Josephine’s home, Château des Milandes in Dordogne, is open to the public, showcasing her amazing life
The black pearl
American Josephine Baker found her vocation in France and in doing so became a French icon – Joanna Leggett looks back at the life of the acclaimed entertainer
F
rom the backstreets of St Louis to the Panthéon in Paris – the place France
reserves for its greatest citizens – Josephine Baker was as colourful, vibrant and exciting as the characters she portrayed. Hers was a life defined by the Roaring Twenties, Great Depression, Second World War, civil rights and her immense love for France. Often called the Beyonce
of the 1920s, she was an entertainer without peer, French Resistance heroine, civil rights activist and diversity pioneer who created her own multiracial family long before Brad and Angelina came up with a good idea! The start of her life was
not auspicious though: she was born Freda Josephine McDonald in a racially mixed low-income district in St-Louis,
America, to a mother adopted by former slaves of African and Native American descent. Much has been written (it often changed) about this time; she was poorly dressed, hungry and learned ‘street smarts’ playing in the railroad yards of Union Station. At the age of 12 she dropped out of school earning money dancing on street corners, then worked as waitress at a club where she met her first husband marrying him when she was just 13 – it didn’t last a year. Following the divorce, the
first of her four marriages, she found work with a street performance group. In 1921 she met and married her second husband William Howard Baker at 15! After four years she divorced him too when her vaudeville troupe was booked in New York, however, she kept his surname.
34 FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS:March/April 2023 Placed at the end of the
chorus line in one of the first all-black musicals on Broadway, she imbued comedy into her dancing, making her stand out – and as they say, the rest was history. Leaving racist discrimination behind, in 1925 she sailed to France, joined La Revue Nègre at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and her career took off. She later explained she was only in the chorus line in New York – it was in France where she became famous.
OVERNIGHT SUCCESS As one of the first black Americans to move to Paris, ‘Miss Baker’ was soon known by everyone who was anyone. Almost an overnight success, she was known for erotic dancing, appearing practically naked on stage. A successful tour of Europe swiftly followed before she returned to star at
the Folies Bergère in 1926 and set the standard for her future acts – and she was still only 20 years old. Arguably the most famous
of these acts was the Danse Sauvage, where her costume consisted of just a skirt made of artificial bananas with pearls strung around her neck! In later shows in Paris she was often accompanied on stage by her pet cheetah, sporting a diamond collar. The cat frequently escaped into the orchestra pit terrorising the musicians – all adding greatly to the excitement! It didn’t take long before she
became the most successful American entertainer in France. Picasso drew paintings of her alluring beauty, Jean Cocteau became a friend and Ernest Hemingway spent hours talking with her in Parisian bars, describing her as “the most sensational woman anyone ever saw’”. With fame came money,
some from goods she endorsed such as Bakerfix hair gel, shoes, cosmetics and naturally bananas! She adored children – on a tour of Yugoslavia, naturally travelling by the Orient Express, she donated to poor children of Serbia. Besieged by adoring fans at the station upon arrival she
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148
