Pronunciation: a'näv-a-lista. Function: noun. A writer of novels, non-fiction and screenplays; entrepreneur; beauty junkie; history buff; foodie; fashionista; un-fashionista; bookworm; Christian; Lt. Uhura namesake; Oprah-holic; Coffee Fiend; Hopemonger; Black Forest Berry Honest Tea Lover; Newark-born, South Jersey-raised New Yorker;
Copyright 2005-2008 Nichelle Gainer.
It has been a few days, but I wanted to make sure that I paid tribute to Cyd Charisse, who died last week at age 86.
I wrote about her briefly two years ago, but this time, I will let her work speak for itself.
Singin' In The Rain (1952) with Gene Kelly
Silk Stockings (1957) with Fred Astaire
I just love Dorothy Dandridge.
Today would have been her 85th birthday, so I am taking the opportunity to pay tribute to her yet again. If you've never seen her in action, which I just can't imagine, but anyway... click below.
She is one of my favorites because she was so much more than a just a pretty woman and, by most accounts, she was friendly, down to earth and sensible to boot. Here is a great example, taken from a post I wrote almost two years ago on Anovelista.com:
I must say, I really admire the late, great Dorothy Dandridge. She was beautiful and talented and she didn't take anything for granted. She knew that she was not a great singer, (check her out on iTunes to hear for yourself) but she also knew that singing in nightclubs was the only consistent way she could keep a foothold in Hollywood in between acting jobs, which were always years apart. In Donald Bogle's wonderful biography of Dorothy, her sister Vivian said: "She really loved dignity and elegance. Almost to a fault. This is the thing that she abhorred about the nightclub scene... that she had to get up there and just be strictly a sex symbol." Dorothy herself told her best friend Geri Branton:
"Ella Fitzgerald is one of the most talented people in the world, and it embarrasses me that she cannot work the rooms that I work. The reason for it is so horrible. She's not sexy. The men in the audience don't want to take her home and go to bed. And yet she's up there singing her heart out for one-third of the money they're paying me. And I resent being in that category."
Ms. Branton said, "I liked Dottie for saying those things." Same here. I like Dorothy Dandridge because she "got it."
Can you imagine that happening today? A singer actually saying something like "Sharon Jones (or Angie Stone or Jill Scott, etc., etc.) is one of the most talented people in the world and it embarrasses me that she cannot work the rooms that I work." Wouldn't happen.
But that is just as well because there will never again be another Dorothy Dandridge.
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 first thing anyone would say about her was "Don't she look good? She looks so good for her age!"
While looking good was a major part of her career, she couldn't help but resent the underlying reasons. "I was unique in that I was the kind of black that white people could accept," she once said. "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."
I have always loved Lena Horne's candor. And, it never sits well with me when she is simply written off as only "gorgeous," because her beauty went far beyond the physical. It was magnified by her fearlessness, strength and grace. She could have played nice when she was asked to entertain the troops during World War II. Instead, she refused to play before audiences where black soldiers were forced to sit in the back - sometimes behind German prisoners of war. She could have shied away from her close friendship with Paul Robeson, but she elected to stand firm and her name was listed in the Red Channels in 1950. She was blacklisted from television and film for nearly a decade. She could have remained in Europe with her new husband, the white musical arranger Lennie Hayton. Instead, she did everything she could for the movement. Sadly, she was with civil rights hero Medgar Evers (see picture below) at a civil rights rally in Mississippi just days before he was assassinated. She was so moved by our civil rights struggle, she questioned her career as an entertainer.
Her battles with MGM Studios are the stuff of legend. On the first day she arrived at MGM's hair and makeup department, the hair and makeup people refused to work on her. According to her daughter Gail Buckley, Sydney Guilaroff, the legendary hairdresser who was then "head of hairdressing" at MGM announced to his staff that he would "personally take care of Ms. Horne." Jack Dawn, the head makeup artist, followed suit.
Her looks were seemingly a blessing and a curse, but she never seemed to be as hung up on them as everyone else. And it certainly didn't stop her from loving beauty and fashionable things.
In one of my favorite books, The Hornes: An American Family, Buckley (then Gail Lumet Buckley - her ex-husband was the great director Sidney Lumet, who directed Ms. Horne in The Wiz) mentions quite a few of her mother's favorite things. "My mother's bedroom and bath were awash in Chen-yu lipsticks, Guerlain perfumes, prescription pill bottles from MGM's Dr. Feelgood, and books by Agatha Christie, Edna Ferber, Pearl Buck and John O'Hara." She was also a good friend of Ginette Spanier, the director of the House of Balmain and she went to plenty of fashion shows. "Lena poured herself into Balmain's beads, Madame Grès' jerseys, Jean Dessés' chiffons and Maggy Rouff's hats - at celebrity prices," Buckley wrote.
Another great anecdote from the book involves Lena's opening night at The Savoy-Plaza Hotel in 1942. MGM was late in sending her dresses for her opening night performance, so Lena and her pal Nuffie O'Neill, a black woman who looked white, decided to go window shopping at Bergdorf Goodman. Bergdorf's happened to be across the street from the Savoy-Plaza and Lena found a gorgeous red lace dress that would have been perfect for the show. But, it was early in her career (each of her agents got 20%!) and she didn't have enough money to buy the dress. Buckley surmises that the Bergdorf saleslady had a "soft heart," because she left Lena and Nuffie in the dressing room and returned fifteen minutes later with Andrew Goodman, the owner of the store. "I understand that you're opening at the Savoy-Plaza and have nothing to wear," he said. "We wouldn't want our Savoy neighbors to be disappointed. Why don't you take the lace dress? Charge it, and pay for it a little bit at a time." Buckley said that her mother "nearly swooned with gratitude," and "would be forever devoted to Mr. Goodman's store."
Today, Lena Horne is 89 and I hope the film about her life, be it film or TV, is made soon. Alicia Keys is said to be in the running, but I can also see newcomer Paula Patton pulling it off. A real singer isn't really necessary for the role. In fact, Lena has stated throughout her career that she never had a great voice. Even amid rave reviews for her 1940s nightclub engagements, she would always stress that she was only "learning to sing."
However, I agree with the critic John McDonough, who once said, "Her voice is an aristocratic combination of mature luster and fine grain, and the phrasing is soaked in the honey-combed drawl and still crackles with open vowels that have always been her signature."
Truly marvelous.
* All pictures in this post are from Corbis.
Today is Eartha Kitt's 80th birthday and she's still going strong!
I had the pleasure of interviewing Ms. Kitt in January 2001 when she returned to Broadway for a brief stint as The Fairy Godmother in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella. She was also promoting her fourth book, Rejuvenate! It's Never Too Late.
The article never ran (@#*!) and the magazine went out of business soon thereafter(@#&*!!) However, I think that some of the quotes she gave me in our telephone interview are still pretty interesting today:
NG: You usually play vampy, diva roles like the Wicked Witch of the West. Why the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella?
EK: Because I love the story and I love the ideas and I love telling children to have dignity and respect. I played the Wicked Witch of the West and that was fun, but so is this. Any part can be fun if you do it right.
NG: Your image has taken a beating with some blacks over the years. Do you feel that blacks misunderstand you sometimes? In what way?
EK: Very much so, particularly in the beginning. They would say things like "She thinks she's white." It doesn't happen anymore, but back then, when I walked through Harlem, they used to say "Why don't you go back downtown?" This is after they would read about me in the papers with a white man. But, the funny thing is, I went out wth Sammy Davis too, but no one said anything about that!
NG: Really! You went out with Sammy Davis? During Anna Lucasta?
EK: Oh long before Anna Lucasta. Before he lost his eye. I met him when I was in New Faces of 1952 in San Francisco. He was performing at the Grecian Room at the Fairmont Hotel.
NG: Is a movie about your life still being planned?
EK: Yes. Toni Braxton is going to play me.
NG: How do you think she'll do?
EK: We don't know until we see, right? She came to my show at the Carlyle and she was almost in tears. She said, "I don't know if I can do that. There are so many different facets of you."
NG: Are there any other performers out today that you like?
EK: I think that Toni is really good. I hope she's damn good (at playing me), but once you've seen one of these people, you've seen them all.
Needless to say, we had a great conversation that day!
Now, I am not suggesting that Ms. Kitt uses the following products. But I am suggesting that they are fabulous enough for her!
Dior Prestige Exquisite Cleansing Creme $55.00. Dior Prestige 20+1 Creme $250.00. Dior Addict Lipstick in Rouge Abyss $23.40. Dior Pure Poison Fragrance $79.00.
I'm getting a head start on Black History Month in the coming weeks with several posts
paying tribute to some of my favorite glamorous, fabulous, marvelous and glorious black women (and a few great men) in film, music, television, fashion and other fields. I started out, more or less, celebrating Dorothy Dandridge's birthday last November. Now it's time for Sade - she turns 48 today.
I was so struck by the now famous picture of her with the black gloves that I remember the exact date I saw it in the newspaper: March 2, 1985. I kept that clip forever! With her signature hoop 
earrings, bright red lipstick and sleek ponytail, she was an
instant style icon. I was a teenager in the 80s and with all of the big (BIG!) hair, neon-colors and fingerless lace gloves, I used to joke
that Sade was the only star I could afford to imitate! Hoops, red lipstick, white turtleneck, black slacks? I can do that! I did have to make a few adjustments though. My hair was short, so I couldn't copy her famous ponytail (this is prior to the weave revolution!) Instead, I would just slick my hair back, put on my red lipstick and hoops (with a key added as a nod to Janet Jackson) and head off to school with all of the Michael Jackson and Madonna wannabes.
Damn, I loved the 80s!
Laura Mercier Lip Colour in Seduction $20.00. Prescriptives Colorscope Lipstick in Cabaret $17.50. Robert Lee Morris 18K gold hammered hoop earrings $325.00. Clinique Long Last Shine Lipstick in Merlot $14.00.
Ah, dear friends and readers. We meet again. I have been beyond swamped in my offline life to say the least. But I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to remember Dorothy Dandridge since yesterday would have been her 84th birthday.
In her heyday, the only foundation available to women was heavy pancake base - and they had to wait for it to dry. Of course, in the 21st century, we don't like to wait for anything, so I'll bet Ms. Dandridge would love modern day conveniences like oil-free foundation. And, of course, the internet.
Chanel Rouge Allure Luminous Satin Lipstick in Enchanting $29.00. Cartier Delices Eau de Toilette $105.00. Lancome Magique Mousse Blush in Cinnamon Glaze $28.50. LORAC Oil-Free Wet/Dry Powder Makeup in Tan $35.00.
