The Story Behind Josephine Baker's Last Dance by Sherry Jones

I cried while writing my last novel, THE SHARP HOOK OF LOVE, about the star-crossed 12^th-century lovers and scholars Heloise and Abelard. For my next project, I decided, I would write something light-hearted and fun. JOSEPHINE BAKER’S LAST DANCE was to be that book.

Perusing my always-growing idea-list of fascinating women in history, I saw Josephine Baker’s name and my switch was flipped. The beautiful, comedic African-American dancer in the famous “banana skirt” would be the perfect protagonist for a literary romp: I knew her as a frothy confection full of merriment and joy, the icon of Jazz Age Paris in the 1920s. She would be the sweet dessert after the heavy meal of love and loss served up by my medieval tragedy.

As I read about Ms. Baker’s life, though, I came to realize that hers was no tale of glamour and glitz—not exclusively.

Josephine Baker grew up in the slums of St. Louis, Missouri, a child of abject poverty and abuse. The theater was her escape, not only from her sorrow but also, on a more practical level, from the life of servitude and struggle that would have been her legacy had she remained in St. Louis. Her grandparents had been slaves. Her mother was a laundress married to a mentally-ill alcoholic. Josephine had a talent for dancing and buck teeth, and used these assets to their fullest extent. She went on the “Strawberry Trail,” the black vaudeville circuit, as a comedic chorus dancer, and stole every show.

The tour ended and she landed back in St. Louis with her sights on the Booker T. The Booker T. Washington Theatre offered vaudeville shows featuring African-American performers including Bessie Smith, “The Empress of the Blues.” Josephine landed a spot in one of the touring companies passing through and never looked back. She trained her body and practiced her moves until she was good enough for the chorus of “Shuffle Along,” the hit musical headed to Broadway. When she heard they were looking for a “hoofer” she took a train from Philadelphia, where she lived, to New York and slept on a Central Park bench the night before her audition. She was 15 years old.

Four years later, she hit the Paris stage in “La Revue Negre,” and became an overnight sensation. Soon she was headlining in the famous Folies-Bergère theater and traveling the world, Europe’s most highly-paid performer. She would also become the first black film star; the first black woman to headline with the Ziegfeld Follies in New York; the first black opera diva to sing in Paris’s Opera Garnier, and more. But Josephine Baker never forgot who she was, or the people she’d left behind.

In her 30s, as is true for so many women, Josephine Baker underwent a transformation. In her case, she blossomed from a needy, narcissistic youth to an empowered and formidable woman. The rise of Adolf Hitler was her catalyst: she joined the French Resistance as a spy to seduce and charm generals and diplomats into revealing their secrets, then smuggled the information across borders to deliver to the Allies. She risked her life many times because of her hatred of the Nazis and their racism, and when the Nazis invaded France, she helped a number of Jews escape.

After the war, having tasted the power to make a difference, Josephine Baker turned her efforts to fighting racial discrimination in the United States. Before agreeing to perform in Miami’s Copa City Club, she insisted that its audiences be racially integrated. The experiment’s smashing success inspired other clubs to follow suit, allowing black patrons for the first time because of Josephine Baker.

Buoyed by the response, Ms. Baker held a press conference to announce her U.S. tour—and stipulated that she would only perform in and patronize integrated venues. She continued to generate publicity throughout the tour: canceling her Atlanta shows after being turned away by city hotels; conducting a citizen’s arrest of a man in Los Angeles who made racist comments about her, and more.

She was relentless—and, in the minds of some, she went too far. Prominent white men including the celebrity journalist Walter Winchell and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, accused her of being a Communist sympathizer. Her agent warned her to tone down her criticisms lest she lose everything, including the film deal with a script by Ernest Hemingway.

Although she badly needed the money, Josephine Baker refused to back down. And she did lose everything, including her beloved castle in southern France, home for her multiracial “Rainbow Tribe” of children adopted from cultures around the world.

Josephine Baker’s life was no mere confection, as I had originally envisioned. She led a rich, full, active life with, ultimately, one goal: the elimination of racism. Although banned from the U.S. after her 1951 tour, she was invited to return in 1963 for the March on Washington with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She was the only woman to speak.

All my books thus far have featured real-life women who, in spite of the many forces against them, have realized their potential as human beings and made a positive difference for change.

Josephine Baker was one of the most influential people who have ever lived. Like Dr. King, whom she knew, she embodied love, peace, and equality. She inspired me to write JOSEPHINE BAKER’S LAST DANCE, and her example continues to encourage me, every day, to use my powers to make a difference in our crazy world.

About the Author

Author and journalist Sherry Jones is best known for her international bestseller The Jewel of Medina. She is also the author of The Sword of Medina, Four Sisters, All Queens, The Sharp Hook of Love, and the novella White Heart.  Sherry lives in Spokane, WA, where, like Josephine Baker, she enjoys dancing, singing, eating, advocating for equality, and drinking champagne. 

Her latest novel is Josephine Baker’s Last Dance.

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About the Book:

From the author of The Jewel of Medina, a moving and insightful novel based on the life of legendary performer and activist Josephine Baker, perfect for fans of The Paris Wife and Hidden Figures.

Discover the fascinating and singular life story of Josephine Baker—actress, singer, dancer, Civil Rights activist, member of the French Resistance during WWII, and a woman dedicated to erasing prejudice and creating a more equitable world—in Josephine Baker’s Last Dance.

In this illuminating biographical novel, Sherry Jones brings to life Josephine's early years in servitude and poverty in America, her rise to fame as a showgirl in her famous banana skirt, her activism against discrimination, and her many loves and losses. From 1920s Paris to 1960s Washington, to her final, triumphant performance, one of the most extraordinary lives of the twentieth century comes to stunning life on the page.

With intimate prose and comprehensive research, Sherry Jones brings this remarkable and compelling public figure into focus for the first time in a joyous celebration of a life lived in technicolor, a powerful woman who continues to inspire today.

Purchase Josephine Baker’s Last Dance in paperback,  ebook,  and  audiobook  formats on  Simon and Schuster’s website (available on Amazon,  Barnes and Noble,  BooksAMillion,  Indiebound,  Kobo,  and  other sites). Learn more about Sherry’s books  at  www.authorsherryjones.com