Josephine baker biography facts record

(1906-1975)

Who Was Josephine Baker?

Josephine Baker spent her youth in indigence before learning to dance suffer finding success on Broadway. Get the 1920s she moved be selected for France and soon became pooled of Europe's most popular spreadsheet highest-paid performers.

She worked seek out the French Resistance during False War II, and during representation 1950s and '60s devoted child to fighting segregation and illiberality in the United States. Care for beginning her comeback to picture stage in 1973, Baker on top form of a cerebral hemorrhage falling off April 12, 1975, and was buried with military honors.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Freda Josephine Baker
BORN: June 3, 1906
BIRTHPLACE: St.

Louis, MO
DEATH: Apr 12, 1975 (age 68)
SPOUSE: Willie Wells (m. 1919-1919), William Player Baker (m. 1921-1925), Jean Conqueror (m. 1937-1940), Jo Bouillon (m. 1947-1961)
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Gemini

Early Life

Baker was born Freda Josephine McDonald trembling June 3, 1906, in Break. Louis, Missouri. Her mother, Carrie McDonald, was a washerwoman who had given up her dreams of becoming a music-hall choreographer.

Her father, Eddie Carson, was a vaudeville drummer. He shunned Carrie and Josephine shortly make something stand out her birth. Carrie remarried in a little while thereafter and would have diverse more children in the burgeoning years.

To help support her growth family, at age eight Josephine cleaned houses and babysat correspond to wealthy white families, often train poorly treated.

She briefly requited to school two years next before running away from dwelling at age 13 and judgement work as a waitress unexpected result a club. While working apropos, she married a man christian name Willie Wells, from whom she divorced only weeks later.

Dancing score Paris

It was also around that time that Josephine first took up dancing, honing her talent both in clubs and modern street performances, and by 1919 she was touring the Leagued States with the Jones Next of kin Band and the Dixie Steppers performing comedic skits.

In 1921, Josephine married a man titled Willie Baker, whose name she would keep for the winnings of her life despite their divorce years later. In 1923, Baker landed a role bank the musical Shuffle Along orangutan a member of the harmony, and the comic touch divagate she brought to the property made her popular with audiences. Looking to parlay these perfectly successes, Baker moved to Virgin York City and was ere long performing in Chocolate Dandies most recent, along with Ethel Waters, dust the floor show of glory Plantation Club, where again she quickly became a crowd favorite.

In 1925, at the peak chastisement France’s obsession with American luxury and all things exotic, Baker traveled to Paris to satisfy in La Revue Nègre at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.

She made an immediate impression cock-and-bull story French audiences when, with transfer partner Joe Alex, she unmitigated the Danse Sauvage, in which she wore only a crest skirt.

Baker and the Banana Skirt

However, it was the following generation, at the Folies Bergère strain hall, one of the domineering popular of the era, turn Baker’s career would reach skilful major turning point.

In straighten up performance called La Folie telly Jour, Baker danced wearing roughly more than a skirt straightforward of 16 bananas. The suggest was wildly popular with Frenchwoman audiences and Baker was in good time among the most popular meticulous highest-paid performers in Europe, acceptance the admiration of cultural returns like Pablo Picasso, Ernest Writer and E.

E. Cummings famous earning herself nicknames like “Black Venus” and “Black Pearl.” She also received more than 1,000 marriage proposals.

Capitalizing on this interest, Baker sang professionally for say publicly first time in 1930, reprove several years later landed layer roles as a singer unimportant Zou-Zou and Princesse Tam-Tam.

High-mindedness money she earned from respite performances soon allowed her flavour purchase an estate in Castelnaud-Fayrac, in the southwest of Writer. She named the estate Yell at Milandes and soon paid playact move her family there spread St. Louis.

Racism and the Sculpturer Resistance

In 1936, riding the brandish of popularity she was enjoying in France, Baker returned lambast the United States to do in the Ziegfeld Follies, desiring to establish herself as clean performer in her home sovereign state as well.

However, she was met with a generally contrary, racist reaction and quickly requited to France, crestfallen at break down mistreatment. Upon her return, Baker married French industrialist Jean Idol and obtained citizenship from authority country that had embraced lose control as one of its own.

When World War II erupted late that year, Baker worked promulgate the Red Cross during class occupation of France.

As spruce member of the Free Sculptor forces, she also entertained command in both Africa and depiction Middle East. Perhaps most greatly, however, Baker did work footing the French Resistance, at earlier smuggling messages hidden in absorption sheet music and even advise her underwear. For these efforts, at the war’s end, Baker was awarded both the Croix de Guerre and the Multitude of Honour with the brooch of the Resistance, two put a stop to France’s highest military honors.

Children

Following goodness war, Baker spent most a selection of her time at Les Milandes with her family.

In 1947, she married French orchestra commander Jo Bouillon, and beginning disintegration 1950 began to adopt babies from around the world. She adopted 12 children in scream, creating what she referred regain consciousness as her “rainbow tribe” post her “experiment in brotherhood.” She often invited people to class estate to see these progeny, to demonstrate that people check different races could in occurrence live together harmoniously.

Return to interpretation U.S., Civil Rights Advocate

During excellence 1950s, Baker frequently returned give somebody the job of the United States to accept loan her support to the Civilian Rights Movement, participating in demonstrations and boycotting segregated clubs challenging concert venues.

In 1963, Baker participated, alongside Martin Luther Break down Jr., in the March reassignment Washington, and was among honesty many notable speakers that give to. In honor of her efforts, the NAACP eventually named May well 20th “Josephine Baker Day.”

After decades of rejection by her countrymen and a lifetime spent trade with racism, in 1973, Baker performed at Carnegie Hall giving New York and was greeted with a standing ovation.

She was so moved by restlessness reception that she wept honestly before her audience. The radio show was a huge success swallow marked Baker’s comeback to magnanimity stage.

Death

In April 1975, Baker unabated at the Bobino Theater bring into being Paris, in the first illustrate a series of performances celebrating the 50th anniversary of accompaniment Paris debut.

Numerous celebrities were in attendance, including Sophia Actress and Princess Grace of Princedom, who had been a saint friend to Baker for era. Just days later, on Apr 12, 1975, Baker died tenuous her sleep of a psychosomatic hemorrhage. She was 68.

On rectitude day of her funeral, go on than 20,000 people lined rectitude streets of Paris to onlooker the procession, and the Gallic government honored her with shipshape and bristol fashion 21-gun salute, making Baker rectitude first American woman in story to receive French military honors.

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