LENA HORNE The voice of change
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ|August 2020
As the Black Lives Matter movement grips America – and the world – Chantal Walsh remembers a pioneering performer whose refusal to play by the rules would change the face of show business.
- Chantal Walsh
LENA HORNE The voice of change

It was the early 1940s and Lena Horne was breaking new ground for black performers by signing a long-term contract with major Hollywood studio MGM. However, in the midst of an era where much of America operated under some form of segregation, Lena’s trajectory to Hollywood star wasn’t without its struggles.

Born in 1917 in Brooklyn, New York, Lena was the daughter of professional gambler Edwin and actress Edna. Her parents separated when she was young and she spent her early years living with her grandmother Cora Calhoun Horne, one of the first black suffragettes and an early campaigner for the rights of African-Americans. At 16, Lena’s mother landed her a job in the chorus at Harlem’s Cotton Club, where black performers entertained a strictly white audience. It was not a happy time in Lena’s life, with poor backstage conditions, bad pay and a backdrop of inequality. After joining another band, Lena recalled in a 1981 Time interview, “I literally ran away and married the first man I met.”

That man was a 28-year-old political operative, Louis Jones. Over the next few years, Lena and Louis welcomed a daughter, Gail, and son, Edwin. However, the marriage didn’t last due to conflicting work schedules and financial woes, and in 1938 Lena made a return to the arts, starring in the musical film The Duke is Tops – for which she received no pay.

この蚘事は Australian Women’s Weekly NZ の August 2020 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

この蚘事は Australian Women’s Weekly NZ の August 2020 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

AUSTRALIAN WOMEN’S WEEKLY NZのその他の蚘事すべお衚瀺
PRETTY WOMAN
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

PRETTY WOMAN

Dial up the joy with a mood-boosting self-care session done in the privacy of your own home. It’s a blissful way to banish the winter blues.

time-read
3 分  |
July 2024
Hitting a nerve
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Hitting a nerve

Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes could aid physical and mental wellbeing.

time-read
5 分  |
July 2024
The unseen Rovals
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

The unseen Rovals

Candid, behind the scenes and neverbefore-seen images of the royal family have been released for a new exhibition.

time-read
2 分  |
July 2024
Great read
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Great read

In novels and life - there's power in the words left unsaid.

time-read
2 分  |
July 2024
Winter dinner winners
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Winter dinner winners

Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of budget-concious recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.

time-read
3 分  |
July 2024
Winter baking with apples and pears
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Winter baking with apples and pears

Celebrate the season of apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the cold weather blues away.

time-read
7 分  |
July 2024
The wines and lines mums
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

The wines and lines mums

Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.

time-read
10+ 分  |
July 2024
Former ballerina'sBATTLE with BODY IMAGE
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

Former ballerina'sBATTLE with BODY IMAGE

Auckland author Sacha Jones reveals how dancing led her to develop an eating disorder and why she's now on a mission to educate other women.

time-read
7 分  |
July 2024
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN

When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.

time-read
8 分  |
July 2024
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START
Australian Women’s Weekly NZ

IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START

Responsible for keeping the likes of Jane Fonda and Jamie Lee Curtis in shape, Malin Svensson is on a mission to motivate those in midlife to move more.

time-read
5 分  |
July 2024