Jean-Claude Baker

Jean-Claude Julien Léon Tronville, more commonly known as Jean-Claude Baker (April 18, 1943 – January 15, 2015), was a French-American restaurateur.

Early life and education Jean-Claude Baker was born Jean-Claude Julien Leon Tronville in 1943 in Dijon to Lucien Rouzaud and Constance Luce Tronville, who were not married when he was born, though they married later. At age 14, he struck out on his own, first to Paris where, as a bellhop in the Hôtel Scribe, he met Josephine Baker, an entertainer, activist, and wartime French Resistance agent.

Baker became the legal guardian of Jean-Claude, and he was then an unofficial addition to the 12 adopted children of her orphan "rainbow tribe". He, in turn, took her surname.

Career In 1968, Jean-Claude Baker founded a popular nightclub, Pimm's Cafe, in West Berlin He left the channel in 1981 by mutual agreement; the channel ultimately shut down in 1983 due to the financial restructuring of one of its partners.

In 1986 Baker opened the cafe "Chez Josephine" in New York City.

Books Baker, Jean-Claude & Chris Chase. Josephine: The Hungry Heart (2001), Cooper Square Pub;