Born Freda Josephine MCDONALD on June 3, 1906. She was an American-born French dancer, singer, activist, and French Resistance agent known for her work in cabaret theatres. She became famous in the mid 1920s as a dancer at French venues such as Folies Bergère in Paris. Her performance costume, a skirt made of artificial bananas, became an iconic look. She took her last name "Baker" from her second husband Willie BAKER and kept it after their divorce. She was the first African-American to star in a major motion picture with the film Siren of the Tropics in 1927. BAKER also made contributions to the American Civil Rights Movement, by refusing to perform in front of segregated audiences. During World War II she acted as a French Resistance agent and was awarded the Croix de guerre medal by the French military. Josephine BAKER adopted 12 children all of different ethnicities and referred to them as "The Rainbow Tribe". She mothered a 13th child, Jean-Claude Baker without formerly adopting him. Baker died in 1975 on April 12