Showtime is developing a limited series about singer, actress and activist Lena Horne by her granddaughter, Jenny Lumet and Alex Kurtzman telling the story.
The series titled “Blackbird: Lena Horne and America” takes its title from Horne’s favorite poem, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird by Wallace Stevens. Blackbird will trace 60 years of Horne’s life from dancing at the Cotton Club at age 16, through World War II and stardom of the MGM years, McCarthyism, the civil rights movement and her triumphant return to Broadway.
It will explore her relationships with Paul Robeson, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Joe Louis, Billie Holiday, Hattie McDaniel, Ava Gardner and Orson Welles and look at how she navigated stardom during Jim Crow as a direct descendant of slaves and their enslavers.
Jenny Lumet, Horne’s granddaughter, will co-write the first few episodes of the series with Alex Kurtzman, with both also executive producing along with Heather Kadin of Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout, which produces with CBS Television Studios. Secret Hideout also has The Comey Rule miniseries and a series based on Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, with Chabon and Ayelet Waldman adapting, at Showtime.
“Bringing my grandmother’s story to the screen required a multi-generational effort,” said Lumet, whose father was director Sidney Lumet. “Grandma passed her stories to my mother, who now passes them to me, so I may pass them to the children of our family. Lena’s story is so intimate and at the same time, it’s the story of America – America at its most honest, most musical, most tragic and most joyous. It’s crucial now. Especially now. She was the love of my life.”
I am from Houston, Texas where I graduated from Sam Houston State University with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in Political Science. I worked as Assistant
I am from Houston, Texas where I graduated from Sam Houston State University with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in Political Science. I worked as Assistant Production Intern for 104.1 KRBE radio station where I produced two shows in the mornings and afternoons. I began writing my senior year of college for Cliche Magazine as an Entertainment Writer. After a year with Cliche Magazine, I began freelance writing for various online companies and became a staff writer for ScreenRant. After leaving ScreenRant, I started independent work again as a Contributor Entertainment Writer. On top of writing, I work as a Social Media Manager for Blessed Beatz Radio and Active Athlete Sneaker Company.