Remembering Josephine Baker: The Revered French Performer Who Doubled As A World War II Intelligence Gathering Spy
Josephine Baker, one of the most popular French entertainers of her day, led an impactful yet lesser-known secret life. The dancer and singer also doubled as a World War II spy.
Baker was born on June 3, 1906, in St. Louis, Missouri, and, at the age of sixteen, she began touring with a Philadelphia dance troupe.
In the mid-1920s, Baker moved to New York City and starred in her first Broadway show before traveling to Paris in 1925.
Her career rapidly gained momentum overseas, making “Josephine Baker” a household name in France.
But, in 1937, the performer was approached by the Deuxiéme Bureau with an opportunity that could not have been more different than performing– intelligence gathering.
Baker took on the secret title of Honorable Correspondent and used her entertainment career as her key into neighboring European counties.
While hiding confidential documents beneath her clothes, Baker would cite performing tours as her alibi for travel. She would also flash her famous smile and tease border agents– all of whom fell victim to her gaze.
The entertainer was never suspected for a minute and gathered crucial information about Hitler’s uprising.
Henrie Manuel, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; pictured above is Josephine
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Two critical pieces of information that Baker relayed back to the French bureau included how Japan had signed an anti-communist pact with Hitler, as well as how Germany planned to occupy the supposedly-neutral county of Portugal in order to use its seaports.
And, once the war struck France in 1940, Josephine’s efforts did not cease. Instead, she took up operations in her country home– the Chateau des Milandes– where local resistance members and refugees would meet. German soldiers did eventually visit Baker’s home to investigate. But, she yet again fooled them by claiming to be “just a dancer,” and no evidence of her resistance movement was ever found.
Baker was later recognized by the French government in 1961 and received a Legion D’Honneur, France’s highest decoration for military service. And once she returned to Germany in 1945 following the end of the war, Baker was also honored at the Allied Victory ceremony.
The star-turned-spy continued to perform and advocate for equality throughout the rest of her life and lived to be sixty-eight years old before passing away in 1975– just one day after her fiftieth anniversary of being in show business.
Still, while Baker loved entertainment, she also regarded her “war years” as the most rewarding highlight of her life.
And as of 2021, Baker was awarded admission into the French Pantheon, which honors France’s most influential historical figures, including the likes of Marie Curie, Victor Hugo, and Voltaire. Baker is now just one of five women who have ever obtained such an honor.
To learn more about Josephine Baker’s unbelievable life, you can now read the book “Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy,” which was just released last month.
If true crime defines your free time, this is for you: join Chip Chick’s True Crime Tribe.
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