated from public life.
Lena Horne died of heart failure on May 9, 2010, in New York City.
Personal Life
Horne was married to Louis Jones from 1937 to 1944, and they had two children. She married Lennie Hayton, a white bandleader, in 1947, but they kept their marriage a secret for three years. They separated in the 1960s but never divorced.
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