Garcelle Beauvais | |
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Beauvais at Race to Witch Mountain premiere in March 2009
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Born |
Saint-Marc, Haiti |
November 26, 1966
Occupation | Actress, singer, model |
Years active | 1984–present |
Spouse(s) | Daniel Saunders (1991–2000) Mike Nilon (2001–2011) |
Children | 3 |
Garcelle Beauvais (French pronunciation: [gaʁsɛl bovɛ]: born November 26, 1966) is a Haitian-American actress and former fashion model. She is best known for her roles as 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.
Beauvais was born in Saint-Marc, Haiti, 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 United States, first to Massachusetts and later to Miami.
At age seventeen, Beauvais went to New York City to pursue a career as a fashion model, after 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; and walked the catwalk for Calvin Klein and Isaac Mizrahi, as well as shooting TV commercials for Burdines. She has appeared in Essence and Ebony, and is the cover model for the Jet June 6, 2011 issue. She also posed for Playboy's August 2007 issue.