Josephine Baker (June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975) was an American expatriate entertainer and actress. She became a
French citizen in 1937. Most noted as a singer, Baker also was a celebrated dancer in her early career. She was given the nicknames the "Bronze Venus" or the "Black Pearl", as well as the "Créole Goddess" in
anglophone nations. In France, she has always been known as "La Baker".
Baker was the first
African American female to star in a major motion picture, to
integrate an American concert hall, and to become a world-famous entertainer. She is also noted for her contributions to the
Civil Rights Movement in the
United States (she was offered the leadership of the movement by
Coretta Scott King in 1968 following
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination, but turned it down), for assisting the
French Resistance during
World War II and being the first American-born woman to receive the
French military honor, the
Croix de Guerre.
Biography
Early years
Baker was born
Freda Josephine McDonald in
St. Louis, Missouri,
the daughter of Carrie McDonald. Her estate credits vaudeville drummer Eddi Carson as her natural father. A biography written by her foster son
Jean-Claude Baker stated:
Her mother, Carrie, was adopted in
Little Rock, Arkansas in 1886 by Richard and Elvira McDonald, both of whom were former
slaves of both African and
Native American descent.
When Baker was eight she was sent to work for a white woman who
abused her, burning Baker's hands when she put too much soap in the laundry. She later went to work for another woman.
left|thumb|upright|Josephine Baker in a topless photo shoot.
Baker dropped out of school at the age of 12 and lived as a
street child in the black slums of St. Louis, sleeping in cardboard shelters and scavenging for food in
garbage cans. Her
street-corner dancing attracted attention and success for her, and she was recruited for the St. Louis Chorus
vaudeville show at 15. She then headed to
New York City during the
Harlem Renaissance, performing at the Plantation Club and in the chorus of the popular
Broadway revues
Shuffle Along (1921) and
The Chocolate Dandies (1924). She performed as the last dancer in a
chorus line, a position in which the dancer traditionally performed in a comic manner, as if they were unable to remember the dance, until the
encore, at which point they would not only perform it correctly, but with additional complexity. She was then billed as "the highest-paid chorus girl in
vaudeville."
On October 2, 1925, she opened in
Paris at the
Théatre des Champs-Élysées, where she became an instant success for her
erotic dancing and for appearing practically nude on stage. After a successful tour of Europe, she reneged on her contract and returned to
France to star at the
Folies Bergères, setting the standard for her future acts. She performed the
Danse sauvage, wearing a costume consisting of a skirt made of a string of artificial bananas.
Baker's success coincided (1925) with the Exposition des Arts Décoratifs, which gave us the term "
Art Deco", and also with a renewal of interest in ethnic forms of art, including African. Baker represented one aspect of this fashion. She was very creative and loved sequins and feathers.
In later shows in Paris she was often accompanied on stage by her pet
cheetah, Chiquita, who was adorned with a
diamond collar. The cheetah frequently escaped into the
orchestra pit, where it terrorized the musicians, adding another element of excitement to the show.
Rise to fame
After a short while she was the most successful American entertainer working in France.
Ernest Hemingway called her "… the most sensational woman anyone ever saw." In addition to being a musical star, Baker also starred in three films which found success only in Europe: the
silent film Siren of the Tropics (1927),
Zouzou (1934) and
Princesse Tam Tam (1935). Although Baker is often credited as a movie star, her starring roles ended with
Princesse Tam Tam in 1935.
thumb|upright|Baker costumed for the Danse banane from the Folies Bergère production Un Vent de Folie in Paris in 1927, her most famous banana costume.At this time she also scored her most successful song, "J'ai deux amours" (1931) and became a
muse for contemporary authors, painters, designers, and sculptors including
Langston Hughes,
Ernest Hemingway,
F. Scott Fitzgerald,
Pablo Picasso, and
Christian Dior.
Under the management of Giuseppe Pepito Abatino — a
Sicilian former stonemason who passed himself off as a
count — Baker's stage and public persona, as well as her singing voice, went through a significant transformation. In 1934 she took the lead in a revival of
Jacques Offenbach's 1875 opera
La créole at the Théâtre Marigny in the
Champs-Élysées of Paris, which premiered in December of that year for a six month run. In preparation for her performances she went through months of training with a vocal coach.
In the words of
Shirley Bassey, who has cited Baker as her primary influence, "… she went from a 'petite danseuse sauvage' with a decent voice to 'la grande diva magnifique' … I swear in all my life I have never seen, and probably never shall see again, such a spectacular singer and performer."
Baker was so well known and popular with the French that even the
Nazis, who
occupied France during
World War II, were hesitant to cause her harm. In turn, this allowed Baker to show her loyalty to her adopted country by participating in the
Underground, smuggling intelligence to the resistance in
Portugal coded within her
sheet music. After the war, for her underground activity, Baker received the
Croix de Guerre, the
Rosette de la Résistance, and was made a
Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by General
Charles de Gaulle.
Despite her popularity in France, she never obtained the same reputation in America. Upon a visit to the United States in 1936, she starred in a failed version of the
Ziegfeld Follies (being replaced by
Gypsy Rose Lee later in the run), her personal life similarly suffered, and she went through six marriages, some legal, some not.
Her 1935–36 US performances received poor reviews. Baker returned to Paris in 1937, married Frenchman Jean Lion, and became a French citizen.
During WW2, after 1942, she went to North Africa where
Ahmed Belbachir Haskouri, the right-hand man of the caliph of Spanish Morocco, placed her under his protection. Belbachir used Josephine to communicate with the French and U.S. forces to reinforce the allied position in North Africa . At Baker's request, Belbachir was successfully issuing visas and passports from Spanish Morocco and via the Spanish High Commisssioner to the Jews who were suffering from persecution in Nazi occupied Europe .
In January 1966, she was invited by
Fidel Castro to perform at the Teatro Musical de La Habana in
Havana,
Cuba. Her spectacular show in April of that year led to record breaking attendance. In 1973, Baker opened at
Carnegie Hall to a
standing ovation.
thumb|upright|Josephine Baker dancing the [[Charleston (dance)|Charleston, 1926]]
Civil rights activism
Although based in France, Baker supported the
American Civil Rights Movement during the 1950s. She protested in her own way against
racism, adopting 12 multi-ethnic orphans, whom she called the "Rainbow Tribe." They were: Janot (
Korean son), Akio (
Japanese son), Luis (
Colombian son), Jari (
Finnish son), Jean-Claude (
Canadian son), Moïse (
French Jewish son), Brahim (
Algerian son), Marianne (French daughter), Koffi (
Ivorian son), Mara (
Venezuelan son), Noël (French son), and Stellina (
Moroccan daughter).
For some time she lived with all of her children and an enormous staff in a castle,
Château de Milandes, in
Dordogne, France. Baker bore only one child, stillborn in 1941, an incident that precipitated an emergency
hysterectomy.
She refused to perform for segregated audiences in the United States.
Her insistence on mixed audiences helped to integrate shows in
Las Vegas, Nevada.
In 1951, Baker made charges of racism against Sherman Billingsley's
Stork Club in New York, where she had been refused service. Actress
Grace Kelly, who was at the club at the time, rushed over to Baker, took her by the arm and stormed out with her entire party, vowing to never return (and she never did). The two women became close friends after the incident. Testament to this was made evident when Baker was near bankruptcy and was offered a villa and financial assistance by Kelly (who by then was
princess consort of
Rainier III of Monaco).
Baker also worked with the
NAACP.
In 1963, she spoke at the
March on Washington at the side of
Martin Luther King, Jr. Wearing her
Free French uniform emblazoned with her medal of the Légion d'honneur, she was the only woman to speak at the rally. After King's assassination his widow,
Coretta Scott King, approached Baker in Holland to ask if she would take her husband's place as leader of the
American Civil Rights Movement. After many days of thinking it over, Baker declined, saying her children were "… too young to lose their mother."
Personal life
Marriages
- Willie Wells (foundry worker, 1919)
- Jean Lion (French sugar magnate, 1937–38)
- Jo Bouillon (orchestra leader, 1947–57)
She also went through two non-legal wedding ceremonies to Giuseppe Pepito Abatino in 1926 and American artist
Robert Brady in 1973.
Bisexuality
There also is evidence to support that she was
bisexual. In the book about her life, titled
Josephine: The Hungry Heart written by her son and
author Jean-Claude Baker, he states that she was involved in numerous
lesbian affairs, both while she was single and married, and he mentions six of her female lovers by name. Clara Smith, Evelyn Sheppard, Bessie Allison,
Ada "Bricktop" Smith, and Mildred Smallwood were all African-American women she met while touring on the black performing circuit early in her career. She was also involved with writer
Colette, and possibly with Caroline Dudley Reagan, who ran the Paris extravaganza
La Revue Nègre.
Not mentioned, but confirmed since, was her affair with
Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.
Baker wrote that affairs with women were not uncommon with Josephine throughout her lifetime.
Despite the fact that he was her son, Jean-Claude Baker interviewed over 2,000 people while writing his book. He was quoted in one interview as saying,
"She was what today you would call bisexual, and I will tell you why. Forget that I am her son, I am also a historian. You have to put her back into the context of the time in which she lived. In those days, Chorus Girls were abused by the white or black producers and by the leading men if he liked girls. But they could not sleep together because there were not enough hotels to accommodate black people. So they would all stay together, and the girls would develop lady lover friendships, do you understand my English? But wait wait...If one of the girls by preference was gay, she'd be called a bull dyke by the whole cast. So you see, descrimination is everywhere."
Death
On April 8, 1975, Baker starred in a retrospective revue at the
Bobino in Paris —
Joséphine à Bobino 1975, celebrating her 50 years in show business. The revue, financed by
Prince Rainier,
Princess Grace, and
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, opened to rave reviews. Demand for seating was such that fold-out chairs had to be added to accommodate spectators. The opening-night audience included
Sophia Loren,
Mick Jagger,
Shirley Bassey,
Diana Ross and
Liza Minnelli.
Four days later, Baker was found lying peacefully in her bed surrounded by newspapers with glowing reviews of her performance. She was in a
coma after suffering a
cerebral hemorrhage. She was taken to
Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, where she died aged 68 on April 12, 1975.
Legacy
Her affection for France was so great that when World War II broke out, she volunteered to spy for her adopted country. Baker's agent's older brother approached her about working for the French government as an "honorable correspondent" -- if she happened to hear any gossip at parties that might be of use to her adopted country, she could report it. Baker immediately agreed, since she was against the Nazi stand on race not only because she was black but because her husband was Jewish. Her café society fame enabled her to rub shoulders with those in the know, from high-ranking Japanese officials to Italian bureaucrats, and report back what she heard. She was able to do things such as attend parties at the Italian embassy without any suspicion falling on her and gather information that turned out to be useful. She also helped in the war effort in other ways, such as by sending Christmas presents to French soldiers.
When the Germans invaded France, Baker left Paris and went to the Château des Milandes, her home in the south of France, where she had Belgian refugees living with her and others who were eager to help the Free French effort led by Charles de Gaulle from England. As an entertainer, Baker had an excuse for moving around Europe, visiting neutral Portugal, coming back to France, and such. Baker assisted the French Resistance by smuggling secrets written in invisible ink on her sheet music.
She helped mount a production in Marseilles on the south coast of France to give herself and her like-minded friends a reason for being there. She helped quite a lot of people who were in danger from the Nazis get visas and passports to leave France. Later in 1941, she and her entourage went to the French colonies in North Africa; the stated reason was Baker's health (since she really was recovering from another case of pneumonia) but the real reason was to continue helping the Resistance. From a base in Morocco, she made tours of Spain and pinned notes with the information she gathered inside her underwear (counting on her celebrity to avoid a strip search) and made friends with the Pasha of Marrakesh, whose support helped her through a miscarriage (the last of several) and emergency hysterectomy she had to go through in 1942. Despite the state of medicine in that time and place, she recovered, and started touring to entertain Allied soldiers in North Africa. She even persuaded Egypt's King Farouk to make a public appearance at one of her concerts, a subtle indication of which side his officially neutral country leaned toward. Later, she would perform at Buchenwald for the liberated inmates who were too frail to be moved. Baker became the first American-born woman to receive the highest French military honor, the Croix de Guerre.
"Place Joséphine Baker" in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris was named in her honor. She has also been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame and the Hall of Famous Missourians. Her name has also been incorporated at Paris Plage, a man-made beach along the river Seine .
Two of Baker's sons, Jean-Claude and Jarry (Jari), grew up to go into business together, running the restaurant Chez Josephine on Theatre Row, 42nd Street, New York, which celebrates Baker's life and works.
Baker's iconic performance style has also been influential. Diana Ross, a long-time admirer of Baker, performed in Bob Mackie-designed outfits similar to Baker's and reenacted similar poses of the latter in many photo sessions. Whitney Houston pays tribute to Baker in her "I'm Your Baby Tonight" music video to represent the Harlem Renaissance. Baker's banana skirt, in particular, has made numerous media appearance. A dancer wore one in Sir-Mix-A-Lot's 1991 video for "Baby Got Back", and singer Beyoncé Knowles wore one when performing for CBS's 2006 Fashion Rocks. During her performance, images of Baker were projected on a large screen above the stage. Portrayals
thumb|upright|Baker pictured in her most famous costume for the Danse banane- In 1978, Phylicia Rashād recorded a disco concept record telling the life story of Josephine Baker. The album was mainly written and produced by Jacques Morali and Rashād's one-time husband Victor Willis, lead singer and lyricist of the Village People. Songs on the album detail her birth in St. Louis, her time as a chorus girl on Broadway, her rise to fame in Paris, and her travels around the world.
- For many years, Diana Ross attempted to mount a film based on Baker's life. The project, initially titled Naked at the Feast, went through several changes, as financing and other complications prevented it from being filmed. As late as 1989, it was announced Ross would star in a television film to be produced for TNT, but the project never materialized.
- In 1991, Baker's life story, "The Josephine Baker Story", was broadcast on HBO. Lynn Whitfield played Baker, beating more than 5,000 actresses for the role, including Whitney Houston. The performance won her the Emmy for "Best Actress In A Mini-Series or Special".
- The 2004 erotic novel Scandalous by British author Angela Campion uses Baker as its heroine and is inspired by Baker's sexual exploits and later adventures in the French Resistance. In the novel, Baker, working with a fictional black Canadian lover named Drummer Thompson, foils a plot by French fascists in 1936 Paris. The novel is said to be the first time a historical figure has been used as the heroine in a modern erotic novel.
- Her influence upon and assistance with the careers of husband and wife dancers Carmen De Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder are discussed and illustrated in rare footage in the 2005 Linda Atkinson/Nick Doob documentary, Carmen and Geoffrey.
- In 2006, the director of the Opéra-Comique of Paris, Jérôme Savary, presented his À la Recherche de Joséphine (Searching for Josephine), a musical inspired by Baker's musical revues and songs from her early career. It tells the story of a French director in search of a star for his Parisian show in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He finds Baker, who becomes the toast of Paris. It was a huge success and has toured in Louisiana.
- In the 1997 animated film "Anastasia", Baker appears with her cheetah during the musical number "Paris Holds the Key (to Your Heart)"
- A German submariner mimics Josephine Baker's "Danse banane" in the film Das Boot.
- Singer Songwriter Al Stewart penned a song called Josephine Baker in tribute. The song was included on his album 'Last Days of the Century'
Filmography
