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Josephine McDonald was born in June 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri. At 8 years old, Josephine began working as a live-in domestic for white families in St. Louis. At 13, she was making a living with street-corner dancing and waitress jobs. Her 1st marriage, before she reached 14, lasted less than a year. She subsequently married a Mr. Baker in 1921, whom she soon left when her vaudeville troupe was booked into a New York City venue. She nevertheless continued to use his last name professionally after they had divorced. These were the years of the Harlem Renaissance and Baker secured a role in the chorus line of the groundbreaking Broadway revue "Shuffle Along" (starting in 1921). After a few years there, she was convinced to sail to Paris in 1925 as the dancing star of “La Revue negre“ at the Champs-Elysees Theatre. Josephine Baker was 19 at the time and she became an instant success for her erotic dancing and for appearing practically nude on stage in her “Danse Sauvage”, barely wearing a feather skirt. After a very successful tour of Europe,she returned to France in 1926 to star jn the Folies Bergere’ revue “La Folie du jour” in her iconic banana skirt costume and nothing more. She starred in four films, starting in 1927, which found success only in Europe. In 1930, Baker sang professionally for the first time including her most successful "J'ai deux amours" (I have two loves: my country and Paris). After months of training with a vocal coach, she played the main role in a light opera for a 6 months run in 1934. Despite her popularity in France, Baker’s star turn in a 1936 revival of "Ziegfeld Follies" on Broadway was not a commercial success. She returned to Europe heartbroken and this contributed to Baker's becoming a legal citizen of France and giving up her American citizenship.
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