Lena Horne in Country Club
- Details
- Category: Our History
- Published on Wednesday, 24 February 2016 16:22
- Written by West Adams Landmarks
Lena Horne’s signature song, from a 1943 film of the same name, is Stormy Weather. Some would say she weathered many storms in her life.
At age 16 Horne began working at Harlem’s Cotton Club, first as a dancer, then in the chorus and later as a solo singer. She began singing with orchestras, and, while singing with Charlie Barnet’s (white) orchestra, she was discovered. From there she began playing clubs in Greenwich Village and then performed at Carnegie Hall. Horne left New York to perform at the Trocadero Club in California. Within a short time, she signed a Hollywood movie contract with MGM. Her contract stipulated that she would not be cast in stereotypical black roles, and with her elegance and glamour, she became known for transforming the image of the black woman in film.Her first role in 1942, like many that followed, was only a guest spot number in Panama Hattie, but the same year she played a leading part in Cabin in the Sky. In 1943 she was in three films: I Dood It, Thousands Cheer, and Stormy Weather,the title song of which became her trademark. It was on the set of Stormy Weather where Horne met second husband Lennie Hayton.
Horne’s father, Ted Horne, had left home in 1920, when she was only three.
In 1934, Horne joined Noble Sissle’s Society Orchestra in Philadelphia. There she was reunited with her father who subsequently played an important role in her life and career until his death in 1970.
Photo courtesy of University of California The Los Angeles Times Photo Collection
Because Horne’s best friend, Elois Davis, lived down the street, Lena bought a modest second home in Country Club Park in part to house her ailing father, so that Elois could look in on him when Horne and Lennie Hayton were in New York or on tour.