Lena Horne Passes

LENA HORNE, 92, the legendary singer and actress who smashed racial barriers to become a Broadway and Hollywood superstar, died last night at New York Hospital. The Brooklyn native began her career at Harlem's legendary Cotton Club in the 1930s. In 1942, she became the first black performer signed to a long-term deal with a major Hollywood studio, starring in the all-black movie version of the musical, Stormy Weather, whose title track became her signature song. Horne, who was equally at home singing blues, jazz, and show tunes, starred in her first Broadway musical, Jamaica, in 1957. In 1978 she played Glinda the Good Witch in The Wiz, the film version of the all-black Broadway musical based on The Wizard of Oz. Her 1981 one-woman show, Lena Horne, the Lady and Her Music, won a special Tony. She is survived by her daughter, Gail Lumet Buckley, who married director Sidney Lumet. Their daughter, Jenny Lumet, is a screenwriter who penned Rachel Getting Married, directed by Jonathan Demme.