License to Thrive

Lena Horne, the ground-breaking singer, actress and civil rights activist who, in 1942, became the first African-American performer to be put under contract by a major studio, MGM, has died at the age of 92.  Born in 1917, Horne rose to fame while at the same time facing and fighting the challenges of racism. She landed her first professional job at 16, when she joined the chorus of dancers at Harlem’s Cotton Club.  Ms. Horne was a Tony, Emmy and multiple Grammy Awards winner.

Throughout her career, Horne was equally dedicated to her advocacy for civil rights. She was an early pioneer in the movement for equality, fighting for desegregation alongside such legends of the movement as Paul Robeson and Medgar Evers and attended the March on Washington in 1963.  She was an active member of the NAACP and also fought with first lady Eleanor Roosevelt to pass anti-lynching laws.   

While with MGM, her movie scenes were filmed in a way that allowed them to be edited out when shown in Southern theaters.  She secretly married her American Jewish bandleader Leonard ‘Lennie’ Hayton. They kept their interracial marriage hidden for three years. Ms. Horne is survived by her daughter.