Josephine Baker

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Birth Name: Freda Josephine McDonald

Born: 3 June 1906 Died: 12 April 1975

Country of origin: United States

Height: 5' 8"

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170 votes

Sex symbol of every decade(female) (44 items)
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Published 12 years, 2 months ago

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People...Black Actresses (775 items)
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Published 8 years, 10 months ago

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Actresses Sex Symbols of the 20s, 30s (32 items)
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Published 8 years, 3 months ago

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Pin-Ups (1930s) (19 items)
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Published 14 years ago

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59 votes

The Beauty of Silence (500 items)
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Published 9 years, 5 months ago

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Josephine Baker Videos

Movie Legends - Josephine Baker

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Joséphine Baker: The 1st Black Superstar

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Description: Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald, naturalised French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an American-born French entertainer, French Resistance agent, and civil rights activist. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted France. She was the first Black woman to star in a major motion picture, the 1927 silent film Siren of the Tropics, directed by Mario Nalpas and Henri Étiévant.[1] During her early career, Baker was renowned as a dancer, and was among the most celebrated performers to headline the revues of the Folies Bergère in Paris. Her performance in the revue Un v Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald, naturalised French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an American-born French entertainer, French Resistance agent, and civil rights activist. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted France. She was the first Black woman to star in a major motion picture, the 1927 silent film Siren of the Tropics, directed by Mario Nalpas and Henri Étiévant.[1]

During her early career, Baker was renowned as a dancer, and was among the most celebrated performers to headline the revues of the Folies Bergère in Paris. Her performance in the revue Un vent de folie in 1927 caused a sensation in the city. Her costume, consisting of only a short skirt of artificial bananas and a beaded necklace, became an iconic image and a symbol both of the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties.

Baker was celebrated by artists and intellectuals of the era, who variously dubbed her the "Black Venus", the "Black Pearl", the "Bronze Venus", and the "Creole Goddess". Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she renounced her U.S. citizenship and became a French national after her marriage to French industrialist Jean Lion in 1937. She raised her children in France.

She was known for aiding the French Resistance during World War II. After the war, she was awarded the Resistance Medal by the French Committee of National Liberation, the Croix de guerre by the French military, and was named a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by General Charles de Gaulle. Baker sang: "I have two loves, my country and Paris."

Baker refused to perform for segregated audiences in the United States and is noted for her contributions to the civil rights movement. In 1968, she was offered unofficial leadership in the movement in the United States by Coretta Scott King, following Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. After thinking it over, Baker declined the offer out of concern for the welfare of her children.

On 23 August 2021, it was announced that in November 2021 she will be interred in the Panthéon in Paris, the first black woman to receive one of the highest honors in France. ... (more)

Tags: Born 1906 (3), Died 1975 (3), American (2), Singer (2), Secret Agent (2), Born June 3 (2), Burlesque (2), Died April 12 (1), Big Eyes (1), Bi-racial (1), Glamorous (1), Fashion Icon (1), Splendid (1), Mulatto (1), French Military (1), Ebony (1), Old Hollywood (1), Born In Missouri (1), World War II Veteran (1), Caucasian Father (1)

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1. The Black Pearl

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2. Star of Les Folies-Bergeres 24 Hits (1998)

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Black American Firsts in Film and Theatre (70 person items)

"The first black star of scenic arts, Josephine Baker is also known as The Black Venus, The Black Pearl or Creole Goddess. Born in the U.S., she was discovered at the age of fifteen, while she was dancing on the corner of the street where she lived, in St. Louis. After a brief passage through vaudeville revue, she went to New York and made her debut on Broadway. Famous for the exoticism of her performances, which combined comedy and eroticism, she starred successful musicals in European cinema, l"