LENA HORNE - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH - HFSID 78957

LENA HORNE
Artful b/w headshot of Tony and Grammy-winning singer Lena Horne with her hands to her cheek, signed "Most Sincerely". Horne was the first black American woman to sign a long-term contract with a major movie studio.
Photograph signed "Most sincerely/Lena Horne" in blue ink. B/w, 8x10 overall, 7½x9 image, one surface. Sultry American jazz singer and actress Horne (1917-2010) began performing at age six and left school at 16 to support her sick mother. She began singing at Harlem's Cotton Club in 1933, where Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington took her under their wings. She later performed with Noble Sissle's Orchestra and Teddy Wilson's big band. Horne won critical acclaim for her performance in Stormy Weather (1943) and for singing the movie's title song. Although she was the first black American woman to sign a long-term movie contract with a major studio (MGM), her films were shot so that her scenes could be cut out before being shown in the South. Horne placed a single, Love Me or Leave Me, in the Billboard Top 20 in 1955 and won two Grammy Awards (1981 for her album Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music and 1995 for her album An Evening with Lena Horne) and was nominated for a Tony in 1958 for her performance in Jamaica (1957-1959). Horne also won a special Tony in 1981 for her one-woman show Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music. Lightly soiled at blank margins. Creased at upper blank margin and touches background at hair line. Pen skipped in places while writing signature, which is lightly beaded in places but legible. Faint photographer's stamp and mounting remnants on verso (no show through). Fine condition.