Style Flashback: Lena Horne

What is there left to say about Lena Horne that hasn't already been said. Singer. Actress. Activist. Dancer. She's done it all. On May 9th, 2010 the world was saddened by the news that a legend had fallen. We can take comfort in the fact that she lead a full life, dying at the age of 92. I'll try here to summarize all her achievements in less than 500 words. In the Fall of 1933, Horne joined the mike chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer. This was her introduction to the world of entertainment. Soon after, Hollywood called. Horne had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the films Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather. However, due to her left-leaning political views, Horne found herself blacklisted and unable to get work in Hollywood. During World War II, when entertaining the troops for the USO, she refused to perform "for segregated audiences or for groups in which German POWs were seated in front of African American servicemen." Returning to her roots as a nightclub performer, Horne took part in the March on Washington in August 1963, and continued to work as a performer, both in nightclubs and on television, while releasing well-received record albums. She announced her retirement in March 1980, but the next year starred in a one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, which ran for more than three hundred performances on Broadway and earned her numerous awards and accolades. She continued recording and performing sporadically into the 1990s, disappearing from the public eye in 2000. I'll miss Lena Horne for her integrity - something many artists today lack. Fame and fortune shouldn't be the end goal for modern entertainers. Courage and faith hold equal merit, and as Horne has demonstrated, it's what real legends are made of.

Style Flashback: Phylicia Rashad

Every one's favorite TV mom has probably one of the most accomp- lished yet under- appreciated careers in Hollywood. She more than deserves a "Style Flashback" spotlight. Phylicia Rashad, aka Claire Huxtable, was born in Houston, Texas in 1948. She graduated from Howard University, where she later went back to teach drama. Rashad first became notable on the stage with a string of Broadway credits, including Deena Jones in Dreamgirls (she was Sheryl Lee Ralph's understudy until she left the show in 1982 after Rashad was passed over as Ralph's full-time replacement). Of course, Rashad is best known for her role as attorney Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show. She played the no-nonsense mother of five for eight years then later returned to TV comedy in 1996 with CBS's Cosby. Her role in The Cosby Show earned her two Emmy Award nominations. In 2003, she was honored as Woman of the Year by the Harvard Black Men's Forum. In 2005, Rashad received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts (D.F.A.) degree from Brown University. Most recently, Rashad became the first African-American actress to win the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, for her role in the revival of A Raisin in the Sun. I saw this play on opening night and the scene where she discovers that Walter Lee has lost all the father's money brought me to tears. Nowadays you can catch Rashad plugging Jenny Craig diets during commercial breaks, but I personally love watching re-runs of her keeping the Huxtables in check. No one could keep 'em in line like Mrs. Huxtable!

Style Flashback: Denise Nicholas

I first saw Denise Nicholas when I was just six-years-old in the movie A Piece of the Action alongside Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby. I thought she was so beautiful and wanted to dress like her and be just as sassy! About a month ago I caught the same movie on BET J and was blown away all over again by her elegance. Nicholas began her television acting career in 1968 but most of you will remember her as Liz McIntyre on the TV show Room 222 (for which she received two Golden Globe nominations) or as Harriet DeLong in In the Heat of the Night. Nicholas wrote six episodes of the dramatic show, In the Heat of the Night and thus began her second career as a writer. When that show was cancelled, she enrolled in the graduate Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California proving beauty and brains can coexist. Her first novel, Freshwater Road, was published in 2005 to critical acclaim and was selected as one of the best books of 2005 by The Washington Post, The Detroit Free Press, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Newsday and The Chicago Tribune. Nicholas is also recognised as a social activist who was involved in the American Civil Rights Movement. These days Nicholas continues to write and resides in Southern California.