Biography of Josephine Baker, Dancer, Singer, Activist, and Spy

On October 2, 1925, Josephine Baker first performed in Paris in La Revue Nègre at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. An excerpt from the article:

"Civil Rights
Baker was in the U.S. in 1951 when she was refused service at the famous Stork Club in New York City. Actress Grace Kelly, who was at the club that evening, was disgusted by the racist snub and walked out arm in arm with Baker in a show of support, the start of a friendship that would last until Baker’s death.

Baker responded to the event by crusading for racial equality, refusing to entertain in clubs or theaters that weren't integrated and breaking the color barrier at many establishments. The media battle that followed almost triggered revocation of her visa by the State Department. In 1963, she spoke at the March on Washington at the side of Martin Luther King Jr.

Baker's world village fell apart in the 1950s. She and Bouillon divorced, and in 1969 she was evicted from her chateau, which was sold at auction to pay debts. Kelly, by then princess Grace of Monaco, gave her a villa. In 1973 Baker became romantically involved with American Robert Brady and began her stage comeback.

Death
In 1975, Baker's Carnegie Hall comeback performance was a success. In April she performed at the Bobino Theater in Paris, the first of a planned series of appearances celebrating the 50th anniversary of her Paris debut. But two days after that performance, on April 12, 1975, she died of a stroke at 68 in Paris.

Legacy
On the day of her funeral, over 20,000 people lined the streets of Paris to witness the procession. The French government honored her with a 21-gun salute, making her the first American woman to be buried in France with military honors.

Baker had remained a bigger success abroad than in her home country. Racism tainted her return visits until her Carnegie Hall performance, but she had a profound influence worldwide as an African-American woman who had overcome a childhood of deprivation to become a dancer, singer, actress, civil rights activist, and even a spy."