Lena Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress and  civil rights activist.



Elegant and wise - Lena Horne personified both the glamor of Hollywood and the reality of a lifetime spent battling racial and social injustice.



Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, most famously Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather.


Stormy Weather became her signature song for the rest of a very celebrated career -- you can watch videos of her performing it  below .. you can even buy a Stormy Weather window in the Suite Shop and look for the Lena Horne Window in Starplaza this week!





She was the first African American signed to a long-term studio contract. In her rise beyond Hollywood’s stereotypes she achieved true stardom on the silver screen, and became a catalyst for change even beyond the glittery fringes of studio life.