Baker, Josephine, 1906–75,
African-American dancer and singer, b. St. Louis, Mo., as Freda Josephine
McDonald. In 1923 and 1924 she appeared in Broadway chorus lines. She became
a sensation in Paris in La Revue Nègre (1925),
renowned for her jazz singing, dancing, and exotically skimpy costumes. By
1927 she was one of Europe's most famous and highly paid entertainers.
Naturalized as a French citizen in 1937, she worked for the Resistance in
World War II and was awarded (1961) the Legion of Honor. She died in Paris
after 14 triumphant performances of Josephine, celebrating
her 50 years as a performer in Paris. In 2021, Baker was the first
African-American woman inducted into France's tomb of heroes, the
Panthéon.
See P. Rose, Jazz Cleopatra (1989); J.-C. Baker and C. Chase,
Josephine (1994); B. Jules-Rosette, Josephine
Baker in Art and Life (2007); J. Mackrell,
Flappers (2014); M. P. Guterl, Josephine Baker
and the Rainbow Tribe (2014); M. L. Krenn, The History
of United States Cultural Diplomacy (2017).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Music: Popular and Jazz: Biographies
