LENA HORNE - DOCUMENT SIGNED 10/27/1969 - HFSID 262375

LENA HORNE
Tony and Grammy-winning singer Lena Horne signed this document from Yorkshire Productions in 1969 to cancel her appearance on Kraft Music Hall. Horne was the first black American woman to sign a long-term contract with a major movie studio.
Document signed by "Lena Horne" and a representative of Yorkshire Productions, Inc. 1 page, 8½x11. Oct. 27, 1969. Addressed to Miss Lena Horne c/o Ralph Harris, Tarzana, California. Horne signed her acceptance of a documentary letter from Yorkshire Productions confirming their mutual agreement to cancellation of her planned appearance on the Kraft Music Hall telecast of Dec. 17, 1969. Ink note (unknown hand) in upper right corner. 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.Light mailing folds. Staple holes and faint paperclip stain in upper left corner. Otherwise in fine condition.