#ThrowbackThursday: Abbey Lincoln

You will notice a theme with my beauty picks for Throwback Thursday. Each, while she is lovely, is more than a pretty face. Multifaceted and multitalented, these women had something to say that change perspectives for the better, something to do that improved the world, and something to achieve for the advancement of her people. That's the kind of woman this gorgeous lady, Abbey Lincoln was. 

Abbey Lincoln, born as Anna Marie Wooldridge on August 6, 1930, the 10th of 12 children, and was raised in rural Michigan. 

Abbey was a well known jazz singer, performer, and actress, who in her later years wrote and performed her own highly acclaimed compositions. 

In the early 1950s, Abbey, in her search of a singing career, headed west where she spent two years singing in nightclubs in Honolulu. There she met one of her own personal heroes, Billie Holiday, and music great, Louis Armstrong. In 1956 Lincoln appeared in the film "The Girl Can't Help It" for which she wore the dress that had been worn by Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

During the 1960s, she, like many high profile African Americans, became a civil rights advocate. During that same time, she put music aside to pursue acting. Abbey is most well known for her 1968 role in For Love of Ivy, co-starred with sidney Poitier and Beau Bridges, receiving a Golden Globe nomination in 1969 for her appearance in the film. More recently, Abbey played in the 1990 Spike Lee's film Mo' Better Blues.

Moving back to New York in the 1980s, Abbey resumed performing and writing a very accomplished body of music. She performed even up to very late in her life. She said about her music "I don’t know why anybody would give that up, I wouldn’t. Makes my life worthwhile."

Abbey passed due to deteriorating health following an open heart surgery on August 14, 2010, in Manhattan at the age of 80. But her spirit lives long in the lyrics she wrote and and music she influenced so much for the better.