Life & Style | New award to honor arts and activism named after Lena Horne

The venerated Times Square concert venue The Town Hall has created a new award to honor arts and activism, a prize to be named after Lena Horne.

The Lena Horne Prize for Artists Creating Social Impact will recognize those who “promote awareness and create social change.” The inaugural winner will be honored in February.

The prize’s advisory board includes Horne’s daughter, Gail Lumet Buckley, as well as Harry Belafonte, Billy Porter, Judy Collins, Deesha Dyer, Roxane Gay, Bob Santelli, Bruce Cohen, Jose Antonio Vargas.

Lumet Buckley says her Tony- and Grammy-winning mother didn’t chase fame.  “It was about advocating for equality and justice and I am so proud that her legacy will continue through the Lena Horne Prize.”

Prize was created by Michael Matuza, Jeb Gutelius and The Town Hall.

Kris Kristofferson gives surprise performance at Fargo bar

Kris Kristofferson surprised customers when he performed with an acoustic guitar at a North Dakota bar after a band taped a request to the singer-songwriter’s tour bus.

Kristofferson stopped at Dempsey’s Public House in downtown Fargo on Saturday night and asked to sing with the band 32 Below.

KFGO-AM reports the band had taped a note to Kristofferson’s tour bus door. The note said the band was “huge fans” and “would be absolutely stoked” if Kristofferson came to the bar and allowed them to buy him “a beer or five.”

Dempsey’s General Manager Jeff Fonder says Kristofferson performed “Me and Bobby McGee.”

32 Below later said on Facebook: “We played a legendary song with the legend who wrote it!”

Kristofferson was in town to perform at the Fargo Theatre.

De Niro named Screen Actors Guild life achievement honoree

Robert De Niro will receive the Screen Actors Guild’s life achievement award.

The guild announced that De Niro will be the 56th recipient of its highest honor at its SAG Awards on Jan. 19, 2020.

SAG cited De Niro’s extraordinary accomplishments in film and television, including two Academy Awards, a Presidential Medal of Freedom and numerous other honors. It also noted his co-founding and championing of New York City’s Tribeca Film Festival.

De Niro’s latest film is “The Irishman,” which is playing in theaters in limited release before arriving on Netflix at the end of the month.

The actor says in a statement that he’s honored to receive the award from a union that he’s been a part of for more than 50 years.