95-Year-Old Broadway Legend Fights To Stay In His Manhattan Home

HELL'S KITCHEN, NY — Nat Horne is a true New York City gem.

Horne, who turns 96 at the end of December, is a lifelong performer who has 11 Broadway shows under his belt. In addition to his career on Broadway, he was also a dancer in the original Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Following his success there, he opened his own performing arts school, making him a part of the original lineup of off-Broadway arts venues known as Theatre Row on 42nd Street.

"Dancing — I just love dancing, the passion. It's wonderful," Horne told Patch.

He remains unstoppable, but now, with a recent hip replacement surgery, impaired vision and a dementia diagnosis, he is fighting the mounting costs to stay in his home on West 47th Street and get the 24/7 medical care and home help he needs to keep going.

His friends have launched a fundraiser on GoFundMe, raising $38,280 in just one month, which they say is a testament to the lives Horne has impacted.

Horne has spent decades supporting — and even housing — young artists, and now they want to support him right back, one of his longtime neighbors told Patch.

"He looked after a lot of people in this neighborhood in the '50s, '60s, '70s," Erin Lee Kelly, a children's songwriter, said. "So that's one of the reasons we're trying to give back now, because he helped a lot of struggling artists that are now on Broadway with rent, with a place to stay."

Born in 1929 in Richmond, Virginia, Horne told his father, a minister, at just 6 years old that he wanted to be a dancer. His father discouraged dancing as a career and wanted his son to be a minister, but it didn't stop Horne from following his calling.

"You didn't want to be a minister, but there you were, preaching to people in your own way. Ministering to your students," Harrison Lee, a dance student of Horne's, said.

After he graduated from college in Virginia, he joined the U.S. Military's Special Services, where he was its first African American dancer. Following his Army service, he took a leap of faith and moved to New York City, slipping out while his family was at church, he said.

The bold move paid off. Horne has worked with several stars, in addition to Ailey, including Lena Horne, Judy Garland, Sammy Davis Jr., Cab Calloway, Harry Belafonte, and more. Though his memories are fading, he has all of the photos on his walls to prove it.

When Horne's father came to New York to see him perform Revelations, the spiritual Alvin Ailey piece, he changed his mind about dance, Horne said.

Lee, a former Alvin Ailey dancer, said Horne and his life partner, Al Reyes, took him under their wing when he moved to New York City and rented a very affordable room to him.

"We became good friends, and we used to run the streets together. He and Al — they introduced me to New York and the gay social scene," Lee said.

Horne has lived in a West 47th Street apartment for the past 57 years, where the walls are covered in posters from the shows he's been in, as well as photos of his showbiz days, his students, and the love of his life, Reyes.

The walls are also covered in fans and other props from shows and nightclubs like the iconic Cotton Club, where he was the in-house choreographer. They draw the eye away from the walker in the corner.

While sitting in the apartment, Horne told Patch some of his favorite memories, like the time he got a glitzy ride to work, or when he met the love of his life at an NBC party.

"One time, Judy Garland was in her limousine, and she saw me at 57th Street, and she stopped the car and said, 'Nat, where are you going?' I said, 'I'm trying to get to the theater on time!' and she said, 'Get in the car!'" Horne recalled.

She drove him right to the stage door, causing a big commotion when he arrived, he said.

Staying in his home is vital to his mental health, Lee told Patch. Though he doesn't have any family in New York City, his friends, neighbors and former students check on him frequently, Lee said.

"Most people with memory issues do so much better in environments that they are familiar with," Lee said. "The minute you take them out of that, it's a downhill slope, right? And we want him to stay sharp."

It's also beneficial for the neighborhood for Horne to stay at home, Kelly said.

"Seriously, like, who else is going to sing Jesus Christ Superstar with me on Friday night? It's absolutely invaluable that he stays here, and we know it's giving him the nurturing and the care that he needs, and he's able to give us care and nurturing that we need because of it."

To see Horne's fundraiser, click here.

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