Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 30, 1917, to Edwin and Edna Horne. Unfortunately, Horne's father left the family when she was just three years old. As her mother was an actress in a traveling black theater troupe, she lived in places like Georgia and Miami. She also stayed with her grandparents for a while. After their deaths, Horne moved in with a family friend. Shortly after, she returned to live with her mother, who had just married. When she was younger, Horne often dreamed of becoming a stage performer, which upset her middle-class family. They held college degrees and important positions in the NAACP and the Urban League. She followed her dreams and was hired at Harlem's Cotton Club at the age of 16. In 1934, without any singing experience, Horne was given a duet with Avon Long (Porgy and Bess). The duet being a success, she encouraged him to take singing lessons. . In 1935, she joined the Noble Sissle Society Orchestra as a singer and dancer. Soon after, she had her first child and married Louis L. Jones, the father of her two children. Both ...