Lena Horne was an amazing singer and stunning on screen. Audiences loved her.
But she was limited on the roles she could play. Being African-American, she could only play lead roles in movies that were shown in black theaters. To be in a movie shown in white theaters, African-American actors were allowed to only play servant rolls, which she refused to do. So she opted to take small performance rolls that could be cut from the film when shown in less accepting theaters.
She was actually quite light skinned, so when she did play lead rolls next to dark skinned men, the studio asked the makeup department to darken her skin tone.
Max Factor was working for MGM at the time and developed a shade especially for her called Light Egyptian.
Unfortunately the makeup also hurt the progress of minority women in the film industry. It didn’t take long for studios to use the makeup to darken white women so they could play minority parts in all white casts… the irony being that this makeup designed for a black woman was making it harder for minorities to gain parts in movies.
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Thoughts on Life and Millinery.
Facinating bit of history. Wonder what the deal was with orientals? I remember Yul Brenner playing an oriental in the King and I.
Hairball
Unfortunately the makeup also hurt the progress of minority women in the film industry. It didn’t take long for studios to use the makeup to darken white women so they could play minority parts in all white casts.So sad! I know I’ve seen some old movies where it was obvious that a white actor or actress was made up to appear to be of a different ethnicity.
Bucca
Oh she was beautiful!
I read about her in a book I have called Black Beauty – it’s a photographic book with plenty of text and it covers the history of black beauty from medieval times through till the 90’s.
A great read.
Jessica Cangiano
Sometimes it’s startling and unnerving to realize that less than a century ago this kind of remarkably segregation and racism existed. Thank you for this interesting glimpse into one of the far from glamorous elements of make-up and cinematography history.
lucitebox
I love Lena Horne–what a knockout!
Anyone who remembers Othello played by Charlton Heston (not to mention his stint as a Mexican in Touch of Evil) knows how completely ridiculous makeup can be. What a disservice to movie-goers.
Hearing Heston speak Spanish is positively cringe-worthy.
eloisesunshine
Hi,
i love your blog and i often visit, i just create a open id account to be able to comment.
I love Lena Horne, i’m a big fan of her, and not long ago i wrote an article in my blog about the phenomenon of afro-american women in hollywood’s golden age, but i havent translated in englih yet (i’m a french gal). Also my college memoir was about “the globalisation of occidental beauty” if you’re interrested, i can share!
It’s funny because i had plan to publish some article about Lena, i dont know if i should now…
Anyway you have such a nice blog!
Eloïse Sunshine.
http://coconut.canalblog.com
Nikki via The Scarlett Rose Garden
Unbelievable.
One thing I have noticed about Lena, (anyone else?!), is that she has incredibly long thumbs!! Seriously. I get mesmerized watching her hands while she sings….
Fanny
Awesome bit of history. Thank you!