-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Legendary singer , dancer , actress and civil rights activist Lena Horne , 92 , died at New York-Presbyterian Hospital on Sunday night , a hospital spokeswoman said . No other details of her death were made public . Horne was the first African-Americans to sign a long-term movie contract with a major Hollywood studio when she joined MGM in 1942 . Horne 's expressive and silky voice made her a singing star , known best for her hit `` Stormy Weather , '' after Hollywood failed to give her roles that might have made her a big screen starlet . Horne complained she was used as `` window dressing '' in white films , mostly limited to singing performances that could be easily edited out for play in southern theaters . The light-complexioned Horne refused to go along with studio plans to promote her as a Latin American . She later said she did not want to be `` an imitation of a white woman . '' Horne , whose parents divorced when she was 3 , lived a nomadic childhood traveling with her actress mother . She spent much of her time growing up in Brooklyn , New York , where she was born in 1917 . Horne was 16 when she began her show business career as a dancer at Harlem 's Cotton Club . She later became a singer there , playing to packed houses of white patrons , with band leaders Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington . She began taking singing lessons in 1935 , and eventually landed a part in the all-black Broadway production `` Dance With Your Gods . '' Her work as a feature singer with touring bands and in nightclubs increased . She became the first African-American singer to tour with a white group in 1940 , according to her official biography . Her first film role came in 1938 in `` The Duke is Tops , '' but her next movie did n't come along for another four years . She was given a screen test by MGM and signed to a seven-year movie contract after a studio scout saw her performing in a New York club . Her stepfather , Miguel Rodriguez , negotiated with MGM head Louis B. Mayer for her to never be cast as a maid or `` Tarzan extra . '' `` I think the black boy that cleaned the shoes and me were the only two black people except the maids who were there working for the stars , '' Horne said in a CNN interview . `` And it was very lonely and I was n't very happy . '' Still , Horne said she was grateful that her World War II era films -- including black musicals `` Cabin in the Sky '' and `` Stormy Weather '' -- were seen by black and white soldiers . `` But after I realized I would only go so far , I went on the stage , '' Horne said . With only subservient roles available for a black actress in Hollywood in the 1940s , Horne turned to recording top-selling songs . Horne said performing for live audiences was what she loved most . `` I 'm always happy when I 'm surrounded by people to react and feel and touch , '' she said . While traveling with a USO tour during the World War II , she walked out on a show because German war prisoners were seated in front seats , ahead of African-American troops . After the USO withdrew her from the tour , she used her own money to travel to sing for the troops . She has a son and daughter from a first marriage that ended in 1944 . Horne married again in 1947 to Lennie Hayton , who was then MGM 's music director . She kept the marriage secret for several years , since Hayton was white . When it was made public , the couple received hate mail and threats of violence , according to her biography . Radio , television , film and nightclub jobs were harder for Horne to find in the McCarthy era of the 1950s when she was blacklisted . That ended in 1956 when RCA gave Horne a new recording contract and she earned a guest spot in the movie `` Meet Me in Las Vegas . '' Horne returned to Broadway in 1957 for her first starring role there . `` Jamaica '' ran for 555 shows . She became active in the civil rights movement after she was involved in a public altercation following a racial slur in a Beverly Hills , California , restaurant in 1960 . She was an active supporter of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 's civil rights movement . Horne was there when King delivered his `` I Have a Dream '' speech on the Lincoln Memorial steps in 1963 . Variety television shows welcomed Horne as a musical performer , especially in the 1960s . She appeared on numerous episodes with Perry Como , Dean Martin and Flip Wilson . She returned to film for a final role in 1978 as Glinda the Good Witch , opposite Michael Jackson and Diana Ross , in `` The Wiz , '' an adaptation of `` The Wizard of Oz . '' She got a special Tony Award for her 1981 one-woman Broadway hit `` Lena Horne : The Lady and Her Music . '' She also won two Grammys for the recording of the show . Horne was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989 , and she also won a Grammy in 1995 for best jazz vocal performance for her album `` An Evening With Lena Horne . '' In her later years , Horne said she found peace . `` The best time in my life I guess is now because I 'm quiet and I 'm logical and I accept without flying off the handle -- sometimes I do , '' Horne said with a laugh .