The HistoryMakers Video Oral History with Jeni LeGon

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The HistoryMakers Video Oral History with Jeni LeGon

7/28/2004

https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/A2004.113

Film actress and tap dancer Jeni LeGon (1916 - 2012 ) started her career in Count Basie Orchestra's chorus line. In her first screen role, LeGon danced with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, the only black woman to do so on screen, in "Hooray for Love." In the 1950's, LeGon founded a school of dance, and by the 1960's, she toured with Jazz Caribe. Her twenty-four film credits include, "Broadway Melody," "This Was Paris," and "Start Cheering, Fools for Scandal." LeGon was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on 7/28/2004, in Chicago, Illinois. This collection is comprised of the video footage of the interview.

Total Sessions: 1; Total Tapes: 8; Total Run Time: 03h 36m 15s

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SNAC Resource ID: 11635026

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Le Gon, Jeni, 1916-2002

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tz450h (person)

Dancer, actress, and dance instructor Jeni LeGon was born Jennie Ligon on August 14, 1916, in Chicago, Illinois. Later, in London, she learned that she was descended from General Henry Beauchamp Lygon, the 4th Earl of Beauchamp, through her father, Hector Ligon, a "Geechie" from the Georgia Sea Islands. LeGon grew up with her older sister Mary Belle in Chicago's overcrowded Black Belt. Practicing and performing with other children, LeGon received her first formal training from Mary Bruce's Schoo...