She has since then seen many movies starring the beautiful actress. Her absolute favorite: her role as Sweet Georgia Brown in Cabin in the Sky.
Lena certainly played the devious scheming Sweet Georgia Brown very well in the all black 1940's ahead of its time Cabin in the Sky to the hilt but in reality she was anything but.
Lena Horne was born Lena Mary Calhoun Horne in Brooklyn to a very mixed race family and by default she was born into what W.E Dubois called "The Talented Tenth." She was raised in New York, Pittsburgh and Atlanta but left high school to follow her mother into show business.
Lena started her musical career in New York City night clubs and after an early failed first marriage she sought her fortune in Hollywood. Her light color and fine features were sought after in the movie business but it was also those same characteristics that caused her disenchantment with Hollywood and got her blacklisted due to her history of activism.
Whether it was during World War II, when she refused to perform in front of a segregated audience or years later when she was at the March on Washington...Lena Horne used her fame to bring her passion for civil rights to the forefront.
And Fashiona does indeed think that New York native Alicia Keys will do the late star justice in the upcoming Oprah Winfrey produced movie...
RIP Lena Horne (1917-2010)
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