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Lena Horne's Granddaughter Developing Limited Series Based On Her Life at Showtime

Lena Horne will be the focus of a new limited series at Showtime.

Jenny Lumet, who is the iconic jazz singer, actress and activist’s granddaughter, is developing the series with her producing partner, Alex Kurtzman, Deadline reports.

The series is titled, Blackbird: Lena Horne and America, in homage of Lena‘s favorite poem, “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.”

According to a release, the show will “span 60 years of her life, from dancing at the Cotton Club when she was 16, through World War II and stardom of the MGM years, McCarthyism, the civil rights movement and her triumphant return to Broadway. The series will encompass her deepest relationships: Paul Robeson, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Joe Louis, Billie Holiday, Hattie McDaniel, Ava Gardner and Orson Welles, to name a few. A direct descendant of slaves and their enslavers, Horne had to navigate stardom during Jim Crow. She laid herself down and made herself a bridge for everyone who came after her, and finally achieved her own liberation to become one of America’s greatest legends.”

Jenny shared about the show, “Bringing my grandmother’s story to the screen required a multi-generational effort. Grandma passed her stories to my mother, who now passes them to me, so I may pass them to the children of our family.”

She adds, “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.”

Also announced today, this classic television show is getting a modern makeover on network television.