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Birth
name:
Freda Josephine McDonald
Born:
June 3, 1906 in St. Louis, Missouri
Died:
April 12, 1975 in Paris, France
Famous
for:
Her banana dance, civil rights activism, and the "Rainbow
Tribe"
Spouses
(legal and not)
Willie Welles (1919)
Willie Baker (1920 - 1923)
Count Pepito di Abatino (1920's?) - not legal, publicity stunt
Jean Lion (1937 - 1938)
Jo Bouillon (1947 - 1957)
Robert Brady
(1973 - her death) - not legal, spiritual bond
Favorite
food:
Spaghetti
Pets:
She loved animals and had seven dogs, three cats, fish, parrots,
a leopard (Chiquita), a chimpanzee (Ethel), parakeets, a snake
(Kiki), a pig (Albert) and goat. (My kind of girl!)
Beauty
advice:
Dance a lot and sweat a lot, because that makes you sleep
Hobby:
She loved to swim!
She married her manager Count Peptio di Abatino as a publicity
stunt, it was never legally binding.
In
1928, her husband/manager Count Pepito di Abatino dueled Andrew
Czolovodi, a Hungarian calvary officer, over Josephine in
St. Stephen's cemetery in Budapest. The duel lasted only 10
minutes, ending when di Abatino was scratched by Czolovodi's
blade.
Inducted
into Hall of Famous Missourians, 1995.
Janet
Flanner, "New Yorker" correspondent said of her "Her magnificent
dark body, a new model to the French, proved for the first
time that black was beautiful."
Pablo
Picasso said of her: "Tall, coffee skin, ebony eyes, legs
of paradise, a smile to end all smiles."
Once
had a rejected suitor kill himself at her feet.
Awarded
the Croix de Guerre, Légion d'Honneur and Rosette of the Résistance
for her heroic war efforts in France during World War II.
She
became the first American woman to receive French military
honors at her funeral, which was held at L'Église de la Madeleine.
She was interred at the Cimetičre de Monaco.
Allegedly,
Hermann Wilhelm Göring (Nazi member and Gestapo founder) invited
her to dinner one evening, already suspecting her of involvement
in the Underground. She realized that the wine he forced her
to drink was poisoned, she managed to excuse herself and escaped
from the chalet through a laundry chute.
Baker
wrote several autobiographies, each containing a different
story about her family and career.
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