Suzanne Jeanne Baulé (Frede) (1914-1976) created a space for others to dance, perform, and be free. She was an androgynous queen of nightlife during one of the most liberated and frightening times in French history.
Suzanne Jeanne Baulé (Frede) (1914-1976) created a space for others to dance, perform, and be free. She was an androgynous queen of nightlife during one of the most liberated and frightening times in French history.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Womanica.
Today we’re talking about someone who wasn’t a star of the stage. Instead, she created a space for others to dance, perform, and be free. She was an androgynous queen of nightlife during one of the most liberated and frightening times in French history.
Please welcome Frede!
Suzanne Jeanne Baulé was born November 8, 1914. She was raised in France. Her father was an insurance agent and her mother was a plumassier, and worked with feathers. Suzanne studied at the École Duperré, a public school of art and design. But, in the economic fallout of World War I, her family was struggling financially. So, at the age of 17 she decided she needed to earn a living.
Suzanne started by painting sets at the Folies Bergère, an established cabaret music hall that opened in 1869. It’s where stars like Josephine Baker and Maurice Chevalier had their debuts. And it was there that Suzanne first discovered the vibrant nightlife of Paris.
One day the club asked Suzanne to be an extra for one of the shows. But they soon decided she was actually too masculine for the job. Instead, they suggested she go work at Le Monocle, a lesbian nightclub in the Montmartre area.
Le Monocle was founded in 1932. The period of Parisian history known as les années folles, or “the crazy years,” had just ended. During that time, in the 1920s, the economy boomed and the city became a cultural capital. Many writers, musicians, and artists from all over the world gathered in the city to live, work and exchange ideas. The Left Bank was home to the boom of café culture as artists and bohemians gathered by day. The Right Bank was the center of Paris by night. In Montmartre queer women sought out Le Monocle to enjoy music, dancing, and the relative freedom to do as they pleased. At Le Monocle most women dressed like gentlemen – with short hair and tuxedos.
Suzanne adopted this look, and a masculine pseudonym: Frede.
In his autobiography, the actor Errol Flynn wrote: Frede “dressed better than any man I’ve seen…her haircut looked better on her than on any man.”
Frede met a few of her lovers at Le Monocle. One night in 1936 she met the German actress Marlene Dietrich. It’s said that Marlene wore a bracelet that looked like a long snake winding down her arm all the way to her index finger. It was meant to scare off men who wanted to kiss her hand. But she did let Frede kiss her hand in the end. So began a romance that lasted four years.
Throughout the years Frede also had relationships with the actress Lana Marconi, the princess Zina Rachevsky, and the Mexican actress María Felix. The relationship with María ended poorly. Maria sued Frede for allegedly stealing a necklace she had given her, and a painting that the surrealist Leonor Fini had painted of the two of them. Once returned, María had the face of Frede painted over with her own.
In December of 1938 Frede opened her own cabaret, called La Silhouette.
But it wasn’t open for long. When World War II broke out in 1939, Frede fled to Biarritz [bee-ah-REETZ] on the southwest coast of France. There she opened another club called Le Touch-Wood.
At the end of the war, she finally returned to Paris and opened what became her final cabaret: Le Carrol’s. It was a nondescript gray building that soon became a hub for the jet-setting elite: bankers, diplomats, singers and movie stars. It was also the first club that allowed women to dance together. Le Carrol’s remained a success until the disco era began to rise in the late 50s.
In 1970, Frede became ill with leukemia, and sold the cabaret. She retired to her country house and died February 13, 1976. She was 61 years old.
All month we’re highlighting queer stars of the stage and screen.
For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
Talk to you tomorrow!