Full Name:Freda Josephine McDonald

Birth Year & Hometown:1906

St. Louis, MissouriWhen we think of Josephine Baker, we think of the classic

banana skirt, her hit single, “J'ai deux amours,” and her recent

dazzling performance in Siren of the Tropics. Sounds like a lot of glamour and success for some-one of only 20 years, doesn’t it? one of only 20 years, doesn’t it? Well, EM’s Karl Meissner got to sit down with the sensational

young star and ask her what she thought about all of the fame

surrounding her.

When did you start to perform for people?Well, everythin’ was mostly Well, everythin’ was mostly normal until I was 12, when I hadta drop outta school because my momma couldn’t afford it no more. I used to dance for folks on street corners so they’d give me money or food. I was real good at it. Sometimes a few good at it. Sometimes a few people, an’ even whole crowds of ‘em sometimes, would stop just to watch me dance. But still it was real tough. But one day, a man asked me if I was interested in goin’ to dance for people in a big show. The Chorus Vaudebig show. The Chorus Vaude-ville, he called it. When he told me I wouldn’t have to live on the streets no more, I near begged him to take me that instant. I was 15 then. From there I per-formed a lot, an’ soon I was off to New York, and now here I am.

What has influenced your per-formance over the years?

“When he told me I wouldn’t have to live on the streets no more, I near begged him to

take me that instant. I was 15 then.”

Josephine BakerTHE TRUE STORY