In 1926, Josephine Baker, an African-American expatriate singer, dancer and entertainer, caused a sensation at the Folies Bergère by dancing in a costume consisting of a skirt made of a string of artificial bananas and little else.

It opened on 2 May 1869 as the Folies Trévise, with light entertainment including operettas, opéra comique (comic opera), popular songs, and gymnastics.

In 30 November 1886, the Folies Bergère, staged the first revue-style music hall show Place au jeûne !, featuring Alice Berthier [fr] and scantily clad chorus girls, was a tremendous success.

During his 48 years at the Folies, he launched the careers of many French stars including Maurice Chevalier, Mistinguett, Josephine Baker, Fernandel and many others.

Michel Gyarmathy [de], a young Hungarian arrived from Balassagyarmat, his hometown, designed the poster for En Super Folies, a show starring Baker in 1936.

This began a long love story between Michel Gyarmathy, Paris, the Folies Bergère and the public of the whole world which lasted 56 years.

In August 1974, the Folies Antonia Derval passed on the direction of the business to Hélène Martini, the empress of the night (25 years earlier she had been a showgirl in the revues).

This new mistress of the house reverted to the original concept to maintain the continued existence of the last music hall which remained faithful to the tradition.

The Folies Bergère inspired the Ziegfeld Follies in the United States and other similar shows, including the Teatro Follies in Mexico and a long-standing revue, The Las Vegas Folies Bergere, at the Tropicana Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, which opened in 1959, closed at the end of March 2009 after nearly 50 years in operation.