Lena Horne
Birthday: 30 June 1917, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Birth Name: Lena Mary Calhoun Horne
Height: 165 cm
Lena Calhoun Horne was born June 30, 1917, in Brooklyn, New York. In her biography she stated that on the day she was born, her father was in the midst of a card game trying to get money to pay the ho ...Show More
I had this sort of greedy agent who made me go to Hollywood in the hope that I'd be in movies.
I had this sort of greedy agent who made me go to Hollywood in the hope that I'd be in movies.
In my early days I was a sepia Hedy Lamarr. Now I'm black and a woman, singing my own way.
In my early days I was a sepia Hedy Lamarr. Now I'm black and a woman, singing my own way.
I was unique in that I was a kind of black that white people could accept. I was their daydream. I h Show more
I was unique in that I was a kind of black that white people could accept. I was their daydream. I had the worst kind of acceptance because it was never for how great I was or what I contributed. It was because of the way I looked. Hide
[on Myrna Loy] A great star and a woman of accomplishment who is angry about all the right things.
[on Myrna Loy] A great star and a woman of accomplishment who is angry about all the right things.
[on love] Don't be afraid to feel as angry or as loving as you can.
[on love] Don't be afraid to feel as angry or as loving as you can.
[on MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer] He was the most clever, ruthless, smart character that you would Show more
[on MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer] He was the most clever, ruthless, smart character that you would never want to know. All those guys were--Harry Cohn [Columbia Pictures chief] . . . Jack L. Warner [Warner Bros. chief]--believe me, they weren't dumb. They were the czars of the industry--and they had no mercy. Hide
Always be smarter than the people who hire you.
Always be smarter than the people who hire you.
My identity is very clear to me now, I am a black woman, I'm not alone, I'm free. I say I'm free bec Show more
My identity is very clear to me now, I am a black woman, I'm not alone, I'm free. I say I'm free because I no longer have to be a credit, I don't have to be a symbol to anybody; I don't have to be a first to anybody. I don't have to be an imitation of a white woman that Hollywood sort of hoped I'd become. I'm me, and I'm like nobody else. Hide
It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.
It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.
in Brian Lanker's book "I Dream A World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America", New York: St Show more
in Brian Lanker's book "I Dream A World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America", New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1986)] My own people didn't see me as a performer because they were busy trying to make a living and feed themselves. Until I got to café society in the '40s, I didn't even have a black audience and then it was mixed. I was always battling the system to try to get to be with my people. Finally, I wouldn't work for places that kept us out . . . it was a damn fight everywhere I was, every place I worked, in New York, in Hollywood, all over the world. Hide
A little nepotism never hurt nobody, honey. If you got it, use it. Press on with it. Remind them of Show more
A little nepotism never hurt nobody, honey. If you got it, use it. Press on with it. Remind them of it. Hide
You have to be taught to be second class; you're not born that way.
You have to be taught to be second class; you're not born that way.
I never considered myself a movie star. Mostly, I just sang songs in other people's movies.
I never considered myself a movie star. Mostly, I just sang songs in other people's movies.
Lena Horne's FILMOGRAPHY
as Actor (73)
Lena Horne'S roles
Lena Horne
Glinda the Good
Herself