Dr. Jeni LeGon

Born in Chicago, LeGon broke into the business at age 14 as one of the chorines performing at Chicago’s Uptown Theater with the Count Basie band. The budding young tap artist later toured the South with her sister in a troupe called the Whitman Sisters. That association led to an invitation to work in Los Angeles, where LeGon, then 16, was signed by MGM for future film roles. “I was the first black woman to get a long-term contract.” LeGon recalled. But MGM bought out her contract. “I didn’t get the opportunity, I guess, because I just wasn’t the girl next door.” Undaunted, LeGon continued to pursue her career, achieving relative success in the theater, in nightclubs and in film on both coasts. Her numerous roles would earn her the title “Hollywood’s Chocolate Princess.” Her film credits include “Birth of the Blues” (with Bing Crosby), “Stormy Weather” (with Lena Horne), and “Hooray for Love.” Which starred an early mentor, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson and also featured the music of Fats Waller. “Both Bojangles and Fats were just wonderful to me, a brand new little thing like me that just came out of nowhere,” recalled the ebullient LeGon. “They were so encouraging. Fats became one of my closes friends. Of all the people I’ve worked with, he was my favorite. He also wrote two songs especially for me. I played every kind of maid, that’s all I ever did. I was an East Indian, West Indian, African, Arabic, Caribbean, and black American. Eventually, there weren’t that many roles. They were too few and far between. I worked three to four days a week. I had to go out an perform.” At the height of her fame, LeGon became one of the few females to succeed as a tap artist. She says her sex was never a hindrance to her success and counts several male tap acts as her early inspirations, including such fabled performers as the Step Brothers and John and the Five Giants of Rhythm, the tap group that accompanied Count Basie’s big band. “I was that rarity,” LeGon said. “I used to go and watch all of these guys when I went to the stage shows in Chicago. I was one of the only girls allowed in the Hoofer’s Club (in New York), where I used to go and challenge all of those guys.” When LeGon wasn’t singing and dancing on the screen, for nearly two decades she owned and operated her own dance school, Jeni LeGon Dance Studio, in Los Angeles. Her former students include playwright Mickey Grant, author of the hit musical, “Don’t bother Me I Can’t Cope.” And Victor Upshaw, a successful choreographer now living in Paris. LeGon relocated to Vancouver in 1969 and has carved out her own niche in the local dance scene there. She teaches dance and voice privately as well as at the Kits Neighborhood House. Also an accomplished percussionist, she performs every Sunday night with a five-piece band at the La Botte nightclub.