76-641: (Redirected from The Ambassador Hotel ) Ambassador Hotel may refer to: United States [ edit ] Ambassador Hotel (Los Angeles) , California Ambassador Hotel (Jacksonville) , Florida Ambassador Hotel (San Francisco) , California Ambassador Hotel (Atlantic City) , New Jersey (converted to the Tropicana Casino and Resort in 1981) Ambassador Hotel (Tulsa, Oklahoma) Ambassador East , Chicago, Illinois Ambassador West , Chicago, Illinois Ambassador Hotel Historic District , listed on
152-834: A forever stamp depicting Horne began to be issued; this made Horne the 41st honoree in the Black Heritage stamp series. In June 2021, the Prospect Park bandshell in Brooklyn was renamed the Lena Horne Bandshell to honor Horne, a Bed-Stuy Brooklyn native, and to show solidarity with the Black community. The Nederlander Organization announced in June 2022 that Broadway 's Brooks Atkinson Theatre would be renamed after her later that year. The theater's marquee
228-432: A 1993 appearance on A Different World . In the summer of 1980, Horne, 63 years old and intent on retiring from show business, embarked on a two-month series of benefit concerts sponsored by the sorority Delta Sigma Theta . These concerts were represented as Horne's farewell tour, yet her retirement lasted less than a year. On April 13, 1980, Horne, Luciano Pavarotti , and host Gene Kelly were all scheduled to appear at
304-416: A 2005 interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show that she might possibly consider producing the biopic herself, casting Keys as Horne. In January 2005, Blue Note Records , her label for more than a decade, announced that "the finishing touches have been put on a collection of rare and unreleased recordings by the legendary Horne made during her time on Blue Note." Remixed by her long-time producer Rodney Jones,
380-638: A Cotton Club-style revue on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood. Horne already had two low-budget movies to her credit: a musical feature called The Duke is Tops (1938, later reissued with Horne's name above the title as The Bronze Venus ); and a two-reel short subject, Boogie Woogie Dream (1941), featuring pianists Pete Johnson and Albert Ammons . Horne's songs from Boogie Woogie Dream were later released individually as soundies . Horne made her Hollywood nightclub debut at Felix Young's Little Troc on
456-709: A Gala performance at the Metropolitan Opera House to salute the NY City Center's Joffrey Ballet Company . However, Pavarotti's plane was diverted over the Atlantic and he was unable to appear. James Nederlander was an invited Honored Guest and observed that only three people at the sold-out Metropolitan Opera House asked for their money back. He asked to be introduced to Horne following her performance. In May 1981, The Nederlander Organization , Michael Frazier, and Fred Walker went on to book Horne for
532-588: A Negro who stands against a pillar singing a song. I did that 20 times too often." She was blacklisted during the 1950s for her affiliations in the 1940s with communist -backed groups. She would subsequently disavow communism. She returned to the screen, playing Claire Quintana, a madam in a brothel who marries Richard Widmark , in the film Death of a Gunfighter (1969), her first straight dramatic role with no reference to her color. She later appeared on screen two more times as Glinda in The Wiz (1978), which
608-487: A four-week engagement at the newly named Nederlander Theatre on West 41st Street in New York City. The show was an instant success and was extended to a full year run, garnering Horne a special Tony award, and two Grammy Awards for the cast recording of her show Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music . The 333-performance Broadway run closed on Horne's 65th birthday, June 30, 1982. Later that same week, she performed
684-496: A one-time owner of a hotel and restaurant, was a gambler. Teddy Horne left the family when Lena was three years old and moved to an upper-middle-class African-American community in the Hill District of Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . Her mother, Edna Louise Scottron, was an actress with a Black theatre troupe and traveled extensively. Edna's maternal grandmother, Amelie Louise Ashton, was from modern Senegal . Horne had
760-888: A paternal great-grandmother who was a Blackfoot Indian. Horne was raised mainly by her paternal grandparents, Cora Calhoun and Edwin Horne. When Horne was five she was sent to live in Georgia . For several years she traveled with her mother. From 1927 to 1929 she lived with her uncle, Frank S. Horne . He was the dean of students at Fort Valley Junior Industrial Institute (now part of Fort Valley State University ) in Fort Valley, Georgia , and later served as an adviser to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt . From Fort Valley, southwest of Macon , Horne briefly moved to Atlanta with her mother; they returned to New York when Horne
836-575: A result, most of Horne's film appearances were stand-alone sequences that had no bearing on the rest of the film, so editing caused no disruption to the storyline. One number from Cabin in the Sky was cut before release because it was considered too suggestive by the censors: Horne singing "Ain't It the Truth" while taking a bubble bath. This scene and song are featured in the film That's Entertainment! III (1994), which also featured commentary from Horne on why
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#1732779936939912-576: A television biographical film. In the weeks following Jackson's " wardrobe malfunction " debacle during the 2004 Super Bowl , however, Variety reported that Horne had demanded Jackson be dropped from the project. "ABC executives resisted Horne's demand", according to the Associated Press report, "but Jackson representatives told the trade newspaper that she left willingly after Horne and her daughter, Gail Lumet Buckley, asked that she not take part." Oprah Winfrey stated to Alicia Keys during
988-556: Is Horne's granddaughter, the daughter of filmmaker Sidney Lumet and Horne's daughter Gail. Her other grandchildren include Gail's other daughter, Amy Lumet, and her son's four children, Thomas, William, Samadhi and Lena. Her great-grandchildren include Jake Cannavale . Horne was Catholic . From 1946 to 1962 she resided in St. Albans, Queens , New York, enclave of prosperous African Americans, where she counted among her neighbors Count Basie , Ella Fitzgerald and other jazz luminaries. In
1064-534: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Ambassador Hotel (Los Angeles) The Ambassador Hotel was a hotel in Los Angeles, California . Designed by architect Myron Hunt , the Ambassador Hotel formally opened to the public on January 1, 1921. Later renovations by architect Paul Williams were made to the hotel in the late 1940s. It
1140-577: The 1939 Academy Awards Ceremony was held in the Cocoanut Grove, with Bob Hope hosting the awards. The 1953 Golden Globe awards were presented at the hotel. During World War II , servicemen from the U.S. military mingled with movie stars at the hotel during numerous galas and fundraising events to help with war efforts. Loyce Whiteman , singer for the Cocoanut Grove Orchestra, recalled, "the most beautiful thing about
1216-514: The Charleston contests held on Friday nights; Lombard was discovered at the Grove. The famous artificial palm trees that adorned the Cocoanut Grove were left from Rudolph Valentino 's 1921 silent romantic drama film The Sheik . The names of the hotel and its nightclub quickly became synonymous with glamour. As a result, “Cocoanut Grove" would become a trendy name for bars and clubs across
1292-876: The Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles, and the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. In 1957, a live album entitled, Lena Horne at the Waldorf-Astoria , became the biggest-selling record by a female artist in the history of the RCA Victor label at that time. In 1958, Horne became the first African-American woman to be nominated for a Tony Award for "Best Actress in a Musical", for her part in the " Calypso " musical Jamaica (which, at Horne's request featured her longtime friend Adelaide Hall ). From
1368-659: The March on Washington in August 1963. Later she returned to her roots as a nightclub performer and continued to work 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 300 performances on Broadway. She then toured the country in the show, earning numerous awards and accolades. Horne continued recording and performing sporadically into
1444-510: The National Register of Historic Places for Kansas City, Missouri Hotel Ambassador, 345 Park Avenue , Manhattan, New York (1921-1958) Other places [ edit ] Ambasador Hotel , Niš, Serbia Ambassador Hotel Hsinchu , Taiwan Ambassador Hotel Kaohsiung , Taiwan See also [ edit ] Hotel Ambasadori , Tbilisi, Georgia Disney Ambassador Hotel , Tokyo Disney Resort, Japan Topics referred to by
1520-597: The Sunset Strip in January 1942. A few weeks later, she was signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer . In November 1944, she was featured in an episode of the popular radio series Suspense , as a fictional nightclub singer, with a large speaking role along with her singing. In 1945 and 1946, she sang with Billy Eckstine 's Orchestra. She made her debut at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Panama Hattie (1942) and performed
1596-473: The title song of Stormy Weather (1943) based loosely on the life of Adelaide Hall , for 20th Century Fox , while on loan from MGM. She appeared in several MGM musicals , including Cabin in the Sky (1943) with an entirely African-American cast. She was otherwise not featured in a leading role because of her ethnicity and the fact that her films were required to be re-edited for showing in cities where theaters would not show films with Black performers. As
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#17327799369391672-640: The 1921 classic, The Sheik . Swinging from their branches were stuffed monkeys blinking at the revelers with their electrified amber eyes. Stars twinkled in the blue ceiling sky, and on the southernmost wall hung a full Hawaiian moon presiding over a painted landscape and splashing waterfall." The Cocoanut Grove was frequented by celebrities such as Louis B. Mayer , Charlie Chaplin , Douglas Fairbanks , Mary Pickford , Howard Hughes , Clara Bow , Rudolph Valentino , Gloria Swanson , Anna May Wong , Norma Talmadge and others. According to Photoplay , Joan Crawford and Carole Lombard were frequent competitors in
1748-704: The 1980s, she moved into the fifth floor of the Volney, a hotel-turned-co-op, at 23 East 74th Street . Lena Horne died of congestive heart failure at age 92 on May 9, 2010. Her funeral took place at St. Ignatius Loyola Church on Park Avenue in New York, where she had been a member. Thousands gathered and attendees included: Leontyne Price , Dionne Warwick , Liza Minnelli , Jessye Norman , Chita Rivera , Cicely Tyson , Diahann Carroll , Leslie Uggams , Lauren Bacall , Robert Osborne , Audra McDonald , and Vanessa Williams . Her remains were cremated. In 2003, ABC announced that Janet Jackson would star as Horne in
1824-559: The 1990s, retreating from the public eye in 2000. Lena Horne was born in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn to Edwin and Edna Horne on June 30, 1917. Both sides of her family were biracial African Americans . She belonged to the well-educated upper stratum of Black New Yorkers at the time. She lived the first five years of her life in a brownstone at 519 Macon Street. Horne's father, Edwin Fletcher "Teddy" Horne Jr. (1893–1970),
1900-462: The Ambassador Hotel opened for business at the stroke of midnight on January 1, 1921, and quickly established a new standard of hotel luxury. Guests were greeted by a grand lobby upon arrival, with an oversized Italian fireplace, crystal chandeliers, oriental carpets and luxurious draperies adorning the lobby, along with a choice of 1,000 guestrooms and bungalows. The hotel occupied 23.7 acres at 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, bordered by Wilshire Boulevard at
1976-564: The Ambassador Palm Beach joined in 1929. The Schine Family owned The Ambassador from its opening in 1921 until 1971. The Ambassador Hotel was frequented by celebrities, some of whom, such as Pola Negri , resided there. From 1930 to 1943, six Academy Awards ceremonies were hosted at the hotel. Perhaps as many as seven U.S. presidents stayed at the Ambassador, from Hoover to Nixon , along with chiefs of state from around
2052-580: The Clouds Roll By , but lost the part to Ava Gardner , a friend in real life. Horne claimed this was due to the Production Code 's ban on interracial relationships in films, although MGM sources state she was never considered for the role. In the documentary That's Entertainment! III, Horne stated that MGM executives required Gardner to practice her singing using Horne's recordings, which offended both actresses. Ultimately, Gardner's voice
2128-481: The Cocoanut Grove, retaining only the hotel entrance and east wall of the Grove. Litigation between the district and the Los Angeles Conservancy , which had sought to preserve the Ambassador Hotel, was settled out of court on December 18, 2007; demolition began on January 22, 2008. The Central Los Angeles New Learning Center #1 K–3, and Central Los Angeles New Learning Center #1 4–8/HS, along with
2204-735: The DNC Margaret B. Price , and Secretary of the DNC Dorothy Vredenburgh Bush , visited John F. Kennedy at The White House , two days prior to his assassination. Horne married Louis Jordan Jones, a political operative, in January 1937 in Pittsburgh . On December 21, 1937, their daughter, Gail (1937–2024), was born. They had a son, Edwin Jones (1940–1970), who died of kidney disease . Horne and Jones separated in 1940 and divorced in 1944. Horne's second marriage
2280-485: The Grove is that they stood in front of you when you sang and just swayed to the music. Joan Crawford would stand at the stand and sing a couple of choruses with the band. It was a house full of stars." On June 5, 1968, the winner of the California Democratic presidential primary election , United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy , gave a victory speech at the Ambassador Hotel to supporters. After
2356-543: The Los Angeles Unified School District. On September 10, 2005, a final public auction was held for the remaining fittings in the hotel's parking lot, with demolition commencing soon afterwards. On January 16, 2006, the last section of the Ambassador Hotel fell, leaving only the annex that housed the hotel's entrance, shopping arcade, coffee shop, and the Cocoanut Grove, which were promised to be preserved in some manner and integrated within
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2432-568: The Robert F. Kennedy Inspiration Park, were built on the site. The six schools were named as the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools . The K–3 facility opened on September 9, 2009, and the 4–8 and high school facility began operation on September 14, 2010. The north side of the new school has a slightly similar appearance to the original facade of the hotel and north lawns will remain much the same, as seen from Wilshire Boulevard. The Ambassador Hotel
2508-528: The U.S. Army refused to allow integrated audiences, she staged her show for a mixed audience of Black U.S. soldiers and white German POWs. Seeing the Black soldiers had been forced to sit in the back seats, she walked off the stage to the first row where the Black troops were seated and performed with the Germans behind her. However, the USO observed at the time of her death that Horne did in fact tour "extensively with
2584-435: The U.S. and U.K. in a show together. In the 1976 program America Salutes Richard Rodgers , she sang a lengthy medley of Rodgers songs with Peggy Lee and Vic Damone . Horne also made several appearances on The Flip Wilson Show . Additionally, Horne played herself on television programs such as The Muppet Show , Sesame Street , and Sanford and Son in the 1970s, as well as a 1985 performance on The Cosby Show and
2660-485: The U.S.), Horne starred in her own U.S. television special in 1969, Monsanto Night Presents Lena Horne . During this decade, the artist Pete Hawley painted her portrait for RCA Victor, capturing the mood of her performance style. In 1970, she co-starred with Harry Belafonte in the hour-long Harry & Lena special for ABC; in 1973, she co-starred with Tony Bennett in Tony and Lena . Horne and Bennett subsequently toured
2736-511: The USO during WWII on the West Coast and in the South". The organization also commemorated her for the appearances she made on Armed Forces Radio Service programs Jubilee , G.I. Journal , and Command Performances . In the film Stormy Weather (1943), Horne's character would perform the film's title song as part of a big, all-star show for World War II soldiers as well. After quitting
2812-644: The USO in 1945, Horne financed tours of military camps herself. Horne was at an NAACP rally with Medgar Evers in Jackson, Mississippi , the weekend before Evers was assassinated. At the March on Washington she spoke and performed on behalf of the NAACP, S.N.C.C. , and the National Council of Negro Women . She also worked with Eleanor Roosevelt in attempts to pass anti- lynching laws. Tom Lehrer mentions her in his song "National Brotherhood Week" in
2888-562: The United States. Beginning in 1928, Gus Arnheim led the Cocoanut Grove Orchestra, in which six to seven songs were sung each night. At one point, there was a two-hour broadcast of the orchestra on radio. By the 1930s, the Cocoanut Grove was frequented by cinema stars like Norma Shearer , Irving Thalberg , Clark Gable , Katharine Hepburn , Spencer Tracy , Cary Grant , John Wayne , Henry Fonda , Loretta Young , Lucille Ball , Ginger Rogers and many others. On February 29, 1940,
2964-543: The Wilshire corridor. Under the direction of Sammy Davis, Jr., the “Now Grove” replaced the classic Cocoanut Grove in 1970 in order to appeal to a modern nightclub crowd. However, patrons lost interest in both the hotel and the neighborhood surrounding it, which caused the Ambassador Hotel to fall into disrepair throughout the years. The Ambassador Hotel closed to guests in 1989, but it remained opened for filming and hosting private events. In 1991, Donald Trump , who had bought
3040-425: The area where the 1968 shooting occurred were eliminated from the site. The section of Wilshire Boulevard in front of the hotel has been signed the "Robert F. Kennedy Parkway". The death of Robert F. Kennedy marked the demise of the hotel coinciding with the decline of the surrounding neighborhood during the late 1960s and 1970s. The area also saw a surge of illegal drugs , poverty , and gang activity infiltrating
3116-451: The area. After subsequent litigations to preserve the hotel as a historic site, a settlement allowed the Ambassador Hotel to be demolished in 2005, completed by early 2006. Located at 3400 Wilshire Boulevard , between Catalina Street and Mariposa Avenue in present-day Koreatown , The Ambassador was set back from Wilshire Boulevard on 24 acres, which included the main hotel structure, a garage and numerous detached bungalows. The Ambassador
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3192-468: The auditorium for the new school. Also promised was preservation of the attached ground floor coffee shop, designed by architect Paul Williams . Studies by the LAUSD determined that the integrity of the Cocoanut Grove was weaker than anticipated and that they could neither use it within the planned school nor move it without risking its destruction. In 2004, the LAUSD board voted in favor of demolishing most of
3268-521: The color barrier in show business, but "learned to love him very much". Horne had affairs with long-time heavyweight champion Joe Louis , musician and actor Artie Shaw , actor Orson Welles , and director Vincente Minnelli . Horne also had a long and close relationship with Billy Strayhorn , whom she said she would have married if he had been heterosexual. He was also an important professional mentor to her. Screenwriter Jenny Lumet , known for her award-winning screenplay Rachel Getting Married ,
3344-533: The entire show again to record it for television broadcast and home video release. Horne began a tour a few days later at Tanglewood (Massachusetts) during the weekend of July 4, 1982. The Lady and Her Music toured 41 cities in the U.S. and Canada until June 17, 1984. It played in London for a month in August and ended its run in Stockholm, Sweden , September 14, 1984. In 1981, she received a Special Tony Award for
3420-716: The fall of 1933, Horne joined the chorus line of the Cotton Club in New York City. In the spring of 1934, she had a featured role in the Cotton Club Parade starring Adelaide Hall , who took Lena under her wing. Horne made her first screen appearance as a dancer in the musical short Cab Calloway's Jitterbug Party (1935). A few years later, Horne joined Noble Sissle 's Orchestra, with which she toured and with whom she made her first records, issued by Decca . After she separated from her first husband, Horne toured with bandleader Charlie Barnet in 1940–41, but disliked
3496-426: The hotel as a potential location to be scouted, documenting the property one last time. The images taken by both the students and the professionals were then exhibited side by side at Los Angeles City Hall. After much litigation, a settlement was attained at the end of August 2005, allowing the demolition to begin in exchange for the establishment of a $ 4.9 million fund, reserved for saving historic school buildings in
3572-465: The hotel in 1992. The hotel also served as the filming location for the music video of the 1997 Marilyn Manson single " Long Hard Road Out of Hell " off the soundtrack for the Todd McFarlane motion picture Spawn . Rock band 311 used the lobby of hotel as the backdrop for a photo shoot of the album cover of their 2003 album Evolver . In November 1997, punk-rock band Green Day filmed
3648-496: The hotel in hopes of tearing it down to build a 125-story building, sold off silver serving platters with the hotel's eagle-topped crest, tiki-style soup bowls from the famed Cocoanut Grove nightclub, and beds and nightstands from the rooms. From 2004 and 2005, the Ambassador Hotel became the topic of a legal struggle between the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), which planned to clear
3724-515: The late 1950s through to the 1960s, Horne was a staple of TV variety shows, appearing multiple times on Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall , The Ed Sullivan Show , The Dean Martin Show , and The Bell Telephone Hour . Other programs she appeared on included The Judy Garland Show , The Hollywood Palace , and The Andy Williams Show . Besides two television specials for the BBC (later syndicated in
3800-598: The line "Lena Horne and Sheriff Clark are dancing cheek to cheek" referring (wryly) to her and to Sheriff Jim Clark , of Selma, Alabama , who was responsible for a violent attack on civil rights marchers in 1965. In 1983, the NAACP awarded her the Spingarn Medal . Horne was a registered Democrat and on November 20, 1963, she, along with Democratic National Committee (D.N.C.) Chairman John Bailey , Carol Lawrence , Richard Adler , Sidney Salomon , Vice-chairwoman of
3876-427: The many entertainers who attended and performed at the Cocoanut Grove. The hotel was the site of the assassination of United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy on June 5, 1968. Due to the decline of the hotel and the surrounding area, the Ambassador Hotel was closed to guests in 1989. In 2001, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) purchased the property with the intent of constructing three new schools within
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#17327799369393952-624: The music video to the song " Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) " in the hotel. Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving on to Hollywood and Broadway . A groundbreaking African-American performer, Horne advocated for civil rights and took part in
4028-426: The new club officially opened its Moroccan style , gold leaf and etched palm tree doors... The Cocoanut Grove was aptly named, guests agreed as they were escorted by the maître de and captains down the wide plush grand staircase... Overhead, soaring about the room were cocoanut trees of papier mache, cocoanuts and palm fronds which had been rescued from the sandy beaches of Oxnard where they had served as atmosphere of
4104-472: The new school. A ceremony commemorating the demolition of the hotel was held across the street on February 2, 2006, at the H.M.S. Bounty restaurant, located on the ground floor of the Gaylord Apartments. The Cocoanut Grove was renovated several times before, which destroyed much of its architectural integrity. It was promised that it would undergo yet another major transformation before becoming
4180-474: The north, 8th Street at the south, Catalina Street at the east, and nearly to Mariposa Avenue at the west. When the hotel's Cocoanut Grove nightclub opened on April 21, 1921, it had officially solidified the hotel's social scene. In the 1980 book, Are the Stars Out Tonight? , former Ambassador PR Director, Margaret Tante Burk, recalls the Grove's opening night: "...on the night of April 21, 1921…
4256-594: The recording studio in 2000 to contribute vocal tracks on Simon Rattle 's Classic Ellington album. Horne was long involved with the Civil Rights Movement . In 1941, she sang at Café Society , New York City's first integrated venue, and worked with Paul Robeson . 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 Black servicemen", according to her Kennedy Center biography. Because
4332-416: The recordings featured Horne with a remarkably secure voice for a woman of her years, and include versions of such signature songs as " Something to Live For ", " Chelsea Bridge ", and " Stormy Weather ". The album, originally titled Soul but renamed Seasons of a Life , was released on January 24, 2006. In 2007, Horne was portrayed by Leslie Uggams as the older Lena and Nikki Crawford as the younger Lena in
4408-429: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Ambassador Hotel . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ambassador_Hotel&oldid=1244400500 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
4484-590: The scene was deleted prior to the film's release. Horne was the first African-American person elected to serve on the Screen Actors Guild board of directors. In Ziegfeld Follies (1946), she performed "Love" by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane . Horne lobbied for the role of Julie LaVerne in MGM's version of Show Boat (1951), having already played the role when a segment of Show Boat was performed in Till
4560-548: The show, which also played to acclaim at the Adelphi Theatre in London in 1984. Despite the show's considerable success (Horne still holds the record for the longest-running solo performance in Broadway history), she did not capitalize on the renewed interest in her career by undertaking many new musical projects. A proposed 1983 joint recording project between Horne and Frank Sinatra (to be produced by Quincy Jones )
4636-626: The site and construct a school on the property, and the Los Angeles Conservancy and the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles, who wanted the hotel and its various elements preserved and integrated into the future school. The Location Managers Guild organized an event together with the Jefferson High School Academy of Film and Television in March 2005, entitled Last Looks: The Ambassador Hotel . They mentored students in script breakdown and location scouting , using
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#17327799369394712-499: The speech in the Embassy Room, Kennedy was shot three times along with five other people in the pantry area of the hotel's main kitchen soon after midnight. Palestinian immigrant Sirhan Sirhan was arrested at the scene and later convicted of the murder. Kennedy died the following day at Good Samaritan Hospital ; the other victims all survived. During the demolition of the Ambassador Hotel in late 2005 and early 2006, portions of
4788-623: The stage musical Stormy Weather staged at the Pasadena Playhouse in California (January to March 2009). In 2011, Horne was also portrayed by actress Ryan Jillian in a one-woman show titled Notes from A Horne staged at the Susan Batson studio in New York City, from November 2011 to February 2012. The 83rd Academy Awards presented a tribute to Horne by actress Halle Berry at the ceremony held February 27, 2011. In 2018,
4864-478: The television special Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night , first shown on Cinemax on January 3, 1988. Rock band Linkin Park held their press photo shoot for their 2003 album Meteora at the hotel. Guns N' Roses filmed the music video for their song, " Patience ", in the hotel in 1989. R&B singer Chuckii Booker filmed the music video for his song " Games " from the album Niice 'n Wiild at
4940-564: The travel and left the band to work at the Cafe Society in New York. She replaced Dinah Shore as the featured vocalist on NBC's popular jazz series The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street . The show's resident maestros, Henry Levine and Paul Laval, recorded with Horne in June 1941 for RCA Victor . Horne left the show after only six months when she was hired by former Cafe Trocadero (Los Angeles) manager Felix Young to perform in
5016-637: The world. For decades, the hotel's famed Cocoanut Grove nightclub hosted well-known entertainers, such as Frank Sinatra , Barbra Streisand , Judy Garland , Shep Fields , Veloz & Yolanda , Lena Horne , Nancy Wilson , Bing Crosby , Nat King Cole , Liza Minnelli , Martin and Lewis , The Supremes , Merv Griffin , Dorothy Dandridge , Vikki Carr , Evelyn Knight , Vivian Vance , Dick Haymes , Sergio Franchi , Perry Como , Dizzy Gillespie , Benny Goodman , Sammy Davis Jr. , Little Richard , Liberace , Natalie Cole , Richard Pryor and Shirley Bassey . Designed by American architect Myron Hunt ,
5092-459: Was overdubbed by actress Annette Warren (Smith) for the theatrical release. Horne became disenchanted with Hollywood and increasingly focused on her nightclub career. She made only two major appearances for MGM during the 1950s: Duchess of Idaho (1950, which was also Eleanor Powell 's final film); and the musical Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956). She said she was "tired of being typecast as
5168-618: Was a filming location and backdrop for movies and television programs , starting with Jean Harlow 's 1933 film Bombshell . An early MGM color short film , Starlit Days at the Lido (1935), was filmed in the Lido Spa at the Ambassador Hotel. In the 1980s and early 2000s, the hotel was filmed in Forrest Gump ; Murder, She Wrote ; Beverly Hills, 90210 ; S.W.A.T. ; The Italian Job ; Blow ; Mafia! ; and much more. It
5244-455: Was also home to the Cocoanut Grove nightclub, a premier Los Angeles night spot for decades; host to six Oscar ceremonies and to every United States President from Herbert Hoover to Richard Nixon . Prominent figures such as Frank Sinatra , Judy Garland , Sammy Davis , Nat King Cole , Lena Horne , Barbra Streisand , Bing Crosby , John Wayne , Lucille Ball , Marilyn Monroe , Yma Sumac , Ray Charles , and The Supremes were some of
5320-397: Was also used in period films such as Almost Famous , Apollo 13 , Catch Me If You Can , Hoffa , and That Thing You Do . The interactive movie/game based on the 1995 film Johnny Mnemonic was filmed here with a $ 3 million budget. The last project filmed in the Ambassador Hotel's kitchen was "Spin the Bottle", a 2004 episode of the TV series Angel . The 2006 film Bobby
5396-412: Was built as part of the Ambassador Hotels System. At the time the hotel opened, on New Year's Day 1921, the chain consisted of The Ambassador in Los Angeles, the Hotel Alexandria in Los Angeles, The Ambassador in Santa Barbara, The Ambassador in Atlantic City and The Ambassador in New York. The Santa Barbara property burned down soon after on April 13, 1921, the Alexandria left the chain in 1925, while
5472-476: Was directed by her then son-in-law Sidney Lumet , and co-hosting the MGM retrospective That's Entertainment! III (1994), in which she related her unkind treatment by the studio. After leaving Hollywood, Horne established herself as one of the premier nightclub performers of the post-war era. She headlined at clubs and hotels throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe, including the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas,
5548-453: Was the last project to film on the hotel property, gaining access in late 2005 to film crucial establishing shots even while portions of the hotel were already in the process of being demolished. The Ambassador Hotel itself has also been depicted in films. The Cocoanut Grove was recreated in the films The Thirteenth Floor and The Aviator . The Cocoanut Grove hosted musician Roy Orbison and several performers on September 30, 1987, for
5624-640: Was to Lennie Hayton , who was music director and one of the premier musical conductors and arrangers at MGM, in December 1947 in Paris. They separated in the early 1960s but never divorced. He died in 1971. In her as-told-to autobiography Lena by Richard Schickel , Horne recounts the enormous pressures she and her husband faced as an interracial couple. She later admitted in an interview in Ebony (May 1980) that she had married Hayton to advance her career and cross
5700-534: Was twelve years old, after which Horne attended St Peter Claver School in Brooklyn. Horne then attended Girls High School , an all-girls public high school in Brooklyn, which later became Boys and Girls High School ; she dropped out at age 16. At the age of 18 she moved to her father's home in Pittsburgh, staying in the city's Hill District for almost five years and learning music from native Pittsburgers Billy Strayhorn and Billy Eckstine , among others. In
5776-695: Was ultimately abandoned, and her sole studio recording of the decade was 1988's The Men in My Life , featuring duets with Sammy Davis Jr. and Joe Williams . In 1989, she received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award . In 1995, a "live" album capturing Horne's Supper Club performance was released (subsequently winning a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album). In 1998, Horne released another studio album, entitled Being Myself . Thereafter, Horne retired from performing and largely retreated from public view, though she did return to
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