The colorful owner of French celebrity haunt Chez Josephine in Hell's Kitchen committed suicide after struggling for years with depression, close friends confirmed to The Post.
The body of Jean-Claude Baker, 71, was discovered Thursday morning by police inside his Mercedes-Benz at his East Hampton home, though it's unclear exactly when he died.
Friends of the beloved restaurateur — who opened the West 42nd Street eatery as a tribute to his adoptive mother, jazz performer Josephine Baker — said he was battling severe depression despite his larger-than-life personality.
"He stood out for his unfailing generosity and joy and laughter and love that he brought to everyone that knew him," said Patrick Pancheco, who was friends with Baker for 40 years.
"He was struggling with depression and with the arduous chore of getting through life. But he gave his all, and I think that was part of the problem — that somehow you just exhaust yourself in giving everybody the best of who you are."
Baker was one of 12 children Josephine Baker — the legendary African-American pop star, known best for her hip-shaking "Banana dance" at the Folies Bergere in Paris — adopted as part of her "Rainbow Tribe."
The openly gay Frenchman opened the bistro in 1986, a time when the neighborhood was known as the city's red-light district.
"The restaurant was a former massage parlor," Baker chuckled to The Post in 1999. "When I looked at the space, there was still a sign in the window that said, '$10, Complete Satisfaction.' "
Chez Josephine was where Harry Connick Jr. got his first break, at age 17, playing the piano, and where "Sopranos" star Michael Imperioli worked as a bus boy and waiter.
Shortly after firing Imperioli, Baker hired him back and served him a decadent meal as a way of teaching him a valuable life lesson, a friend recalled.
"The way you were treated today was the way you have to treat all of my customers," Baker warned Imperioli.
Celebs like Bill Murray, Liam Neeson and late wife Natasha Richardson, Brooke Astor and Billy Joel also dined at Chez Josephine.
The cozy restaurant also served as homebase for Baker — who flitted around in red silk pajamas and called everyone "dahhling."
"I think Jean-Claude was best friends to about a thousand people, believe me," said Pancheco.
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