Lena Horne: Goddess Reclaimed
Donald Bogle
Oct 2023 · Hachette Audio · Narrated by Donald Bogle
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10 hr 12 min
Unabridged
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About this audiobook
From Donald Bogle, the award-winning author of Hollywood Black and leading authority on Black cinema history, this is a first-of-its-kind comprehensive and lavish biography of Hollywood’s first African American movie goddess.
Lena Horne’s life and career are truly remarkable in American film history. She was the first Black performer to become a true star—to receive the kind of glamour treatment at the fabled MGM that the studio had previously given to the likes of Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Lana Turner, and Ava Gardner. At the same time, Horne dealt with endless indignities, not the least of which was the fact that her roles in films was often as a musical performer, which allowed her numbers to be easily stripped out of films without affecting the narrative when played to audiences that would find her presence undesirable.
At long last, Lena Horne: Goddess Reclaimed gives the star her due. Through a highly informed and insightful narrative based on interviews, press accounts, studio archives, and decades of research, the book sheds new light on the star's compelling life and complicated career: her activism; her accomplishments and heady triumphs in movies, television, and nightclubs as she broke down long-standing barriers for Black individuals—especially Black women—and her solemn, sometimes bitter disappointments, both professional and personal. Illustrated by stunning photos (some published for the first time), this is the ultimate book on the icon.
Lena Horne’s life and career are truly remarkable in American film history. She was the first Black performer to become a true star—to receive the kind of glamour treatment at the fabled MGM that the studio had previously given to the likes of Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Lana Turner, and Ava Gardner. At the same time, Horne dealt with endless indignities, not the least of which was the fact that her roles in films was often as a musical performer, which allowed her numbers to be easily stripped out of films without affecting the narrative when played to audiences that would find her presence undesirable.
At long last, Lena Horne: Goddess Reclaimed gives the star her due. Through a highly informed and insightful narrative based on interviews, press accounts, studio archives, and decades of research, the book sheds new light on the star's compelling life and complicated career: her activism; her accomplishments and heady triumphs in movies, television, and nightclubs as she broke down long-standing barriers for Black individuals—especially Black women—and her solemn, sometimes bitter disappointments, both professional and personal. Illustrated by stunning photos (some published for the first time), this is the ultimate book on the icon.
About the author
Donald Bogle is one of the foremost authorities on Black representation in films and entertainment history. His books include Running Press's Hollywood Black; the groundbreaking Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks; the award-winning Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams; the bestselling Dorothy Dandridge: A Biography; and Brown Sugar, which Bogle adapted into a PBS documentary series. He was a special commentator and consultant for Turner Classic Movies’ award-winning series Race and Hollywood. Bogle teaches at the University of Pennsylvania and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He lives in Manhattan.
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