Josephine Baker, née Freda Josephine Mc Donald, born on 3rd of June 1906, St. Louis Missouri, United States of America.
Since early childhood, Josephine pushed herself to make her dreams come true, later years she became the first international famous coloured dancer, actress and singer.
An Icon symbol of The Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties, who earned several nicknames "The Black Pearl, The Black Venus, The Bronze Venus, The Creole Goddess"...
As a little girl, Josephine was forced to confront serious violence, racism and extreme poverty in St. Louis Missouri. Her mother, a simple housewife Black American Slave origin and her biological father is uncertain, it has been stated that perhaps was
Mr Eddie Carson, a drummer in a local band. Josephine had very low grades at school and whenever she could she would dance in the streets for money so as to financially help her parents. As she was the oldest child, she felt that is was her duty and responsibility to take care of the family.
Josephine's parents worked a great deal of hours however earned just for the bear essentials. Apparently, when she was around the age of 7 to 8 years old, she would run to her grandmothers home and put on her most beautiful gowns and shoes and looked at her self in the mirror believing that she will become a famous dancer and own her glorious outfits.
Her boredom at school became quite common, sometimes did not attend classes, instead she would create her own escapism by going to the local Picture Theatre and see fashion, glamour, Silent Films. Then, one day, for the first time she saw a Rudolph Valentino movie, Josephine felt overwhelmed with feelings of romance and love. Seeing on the big screen, Valentino's handsome pure looks along with an actress glamourous and glorious refined garments she adored, these idealisms filed her full of all sorts of emotions and she cried and cried. She knew then, that she had to become a famous actress so that she can be a Star wearing exclusive garments and be next to Rudolph Valentino.
Her life in Saint Louis, was very difficult, very hurtful to deal with problems of racism as a little girl, some selected places like schools, restaurants, coffee shops even suburbs was against to law to go as a coloured person. Later years, her witness to racial discrimination and riots, fully encouraged her to get out of her own up-bringing and surroundings by getting married at 13 years old. Then, started little by little heading towards New York and missing out on school and her child environment all together.
Josephine, participated at Vaudeville shows. One night she met a new performer who encouraged her to be part of a group named "Dixie Steppers", she accepted, divorced and continued to originate, further professionalize more her unique acts by dancing and at the same time making more funny, silly faces of rolling her eyes, grins and dance movements a typical style of slap stick comedy. Her efforts led to more paid live shows. Eventually Dixie Steppers, toured to Philadelphia, there Josephine re-married and became Mrs Baker. The marriage did not last long however she kept the surname.
In New York, she continued theatre however was not really happy with results.
Later years, at around 18 years old, Josephine met a Lady who was looking for young coloured talent for live performances in Paris, France. It was then, when Josephine decided to take a risk and go to Paris that her life changed completely.
In 1925 Josephine sailed to Paris, she was only 19 years old. Paris, a city full of life, extraordinary riches welcoming with open arms and enhancing Artists from all walks of life to their extreme potential.
Her first dance show in Paris, October 2nd 1925 at "La Revue Nègre" where she performed "La dance de sauvage" and completely surprised, shocked her audience as she was almost naked. Her hair style "à la garçonnière " called Eton Crop as it was short shining with pasted curls on cheeks and forehead. She was only wearing like a string around her waist with hanging bananas, placed on her hips similar to a skirt, several pieces of jewellery of shiny fake diamond/crystal bracelets on her arms, each of her wrists and ankles, long pearl necklaces, chandelier style earrings and sometimes she wore Roman sandals. This particular dance was apparently inspired from a character in a French novel however Josephine's wild version further inspired all different sorts of Artists, attracted new and vast audiences, eventually the café society.
In early shows, the theatre stage had palm trees and coloured drummers, later she agreed to the suggestion of taking her Pet, a cheetah, named "Chiquita" to the stage so as to enhance for a more wild, African ambience. It worked, as people were even more curious to see the show with a Cheetah on stage. One evening Chiquita, broke loose, ran around the stage and with great fear the audience screamed and ran out of the theatre further screaming in terror. The next day, the show became even more famous and eventually sold out as it gathered attention from the press and newspapers. The organisers tried to extend the show tour to other areas outside Paris however it was quite difficult as some local people started to highly criticize, even protest that the show and performers were like some sort of witch craft act, as if encouraging the devil with music and wild exotic dancing. Nevertheless, in Paris the show continued for several weeks and made Josephine Baker an extraordinary success. Eventually, Josephine added more clothes to her performances. Sometimes, she would dress quite elegant, go to town with her friends and Chiquita so as to further advertise her show.
Her success, ambitious to be famous, financially independent in her own right led her to open her own night club whereby she performed her famous exotic tribal dances. Straight after she finished her show, Josephine would change to more glamourous outfits and continued entertaining the audience. She kept investing in herself with further lessons of singing, dancing and French grammar. Furthermore, earned other lucrative contracts, for instance as a model of a product named "Bakerfix" , for ladies hair. The more funds she earned, the more Josephine invested in herself an continued to provide and arrange to send money to her mother and family.
In 1927, Josephine had another extraordinary success in her first Silent Picture film named "Papitou, La Sirène des Tropiques" of which led to other more Movies in later years.
Her first song release "J'ai deux Amours" written by Géo Koger and Henri Varna with music by Vincent Scotto, duly released in 1930 became another success thus encouraged her with an additional singing career of which eventually led to be part of her following Talking Movies.
Josephine's Movies and year of release are as follows:
*Papitou, La Sirène des Tropiques 1927
*The Women of Follies Bergère 1927
*La Revue des Revues 1927
*Le Pompier des Folies Bergère 1928
*La Folie du Jour 1929
*Zouzou (first Talkie Picture) 1934
*Princess Tam-Tam 1935
*Moulin Rouge 1940
*Fausse Alerte 1945
*On Each Finger Ten 1954
*Carosello del Varietà 1955
*Greetings from Zurich 1963
In early 1930s, beginning signs and days of WWII in Europe, creating a great deal of concern, uncertainties as fascism kept advancing and continuing to rise it's momentum. Later in 1940, Hitler's German troops took over France. Josephine strongly felt that she needed to assist France the way France helped her. When she was recruited by "Deuxième Bureau" the French military intelligence, she accepted and became part of the "Resistance" a lieutenant in armed forces as an honorable correspondent. She worked along side of Mr Jacques Abtey head of French counterintelligence in Paris, drove ambulances for the Red Cross whilst at the same time worked as an undercover Spy for France. Her international fame and foreign American nationality was an easier access for her to also gather information from social and private events or other exclusive meetings like certain embassies and political gatherings. Then pass secret information, some was invisible hand written on her musical script books, for instance stated information where Nazis troupes were located, airfields or movements. Some photographs tightly sewed in her undergarments. As a famous performer she travelled and toured with Mr Abtey and together they managed to pass the documents and crucial information across several country boarders.
Josephine married Jo Bouillon and in 1941 during the German invasion in Paris they rented and moved to "Château des Milandes", located in the south of France. She wanted all her family, including from the USA to go and live there altogether unfortunately her mother did not accept. At the Château during the war, Josephine followed her work for the Resistance by allowing a place to hide weapons, connect a radio transmitter in order to communicate with other allies, even providing money, fake documents, clothing, food and shelter to Jewish refugees and other members of the Resistance.
On 25th August 1944, Paris was finally liberated from Germany. A few months later, even though Josephine strongly felt that others deserved more recognition than her, she received in great honour three medals for her work supporting the French Resistance.
These medals are named as follows:
*La medaillle de la resistance
*La croix de guerre
*La legend de hounour a titre millitare
After the war, in 1947 Josephine acquired Château des Milandes and took some quality time to settle down, further created her own world and physically accomplish her dreams. She arranged to adopt more animals, had several birds, peacocks, dogs, for instance one dog named "Phyfi" , another named "Phi- Phi" , cats, chickens, rabbits, wild birds, two monkeys one named "Moustache" another "Bou-Bou" and they sometimes played with the other animals. On some occasions, a lizard named "Zozo" and a serpent named "Kiki" were part of her performances as she would dance, then select a reptile and place it around her neck . Josephine strongly believed that the animal world behave a great deal better than the human world.
Baker adopted France as her new home, never regretted the decision of leaving her own country and never returned to live in United Stated of America. As unfortunately she could not bare a child, thus believed in creating her own additional family and started to adopt children from diffeerent parts of the world eventually became a total of 12 and she called them "The Rainbow Tribe" ...
Josephine Baker, shall remain an Icon of The Jazz Age and The Roaring Twenties,
a strong character lady who believed that part of her duty in life was to make people happy and smile to the world. Also felt, that part of her family was her audience, the people who supported her throughout her career and personal life.
" Nature, animals and children sort of blend together" ..
"The things we truly love stay with us always, locked in our hearts as long as
life remains " Josephine Baker
*** Herewith below, one of Josephine's early dancing performance ...
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