''The Josephine Baker Story'' is an American

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

that first aired on HBO on March 16, 1991. It stars

Lynn Whitfield Lynn Whitfield (''née'' Smith; born February 15, 1953) is an American actress. She began her acting career in television and theatre before progressing to supporting roles in film. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a ...

Josephine Baker Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald; naturalised French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an American-born French dancer, singer and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted Fran ...

, who was an international

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

star, who was especially successful in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. The film was generally well received by critics and has become a success on

home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...

and DVD. The original music score was composed by

Georges Delerue Georges Delerue (12 March 1925 – 20 March 1992) was a French composer who composed over 350 scores for cinema and television. Delerue won numerous important film music awards, including an Academy Award for '' A Little Romance'' (1980), three C ...

. The film was nominated for several awards and won 5

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for art direction, costume design, hairstyling, directing by Brian Gibson and for acting by

Plot

Born into a poor family in St. Louis,

struggles to make a name for herself on the vaudeville circuit. As her career progresses, so does her resentment of racial prejudice, motivating her to move to Paris—where in a short time, her exotic dance routines make her the toast of the town. Swayed by the influence of her manager, she takes the act back to America. It fails, but Josephine perseveres, proving herself as much humanitarian as entertainer.

Cast

**Mayah McCoy as Josephine Baker Age 8 **Ainsley Curry as Josephine Baker Age 13 *

Rubén Blades Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna (born July 16, 1948), known professionally as Rubén Blades (, but in Panama and within the family), is a Panamanian musician, singer, composer, actor, activist, and politician, performing musically most often in th ...

as Count Giuseppe Pepito Abatino *

David Dukes David Coleman Dukes (June 6, 1945 – October 9, 2000) was an American character actor. He had a long career in films, appearing in 35. Dukes starred in the miniseries '' The Winds of War'' and '' War and Remembrance'', and he was a frequent tel ...

Jo Bouillon Joseph Bouillon (3 May 1908 – 9 July 1984) was a French composer, conductor and violinist. As Joséphine Baker's fourth husband, he enjoyed prominence in the 1950s. Biography Bouillon's father and his brother Gabriel were musicologists, re ...

* Louis Gossett Jr. as

Sidney Williams Sidney Williams (born 1962) is an American author of six novels under his own name and three young adult novels under the pseudonym Michael August. He has also authored numerous short stories and comic book scripts. Williams received a Master o ...

* Craig T. Nelson as

Walter Winchell Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972) was a syndicated American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. Originally a vaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as a Broadway reporter, critic and ...

Kene Holliday Kenneth Earl Holliday (born June 25, 1949) is an American actor of stage, film, and television. He is known for his role as Ben Matlock's original private investigator, Tyler Hudson, on '' Matlock'', and as Sgt. Curtis Baker on ''Carter Count ...

Sidney Bechet Sidney Bechet (May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Armstrong. His erratic tempe ...

Vivian Bonnell Vivian Bonnell (born Enid Mosier, May 23, 1924 – November 18, 2003) was an actress and calypso singer, originally from Antigua, British West Indies. In 1954, she starred opposite Pearl Bailey in the Broadway musical '' House of Flowers''. She ...

as Josephine's mother *Vivienne Eytle as Josephine's sister

Production

was glad to be chosen to play Josephine Baker in this movie, but she was concerned about the scene requiring her to bare her breasts to perform Baker's famous "Banana Dance." "I was nervous about what my grandmother would think," she said, but then she warmed to the idea: "It's what you think Eve would look like."

Accolades

At the

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

, the film was nominated for "Best Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture",

was nominated for "Best Actress - Limited Series, Anthology Series or Television Motion Picture", and Louis Gossett Jr. won "Best Supporting Actor - Television".

References

External links

* * 1991 television films 1991 films 1990s biographical drama films African-American biographical dramas American biographical drama films Biographical films about entertainers Films scored by Georges Delerue HBO Films films Cultural depictions of Josephine Baker 1990s English-language films Films directed by Brian Gibson 1990s American films {{US-tv-drama-film-stub