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Born June 30, 1917, in Brooklyn, NY
Died May 9, 2010, in Manhattan, NY
Singer, actress, and activist Lena Horne began her career at 16 as a chorus girl at the Cotton Club in Harlem. Almost 50 years later she starred in a retrospective, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, which ran for more than 300 performances on Broadway. In the 1940s, she performed in the film classics Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather and in the Broadway musical Jamaica. She was a dedicated civil rights advocate and participated in rallies including the 1963 March on Washington. She won four Grammy Awards, and in 1984 she was honored by the Kennedy Center for her lifetime of achievements in the performing arts.