One of our last living legends, the fiery, elegant Lena Horne is 92 years old today. As I noted in my first tribute to Ms. Horne on this site in February 2007, the first time I saw Lena Horne, I was an 8-year-old in a movie theater in Philadelphia watching her play Glinda, The Good Witch, in The Wiz. While I was more interested in Michael Jackson playing The Scarecrow, even I knew then that Ms. Horne was a legend with a capital L. The video above is a commercial that she did for The Gap in 1997.
The video above features fire and the elegance of this icon in 1982 singing "If You Believe" from The Wiz soundtrack during a tribute to another icon, Count Basie. A new biography about her life, Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne, was released last week and I will definitely be checking it out.
Lena Horne on 55 Secret Street
Happy 91st Birthday Lena Horne!
Happy 90th Birthday Lena Horne!
The Fiery Elegance of Lena Horne
Lena Horne, MGM publicity photo circa 1940
Lena Horne embracing her daughter Gail Jones, October 7, 1960
Happy Birthday Lena! You are still beautiful.
Posted by: Renee J. Ross | 2009.07.01 at 03:33 PM
Oh I love her! She's so incredible.
Posted by: Alexandra | 2009.07.23 at 02:14 PM