Jarry Baker

Two of Josephine Baker's sons, Jean-Claude and Jarry (Jari), grew up to go into business together, running the restaurant Chez Josephine on Theatre Row, 42nd Street, New York, which celebrates Baker's life. Jarry Baker is now running the business, after Jean-Claude died in 2015.

Jarry Bouillon Baker, adopted son of Josephine Baker and Jo Bouillon, will appear at THE JOSEPHINE BAKER exhibit on behalf of Jean Claude Baker - the mastermind restaurateur who created CHEZ JOSEPHINE in New York.

Tragically, Jean Claude left us in 2015 and Jarry perpetuates his iconic legacy that ultimately, is a tribute to Josephine Baker.

Jarry, of Finnish descent, was not treated well by Josephine when she discovered he was gay and consequently, sent him to live with his Father in Argentina, after she separated from Jo. Years later, Jarry relocated to New York and was embraced by Jean Claude. Originally, Jarry was a waiter in the restaurant.

We are honored to have Jarry Bouillon Baker in attendance at our historic event that has become one of the most celebrated events of 2019. Jarry will speak in memory of Josephine Baker - and yes, he has forgiven her.

• http://www.artfixdaily.com/artwire/release/5212-josephine-baker-exh...

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Josephine found herself on a lecture tour in Scandinavia and hoping for a third child. Miraculously, a “towheaded, chubby, pink- and-white baby boy”, in an orphanage, “kicked back his covers and held his arms out to me”. She had good timing, too, she wrote, because it seemed that the boy was only days away from being turned out of the orphanage.

Another child had been saved. Baker renamed him Jarry and had him baptised a Protestant, then brought him back to Les Milandes. She had great plans to educate the children in their native tongues, but that proved difficult. When Jarry was reunited with his Finnish-speaking birth mother years later, they needed to speak through a translator. Baker’s autobiography gives the story of Jarry’s adoption a veneer of truth. His story, though, was messier than she knew.

One-year-old Jarry had been placed in the orphanage as a temporary matter, a consequence of an infant sister at home who was ill. Baker had been guided to the orphanage by a wealthy friend and driven there by Jarry’s birth father, an ambitious chauffeur in the midst of a marital dispute with his wife. “My father arranged everything,” Jarry later said. He tricked his wife into signing release papers for the boy, presented the infant to Baker as an ideal type and pocketed the cash for the transaction. He made sure that young Jarry was in just the right place at just the right time, ready to kick off those covers and hold out those arms. “I leant over the blue-eyed Finn,” Baker remembered, “certain that he was the one.” Hoodwinked to make her “choice”, she had unwittingly stolen away a child.

• https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10765330/Would-the-perfec...

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https://www.mtvuutiset.fi/artikkeli/mtv-uutiset-haastatteli-orpokod...

Orpokodissa asuneen suomalaispojan Jarin elämä kääntyi päälaelleen, kun aikansa megatähti Josephine Baker adoptoi Jarin osaksi suurperhettään – lapset asuivat ranskalaisessa linnassa yltäkylläisyyden keskellä ....

Jari eli Jarry Baker on nykyisin ravintoloitsija New Yorkissa. Hänen nyt jo kuollut veljensä Jean-Claude perusti äidin muistoksi ravintolan Chez Josephine osoitteeseen Theatre Row, 42nd Street, New York (Manhattan). Nykyisin Jari omistaa tämän tunnetun ravintolan.

Jarry Bouillon Baker, adopted son of Josephine Baker and Jo Bouillon, will appear at THE JOSEPHINE BAKER exhibit on behalf of Jean Claude Baker - the mastermind restaurateur who created CHEZ JOSEPHINE in New York.

Tragically, Jean Claude left us in 2015 and Jarry perpetuates his iconic legacy that ultimately, is a tribute to Josephine Baker.

Jarry, of Finnish descent, was not treated well by Josephine when she discovered he was gay and consequently, sent him to live with his Father in Argentina, after she separated from Jo. Years later, Jarry relocated to New York and was embraced by Jean Claude. Originally, Jarry was a waiter in the restaurant.

We are honored to have Jarry Bouillon Baker in attendance at our historic event that has become one of the most celebrated events of 2019. Jarry will speak in memory of Josephine Baker - and yes, he has forgiven her.

• http://www.artfixdaily.com/artwire/release/5212-josephine-baker-exh...

_____________________________________________

Josephine found herself on a lecture tour in Scandinavia and hoping for a third child. Miraculously, a “towheaded, chubby, pink- and-white baby boy”, in an orphanage, “kicked back his covers and held his arms out to me”. She had good timing, too, she wrote, because it seemed that the boy was only days away from being turned out of the orphanage.

Another child had been saved. Baker renamed him Jarry and had him baptised a Protestant, then brought him back to Les Milandes. She had great plans to educate the children in their native tongues, but that proved difficult. When Jarry was reunited with his Finnish-speaking birth mother years later, they needed to speak through a translator. Baker’s autobiography gives the story of Jarry’s adoption a veneer of truth. His story, though, was messier than she knew.

One-year-old Jarry had been placed in the orphanage as a temporary matter, a consequence of an infant sister at home who was ill. Baker had been guided to the orphanage by a wealthy friend and driven there by Jarry’s birth father, an ambitious chauffeur in the midst of a marital dispute with his wife. “My father arranged everything,” Jarry later said. He tricked his wife into signing release papers for the boy, presented the infant to Baker as an ideal type and pocketed the cash for the transaction. He made sure that young Jarry was in just the right place at just the right time, ready to kick off those covers and hold out those arms. “I leant over the blue-eyed Finn,” Baker remembered, “certain that he was the one.” Hoodwinked to make her “choice”, she had unwittingly stolen away a child.

• https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10765330/Would-the-perfec...

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