The Josephine Baker Story is a 1991 television movie

Television movie

A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...

 that debuted on the TV Broadcasting System, HBO. The movie told the life of that of Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker

Josephine Baker was an American dancer, singer, and actress who found fame in her adopted homeland of France. She was given such nicknames as the "Bronze Venus", the "Black Pearl", and the "Créole Goddess"....

, an African-American, who rose to popularity in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, in the late-1920s, with her "banana dance"; meaning she wore only bananas on her bottom, and, went topless, during most performances. Unlike most biographical film

Biographical film

A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...

s, The Josephine Baker Story, deeply enters the personal life of Baker; rather than just her life in the public eye.

The film starred Lynn Whitfield

Lynn Whitfield

Lynn Whitfield is an American actress.Whitfield began her acting career in television and theatre, before progressing to supporting roles in film. She won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special and a NAACP Image Award for her performance as Josephine Baker in the...

 (in the lead), Rubén Blades

Rubén Blades

Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter, lawyer, actor, Latin jazz musician, and politician, performing musically most often in the Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres...

, and David Dukes

David Dukes

David Coleman Dukes was an American character actor.-Life:Dukes was born in San Francisco, California, the son of a highway patrolman...

; co-starring in the film were Louis Gossett, Jr.

Louis Gossett, Jr.

Louis Cameron Gossett, Jr. is an American actor best known for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman and Fiddler in the 1970s television miniseries Roots...

, Craig T. Nelson

Craig T. Nelson

Craig Theodore Nelson is an American actor. He is probably best known for his Emmy-winning roles as Hayden Fox on the TV series Coach, and as Steve Freeling in the 1982 film Poltergeist. He also starred in The Incredibles in 2004 as Mr...

, Kene Holliday

Kene Holliday

Kenneth Earl "Kene" Holliday is a prolific American character actor of stage, film, and television, best known for his role as Ben Matlock's original private investigator, Tyler Hudson, on Andy Griffith's hit television series Matlock....

, Vivan Bonnell, and Vivienne Eytle. The film was nominated several awards, and lives on in today's world.

Cast

• Lynn Whitfield
  Lynn Whitfield
  Lynn Whitfield is an American actress.Whitfield began her acting career in television and theatre, before progressing to supporting roles in film. She won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special and a NAACP Image Award for her performance as Josephine Baker in the...
  
   as Josephine Baker
  Josephine Baker
  Josephine Baker was an American dancer, singer, and actress who found fame in her adopted homeland of France. She was given such nicknames as the "Bronze Venus", the "Black Pearl", and the "Créole Goddess"....
  
  
• Rubén Blades
  Rubén Blades
  Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter, lawyer, actor, Latin jazz musician, and politician, performing musically most often in the Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres...
  
   as Count Giuseppe Pepito Abatino
• David Dukes
  David Dukes
  David Coleman Dukes was an American character actor.-Life:Dukes was born in San Francisco, California, the son of a highway patrolman...
  
   as Jo Bouillon
• Louis Gossett, Jr.
  Louis Gossett, Jr.
  Louis Cameron Gossett, Jr. is an American actor best known for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 film An Officer and a Gentleman and Fiddler in the 1970s television miniseries Roots...
  
   as Sidney Williams
• Craig T. Nelson
  Craig T. Nelson
  Craig Theodore Nelson is an American actor. He is probably best known for his Emmy-winning roles as Hayden Fox on the TV series Coach, and as Steve Freeling in the 1982 film Poltergeist. He also starred in The Incredibles in 2004 as Mr...
  
   as Walter Winchell
  Walter Winchell
  Walter Winchell was an American newspaper and radio gossip commentator.-Professional career:Born Walter Weinschel in New York City, he left school in the sixth grade and started performing in a vaudeville troupe known as Gus Edwards' "Newsboys Sextet."His career in journalism was begun by posting...
  
  
• Kene Holliday
  Kene Holliday
  Kenneth Earl "Kene" Holliday is a prolific American character actor of stage, film, and television, best known for his role as Ben Matlock's original private investigator, Tyler Hudson, on Andy Griffith's hit television series Matlock....
  
  as Sidney Bechet
• Vivian Bonnell as Josephine's mother
• Vivienne Eytle as Josephine's sister