
Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne, (Paperback)
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Publishers Weekly,The clouds rarely lift in this grim, perceptive biography of Hollywood's first African-American screen siren. Gavin (Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker) makes clear that much of Horne's perpetual frustration stemmed from the racism black entertainers faced in the pre-civil rights era. MGM glamorized her as a darker version of its white starlets, but gave her small roles and singing cameos that Southern theaters could conveniently excise. As a cabaret chanteuse and Vegas headliner, she battled segregated nightclubs that let her sing to, but not drink with, white customers, and racial attitudes tainted her relationships with black audiences and with her white husband and lovers. Still, Horne's failures and heartaches seem largely determined by her talent and character. Her movie career, Gavin contends, fizzled more because of limited acting ability than studio perfidy, while a chaotic childhood left her a "nasty woman" ready to "freeze people into oblivion." Indeed, her unhappiness shaped a successful stage persona-a cross between "a cobra" and "a panther devouring her prey"-that infused romantic lyrics with scornful irony. As Horne grows from "joyless toddler" to chilly, bitter diva, Gavin's clear-eyed account makes her the author of her life, and her pain. Photos. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Specs
- Book formatPaperback
- Fiction/nonfictionNon-Fiction
- GenreBiography & Memoirs
- Publication dateApril, 2010
- Pages608
- SubgenreMusic
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THE "DEFINITIVE" (VANITY FAIR ) BIOGRAPHY OF LEGEND LENA HORNE--THE CELEBRATED STAR OF STAGE, MUSIC, AND FILM WHO BLAZED A TRAIL FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS IN HOLLYWOOD AND BEYOND Drawing on a wealth of unmined material and hundreds of interviews-- one of them with Lena Horne herself--critically acclaimed author James Gavin gives us a "deftly researched" (The Boston Globe) and authoritative portrait of the American icon. Horne broke down racial barriers in the entertainment industry in the 1940s and '50s even as she was limited mostly to guest singing appearances in splashy Hollywood musicals. Incorporating insights from the likes of Ruby Dee, Tony Bennett, Diahann Carroll, and Bobby Short, Stormy Weather reveals the many faces of this luminous, complex, strong-willed, passionate, even tragic woman--a stunning talent who inspired such giants as Barbra Streisand, Eartha Kitt, and Aretha Franklin.
Publishers Weekly,The clouds rarely lift in this grim, perceptive biography of Hollywood's first African-American screen siren. Gavin (Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker) makes clear that much of Horne's perpetual frustration stemmed from the racism black entertainers faced in the pre-civil rights era. MGM glamorized her as a darker version of its white starlets, but gave her small roles and singing cameos that Southern theaters could conveniently excise. As a cabaret chanteuse and Vegas headliner, she battled segregated nightclubs that let her sing to, but not drink with, white customers, and racial attitudes tainted her relationships with black audiences and with her white husband and lovers. Still, Horne's failures and heartaches seem largely determined by her talent and character. Her movie career, Gavin contends, fizzled more because of limited acting ability than studio perfidy, while a chaotic childhood left her a "nasty woman" ready to "freeze people into oblivion." Indeed, her unhappiness shaped a successful stage persona-a cross between "a cobra" and "a panther devouring her prey"-that infused romantic lyrics with scornful irony. As Horne grows from "joyless toddler" to chilly, bitter diva, Gavin's clear-eyed account makes her the author of her life, and her pain. Photos. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
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Specifications
Book format
Paperback
Fiction/nonfiction
Non-Fiction
Genre
Biography & Memoirs
Publication date
April, 2010
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