Legon, Jeni (1916–)
Legon, Jeni (1916–)
African-American tap dancer and actress. Name variations: Jeni Le Gon. Born Aug 14, 1916, in Chicago, IL; trained at Mary Bruce's School of Dance; began living with drummer Frank Clavin, 1975.
At 14, danced in chorus with the Whitman Sisters; performed opposite Bill "Bojangles" Robinson in film Hooray for Love (1935), the 1st appearance of an African-American woman in a major Hollywood production; appeared in numerous films thereafter, including Take My Life (1941), I Walked with a Zombie (1943), and I Shot Jesse James (1949), but was rarely again in a leading role; performed with Fats Waller in London (1936) and other European cities; received a 2001 Flo-Bert Award honoring outstanding tap dance figures; moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where she opened a dancing school (1960). Other films include Double Deal (1939), Sundown (1941), Bahama Passage (1941), My Son, the Hero (1943), Hi-De-Ho (1947), and Easter Parade (1948); also appears in Bones (2001).
See also Grant Greschuk's Jeni LeGon: Living in a Great Big Way (National Film Board of Canada, 2000).