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Josephine Baker was born Freda Josephine McDonald on June 3, 1906, in St. Louis, Missouri. Her mother, Carrie, was adopted by Richard and Elvira McDonald, both of whom were former slaves of African and Native American descent. Mystery surrounds the identity of Josephine's father.
Living as a street child in the slums of St. Louis and married and divorced by age 13, the teenager made a living from street-corner dancing. Aged 15, she married for the second time, to Willie Baker, whose last name she'd use professionally for the rest of her life.
By the time she divorced her second husband in 1925, Josephine Baker was performing as a chorus girl in vaudeville in New York City. Her act was comic in manner, a skit that landed Baker an opportunity to tour in Paris, which would become the place she called home until her final days.
Baker quickly became the most successful American entertainer working in France, and was fêted by some of the biggest names of the day, including Ernest Hemingway who described her as a "sensational woman," and Picasso, who created paintings depicting her alluring beauty.
While touring extensively throughout Europe in the late 1920s and early '30s, Baker met Giuseppe Pepito Abatino, who became her manager and eventual lover. But Baker also had several relationships with women, among them Blues singer Clara Smith.
In 1937, Baker married French industrialist Jean Lion, tying the knot in Crèvecœur-le-Grand, in northern France. The newlyweds are seen here dancing together at a charity benefit.
As an entertainer, Baker had an excuse for moving around Europe, visiting neutral nations such as Portugal, as well as some in South America. Meanwhile, between concert appearances, she'd transmit to London information about airfields, harbors, and German troop concentrations in the west of France. Embassy parties and society get-togethers were fruitful sources of information.
In September 1939 as war began, Baker was recruited in Paris by the Deuxième Bureau—France's external military intelligence agency—effectively as an Allied spy. She relocated to the Château des Milandes, her home in the Dordogne, where she worked with the Free French Forces for the government-in-exile led by Charles de Gaulle. In 1940, Baker and her third husband, Jean Lion, divorced.
Her support for the French Resistance also took her to the French colonies in North Africa. From a base in Morocco, she made tours of Spain to gather information before returning to entertain British, French, and American soldiers stationed in the region.
After the war, Baker received the Croix de guerre with palm and the Rosette de la Résistance. She was also made a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by General Charles de Gaulle himself.
In 1947, Baker wed her fourth husband, French composer, conductor, and violinist Jo Bouillon. Two years later, she was back at the Folies Bergère, a wartime heroine to many of her fans.
While waiting to be served dinner, Baker criticized Manhattan's Stork Club for its unwritten policy of discouraging black patrons. Arguments ensued. In the club that night was gossip columnist Walter Winchell, who subsequently published a series of harsh rebukes aimed at the entertainer. Baker's reputation suffered greatly (though many sympathized with her) and resulted in the termination of her work visa, forcing Baker to cancel all her engagements and return to France. Pictured: a group of picketers outside the Stork Club following Josephine Baker's accusation of racism. Baker's friend, Bessie Buchanan, who was also a club guest at the time, is among those on the picket line.
Baker continued to perform and tour through Europe during the 1950s and into the '60s. In 1966, Fidel Castro invited her to perform at the Teatro Musical de La Habana in Havana, Cuba, at the seventh-anniversary celebrations of his revolution. Her spectacular show in April broke attendance records.
One of the more positive aspects to come out of the Stork Club affair was Baker meeting with actress Grace Kelly, who was there on the same night and who rushed over to Baker, took her by the arm and stormed out with her entire party. The two women (pictured) became close friends after the incident.
In 1968 and in dire financial straits, Baker was evicted from Château des Milandes (she's pictured camped outside the front door with nowhere to go). Fortunately her good friend Grace Kelly, by now Princess Grace of Monaco, offered her an apartment in Roquebrune, near the Principality.
Although based in France, Baker was a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s. She refused to perform for segregated audiences and actively worked with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). On May 20, 1951, she was presented with NAACP life membership by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Ralph Bunche (pictured), who declared the date "Josephine Baker day."
In 1963, Baker spoke at the March on Washington at the side of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr: she was the only official female speaker, and in her Free French uniform introduced the "Negro Women for Civil Rights"—Rosa Parks and Daisy Bates.
Rehoused and rejuvenated, Josephine Baker hit the comeback trail running. She was back on stage at the Olympia in Paris in late 1968, New York's Carnegie Hall in 1973, and at the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium the following year.
Four days later, Josephine Baker was found in a coma in her apartment, the victim of a cerebral hemorrhage. She died, aged 68, in hospital on April 12, 1975. Her funeral cortege is seen passing Bobino, her name still up in lights.
The funeral service took place in Paris at L'église de la Madeleine. A family service at Saint-Charles Church in Monte Carlo was followed by her interment at Monaco's Cimetière de Monaco. Pictured at the service is Princess Grace of Monaco and the singer's adopted children.
Josephine Baker's return to performing in the USA in 1951 was initially a success. She performed to great acclaim in nightclubs across the nation. But an incident in New York interrupted and overturned her plans.
By the mid-1960s, Baker's career was in decline. She also faced financial troubles. During this period she lamented, "Nobody wants me, they've forgotten me." But she wasn't on her own. During her work with the Civil Rights Movement, she'd begun adopting children.
Château des Milandes, Josephine Baker's home for many years, is open to the public and displays her stage outfits, including her banana skirt and other stage and personal effects.
In all, Baker adopted 12 children of different ethnicities and religions. She lived with them at Château des Milandes, and the youngsters proved essential company after her 1961 divorce from fourth husband, Jo Bouillon.
American-born French entertainer Josephine Baker led an incredibly colorful and at times controversial lifestyle. Singer, erotic dancer, and movie actress (she was the first black woman to star in a major motion picture), Baker was also a French Resistance agent, civil rights activist, and openly bisexual. She went through four husbands, adopted 12 children, and was awarded France's highest order of merit. She was, quite simply, unique.
Intrigued? Click through the following gallery and catch up with the life and career of one of the most extraordinary entertainers in show business history.
Baker sailed to Paris in 1925 and opened in 'La Revue Nègre' on October 2, aged 19, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and became an instant success for her erotic dancing. In 1926, Josephine Baker appeared at the Folies Bergère for the first time. It's here that she introduced her famous "Danse Sauvage" wearing a costume consisting of a skirt made of a string of artificial bananas, and little else.
Her star turn in a 1936 revival of 'Ziegfeld Follies' on Broadway generated less than impressive box-office numbers. Reviews were savage and insulting. She was soon replaced by white burlesque entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee. Heartbroken, Baker returned to France in 1937 to become a legal citizen of that country, renouncing her American citizenship.
On November 30, 2021, Josephine Baker was inducted into France's Pantheon in Paris. She became the sixth woman to receive the honor, as well as the first black woman.
Sources: (Britannica)
Baker achieved further fame by becoming the first black woman to star in a major motion picture, the 1927 silent film 'Siren of the Tropics.' A French production directed by Mario Nalpas and Henri Étiévant and set in the West Indies, the movie was a sensation and its positive reception set the stage for Baker's starring roles in the films 'Zouzou' (1934) and 'Princesse Tam-Tam' (1935), but which only found success in Europe.
In 1975, she starred in a glittering retrospective revue at the Bobino in Paris. Billed as 'Joséphine à Bobino,' the show celebrated her 50 years in show business.
Under the careful management of Abatino, Baker's stage and public persona, as well as her singing voice, were transformed. She scored one of her most successful songs, 'J'ai deux amours' (1931), and appeared in opera. But what was supposed to be a triumphal return to America in 1936 only served to remind her of the prejudice and hostility still being directed to people of color in the land of her birth.
A major show business event, 'Joséphine à Bobino' opened on April 8 to rave reviews. Among the celebrity guests were Prince Rainier, Princess Grace, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Sophia Loren, Mick Jagger, Shirley Bassey, Diana Ross, and Liza Minnelli.
The entertaining life of Josephine Baker
The legendary star was born on June 3, 1906
CELEBRITY Retrospective
American-born French entertainer Josephine Baker led an incredibly colorful and at times controversial lifestyle. Singer, erotic dancer, and movie actress (she was the first black woman to star in a major motion picture), Baker was also a French Resistance agent, civil rights activist, and openly bisexual. She went through four husbands, adopted 12 children, and was awarded France's highest order of merit. She was, quite simply, unique.
Intrigued? Click through the following gallery and catch up with the life and career of one of the most extraordinary entertainers in show business history.