Lena Horne Edward Cronenweth photo Swing Fever MGM 1943 cropped and color added 2013
by David Lee Guss
Title
Lena Horne Edward Cronenweth photo Swing Fever MGM 1943 cropped and color added 2013
Artist
David Lee Guss
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
When her films were shown in the South in the 1940's her musical numbers were placed in the movies so they could be easily cut out. The South was not desegregated until the mid 1960's. This prevented her from playing lead roles.
'Most theaters in the South refused to show films that portrayed blacks in anything other than subservient roles to whites, and most movie studios did not want to take a chance on losing that particular source of revenue. Lena did not want to appear in those kinds of stereotyped roles (and who could blame her?)'
Dorothy Dandridge, in turn, did play the lead in the Otto Preminger 1954 directed "Carmen Jones."
"She was so superb in that picture that she garnered an Academy Award nomination but lost out to Grace Kelly in The Country Girl (1954). Despite the nomination for her performance, Dorothy did not get another movie until she appeared in Tamango (1958), which was an Italian film. She was to make six more motion pictures, of which Island in the Sun (1957) and Porgy and Bess (1959) were worthy of mention. Once again, she was a standout. The last movie she would ever play would be in 1961's The Murder Men (1961). Dorothy faded quickly after that with a poor second marriage to Jack Denison (her first was to Harold Nicholas), poor investments, other financial woes, and a problem with alcohol.
She was found dead in her West Hollywood apartment on September 8, 1965, the victim of a barbiturate poisoning. She was only 42. Had she been born 20 years later, Dorothy Dandridge would no doubt be one of the most well-known actresses in film history.�
Horne was a survivor.
"After leaving Hollywood, Horne established herself as one of the premier nightclub performers of the post-war era. She headlined at clubs and hotels throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe, including the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, the Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles, and the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. "
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April 17th, 2016
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