38. She Rose From Extreme Poverty
The glitter and glamour of theater and the stage did not mask the fact that Josephine Baker’s parents struggled to make ends meet. She was raised in poverty in a low income neighborhood that consisted mostly of boarding houses, whorehouses, and apartments without running water or indoor plumbing. Growing up, Baker often went hungry, and was always poorly dressed in second or third hand hand-me-downs. Playing with other urchins in the railyard and along the tracks, she developed street smarts, that served her well in her future career.