Stunningly beautiful & talented Paulette Goddard was an American film & theatre actress who was short-listed for the role of Scarlett O’ Hara. She was married to several notable men, including Charlie Chaplin, Burgess Meredith & novelist Erich Maria Remarque, Paulette Goddard was known to have had several affairs with women, including a tryst with artist Frieda Kahlo. Goddard was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in So Proudly We Hail! (1943).
In Star Spangled Rhythm she sang a musical number- A Sweater, A Sarong, & A Peekaboo Bang.; I have been searching for the chart for this tune, I think it might be a smart addition to my club act. Starting In the 1970s, she was good chums with Andy Warhol, until his death in 1987. She was portrayed by Diane Lane in the 1992 film- Chaplin. She was my father's favorite movie star. He grew up in the Silver Lake neighborhood & met her once hiking near the reservoir. Paulette Goddard would have been 101 years old today.
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Josephine Baker was born in poverty in St. Louis, Missouri. She was ambitious, beautiful, & talented, & the toast of Europe at the height of her fame. By the mid-1920s she was captivating audiences in Paris as a dancer, singer, & actress. She was the 20th century's first international black female sex symbol.
Famous for her glamorous, extravagant lifestyle, Baker could be devious, manipulative, & relentless. She was also always willing to break the rules, especially those relating to sex, & her sexual conquests were legendary. There were many sexual liaisons with women, which continued from adolescence to the end of her life. Among her female lovers were Clara Smith, a black blues singer who secured Baker her first job as a chorus girl, French novelist Colette, & Paulette Goddard’s cast off- Frida Kahlo.
Onstage she radiated such gay energy & camp that by the end of her career most of her faithful audience consisted of gay men. As part of her crusade against racism, & because she was unable to conceive children herself, Baker adopted what she called her "Rainbow Tribe" of 12 children from different parts of the world. She refused to perform for segregated audiences in the United States. Her insistence on mixed audiences helped to integrate shows in Las Vegas.
During WW2, Baker to showed her loyalty to her adopted country by participating in the Underground, smuggling intelligence to the resistance outside of France coded within her sheet music. After the war, for her underground activity, Baker received the Croix de Guerre, the Rosette de la Résistance, & was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by General Charles de Gaulle.
On April 8, 1975, Baker starred in a retrospective revue at the Bobino in Paris — Joséphine à Bobino 1975, celebrating her 50 years in show business. The revue, financed by Prince Rainier, Princess Grace, & Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, opened to SRO crowds & to rave reviews. The opening night audience included Sophia Loren, Mick Jagger, Shirley Bassey, Diana Ross & Liza Minnelli. 4 days later, Baker was found dead in her bed surrounded by newspapers with glowing reviews of her performance.
After her death in Paris in 1975, 3 funerals were held, 1 in Paris & 2 in Monaco, attended by much of the French government & entertainment elite. She was the first American woman to receive full French military honors at her funeral. At the request of her long time friend & benefactor Princess Grace, she was buried in Monaco.
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