I am speaking of Josephine Baker, who ran away from St. Louis to sing and dance when she was only 13, and who was "discovered" at 16 and cast in some of the country's top African-American variety shows. Then came Paris, and (often dressed not at all), she became the biggest celebrity in France and the center of a large black American expatriate artistic/entertainment community.
And she lasted a long time, going from stripper, to chanteuse, to movie star, to woman of the world. Quite an impressive history. A long way from St. Louis.
The Portrait Gallery has a Josephine Baker exhibit, which contains by my count 101 different pieces: photos, paintings, posters, movies, programs, books, advertisements and endorsements, masks and sculptures. A very nice exhibit, not only because Baker was so ingratiating, but because of the quality of some of the pieces themselves, especially the art nouveau posters of Michael Gyarmarity, and the lithographs of Paul Colin, both of whom were very close personally to Baker.
Yes, a long way from St. Louis. But, in 1952, she came back for a homecoming performance at the old Kiel Auditorium. The program is in the exhibit (and is probably the least artistic of any piece).
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