Soundtrack of the movie "Henry and June."

Billie Holiday, Ethel Waters...

And then there were all those men of the jazz age...

Brings to mind something I heard. I don't remember who or when it was, but a major black star of a certain age broke down in tears. When asked why, she said when she was younger they wouldn't let her rent a hotel room in DC, but now she's in the White House singing for the President.

Street kid. Gets into blackface/whiteface routines as a comic dancer. Moves to Paris at 19. Begins as a naked dancer. Turns to a singing career. Squeaky voice at first but it improves amazingly. Short film career. Long career as a singer. Renounces US citizenship and becomes French citizen. Works for the Free French in WWII. Awarded various military medals. Comes to US temporarily in 1950s. Refuses to play segregated houses. Picks fight with conservative journalist, who sets out to prove she's a communist. Loses US visa. Adopts 12 children of various colors. Buried with military honors by the French.

31 December 2014
By Joanne Griffith

... Her formative years were marked by abuse and poverty and by the time young Freda was a teenager, she was living on the streets and surviving on food scraps from bins ... At the age of 19, Baker was spotted by a talent recruiter who was looking for entertainers to perform in a groundbreaking all-black revue in Paris ... Baker headed to France and never looked back ... On 2 October 1925, she debuted in Revue Nègre at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Dressed in little more than pearls and feathers, Baker performed her Danse Sauvage to a rapturous audience ... Baker went on to star in four movies ... During World War II she served as a sub-lieutenant in the Women’s Auxiliary of the French air force ... She traveled back to her homeland to perform .. in 1951 ... She refused to perform in venues that would not allow a racially mixed audience ... As a result, she ended up on the FBI watch list ... With the help of .. Robert F Kennedy, Baker finally returned .. in 1963 to speak at the March on Washington ... Baker took to the stage in her French air force uniform ... “You know I have always taken the rocky path,” Baker told the crowd ...

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20141222-from-exotic-dancer-to-activist

Last edited Sat Jun 13, 2015, 03:25 AM - Edit history (1)