BAKER, JOSEPHINE. Entertainer ( in St. Louis, Missouri; in Paris, France). She left home when she was thirteen to join a touring road show (according to some sources, a Bessie Smith show). Two years later she found employment in the chorus for the Noble Sissle/Eubie Blak Broadway musical, Shuffle Along (1921), and there first attracted wide attention, although she did not have a leading role. She next appeared in Sissle and Blake's musical (1921), and there first attracted wide attention, although she did not have a leading role. She next appeared in Sissle and Blake's musical ...