Jeni was an American dancer, dance instructor, and actress. She was one of the first African-American women to establish a solo career in tap. Jennie Bell Ligon was born Aug. 16, 1916, on Chicago's South Side, where she taught herself to dance at 6 at street-corner gatherings of neighborhood kids who entertained with kazoos, washtub drums and harmonicas.
She subsequently developed an act dancing in pants instead of a skirt because her adolescent figure was less than voluptuous. She toured in the early 1930s with the Whitman Sisters vaudeville act before the manager of singer and actress Ethel Waters spotted Ms. LeGon and managed to secure her a Hollywood contract.
Jeni LeGon trained at Mary Bruce's School of Dancing and performed as a chorus girl, later in vaudeville, from age 16.
Her parents were Hector Ligon, a chef who also worked as a railway porter, and Harriet Bell Ligon, a housewife. She graduated from Sexton Elementary School in 1928, and at the age of thirteen got her first job in musical theater. She eventually auditioned for the chorus line of band leader Count Basie and was selected.
Jeni and her half-sister, Willa Mae Lane, formed a song-and-dance team. They were given the opportunity to go to Detroit and work with nightclub owner Leonard Reed. While there, they received an offer to travel to Hollywood and perform with composer Shelton Brooks. Upon arrival, they discovered there was, in fact, no job. Jeni heard about auditions being held by Ethel Waters' former manager, Earl Dancer. The audition was for a film that Fox Studios was producing. She won the part and subsequently appeared in dance numbers in several musicals.
While in Hollywood, LeGon had the opportunity to work with performers such as Ethel Waters and Al Jolson. She danced with Fred Astaire and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, becoming the first African-American woman to do so on screen. During this time, she was given a role in Hooray for Love, which led MGM to offer her a long-term contract, making LeGon the first African-American woman to receive such an opportunity. In 1969, LeGon settled in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she taught tap and point. In 1999, the National Film Board of Canada released Grant Greshuk's prize-winning documentary Jeni Le Gon: Living in a Great Big Way.
In Hollywood she appeared in her debut film, Hooray for Love (1935), as dancing partner of the great Bill Robinson. Though primarily a dancer, Jeni sang well and was an appealing, attractive light actress when (rarely) given the chance.
In Hollywood films 1935-49, her earlier appearances were in specialty dance numbers; later, as with most black stars of the time, in servant roles.
In the forties, Jeni played leads or second leads in at least 5 independently produced all-black cast films. She appeared on the New York stage periodically (playing leads in all-black productions) and later managed the Dance and Drama Playhouse in Los Angeles. After guest appearances on "Amos 'N' Andy" (1951) she faded from public view.
In the 1960's, Jeni LeGon moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where she opened a dancing school.
Inducted into the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2002 (inaugural class).
BIOGRAPHY: http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/jeni-legon-38
She subsequently developed an act dancing in pants instead of a skirt because her adolescent figure was less than voluptuous. She toured in the early 1930s with the Whitman Sisters vaudeville act before the manager of singer and actress Ethel Waters spotted Ms. LeGon and managed to secure her a Hollywood contract.
Jeni LeGon trained at Mary Bruce's School of Dancing and performed as a chorus girl, later in vaudeville, from age 16.
Her parents were Hector Ligon, a chef who also worked as a railway porter, and Harriet Bell Ligon, a housewife. She graduated from Sexton Elementary School in 1928, and at the age of thirteen got her first job in musical theater. She eventually auditioned for the chorus line of band leader Count Basie and was selected.
Jeni and her half-sister, Willa Mae Lane, formed a song-and-dance team. They were given the opportunity to go to Detroit and work with nightclub owner Leonard Reed. While there, they received an offer to travel to Hollywood and perform with composer Shelton Brooks. Upon arrival, they discovered there was, in fact, no job. Jeni heard about auditions being held by Ethel Waters' former manager, Earl Dancer. The audition was for a film that Fox Studios was producing. She won the part and subsequently appeared in dance numbers in several musicals.
While in Hollywood, LeGon had the opportunity to work with performers such as Ethel Waters and Al Jolson. She danced with Fred Astaire and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, becoming the first African-American woman to do so on screen. During this time, she was given a role in Hooray for Love, which led MGM to offer her a long-term contract, making LeGon the first African-American woman to receive such an opportunity. In 1969, LeGon settled in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she taught tap and point. In 1999, the National Film Board of Canada released Grant Greshuk's prize-winning documentary Jeni Le Gon: Living in a Great Big Way.
In Hollywood she appeared in her debut film, Hooray for Love (1935), as dancing partner of the great Bill Robinson. Though primarily a dancer, Jeni sang well and was an appealing, attractive light actress when (rarely) given the chance.
In Hollywood films 1935-49, her earlier appearances were in specialty dance numbers; later, as with most black stars of the time, in servant roles.
In the forties, Jeni played leads or second leads in at least 5 independently produced all-black cast films. She appeared on the New York stage periodically (playing leads in all-black productions) and later managed the Dance and Drama Playhouse in Los Angeles. After guest appearances on "Amos 'N' Andy" (1951) she faded from public view.
In the 1960's, Jeni LeGon moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where she opened a dancing school.
Inducted into the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2002 (inaugural class).
BIOGRAPHY: http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/jeni-legon-38
Jeni was an American dancer, dance instructor, and actress. She was one of the first African-American women to establish a solo career in tap. Jennie Bell Ligon was born Aug. 16, 1916, on Chicago's South Side, where she taught herself to dance at 6 at street-corner gatherings of neighborhood kids who entertained with kazoos, washtub drums and harmonicas.
She subsequently developed an act dancing in pants instead of a skirt because her adolescent figure was less than voluptuous. She toured in the early 1930s with the Whitman Sisters vaudeville act before the manager of singer and actress Ethel Waters spotted Ms. LeGon and managed to secure her a Hollywood contract.
Jeni LeGon trained at Mary Bruce's School of Dancing and performed as a chorus girl, later in vaudeville, from age 16.
Her parents were Hector Ligon, a chef who also worked as a railway porter, and Harriet Bell Ligon, a housewife. She graduated from Sexton Elementary School in 1928, and at the age of thirteen got her first job in musical theater. She eventually auditioned for the chorus line of band leader Count Basie and was selected.
Jeni and her half-sister, Willa Mae Lane, formed a song-and-dance team. They were given the opportunity to go to Detroit and work with nightclub owner Leonard Reed. While there, they received an offer to travel to Hollywood and perform with composer Shelton Brooks. Upon arrival, they discovered there was, in fact, no job. Jeni heard about auditions being held by Ethel Waters' former manager, Earl Dancer. The audition was for a film that Fox Studios was producing. She won the part and subsequently appeared in dance numbers in several musicals.
While in Hollywood, LeGon had the opportunity to work with performers such as Ethel Waters and Al Jolson. She danced with Fred Astaire and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, becoming the first African-American woman to do so on screen. During this time, she was given a role in Hooray for Love, which led MGM to offer her a long-term contract, making LeGon the first African-American woman to receive such an opportunity. In 1969, LeGon settled in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she taught tap and point. In 1999, the National Film Board of Canada released Grant Greshuk's prize-winning documentary Jeni Le Gon: Living in a Great Big Way.
In Hollywood she appeared in her debut film, Hooray for Love (1935), as dancing partner of the great Bill Robinson. Though primarily a dancer, Jeni sang well and was an appealing, attractive light actress when (rarely) given the chance.
In Hollywood films 1935-49, her earlier appearances were in specialty dance numbers; later, as with most black stars of the time, in servant roles.
In the forties, Jeni played leads or second leads in at least 5 independently produced all-black cast films. She appeared on the New York stage periodically (playing leads in all-black productions) and later managed the Dance and Drama Playhouse in Los Angeles. After guest appearances on "Amos 'N' Andy" (1951) she faded from public view.
In the 1960's, Jeni LeGon moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where she opened a dancing school.
Inducted into the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2002 (inaugural class).
BIOGRAPHY: http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/jeni-legon-38
She subsequently developed an act dancing in pants instead of a skirt because her adolescent figure was less than voluptuous. She toured in the early 1930s with the Whitman Sisters vaudeville act before the manager of singer and actress Ethel Waters spotted Ms. LeGon and managed to secure her a Hollywood contract.
Jeni LeGon trained at Mary Bruce's School of Dancing and performed as a chorus girl, later in vaudeville, from age 16.
Her parents were Hector Ligon, a chef who also worked as a railway porter, and Harriet Bell Ligon, a housewife. She graduated from Sexton Elementary School in 1928, and at the age of thirteen got her first job in musical theater. She eventually auditioned for the chorus line of band leader Count Basie and was selected.
Jeni and her half-sister, Willa Mae Lane, formed a song-and-dance team. They were given the opportunity to go to Detroit and work with nightclub owner Leonard Reed. While there, they received an offer to travel to Hollywood and perform with composer Shelton Brooks. Upon arrival, they discovered there was, in fact, no job. Jeni heard about auditions being held by Ethel Waters' former manager, Earl Dancer. The audition was for a film that Fox Studios was producing. She won the part and subsequently appeared in dance numbers in several musicals.
While in Hollywood, LeGon had the opportunity to work with performers such as Ethel Waters and Al Jolson. She danced with Fred Astaire and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, becoming the first African-American woman to do so on screen. During this time, she was given a role in Hooray for Love, which led MGM to offer her a long-term contract, making LeGon the first African-American woman to receive such an opportunity. In 1969, LeGon settled in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she taught tap and point. In 1999, the National Film Board of Canada released Grant Greshuk's prize-winning documentary Jeni Le Gon: Living in a Great Big Way.
In Hollywood she appeared in her debut film, Hooray for Love (1935), as dancing partner of the great Bill Robinson. Though primarily a dancer, Jeni sang well and was an appealing, attractive light actress when (rarely) given the chance.
In Hollywood films 1935-49, her earlier appearances were in specialty dance numbers; later, as with most black stars of the time, in servant roles.
In the forties, Jeni played leads or second leads in at least 5 independently produced all-black cast films. She appeared on the New York stage periodically (playing leads in all-black productions) and later managed the Dance and Drama Playhouse in Los Angeles. After guest appearances on "Amos 'N' Andy" (1951) she faded from public view.
In the 1960's, Jeni LeGon moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where she opened a dancing school.
Inducted into the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2002 (inaugural class).
BIOGRAPHY: http://www.thehistorymakers.com/biography/jeni-legon-38
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