Josephine Baker

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Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine Baker, naturalised French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – May 1975) was an American-born French entertainer, French Resistance agent, and civil rights activist.

Most of her career was concentrated in Europe, with a significant number in France.

Baker was the first African-American woman to appear in a major motion picture, the 1927 silent film Siren of the Tropics, directed by Mario Nalpas and Henri Étiévant.

Un vent de folie, a 1927 French revue, caused a sensation in Paris.

Her costume, which consisted of only a girdle of artificial bananas, became a signature of the Jazz Age and the 1920s, and a sign of the Jazz Age and the 1920s.

Artists and scholars of the period, who dubbed her the "Black Venus," the "Bronze Venus," and the "Chess Goddess."

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she renounced her American citizenship and became a French national after her marriage to French industrialist Jean Lion in 1937.

She raised her children in France.

Baker once sang, "I have two loves, my country, and Paris"; she performed "Jai deux amours, mon pays et Paris." She was credited with assisting the French Resistance during World War II.

She was lauded by the French military for her contribution to the Civil Rights Movement after the war, and was named a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by General Charles de Gaulle.

Following Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, she was given unofficial leadership in the United States by Coretta Scott King in 1968.

Baker turned down the bid out of fear for her children's safety.

Early life

Freda Josephine McDonald was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 3, 1906. Carrie McDonald's mother, Carrie, was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, by Richard and Elvira McDonald, both of whom were former slaves of African and Native American descent. Eddie Carson, the drummer for Vaudeville, is regarded as her natural father by Baker's estate and some other sources, although other sources disagree on this. Jean-Claude Baker's foster son wrote Josephine: The Hungry Heart, a book that was published in 1993, revealing that Baker's father was white and that Baker knew that Carson was not her father. Bennetta Jules-Rosette, author of Josephine Baker's Art and Life, (2007), talked about the difficulty in discovering the truth about Baker's early life, as well as Baker's "numerous and often conflicting reworkings of the tale, which often lack coherence."

Josephine McDonald lived on 212 Targee Street (known by some St. Louis residents as Johnson Street) in the Chestnut Valley neighborhood, a racially mixed low-income neighborhood near Union Station and consisting mainly of rooming houses, brothels, and apartments without indoor plumbing. She was poorly dressed, starving as a child, and she had developed street knowledge when playing in Union Station's railroad yards.

Arthur Martin, "a kind but unemployed man," with whom she had a son and two more children, was married to her mother. Josephine, a grandmother who was eight years old, began working in St. Louis as a live-in domestic for white families. When the young girl used too much soap in the laundry, one woman attacked her, burning Josephine's hands.

A teen Josephine McDonald witnessed racial brutality in East St. Louis, Illinois, in 1917. She recalled what she had seen in a speech years later: she recalled what she had seen: a decade ago.

She had dropped out of school by age 12, by age 12. She served as a waitress at the Old Chauffeur's Club in 3133 Pine Street, beginning at 13. She lived in cardboard shelters, scavenging for food in garbage cans, and doing street-corner dancing. Josephine met Willie Wells and married him at the Old Chauffeur's Club and later married him at the age of 13. She began working with the Jones Family Band after her divorce from Wells.

She had trouble in her teen years, failing to care for her second husband, William Howard Baker, who died in 1921 at the age of 15. She dropped him off when her vaindeville troupe was booked into a New York City hotel and divorced in 1925; it was during this time that she saw significant career growth, and she continued to use his last name more effectively for the remainder of her life. Though Baker travelled, she would return with gifts and money for her mother and her younger half-sister, but the work opportunities pushed her to France.

Personal life

Willie Wells, an American Pullman porter, was the first marriage of Baker when she was just 13 years old. According to reports, the marriage was unhappy, and the couple wed soon after divorced. In 1921, another short-lived marriage was followed by Baker's last name, but she retained Baker's last name because her career was already flourishing under that name. Josephine was bisexual and had several affairs with women, although she had four marriages to men. Jean-Claude Baker wrote that Josephine was bisexual and had many affairs with women.

She began an extramarital affair with Belgian novelist Georges Simenon in 1925. Baker married Jean Lion, a Frenchman who went from South America to France, in 1929, but they parted in 1940. In 1947, she married French composer and conductor Jo Bouillon, and their relationship lasted 14 years before finally ending in divorce. She was involved with Robert Brady for a time, but they never married. Baker was involved in sexual liaisons, if not relationships, with blues singer Clara Smith, Ada "Bricktop" Smith, French novelist Colette, and possibly Frida Kahlo, according to rumors.

Baker began to adopt children during her time in civil rights activism, building a family that she often referred to as "The Rainbow Tribe." Baker wanted to prove that "children of various ethnicities and faiths could also be brothers." She took the children with her around the world, and when they were at Château des Milandes, she arranged tours so visitors could stroll the grounds and see how natural and happy the children were in "The Rainbow Tribe." Her estate featured hotels, a farm, rides, and the audience performed and danced. She charged visitors who came and participated in the activities, which included watching the children play.

She created dramatic backstories for them, selecting them with a clear intention in mind: at one point, she wanted and planned to adopt a Jewish baby, but she settled for a French one. She also raised them in diverse faiths in order to advance her model for the world, including taking two children from Algeria and raising one child as a Muslim and raising the other child as a Catholic. Jean-Claude Baker, one of the Tribes, said, "She wanted a doll."

Baker's two children, Claude-born Marianne and Moroccan-born Stellina, and ten sons, as well as Korean-born Jeannot (or Janot), German-born Jari, French-born Jari, Jean-Claude, No. 1), Algerian-born Tiki (later Brian), and Venezuelan-born Mara, a Venezuelan-born baker. Baker lived in Dordogne, France, with her fourth husband, Jo Bouillon, for a long time. Baker bore one child, according to Bouillon, who was stillborn in 1941, which resulted in an emergency hysterectomy.

After finding out he was gay, Baker coerced Jarry to leave the château and live with his adopted father, Jo Bouillon, in Argentina at the age of 15. Mose died of cancer in 1999, and Nol was diagnosed with schizophrenia and is in a psychiatric hospital as of 2009. In 2015, Jean-Claude Baker died of suicide.

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Career

Baker's regular badgering of a show manager in her hometown led to her being chosen for the St. Louis Chorus vaudeville show. She travelled to New York City during the Harlem Renaissance and appeared at the Plantation Club, Florence Mills' old stomping ground, at the age of 13. She found a role in the chorus line of a touring version of Florence Mills, Paul Robeson, and Adelaide Hall after several auditions.

Josephine was a dancer positioned at the end of a chorus line in Shuffle Along. Josephine, fearing she would be overshadowed by other dancers, brought a hint of humor into her routine, thereby making her stand out among the other dancers. Josephine was first introduced to Shuffle Along in one of the United States' touring companies (not on Broadway) because she was still underage at the time. When she came of age, she was taken to Broadway, where she stayed for several months until the show ended in 1923. The Chocolate Dandies, Josephine's next revue, which opened in 1924, were the first revues to be introduced. Josephine was cast in the chorus line once more. The show only ran for 96 shows and then came to an end in November 1925.

Baker sailed to Paris in 1925 and debuted in la Revue nègre at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées on October 2nd. Baker was 19 years old at the time. Baker outlined in a 1974 interview with The Guardian that she gained her first big break in the burgeoning city. "I didn't get my first glimpse of Broadway," says the writer. In Shuffle Along and Chocolate Dandies, I was only in the chorus. I made my name in France in the twenties in the first decade. I couldn't abide America, and I was one of the first colored Americans to move to Paris. Yes, Bricktop was there as well. We had a blast with Me and her, and it was an amazing time. Of course, not everyone who was around knew Bricky. They'll also be familiar with Miss Baker."

She became a natural performer in Paris and went straight to the stage, gaining practically nude onstage. She ended her tour of Europe and returned to France in 1926 to appear in the Folies Bergère, setting the bar for her future performances.

Baker was seen on "Danse Sauvage" wearing a skirt made of a string of artificial bananas. Her success came along (1925) with the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs, which gave rise to the word "Art Deco," as well as a revival of interest in non-Western styles of art, such as African. Baker was only one of this style. She was often joined on stage by her pet cheetah "Chiquita" who was adorned with a diamond collar in later shows in Paris. The cheetah leapt into the orchestra pit, where it terrorized the musicians, bringing another element of excitement to the performance.

Baker, the most popular American entertainer living in France, was for a while. Ernest Hemingway referred to her as "the most beautiful woman anyone ever saw." In Paris bars, the author spent hours chatting with her. Picasso created paintings depicting her enthralling beauty. Jean Cocteau became a friend and helped her launch her to international fame. Among other items, Baker recommended a "Bakerfix" hair gel, bananas, shoes, and cosmetics.

While on tour in Central Europe via the Orient Express in 1929, Baker became the first African-American star to visit Yugoslavia. She appeared at Luxor Balkanska, the city's most opulent venue at the time, in Belgrade. Pirot kilim was included in her routine as a nod to Serbia's poor children. She was welcomed by adoring supporters at the train station in Zagreb. However, some of her performances were postponed due to opposition from the local clergy and morality police.

Baker was accompanied by Giuseppe Peso Abatino while on her way to Yugoslavia. Baker had the pleasure of her French career with Abatino, a Sicilian former stonemason who died as a number and who refused to allow her to be handled. Abatino was not only responsible for Baker's direction, but also her lover. Baker and Willie Baker were still married to her second husband, Willie Baker, when they could not marry.

"J'ai deux amours," she wrote during this period (1931), she became her most popular song. "I have two loves, my country, and Paris," the song says. "Brown's assimilation into French popular culture had been complete by her participation in the song," Tim Bergfelder, Sue Harris, and Sarah Street wrote in a 2007 book. Baker appeared in four films that found success only in Europe: Siren of the Tropics (1927), Zouzou (1934) and Princesse Tam Tam (1935). In 1940, she appeared in Fausse Alerte. The silent film Siren of the Tropics "rehears the 'primitive-to-Parisienne' story that would become Baker's cinema career, and it would be exploited in particular for her comedic stage presence based on loosening athleticism and artful clumsiness," Bergfelder, Harris and Street said. Baker's sound films Zouzou (1934) and Princesse Tam Tam (1935) were both actor vehicles for the Baker.

Baker's stage and public persona, as well as her singing voice, were changed under Abatino's leadership. She was among the pioneers of Jacques Offenbach's opera La créole, which opened in December of that year for a six-month stint at the Théâtre Marigny in Paris. She went through months of preparation for her appearances with a vocal coach. "She went from a tiny sauvage with a good voice to a grand diva magnifique," Shirley Bassey, who has cited Baker as her primary influence. I swear I've never seen such a brilliant singer and performer in my entire life, and I doubt I'll ever see again."

Despite her success in France, Baker never gained the same fame in America. Her appearance in a 1936 revival of Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway was not commercially profitable, and Gypsy Rose Lee replaced her later in the run. Her time magazine described her as a "Negro wench" whose dancing and singing could be topped elsewhere in Paris, although some commentators said her voice was "too thin" and "dwarf-like" to fill the Winter Garden Theatre, though other commentators disagreed. She returned to Europe, heartbroken. Baker became a French citizen and gave up her American citizenship.

Baker returned to Paris in 1937, married Jean Lion, a French industrialist, and became a French citizen. In a marriage presided over by the mayor, Jammy Schmidt, they were married in the French town of Crèvec-le-Grand.

Baker appeared on four occasions between 1933 and 1937, and he was a guest at the Tour de France starting on four occasions.

Baker was recruited by the Deuxième Bureau, France's military intelligence service, as a "honorable correspondent" in September 1939, when France declared war on Germany in reaction to Poland's invasion. Baker worked with Jacques Abtey, the head of French counterintelligence in Paris. She socialized with the Germans at embassies, ministries, and night clubs, charming them while secretly gathering evidence. Her café-society fame enabled her to rub shoulders with those in the know, from high-ranking Japanese officials to Italian and Vichy bureaucrats, and a reporter who merely told Abtey what she heard about Abtey what she heard. She attended parties and obtained details at the Italian Embassy without raising suspicion.

Baker left Paris and moved to the Château des Milandes, her home in the Dordogne département in the south of France, when the Germans invaded France. She housed people who wanted to help the Free French campaign led by Charles de Gaulle and provided them with visas. Baker had an excuse for traveling around Europe, visiting countries like Portugal and South America. She had information for transmission to England, including airfields, harbors, and German troop concentrations in the West of France. On Baker's sheet music, notes were drawn in black ink. "She specialized in gatherings at embassies and ministries, delighting people as she had always done, but at the same time trying to recall interesting items to pass," Jazz Age Cleopatra said.

She and her entourage travelled to the French colonies in North Africa later in 1941. Baker's health was the reason (since she was recovering from another case of pneumonia), but the true reason was to continue supporting the Resistance. She worked at a base in Morocco and did tours of Spain. She pinned notes with the facts she gathered inside her underwear (counting on her to avoid a strip search). She met the Pasha of Marrakech, whose help her through a miscarriage (the first of many). She had an infection that required a hysterectomy after the miscarriage. Peritonitis and then sepsis followed, which caused the disease to spread. She began touring in North Africa after her recovery (which she continued to slip in and out of). Baker and her company had no organized entertainment system for their troops, so the Free French had no such facility, so they managed for the bulk of their own. There were no civilians on the site and no one was charged with admission.

Baker was named a Chevalier de d'honneur by the French Committee of National Liberation, the Croix de Guerre by the French military, and subsequently named a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur by General Charles de Gaulle.

Baker's last marriage, to French composer and conductor Jo Bouillon, came around the time Baker's 11th child was adopted.

A reinvented Baker returned to the Folies Bergère in 1949 in triumph. Baker, the performer, assumed a new gravitas as a result of her wartime heroism, but she was hesitant to take on serious music or a subject matter. The performance was a rousing success, with Baker resurgent as one of Paris' most popular entertainers. In 1951, Baker was welcomed back to the United States for a nightclub performance in Miami. Baker, who won a public contest against desegregating the club's audience, continued her sell-out run at the club with a national tour. Rave reviews and enthusiastic audiences followed her everywhere, culminating in a parade in Harlem in honor of her new rank: NAACP's "Woman of the Year."

Baker was hired to crown the Queen of the Cavalcade of Jazz for the eighth Cavalcade of Jazz, which was produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr. on June 1st. Roy Brown and His Mighty Men, Anna Mae Winburn and Her Sweethearts, Toni Harper, Louis Jordan, Jimmy Witherspoon, and Jerry Wallace were among those on the day's set list.

In October 1951, a Stork Club incident interrupted and changed her plans. Baker sluggishly advised Black patrons to be scolded by the club's unwritten program, and then chastised columnist Walter Winchell, an old ally, for not speaking out in defense. Winchell retaliated with a string of scathing public rebukes, including accusations of Communist sympathies (a serious charge at the time). Baker's work visa was terminated as a result of the ensuing coverage, causing her to cancel all her engagements and return to France. It was almost a decade before US prosecutors accepted her back to the country.

Fidel Castro invited Baker to appear at the Teatro Musical de La Habana in Havana, Cuba, on the seventh anniversary of his revolution. In April, she held her own attendance record. Baker travelled to Yugoslavia in 1968 and made appearances in Belgrade and Skopje. Baker had financial difficulties in her later years. "Nobody needs me, they've forgotten me," she said, but family members encouraged her to keep performing. She gave her a standing ovation at Carnegie Hall in 1973.

She appeared in a Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium and then at the Monegasque Red Cross Gala, commemorating her 50 years in French show industry. Advancement years and exhaustion began to wear; she had trouble recalling lyrics at times, and her performances between songs tended to be rambling; Audiences of all ages and genders were still captivated.

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