Garcelle Beauvais
Encyclopedia
Garcelle Beauvais is a Haitian-American actress and former fashion model. She is best known for her roles as hotel employee Francesca "Fancy" Monroe on The WB
television sitcom, The Jamie Foxx Show
which ran from 1996 to 2001, and as Valerie Heywood on the ABC
crime drama, NYPD Blue
.
, to Marie-Claire Beauvais, a nurse, and Axel Jean Pierre, a lawyer. After her parents divorced, Garcelle and her six elder siblings moved with their mother to the US, first to Massachusetts
and later to Miami.
to pursue a career as a fashion model, and she was signed with Ford Models
and Irene Marie Models
in Miami. She modeled print ads for Avon
, Mary Kay
and Clairol
. Beauvais also modeled in catalogs for Lerner New York Clothing Line, Neiman Marcus
and Nordstrom
. She has appeared in Essence
and Ebony
and also walked the catwalk for Calvin Klein
and Isaac Mizrahi
. Beauvais is the cover model for Jet
June 6, 2011 issue.
She co-starred in The Jamie Foxx Show
. After The Jamie Foxx Show ended its run in 2001, Beauvais appeared in Luther Vandross
' music video, "Take You Out", playing Vandross' girlfriend. She had previously starred in R. Kelly's video for "Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)
" in 1996, as the wife of "Mr. Big", and the lover of R. Kelly, delivering the title line as inducement for an affair. She also posed for Playboy
's August 2007 issue. In 2008, Garcelle launched her children's jewelry line called Petit Bijou.
As of June 2011, Garcelle is a character on the TNT law drama Franklin & Bash.
Beauvais married Mike Nilon, an agent working for the Creative Artists Agency, on May 12, 2001. Their twin sons, Jax Joseph and Jaid Thomas, were born on October 8, 2007, after a five-year struggle with infertility. In April 2010, it was reported that Beauvais had discovered a five-year extramarital affair by Nilon. She reportedly outed him by sending his co-workers an email, the contents of which were leaked to the New York Post
. Beauvais issued a statement on April 9, 2010, explaining that her "focus at this time is on my kids and healing the pain". Beauvais filed for divorce from Nilon on May 10, 2010, seeking joint custody of their sons. The couple's divorce was finalized on April 1, 2011.
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
television sitcom, The Jamie Foxx Show
The Jamie Foxx Show
The Jamie Foxx Show is an American television sitcom that aired on the WB Network from August 28, 1996 to January 14, 2001. The series starred Jamie Foxx, Garcelle Beauvais, Christopher B. Duncan, Ellia English, and Garrett Morris.-Synopsis:...
which ran from 1996 to 2001, and as Valerie Heywood on the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
crime drama, NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
.
Early life
Beauvais was born in HaitiHaiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, to Marie-Claire Beauvais, a nurse, and Axel Jean Pierre, a lawyer. After her parents divorced, Garcelle and her six elder siblings moved with their mother to the US, first to Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
and later to Miami.
Career
At age seventeen, Beauvais went to New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to pursue a career as a fashion model, and she was signed with Ford Models
Ford Models
The Ford Modeling Agency, or as it is known today Ford Models, is a modeling agency in New York City. It was established in 1946 by Eileen and the late Gerard W. Ford.-Company:...
and Irene Marie Models
Irene Marie Models
Irene Marie Models was the first international full service modeling and talent agency in Miami Beach, Florida. Driven by the Agency’s forte in developing new and undiscovered talent the Irene Marie Management Group established and later re-invigorated the modeling scene in Florida.The agency...
in Miami. She modeled print ads for Avon
Avon Products
Avon Products, Inc. is a US cosmetics, perfume and toy seller with markets in over 140 countries across the world and sales of $9.9 billion worldwide as of 2007.-Business Model:...
, Mary Kay
Mary Kay
Mary Kay, Inc. is a privately held company that sells skin care and cosmetics products. Mary Kay World Headquarters is located in Addison, Texas, United States, a Dallas suburb. Mary Kay Ash founded Mary Kay Inc. on Friday, September 13, 1963...
and Clairol
Clairol
Clairol is a personal care products division of Procter & Gamble. The Clairol company was started in 1931 by Lawrence M. Gelb and wife, Joan, who named their enterprise after a hair-coloring preparation they found while traveling in France....
. Beauvais also modeled in catalogs for Lerner New York Clothing Line, Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus, formerly Neiman-Marcus, is a luxury specialty retail department store operated by the Neiman Marcus Group in the United States. The company is headquartered in the One Marcus Square building in Downtown Dallas, Texas, and competes with other department stores such as Saks Fifth...
and Nordstrom
Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. is an upscale department store chain in the United States, founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin. Initially a shoe retailer, the company today also sells clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances, and in some locations, home furnishings...
. She has appeared in Essence
Essence (magazine)
Essence is a monthly magazine for African-American women between the ages of 18 and 49. The magazine covers fashion, lifestyle and beauty with an intimate girlfriend-to-girlfriend tone.-History:...
and Ebony
Ebony (magazine)
Ebony, a monthly magazine for the African-American market, was founded by John H. Johnson and has published continuously since the autumn of 1945...
and also walked the catwalk for Calvin Klein
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc. in 1968. In addition to clothing, Klein has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewelry....
and Isaac Mizrahi
Isaac Mizrahi
Isaac Mizrahi is an American TV presenter, fashion designer, and was the creative director of Liz Claiborne. He is best known for his eponymous fashion lines.-Early life:...
. Beauvais is the cover model for Jet
Jet (magazine)
Jet is an American weekly marketed toward African-American readers, founded in 1951 by John H. Johnson of Johnson Publishing Company in Chicago, Illinois...
June 6, 2011 issue.
She co-starred in The Jamie Foxx Show
The Jamie Foxx Show
The Jamie Foxx Show is an American television sitcom that aired on the WB Network from August 28, 1996 to January 14, 2001. The series starred Jamie Foxx, Garcelle Beauvais, Christopher B. Duncan, Ellia English, and Garrett Morris.-Synopsis:...
. After The Jamie Foxx Show ended its run in 2001, Beauvais appeared in Luther Vandross
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...
' music video, "Take You Out", playing Vandross' girlfriend. She had previously starred in R. Kelly's video for "Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)
Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)
"Down Low " is an R&B song about infidelity, released as a single by R. Kelly and featuring The Isley Brothers, on his self-titled album, in 1996...
" in 1996, as the wife of "Mr. Big", and the lover of R. Kelly, delivering the title line as inducement for an affair. She also posed for Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
's August 2007 issue. In 2008, Garcelle launched her children's jewelry line called Petit Bijou.
As of June 2011, Garcelle is a character on the TNT law drama Franklin & Bash.
Personal life
A marriage to producer Daniel Saunders ended in divorce. They had a son, Oliver, born in 1991.Beauvais married Mike Nilon, an agent working for the Creative Artists Agency, on May 12, 2001. Their twin sons, Jax Joseph and Jaid Thomas, were born on October 8, 2007, after a five-year struggle with infertility. In April 2010, it was reported that Beauvais had discovered a five-year extramarital affair by Nilon. She reportedly outed him by sending his co-workers an email, the contents of which were leaked to the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
. Beauvais issued a statement on April 9, 2010, explaining that her "focus at this time is on my kids and healing the pain". Beauvais filed for divorce from Nilon on May 10, 2010, seeking joint custody of their sons. The couple's divorce was finalized on April 1, 2011.
Filmography
- ManhunterManhunter (film)Manhunter is a 1986 American thriller film based on Thomas Harris's novel Red Dragon. Written and directed by Michael Mann, it stars William Petersen as Will Graham and features Brian Cox as Hannibal Lecktor...
(1986) - Coming to AmericaComing to AmericaComing to America is a 1988 comedy film directed by John Landis. The screenplay was written by David Sheffield and Barry W. Blaustein, from a story by Eddie Murphy, who also stars in the film. Murphy plays an African prince, who heads to the United States in hopes of finding a woman he can marry...
(1988) - Every Breath (1993)
- Wild Wild WestWild Wild WestWild Wild West is a 1999 American steampunk action-comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, and starring Will Smith, Kevin Kline , Kenneth Branagh and Salma Hayek.Similar to the original TV series it was based on, The Wild Wild West, the film features a large amount of gadgetry...
(1999) - Double Take (2001)
- Bad CompanyBad Company (2002 film)Bad Company is a 2002 action-comedy film directed by Joel Schumacher, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and starring Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock.-Plot:...
(2002) - BarberShop 2: Back in BusinessBarbershop 2: Back in BusinessBarbershop 2: Black in Business is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Kevin Rodney Sullivan, produced by State Street Pictures and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on February 6, 2004...
(2004) - American GunAmerican GunAmerican Gun is a 2005 film produced by Participant Productions, IFC Films, IFC First Take, and Spirit Dance Entertainment. It was written in 2001 by Steven Bagatourian and Aric Avelino and directed by Avelino as his directorial debut....
(2005) - I Know Who Killed MeI Know Who Killed MeI Know Who Killed Me is a 2007 American horror-thriller film directed by Chris Sivertson and starring Lindsay Lohan.-Plot:The quiet suburb of New Salem is being terrorized by a serial killer who abducts and tortures young women, holding them captive for weeks before murdering them...
(2007) - Women in TroubleWomen in TroubleWomen in Trouble is a 2009 American comedy film, written and directed by Sebastian Gutierrez, and starring a cast consisting of Carla Gugino, Adrianne Palicki, Marley Shelton, Connie Britton and Emmanuelle Chriqui.-Plot:...
(2009)
Television work
- Miami ViceMiami ViceMiami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989...
(1984 and 1985) - The Cosby ShowThe Cosby ShowThe Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...
(1986) (uncredited) - Family Matters (1991–1996)
- Dream OnDream On (TV series)Dream On is an American adult-themed situation comedy about single New Yorker, Martin Tupper. The show used a gimmick where old black and white clips were used to punctuate the main character's feelings or thoughts...
(1992) - The Fresh Prince Of Bel-AirThe Fresh Prince of Bel-AirThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990 to May 20, 1996. The show stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who is sent to move in with his aunt and uncle in their...
(1992 and 1995) - Hanging with Mr. Cooper (1993)
- R. KellyR. KellyRobert Sylvester Kelly , better known by his stage name R. Kelly, is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. A native of Chicago, Kelly began performing during the late 1980s and debuted in 1992 with the group Public Announcement. In 1993, Kelly went solo with the album 12 Play...
- "Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)"Down Low " is an R&B song about infidelity, released as a single by R. Kelly and featuring The Isley Brothers, on his self-titled album, in 1996...
" (music videoMusic videoA music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
) (1995) - Models, Inc.Models, Inc.Models Inc. is an American prime time soap opera that aired on the Fox television network during the 1994-1995 television season. It is the third series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise. The series was created by Charles Pratt, Jr. and Frank South, and executive produced by Aaron Spelling,...
(1994–1995) - The Wayans Bros (1995)
- The Jamie Foxx ShowThe Jamie Foxx ShowThe Jamie Foxx Show is an American television sitcom that aired on the WB Network from August 28, 1996 to January 14, 2001. The series starred Jamie Foxx, Garcelle Beauvais, Christopher B. Duncan, Ellia English, and Garrett Morris.-Synopsis:...
(1996–2001) - Arli$$ (1999)
- Opposite SexOpposite Sex (TV series)Opposite Sex is an American comedy-drama series that aired during FOX's summer 2000 schedule. The series was one of the first teen dramas to primarily use independent artists on its soundtrack by such acts as Elliott Smith and Ben Lee.-Synopsis:...
(2000) (canceled after 8 episodes) - NYPD BlueNYPD BlueNYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
(cast member from 2001–2004) - Luther VandrossLuther VandrossLuther Ronzoni Vandross was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...
- "Take You Out" (music video) (2001) - Second String (2002)
- The Bernie Mac ShowThe Bernie Mac ShowThe Bernie Mac Show is an American sitcom featuring comic actor Bernie Mac and his wife Wanda raising his sister's three kids: Jordan, Bryana and Vanessa. The show aired for five seasons , concluding with a half-hour series finale on Fox....
- seen in one episode 'Rope-a-Dope' as Wesley SnipesWesley SnipesWesley Trent Snipes is an American actor, film producer, and martial artist, who has starred in numerous action films, thrillers, and dramatic feature films. Snipes is known for playing the Marvel Comics character Blade in the Blade film trilogy, among various other high profile roles...
's motor-mouth wife (2003) - Curb Your EnthusiasmCurb Your EnthusiasmCurb Your Enthusiasm is an American comedy television series produced and broadcast by HBO, which premiered on October 15, 2000. As of 2011, it has completed 80 episodes over eight seasons. The series was created by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, who stars as a fictionalized version of himself...
(2004) - Life with BonnieLife With BonnieLife with Bonnie is an ABC television sitcom that originally aired from 2002 to 2004. The show outlined the life of character Bonnie Malloy, who juggled her personal life and a TV talk show position. The series was created by Bonnie Hunt and Don Lake, and produced by Miss Hunt's company, Bob &...
(2004) - EyesEyes (TV series)Eyes is an ABC television series starring Tim Daly as Harlan Judd. Eyes follows the firm of Judd Risk Management which uses marginally legal means to investigate individuals and crimes where law enforcement would fall short...
(2005–2007) (canceled after 9 episodes) - 10.5: Apocalypse10.5: Apocalypse10.5: Apocalypse is a 2006 television miniseries written and directed by John Lafia. A sequel to 2004's 10.5, the film follows a series of catastrophic seismic disasters .-Plot:...
(2006) - Women in Law (2006)
- CSI: MiamiCSI: MiamiCSI: Miami is an American police procedural television series, which premiered on September 23, 2002 on CBS. The series is a spin-off of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation....
(2006) - The Cure (2007)
- ManeaterManeater (2009 miniseries)Maneater is a 2009 television miniseries starring Sarah Chalke. It was directed by Timothy Busfield and written by Suzanne Martin and Gigi Levangie...
(2009) - Human TargetHuman TargetThe Human Target is the name of two fictional comic book characters that have appeared in books published by DC Comics. The first is Fred Venable, who appears in Detective Comics #201 , by Edmond Hamilton and Sheldon Moldoff....
(2010) - Franklin & BashFranklin & BashFranklin & Bash is an American drama-comedy television series created by Kevin Falls and Bill Chais. The series stars Breckin Meyer and Mark-Paul Gosselaar as unconventional lawyers and longtime friends. A Turner Broadcasting executive has referred to the series as a "funny legal procedural".The...
(2011)