Josephine baker biography movie stars
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Josephine Baker was an African-American dancer who found fame, fortune and freedom in Paris during the 1920’s. Despite her colleague’s warning that dancers don’t last, she parlayed her success into a long career while also supporting the French resistance during WWII, fighting for civil rights in America and adopting twelve children. Nevertheless, at the end of this biopic she looks back on her life with some regret noting “I’ve done it wrong, but I’ve done it. I’ve made bad decisions, but I’ve made decisions.” Similarly, though this film has many marvellous components, the whole is less than the sum of its parts.
Leaving behind an America that requires her to perform in blackface, Baker arrives in Paris to find the colour of her skin is in vogue. On stage she show’s plenty of it, causing a sensation when she dances semi-naked in La Revue Nègre. After a ‘no count Count’ becomes her manager and lo
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Josephine Baker was born Freda Josephine McDonald in St. Louis, Missouri, to a washerwoman and vaudeville performer. Having experienced the horrors of the East St. Louis riots in 1917, she embraced her talents as a way out of discrimination and poverty. Baker began her career bygd performing in vaudeville showcases around the country and was soon offered a chance to perform in Paris in La Revue Nègre. Once the Revue closed, Baker was given her own show and from there her career skyrocketed. She was the first African American woman to star in a motion picture, to perform with an integrated cast at the American concert entré, and one of the first African American entertainers who achieved acclaim both in movies and on the stage.
During World War II, Baker performed for integrated audiences of French and American troops. She also served as a member of the French Resistance forces and smuggled messages in her lyrics that were sent back to France from opposing forces. She received
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Josephine Baker
(1906-1975)
Who Was Josephine Baker?
Josephine Baker spent her youth in poverty before learning to dance and finding success on Broadway. In the 1920s she moved to France and soon became one of Europe's most popular and highest-paid performers. She worked for the French Resistance during World War II, and during the 1950s and '60s devoted herself to fighting segregation and racism in the United States. After beginning her comeback to the stage in 1973, Baker died of a cerebral hemorrhage on April 12, 1975, and was buried with military honors.
The Many Faces of Josephine Baker: Dancer, Singer, Activist, Spy (Women of Action)
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Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Freda Josephine Baker
BORN: June 3, 1906
BIRTHPLACE: St. Louis, MO
DEATH: April 12, 1975 (age 68)
SPOUSE: Willie Wells (m. 1919-1919), William Howard Baker (m. 1921-1925), Jean Lion (m. 1937-1940), Jo Bouillon (m. 1947-1961)
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Gemini
Early Life
Baker was born Freda Josephine