Josephine Mary Premice was an American actress and singer known for her work on the Broadway stage.
Background
Josephine Mary Premice was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Thelomaine and Lucas Premice. Her parents were part of the Haitian aristocracy who fled Haiti after her father, Lucas Premice, who allegedly had claim to the title Count de Brodequin, was part of a failed rebellion to try to overthrow the dictator of the country.
Career
Lucas was imprisoned in Guiana. He and a fellow prisoner to whom he was chained escaped and fled through the woods to friends that awaited them on the coast. On the third day of their journey, the other man died, and Lucas is said to have had to cut off the man"s arm to free himself from the chains.
He was brought to France, where he learned to cut fur for the couturiers.
He eventually immigrated to New York in the early 1920s. An alum of Columbia University with a degree in anthropology., she was also known for her calypso recordings and fashion sense.
Premice died in her Manhattan residence on April 13, 2001 at the age of 74 from complications of emphysema.