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62-587: Freda Josephine Baker ( née   McDonald ; June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975), naturalized as Joséphine Baker , was an American-born French dancer, singer, and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in France. She was the first black woman to star in a major motion picture, the 1927 French silent film Siren of the Tropics , directed by Mario Nalpas and Henri Étiévant . During her early career, Baker

124-583: A cenotaph was installed in vault 13 of the crypt in the Panthéon. Baker, who refused to perform for segregated audiences in the United States, is also noted for her contributions to the civil rights movement . In 1968, she was offered unofficial leadership in the movement in the United States by Coretta Scott King , following Martin Luther King Jr. 's assassination . After thinking it over, Baker declined

186-448: A count , persuaded her to let him manage her. He became not only Baker's manager, but her lover as well. The two could not marry because she was not yet divorced from her second husband, Willie Baker. During this period, she released her most successful song, "J'ai deux amours" (1931). The song expresses the sentiment that "I have two loves, my country and Paris." In a 2007 book, Tim Bergfelder, Sue Harris, and Sarah Street claimed that "by

248-547: A hysterectomy . The infection spread and she developed peritonitis and then sepsis . After her recovery (which she continued to fall in and out of), she started touring to entertain British, French, and American soldiers in North Africa. The Free French had no organized entertainment network for their troops, so Baker and her entourage managed for the most part on their own. They allowed no civilians and charged no admission. After

310-480: A "Bakerfix" hair gel, as well as bananas, shoes, and cosmetics, among other products. In 1929, Baker became the first African-American star to visit Yugoslavia , which she included on a tour through Central Europe via the Orient Express . In Belgrade , she performed at Luxor Balkanska, then the city's most luxurious venue. In a nod to local culture, she included a Pirot kilim in her routine, and donated some of

372-702: A French one. She also raised them in different religions in order to further her model for the world, taking two children from Algeria and raising one child as a Muslim and raising the other child as a Catholic . One member of the Tribe, Jean-Claude Baker, said: "She wanted a doll". Baker raised two daughters, French-born Marianne and Moroccan -born Stellina, and 10 sons, Japanese -born Janot (born Teruya) and Akio, Colombian -born Luis, Finnish -born Jari (now Jarry), French-born Jean-Claude, Noël, and Moïse, Algerian -born Brahim (later Brian), Ivorian -born Koffi, and Venezuelan -born Mara. Later on, Josephine Baker would become

434-456: A child, and developed street smarts playing in the railroad yards of Union Station . Her mother married Arthur Martin, "a kind but perpetually unemployed man", with whom she had a son and two more daughters. She took in laundry to make ends meet, and, at eight years old, Josephine began working as a live-in domestic for white families in St. Louis. One woman abused her, burning Josephine's hands when

496-500: 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." Despite her popularity in France , Baker never attained the equivalent reputation in America . Her star turn in a 1936 revival of " Ziegfeld Follies " on Broadway was not commercially successful, and later in the run she

558-684: A living with street-corner dancing . It was at the Old Chauffeur's Club that Josephine met Willie Wells, whom she married at age 13, but the marriage lasted less than a year. Following her divorce from Wells, she found work with a street performance group called the Jones Family Band. In her teens, she struggled to have a healthy relationship with her mother, who opposed her becoming an entertainer and scolded her for not tending to her second husband, William Howard Baker, whom she had married in 1921, at age 15. She soon left him when her vaudeville troupe

620-654: A local show manager led to her recruitment for the St. Louis Chorus vaudeville act. At the age of 13, she headed to New York City during the Harlem Renaissance and performed at the Plantation Club, Florence Mills 's old stomping ground. After several auditions, she secured a role in the chorus line of a touring production of the groundbreaking and hugely successful Broadway revue " Shuffle Along " (1921) that helped bring public attention to Florence Mills, Paul Robeson , and Adelaide Hall . In "Shuffle Along", Baker

682-823: A renewed interest in non-Western art forms, including those of African origin, which Baker would represent. In later shows in Paris, she was often accompanied on stage by her pet cheetah , "Chiquita", donning a diamond collar. Chiquita frequently escaped into the orchestra pit , terrorizing the musicians and adding another element of excitement to the show. After a while, Baker became the most successful American entertainer in France. Ernest Hemingway called her "the most sensational woman anyone ever saw." The author spent hours talking with her in Parisian bars. Picasso depicted her alluring beauty. Jean Cocteau became friendly with her and helped vault her to international stardom. Baker endorsed

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744-495: A series of harsh public rebukes, including accusations of Communist sympathies (a serious charge at the time). The ensuing publicity resulted in the termination of Baker's work visa, forcing her to cancel all her engagements and return to France. It was almost a decade before U.S. officials allowed her back into the country. In January 1966, Fidel Castro invited Baker to perform at the "Teatro Musical de La Habana" in Havana , Cuba, at

806-635: A standing ovation. The following year, she appeared in a Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium , and then at the Monegasque Red Cross Gala , celebrating her 50 years in French show business. Advancing years and exhaustion began to take their toll; she sometimes had trouble remembering lyrics, and her speeches between songs tended to ramble. She still continued to captivate audiences of all ages. Although based in France, Baker supported

868-509: A successful tour of Europe, she broke her contract and returned to France in 1926 to star at the Folies Bergère , setting the standard for her future acts. Baker performed the Danse Sauvage , wearing little more than a skirt of strung-together artificial bananas. Her success coincided with the 1925 Exposition des Arts Décoratifs , which gave birth to the term " Art Deco ", as well as

930-503: Is the name given to a person upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname , the given name , or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth register may by that fact alone become the person's legal name . The assumption in the Western world is often that the name from birth (or perhaps from baptism or brit milah ) will persist to adulthood in

992-461: Is the masculine form. The term née , having feminine grammatical gender , can be used to denote a woman's surname at birth that has been replaced or changed. In most English-speaking cultures, it is specifically applied to a woman's maiden name after her surname has changed due to marriage. The term né can be used to denote a man's surname at birth that has subsequently been replaced or changed. The diacritic mark (the acute accent ) over

1054-638: The American Civil Rights Movement during the 1950s. When she arrived in New York with her husband Jo, they were refused reservations at 36 hotels because of racial discrimination. This led her to write several articles about segregation in the United States. She also traveled in the South, giving a talk at Fisk University , a historically black college in Nashville, Tennessee , on "France, North Africa and

1116-643: The Deuxième Bureau , the French military intelligence agency, as an "honorable correspondent". Baker worked with Jacques Abtey, the head of French counterintelligence in Paris. She socialized with the Germans at embassies, ministries, night clubs, charming them while secretly gathering information. Her café-society fame enabled her to rub shoulders with those in the know, from high-ranking Japanese officials to Italian and Vichy bureaucrats, reporting to Abtey what she heard. She attended parties and gathered information at

1178-586: The Ku Klux Klan but said publicly that she was not afraid of them. In 1951, Baker made charges of racism against Sherman Billingsley 's Stork Club in Manhattan, 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 never to return (although she returned on 3 January 1956 with Prince Rainier of Monaco ). The two women became close friends after

1240-819: The Resistance Medal by the French Committee of National Liberation , the Croix de Guerre by the French military , and was named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour by General Charles de Gaulle . Baker sang: "I have two loves: my country and Paris." On November 30, 2021, Baker was inducted into the Panthéon in Paris, the first black woman to receive one of the highest honors in France. As her resting place remains in Monaco Cemetery ,

1302-416: The civil rights movement , Baker began to adopt children, forming a family which she often referred to as "The Rainbow Tribe". Baker wanted to prove that "children of different ethnicities and religions could still be brothers." She often took the children with her cross-country, and when they were at Château des Milandes , she arranged tours so visitors could walk the grounds and see how natural and happy

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1364-456: The e is considered significant to its spelling, and ultimately its meaning, but is sometimes omitted. According to Oxford University 's Dictionary of Modern English Usage , the terms are typically placed after the current surname (e.g., " Margaret Thatcher , née Roberts" or " Bill Clinton , né Blythe"). Since they are terms adopted into English (from French), they do not have to be italicized , but they often are. In Polish tradition ,

1426-434: The 'primitive-to-Parisienne' narrative that would become the staple of Baker's cinema career, and exploited in particular her comic stage persona based on loose-limbed athleticism and artful clumsiness." The sound films "Zouzou" (1934) and "Princesse Tam Tam" were both star vehicles for Baker. Under the management of Abatino, Baker's stage and public persona, as well as her singing voice, were transformed. In 1934, she took

1488-516: The 1930's, Baker's assimilation into French popular culture had been completed by her association with the song." She starred in four films, which found success only in Europe: the silent film Siren of the Tropics (1927), Zouzou (1934) and Princesse Tam Tam (1935). She starred in Fausse Alerte in 1940. Bergfelder, Harris, and Street wrote that the silent film Siren of the Tropics "rehearses

1550-556: The Equality of the Races in France". She refused to perform for segregated audiences in the United States, although she was offered $ 10,000 by a Miami club; the club eventually met her demands. Her insistence on mixed audiences helped to integrate live entertainment shows in the Las Vegas Valley . After this incident, she began receiving threatening phone calls from people claiming to be from

1612-513: The Folies Bergère. Bolstered by recognition of her wartime heroism, Baker the performer assumed a new gravitas, unafraid to take on serious music or subject matter. The engagement was a rousing success and reestablished Baker as one of Paris' pre-eminent entertainers. In 1951, Baker was invited back to the United States for a nightclub engagement in Miami. After winning a public battle over desegregating

1674-446: The French industrialist Jean Lion, and became a French citizen. They were married in the French town of Crèvecœur-le-Grand , in a wedding presided over by the mayor, Jammy Schmidt. Between 1933 and 1937, Baker was a guest at the start of the Tour de France on four occasions. In September 1939, when France declared war on Germany in response to the invasion of Poland, Baker was recruited by

1736-845: The Italian embassy without raising suspicion. When the Germans invaded France, Baker left Paris and went to the Château des Milandes , her home in the Dordogne département in the south of France. She housed people who were eager to help the Free French effort led by Charles de Gaulle and supplied them with visas. As an entertainer, Baker had an excuse for moving around Europe, visiting neutral nations such as Portugal, as well as some in South America. She carried information for transmission to England, about airfields, harbors, and German troop concentrations in

1798-676: The March; some thought her time overseas had made her a woman of France, one who was disconnected from the Civil Rights issues going on in America. In her speech, one of the things Baker said: I have walked into the palaces of kings and queens, and into the houses of presidents and much more. But I could not walk into a hotel in America and get a cup of coffee, and that made me mad. And when I get mad, you know that I open my big mouth. And then look out, 'cause when Josephine opens her mouth, they hear it all over

1860-562: The Stork Club incident was overblown.) Baker also worked with the NAACP . Her reputation as a crusader grew to such an extent that the NAACP had Sunday, May 20, 1951, declared "Josephine Baker Day". She was presented with life membership with the NAACP by Nobel Peace Prize winner Ralph Bunche . The honor she was paid spurred her to further her crusading efforts with the " Save Willie McGee " rally. McGee

1922-637: The Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret). In 1937, Baker married Frenchman Jean Lion, but they separated in 1940. She married French composer and conductor Jo Bouillon in 1947, and their union lasted 14 years before also ending in divorce . Later, she was involved with the artist Robert Brady for a time, but they never married. Speculation exists that Baker was also involved in sexual liaisons, if not relationships, with blues singer Clara Smith , Ada "Bricktop" Smith , French novelist Colette , and Frida Kahlo . During her participation in

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1984-524: The West of France. Notes were written in invisible ink on Baker's sheet music. As described in Jazz Cleopatra , "She specialized in gatherings at embassies and ministries, charming people as she had always done, but at the same time trying to remember interesting items to transmit". Later in 1941, she and her entourage went to the French colonies in North Africa. The stated reason was Baker's health (since she

2046-529: The cause. In 1963, she spoke at the March on Washington at the side of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Baker was the only official female speaker. While wearing her Free French uniform emblazoned with her medal of the Légion d'honneur, she introduced the "Negro Women for Civil Rights". Rosa Parks and Daisy Bates were among those she acknowledged, and both gave brief speeches. Not everyone involved wanted Baker present at

2108-434: The children were in "The Rainbow Tribe". Her estate featured hotels, a farm, rides, and the children singing and dancing for the audience. She charged an admission fee to visitors who entered and partook in the activities, which included watching the children play. She created dramatic backstories for them, picking them with clear intent in mind: at one point, she wanted and planned to adopt a Jewish baby, but she settled for

2170-662: The club's audience, Baker followed up her sold-out run at the club with a national tour. Rave reviews and enthusiastic audiences accompanied her everywhere, climaxed by a parade in Harlem in honor of her new title: NAACP 's "Woman of the Year". In 1952, Baker was hired to crown the Queen of the Cavalcade of Jazz for the famed eighth Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, which

2232-428: The contrary. In 1993, Josephine Baker's foster son Jean-Claude Baker published a biography titled Josephine: The hungry Heart , which was the culmination of decades of exhaustive research into Baker's life and career. In the book, he discusses at length the circumstances surrounding Baker's birth: The records of the city of St. Louis tell an almost unbelievable story. They show that (Baker's mother) Carrie McDonald ...

2294-506: The era, who variously dubbed her the "Black Venus", the "Black Pearl", the "Bronze Venus", and the "Creole Goddess". Born in St. Louis, Missouri , she renounced her U.S. citizenship and became a French national after her marriage to French industrialist Jean Lion in 1937. She raised her children in France. Baker aided the French Resistance during World War II . After the war, she was awarded

2356-406: The incident. When Baker was near bankruptcy, Kelly—by then the princess consort —offered her a villa and financial assistance. (During his work on the "Stork Club" book, author and " New York Times " reporter Ralph Blumenthal was contacted by Jean-Claude Baker , one of Baker's sons. He indicated that he had read his mother's FBI file and, using comparison of the file to the tapes, said he thought

2418-584: The lead in a revival of Jacques Offenbach 's opera La créole , which premiered in December of that year for a six-month run at the Théâtre Marigny on the Champs-Élysées of Paris. 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

2480-519: The legal guardian of another boy, also named Jean-Claude , and considered him an unofficial addition to the Rainbow Tribe. For some time, Baker lived with her children and an enormous staff in the château in Dordogne , France, with her fourth husband, Jo Bouillon. Bouillon claimed that Baker bore one child, though it was stillborn in 1941, an incident that precipitated an emergency hysterectomy. Birth name#Maiden and married names A birth name

2542-405: The normal course of affairs—either throughout life or until marriage. Some reasons for changes of a person's name include middle names , diminutive forms, changes relating to parental status (due to one's parents' divorce or adoption by different parents), and gender transition . The French and English-adopted née is the feminine past participle of naître , which means "to be born". Né

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2604-498: The offer out of concern for the welfare of her children. Josephine Baker was born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri . Baker's ancestry is unknown—her mother, Carrie, was adopted in Little Rock, Arkansas , in 1886 by Richard and Elvira McDonald, both of whom were former slaves of African and Native American descent. Baker's estate identifies vaudeville drummer Eddie Carson as her natural father despite evidence to

2666-492: The screams of the Negro families running across this bridge with nothing but what they had on their backs as their worldly belongings... So with this vision I ran and ran and ran... By age 12, she had dropped out of school. At 13, she worked as a waitress at the Old Chauffeur's Club at 3133 Pine Street. She also lived as a street child in the slums of St. Louis, sleeping in cardboard shelters, scavenging for food in garbage cans, making

2728-553: The seventh-anniversary celebrations of his revolution. Her spectacular show in April broke attendance records. In 1968, Baker visited Yugoslavia and made appearances in Belgrade and in Skopje . In her later career, Baker faced financial troubles. She commented, "Nobody wants me, they've forgotten me"; but family members encouraged her to continue performing. In 1973 she performed at Carnegie Hall to

2790-465: The show's proceeds to poor children of Serbia . In Zagreb , adoring crowds greeted her at the train station, but opposition from local clergy and morality police led to the cancellation of some of her shows. During her travels in Yugoslavia, Baker was accompanied by "Count" Giuseppe Pepito Abatino. At the start of her career in France, Abatino, a Sicilian former stonemason who passed himself off as

2852-687: The term z domu (literally meaning "of the house", de domo in Latin ) may be used, with rare exceptions, meaning the same as née . Chestnut Valley The theater closed in 1930 and the area, also known for gambling, bars, and brothels, was demolished in mayor Joseph Darst slum clearance urban renewal program. Missouri Governor Forrest Smith signed the Municipal Land Clearance for Redevelopment Law in 1951, providing state aid for urban renewal programs in Missouri cities. Expressways replaced

2914-461: The war, Baker was awarded the Resistance Medal by the French Committee of National Liberation , the Croix de Guerre by the French military , and was named a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by General Charles de Gaulle . Baker's last marriage, to French composer and conductor Jo Bouillon , ended around the time she adopted her 11th child. In 1949, a reinvented Baker returned in triumph to

2976-537: The world ... After King's assassination, his widow Coretta Scott King approached Baker in the Netherlands to ask if she would take her husband's place as leader of the Civil Rights Movement. After many days of thinking it over, Baker declined, saying her children were "too young to lose their mother." Baker's first marriage was to American Pullman porter Willie Wells when she was only 13 years old. The union

3038-568: The young girl put too much soap in the laundry. In 1917, when she was 11, a terrified Josephine McDonald witnessed racial violence in East St. Louis . In a speech years later, she recalled what she had seen: I can still see myself standing on the west bank of the Mississippi looking over into East St. Louis and watching the glow of the burning of Negro homes lighting the sky. We children stood huddled together in bewilderment ... frightened to death with

3100-589: Was a black man in Mississippi convicted of raping a white woman in 1945 on the basis of dubious evidence, and sentenced to death. Baker attended rallies for McGee and wrote letters to Fielding Wright , the governor of Mississippi, asking him to spare McGee's life. Despite her efforts, McGee was executed in 1951. As the decorated war hero who was bolstered by the racial equality she experienced in Europe, Baker became increasingly regarded as controversial; some black people even began to shun her, fearing that her outspokenness and racy reputation from her earlier years would hurt

3162-485: Was a dancer at the end of a chorus line. Fearing she might be overshadowed by the others, she used her position to introduce a hint of comedy into her routine, making her stand out from her fellow dancers. She began in "Shuffle Along" with one of the U.S. touring companies, but, once she came of age, she was transferred to the Broadway production, where she remained for several months, until the show closed, in 1923. Next, Baker

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3224-443: Was admitted to the (exclusively white) Female Hospital on May 3, 1906, diagnosed as pregnant. She was discharged on June 17, her baby, Freda J. McDonald having been born two weeks earlier. Why six weeks in the hospital? Especially for a black woman (of that time) who would customarily have had her baby at home with the help of a midwife? ... The father was identified (on the birth certificate) simply as "Edw"... I think Josephine's father

3286-631: Was among the most celebrated performers to headline the revues of the Folies Bergère in Paris . Her performance in its 1927 revue Un vent de folie caused a sensation in the city. Her costume, consisting only of a short skirt of artificial bananas and a beaded necklace, became an iconic image and a symbol both of the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties . Baker was celebrated by artists and intellectuals of

3348-405: Was booked into a New York City venue. They divorced in 1925, during a period when her career success was beginning. Still, she continued to use his last name professionally for the rest of her life. Though Baker was often on the road, returning with gifts and money for her mother and younger half-sister, larger career opportunities drew her farther afield, to France. Baker's unrelenting badgering of

3410-573: Was cast in " The Chocolate Dandies ", a revue that opened on September 1, 1924. Again, she was relegated to the chorus line. The show ran for 96 performances, finally closing in November 1925. Baker sailed to Paris in 1925 and opened on October 2 in " la Revue nègre  [ fr ] " at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées . She was 19 at the time. In a 1974 interview with The Guardian , she explained that her first big break came in this bustling European city: "No, I didn't get my first break on Broadway. I

3472-515: Was only in the chorus in 'Shuffle Along' and 'Chocolate Dandies.' I became famous first in France in the twenties. I just couldn't stand America and I was one of the first coloured Americans to move to Paris. Oh yes, Bricktop was there as well. Me and her were the only two, and we had a marvellous time. Of course, everyone who was anyone knew Bricky. And they got to know Miss Baker as well." In Paris, she became an instant success for her erotic dancing and for appearing practically nude onstage. After

3534-613: Was produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr. on June 1. Also featured to perform that day were Roy Brown and His Mighty Men, Anna Mae Winburn and Her Sweethearts, Toni Harper , Louis Jordan , Jimmy Witherspoon and Jerry Wallace . An incident at the Stork Club in October 1951 interrupted and overturned her plans. Baker criticized the club's unwritten policy of discouraging Black patrons, then scolded columnist Walter Winchell , an old ally, for not rising to her defense. Winchell responded swiftly with

3596-607: 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. She pinned notes with the information she gathered inside her underwear (counting on her celebrity to avoid a strip search). She met the Pasha of Marrakech , whose support helped her through a miscarriage (the last of several). After the miscarriage, she developed an infection so severe it required

3658-444: Was replaced by Gypsy Rose Lee . Time magazine referred to her as a "Negro wench ... whose dancing and singing might be topped anywhere outside of Paris", while other critics said her voice was "too thin" and "dwarf-like" to fill the Winter Garden Theatre . She returned to Europe heartbroken. This contributed to Baker's becoming a legal citizen of France and giving up her American citizenship. Baker returned to Paris in 1937, married

3720-529: Was reportedly very unhappy, and the couple divorced soon after marrying. Another short-lived marriage followed in 1921, to William Howard Baker. Since her career was already taking off under that last name, she retained it after the divorce. Jean-Claude Baker wrote that Josephine was bisexual and had several relationships with women. In 1925, she began an extramarital relationship with the Belgian novelist Georges Simenon . On an ocean liner, in 1929, en route from South America to France, Baker had an affair with

3782-411: Was the father, and Carson played along, (but) Josephine knew better. Josephine McDonald spent her early life on 212 Targee Street (known by some St. Louis residents as Johnson Street) in the Chestnut Valley neighborhood of St. Louis, a racially mixed low-income area near Union Station, consisting mainly of rooming houses, brothels, and apartments without indoor plumbing. She was poorly dressed, hungry as

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3844-433: Was white—so did Josephine, so did her family...people in St. Louis say that (Baker's mother) had worked for a German family (around the time she became pregnant)... I have unraveled many mysteries associated with Josephine Baker, but the most painful mystery of her life, the mystery of her father's identity, I could not solve. The secret died with Carrie, who refused to the end to talk about it. She let people think Eddie Carson

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