Lena Horne, Death of a Gunfighter

I love Lena Horne for a lot of reasons – she was beautiful, talented, strong, intelligent, stylish, classy, and had the voice of an angel… the star angel in God’s choir.

I also love her because she was one of the musicians and actresses my mom and I agreed on!

She loved Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly the way I loved Maureen O’Hara, Rita Hayworth, Ava Gardner, and Ann-Margret.

She loved The Waltons… I loved Little House on the Prairie.

She loved Lawrence Welk… I preferred Hee Haw.

She loved Cary Grant best… I preferred John Wayne and Clint Eastwood.

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Lena Horne and Richard Widmark, Death of a Gunfighter

We even differed with books – She loved reading romance novels… I loved Agatha Christie and Nancy Drew and would need to be PAID to read a romance novel!

But when it came to Lena Horne, we were both in absolute awe of her. If she were on the television, we froze and hung on her every move. If she were on the radio or we were playing her music in the house… we knew every word of every song. We had one lovely entertainer we could agree on! Because of this, I think of my mom anytime I see a Lena Horne photo or film.

So, as you can see, the wonderful Lena Horne has a special place in my heart.

The photos shown here are from her 1969 film, Death of a Gunfighter. I am absolutely in love with the fact that she was cast as Richard Widmark’s wife… the gorgeous girlfriend of the protagonist who just happens to be a woman of color.

We may not think twice about that now, but back then? It was bold casting that paid off in a big way. She was wonderful in the film and had palpable chemistry with Richard Widmark.

If you’ve never seen it, I hope you’ll check it out.

Richard Widmark and Lena Horne