NEW YORK (AP) — Liza Minnelli is remembering Lena Horn as “funny, sophisticated and truly one of a kind.”
It’s among the tributes being heard after Horne’s death in New York at the age of 92.
Minnelli’s father, director Vincente Minnelli, brought Horne to Hollywood in 1943 to star in “Cabin in the Sky.”
Janet Jackson says Horne’s death is a “great loss.” She says Horne opened doors to Jackson and others.
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Horne was known for her signature song “Stormy Weather.” She was also known for her triumph over the bigotry that had allowed her to entertain white audiences but not socialize with them.
She once said that one of the reasons for her success was that she was “a kind of black that white people could accept.” She recalled “battling the system” to get blacks admitted to places where she was performing — finally deciding not to work where blacks were excluded.
Her activism was spurred by what she saw while entertaining at an Army base in 1945 — where she says German POWs were sitting up front, while black American soldiers had to sit in the back.
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