Josephine Baker Research Paper

Josephine Baker was born Freda Josephine McDonald on June 3, 1906 in St. Louis Missouri. Her mother Carrie McDonald, a laundress, and her father Eddie Carson, a musician. Josephine Baker was multi-talented, she could sing, dance, and act. The careers she obtained was entertainer. She was also known as an activist and a spy. She went around town making others and her family laughed because she was such a comedian. A “natural comedian” is what they called her. She came from a family of art lovers so it’s a natural gift she had. She was born in a poor family in a poverty neighborhood. She knew that she had potential and she wasn’t going to grow up in the poor. At the age of 12 she dropped out of school to help her family. Her parents knew that …show more content…
She became a waitress making $ 3 a week hanging out with the jazz musicians. She ended up marrying twice to William Baker and taking his name as her last name. She met William Baker at a party and both fell in love at first sight. She ran away and left him to pursue her dreams. Her mother approved her marriages since she was the age of 13. At age 17, feeling there was too much racial discrimination in the city. Josephine Baker, like many other African-American performers of the early twentieth century, began her career in "tent shows," touring musical ensembles that played mostly in the southern states. Her first success was as a comic dancer in a show starring Clara Smith which led to her engagement in the touring company of Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake's Shuffle Along. “When she appeared onstage at the end of the chorus line, the audience took one look at her baggy clothing and roared with …show more content…
Her first job in Paris was in "La revue negre". Her and the cast had rehearsal for days before they got it right. The owner of “Théâtre des Champs-Elysées” walked in the rehearsal and thought that this will be a wreck. He had to get help with the show because it sounded horrible. They singers picked gospel songs and it didn’t go with the play. Andre Daven is the owner of “Théâtre des Champs-Elysées”. He asked Jacques Charles, a talented choreographer, to help him the show. This show was the first start of Josephine being half naked on staged. “The dance required Josephine to appear topless wearing only a satin bikini bottom covered in pink flamingo feathers. Around her ankles and wrists, she would wear the same pink feathers” (Caravantes 2015). Josephine was shocked and she refused to wear the clothes because they were to reveal. Her next significant job was at the Folies Bergere, where she was a member of the club's all-black revue. She didn’t tell Caroline Reagan that she got casted to the show. Around this time, the other show was planned to tour Europe. Josephine refused and wanted to stay in Paris because she fell in love with the city. The Folies Bergere, was the first performance of her famous "banana dance" in 1925. She quickly became a favorite of the French, and her fame grew, but she had many ups and downs during her career. She ended up marrying 5 men all together. Wellie Wells was her first husband from 1918-1920.

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