Billy Strayhorn
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William Thomas Strayhorn was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger who collaborated with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly three decades. His compositions include
Strayhorn c. 1947; by William P. Gottlieb
Strayhorn (seated at piano) and (from left) Duke Ellington, Leonard Feather, and Louis Armstrong in 1947
Strayhorn in 1958; by Carl Van Vechten
A sign in dedication to Strayhorn near his childhood home in Hillsborough, North Carolina (2009)
Lena Horne
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Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television and theater.
Billy Strayhorn
…for the Ellington orchestra in 1963 for the historical revue (and album) My People, dedicated to King. Strayhorn had a major influence on the career of Lena Horne, who wanted to marry Strayhorn and considered him the love of her life. Strayhorn used his classical background to improve Horne's singing technique…
Horne in 1946
Horne as Julie LaVerne in a mini-production of Show Boat in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), singing "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man"
Lena Horne photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1941
Horne singing "Why Was I Born?" in Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)