Josephine Baker: life of the week

Hello and welcome to Life of the Week from History Extra, where leading historians delve into the lives of history's most intriguing and significant figures. Celebrity, spying, civil rights. The extraordinary life of Josephine Baker had it all. From difficult beginnings, Baker transformed herself into the world's first black superstar before turning her talents to espionage on behalf of the French Resistance. Ellie Cawthorne spoke to historian Hannah Diamond, author of a new book on Baker, to find out more about everything from her showbiz lifestyle and tireless campaigning to her pet tutor and troupe of 12 adopted children.

Hannah, we're here today to talk about Josephine Baker. Before we get into the nitty-gritty, give us an idea of what's in store in her truly, I think it's fair to say, extraordinary life. Well, she is indeed extraordinary, and it's been a real honour actually to discover more about her in the course of my research. She was born in America in St. Louis in the most, really the most deprived of circumstances, and she managed to get out of that environment and become a danster and came to France between the wars and became

the most extraordinarily huge star. I actually I think of her as being as one of the first celebrities, you know, images of her walking down the Champs-Élysées with her pet cheetah. Initially she made her name as a dancer. She went on to become a singer, a musical singer, a film star. And then when the war broke out, which is my area of expertise, she joined the war effort and became a spy helping the Allies and

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