33. She Had a Fraught Relationship With Her Mother
Baker had a tempestuous relationship with her mother. Carrie McDonald had tried her hand as an entertainer, and having experienced its struggles and seediness, and ended up in dire poverty at the end of it all, she decided that nothing good could come of showbiz. So she constantly badgered and berated her daughter for trying to make a career as an entertainer. She also scolded Baker for neglecting her second husband, Willie Baker, whom she had married in 1921 at age 15. Things got worse between mother and daughter when Baker ditched her husband to go on tour, before eventually divorcing him in 1925. The fact the Baker proved her mother wrong when her career took off, only worsened matters.