The Life & Legacy of Josephine Baker
Originally hailing from America, Josephine Baker made her name on the other side of the Atlantic, Paris to be precise, where her exotic beauty and high-energy performance style captivated audiences. Known as ‘Black Venus’, ‘Black Pearl’ and ‘Creole Goddess’, she was a celebrity for more than fifty years until her death in 1975.
Of humble birth to a washer woman on 3rd of June 1906 she was named Freda Josephine McDonald, the infant Josephine had one great rhythmic influence in her life. Her father, Eddie Carson was a drummer in… Vaudeville theatres but during Josephine’s early childhood, he packed up his beaters and walked out on the family.
A rather unsteady childhood paved the way for a string of unsteady marriages and divorces throughout her adult life as she went from babysitter to waitress to ‘end girl’ in a touring Vaudeville show. Undeterred by her serial rejections in her theatrical life owing to her skin colour, Josephine persisted in any jobs she could, including wardrobe dressing, just so that she would await her chance to become shine like the star she was destined to.
When filling in for regular chorus girls for a production of Shuffle Along who fell ill or simply absent, Josephine startled the producers by developing her own following with her whimsical comedienne prowess. Josephine acted the buffoon, deliberately danced as energetically as she did clumsily and rolled her big eyes emphasising the tongue in cheek nature of her clowning.
Recognising that her success in the United States was bound by prejudice to limit her aspirations, Josephine ventured to Paris to seek a new audience and a new dream. No longer an end girl, Josephine starred in La Folie du Jour at the famous Follies-Bergere Theater and held triumphant appeal with her take on the exotic dance and unbridled, frenetic movements of both her iconic ‘banana dance’ and the ‘Danse Sauvage’ which saw her dressed in skimpy feathers whilst gyrating and throwing her long supple limbs around the stage. Josephine’s skill and sex appeal made her an instant sensation.
By 1927, Josephine was the highest earning entertainer in Europe and lived a lavish lifestyle to sport it. Showing off her success and passion for the exotic, Josephine wore the most beautiful clothes and jewels making her a style icon and also collected a menagerie of exotic creatures which she devoted her affections to.
Josephine then had her big screen break and starred in two movies. Her ever growing success led her to move her family from their home in St. Louis to her estate in France where she would go on to run an orphanage.
A few years before the outbreak of WWII, the now A list celebrity Josephine made a return trip to the USA but left soon after her arrival due to the embittered reception she received from the public and press alike. The ensuing racism was devastating and she returned to her beloved France where she would go on to serve patriotically for the French nation in many ways. As well as performing for the troops and being a figure of morale, Josephine received honours from the French government for her roles in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force and even her involvement with the Resistance where she used her performing work in espionage missions.
After all her experience of racism, xenophobia and war, Josephine began adopting children and formed a family that she called ‘˜The Rainbow Tribe’ – a moniker denoting the mix of ethnicity and colours who were siblings under one roof. The children travelled with her calling the public to the witness how happy they were out with the crippling divides of racism.
After finding solace and companionship with an American man (Robert Brady), and she ended up returning to the USA on many occasions. In 1973, she was invited to perform at New York’s Carnegie Hall where despite her previous heartbreaking encounters, she was met with a standing ovation and public adoration.
In 1975, Josephine performed at the graceful age of 68, to a star studded audience of the Bobino theatre in Paris and ended her glittering and moving career and life with as sudden an impact as she entered it.
Josephine slipped into a coma the day after this show and died on 12th of April 1975 from a brain haemorrhage, leaving a legacy of honour and fun for generation to admire.
Josephine’s funeral drew 20,000 mourners who lined the streets of Paris as her coffin made it’s way to the Church of Madaleine. The French government gave her the 21 gun salute and her remains are at rest in Monaco.
If using, citing or referencing please credit ‘K. L. Allan, Ministry of Burlesque’ and cite www.kittie.me.uk
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