{{Short description|American actress (1923–2010)}}
{{Infobox person | name = Leni Lynn | image = | imagesize = | caption = | birth_name = Angelica Ciofani | birth_date = {{Birth date|1923|5|3}} | birth_place = Waterbury, Connecticut | death_date = {{Death date and age|2010|1|1|1923|5|3}} | death_place = Croton-on-Hudson, New York | other_names = Leni Hoffer | occupation = Actress, singer | years_active = | spouse = | website = | parents = Francesco Ciofani<br />Carmelita Ciofani }}
'''Leni Lynn''' (born '''Angelina Ciofani'''; May 3, 1923 – January 1, 2010)<ref name="opa">{{cite book |last1=Lentz |first1=Harris M. III |title=Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2010 |date=2011 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9780786441754 |page=254 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LH_GCwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Leni+Lynn%22&pg=PA254 |access-date=20 October 2018 |language=en}}</ref> was an American actress<ref>{{cite web |title=Leni Lynn |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba47d6c5b |website=Film Forever |publisher=British Film Institute |access-date=12 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712193204/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba47d6c5b |archive-date=12 July 2019}}</ref> and a contralto singer.<ref name="dn">{{cite news |title=10,000 Dimes Help Her |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24679350/leni_lynn/ |work=Daily News |date=September 6, 1938 |location=New York, New York City |page=4|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = October 19, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> She was also known as '''Leni Hoffer'''.<ref name=opa/>
The daughter of a Passaic, New Jersey, dye-goods factory worker, Francesco Ciofani, and his wife, Carmelita, who worked in a dress factory,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wagner |first1=Laura |title=Leni Lynn: Passaic's Singing Cinderella |journal=Classic Images |date=July 2019 |issue=529 |pages=6, 8–15}}</ref><ref> "Leni of the Movies Re-visits the Old Home Town," PM, Nov. 15, 1940 </ref> Lynn learned to sing by listening to recordings.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Swisher |first1=Clare |title=It's a Great Life |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24679155/leni_lynn/ |work=Altoona Tribune |date=August 1, 1939 |location=Pennsylvania, Altoona |page=4|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = October 19, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> When she was 13, friends and neighbors in Pasaic contributed 10,000 dimes to send her to Hollywood to try for success in films. On September 6, 1938, she received a contract from MGM.<ref name="dn" />
Lynn was married four times.<ref name="opa" /> In 1942, she married British insurance executive Edward Thomas Hopkin; they divorced on March 23, 1949.<ref>{{cite news |title=Husband Divorces U.S. Opera Singer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24680403/leni_lynn/ |work=Oakland Tribune |agency=Associated Press |date=March 23, 1949 |location=California, Oakland |page=23|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = October 19, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref> Her last husband, composer and conductor Bernard Hoffer, survived her.<ref name="opa" />
On January 1, 2010, Lynn died of complications of a stroke in Croton-on-Hudson, New York. She was 86.<ref name="opa" />
==Selected filmography== * ''Babes in Arms'' (1939) * ''Hullabaloo'' (1940) * ''Angels with Broken Wings'' (1941) * ''Heaven Is Round the Corner'' (1944) * ''Give Me the Stars'' (1945) * ''Gaiety George'' (1946) * ''Spring Song'' (1946)
==References== <references/>
==External links== {{Portal|Biography|New Jersey|Music|Film}} *{{IMDb name|0528748}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynn, Leni}} Category:1923 births Category:2010 deaths Category:American film actresses Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players Category:Actresses from Waterbury, Connecticut Category:People from Croton-on-Hudson, New York Category:Actresses from New York (state) Category:20th-century American actresses Category:21st-century American women
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