Lena Horne
1917 - 2010Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the films Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather.
Due to the Red Scare and her left-leaning political views, Horne found herself blacklisted and unable to get work in Hollywood. Returning to her roots as a nightclub performer, Horne took part in the March on Washington in August 1963, and continued to work as a performer, both in nightclubs and on television, while releasing well-received record albums.
She announced her retirement in March 1980, but the next year starred in a one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, which ran for more than three hundred performances on Broadway and earned her numerous awards and accolades. She continued recording and performing sporadically into the 1990s, disappearing from the public eye in 2000. Horne died on May 9, 2010 in New York City.
During her lifetime, Horne was awarded four Grammys, a Tony, and a NAACP Image Award . She also received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1984.
The Green Book: Guide to Freedom
Yoruba Richen
Yoruba Richen, Delbert Hunt
In 1936, Victor H. Green (1892-1960) published The Negro Motorist Green Book, a book that was both a travel guide and a survival manual, to help African-Americans navigate safe those regions of the United States where segregation and Jim Crow laws were disgracefully applied.
The Green Book: Guide to Freedom
You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story
Allan Albert
Bobby Short, Richard Adler
Biographical portrait of one of Broadway's most brilliant songwriters. Told through the use of archival material and interviews with the rich and famous that knew him, this portrait concentrates on his career and his public life events.
You're the Top: The Cole Porter Story
Paul Robeson: Here I Stand
St. Clair Bourne
Paul Robeson, Harry Belafonte
Paul Robeson: Here I Stand presents the life and achievements of an extraordinary man. Athlete, singer, and scholar, Robeson was also a charismatic champion of the rights of the poor working man, the disfranchised and people of color. He led a life in the vanguard of many movements, achieved international acclaim for his music and suffered tremendous personal sacrifice. His story is one of the great dramas of the 20th century, spanning an international canvas of social upheaval and ideological controversy.
Paul Robeson: Here I Stand
That's Entertainment! III
Bud Friedgen, Michael J. Sheridan
June Allyson, Cyd Charisse
Some of MGM'S musical stars review the studios history of musicals. From The Hollywood Revue of 1929 to Brigadoon, from the first musical talkies to Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain.
That's Entertainment! III
Night of 100 Stars II
Clark Jones
Debbie Allen, Peter Allen
This special is the second "Night of 100 Stars" to benefit The Actors Fund of America. Edited from a seven-hour live entertainment marathon that was taped February 17, 1985, at New York's Radio City Music Hall, this sequel to the 1982 "Night of 100 Stars" special features 288 celebrities.
Night of 100 Stars II
Storm in My Heart
Mark Cousins
Susan Hayward, Lena Horne
Despite the many curious similarities between Susan Hayward and Lena Horne-both were born in Brooklyn on exactly the same day, for example-one detail set their careers on very different paths. This doc examines their parallel lives.
Storm in My Heart
Stormy Weather
Andrew L. Stone
Lena Horne, Bill Robinson
Dancing great Bill Williamson sees his face on the cover of Theatre World magazine and reminisces: Just back from World War I, he meets lovely singer Selina Rogers at a soldiers' ball and promises to come back to her when he "gets to be somebody." Years go by, and Bill and Selina's rising careers intersect only briefly, since Selina is unwilling to settle down. Will she ever change her mind? Concludes with a big all-star show hosted by Cab Calloway.
Stormy Weather
Cabin in the Sky
Vincente Minnelli
Ethel Waters, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson
When compulsive gambler Little Joe Jackson dies in a drunken fight, he awakens in purgatory, where he learns that he will be sent back to Earth for six months to prove that he deserves to be in heaven. He awakens, remembering nothing and struggles to do right by his devout wife, Petunia, while an angel known as the General and the devil's son, Lucifer Jr., fight for his soul.
Cabin in the Sky
Sesame Street: Learning about Letters
Caroll Spinney, Martin P. Robinson
With the help of his Sesame Street friends, Big Bird leads Snuffy on a fun-filled trip through the alphabet. Cookie Monster sings the praises of "C" (for "cookie," of course), while Oscar loves "I" and "icky ice cream cones." Special guest Lena Horne joins in on all the musical fun as well. Whether you have a favorite letter, or love'em from A to Z, you'll find them all here in delightful alphabetical disorder.
Sesame Street: Learning About Letters
Night of 100 Stars
Clark Jones
Jane Alexander, Peter Allen
The most glittering, expensive, and exhausting videotaping session in television history took place Friday February 19, 1982 at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The event, for which ticket-buyers payed up to $1,000 a seat (tax-deductible as a contribution to the Actors' Fund) was billed as "The Night of 100 Stars" but, actually, around 230 stars took part. And most of the audience of 5,800 had no idea in advance that they were paying to see a TV taping, complete with long waits for set and costume changes, tape rewinding, and the like. Executive producer Alexander Cohen estimated that the 5,800 Radio City Music Hall seats sold out at prices ranging from $25 to $1,000. The show itself cost about $4 million to produce and was expected to yield around $2 million for the new addition to the Actors Fund retirement home in Englewood, N. J. ABC is reputed to have paid more than $5 million for the television rights.
Night of 100 Stars
