Background:

First coming to the attention of public on Aaron Spelling's “Models, Inc.” (Fox, 1994-1995) as the smart, ambitions and sassy young model, Cynthia Nichols, Haitian-American model turned actress Garcelle Beauvais went on to gain more recognition and popularity thanks to her roles as glorious hotel employee Francesca “Fancy”Monroe on The WB's hit sitcom, “The Jamie Foxx Show,” which ran from 1996 to 2001, and as A.D.A.Valerie Heywood on the ABC crime/drama series “NYPD Blue,” which she played from 2001 to 2004. She also had regular roles on the failed series “Opposite Sex” (2000) and “Eyes” (2005). She recently played Hanna Linden in a TNT show called “Franklin & Bash,” which premiered in June 2011. One of Black Men Magazine's “10 Sexiest Women of 2001, Beauvais has acted in several films, including “Wild Wild West” (1999), “Double Take” (2001), “Bad Company” (2002), “BarberShop 2: Back in Business” (2004), “American Gun” (2005), “I Know Who Killed Me” (2007) and “Women in Trouble” (2009).

The 5' 9” tall former Ford Agency model has been married twice: to Daniel Saunders from 1991until 2000 and to Mike Nilon from May 2001 to April 2011. She has three sons from the marriages. Beauvais is a good friends with actress/model Angie Harmon. She loves playing volleyball and tennis and walking on the beach on her free times.     


Divorcee

Childhood and Family:

Garcelle Beauvais was born on November 26, 1966, in St. Marc, Haiti, to Alex Jean Beauvais (died in 1990) and Marie Claire Beauvais. She is the youngest of seven children that consists of five girls and two boys. Following the divorce of her parents, a then seven year old Garcelle moved to the United States with her mother and her siblings. While her mother attending nursing school in New York, she stayed in a boarding school with a family in Peabody, Massachusetts. When she was 16, her family moved to Miami, where she attended Miami Norland High School and North Miami Beach High School. Already fluent in French and Creole, young Garcelle learned English through television series “Sesame Street.”

In 1991, Garcelle was married Daniel Saunders, a producer, but they later divorced in 2000. The marriage produced one child, son Oliver Saunders, who was born on February 22, 1991, when she was 24. Garcelle married second husband Mike Nilon, an agent working for the Creative Artists Agency, on May 12, 2001. The couple struggled with infertility for five years before eventually welcoming twin sons, Jaid Thomas Nilon and Jax Joseph Nilon, on October 18, 2007. In April 2010, after nearly a nine year of marriage, Garcelle learned that her husband had conducted a five year extramarital affair. She filed a divorce from Nilon on May 10, 2010 and requested a joint custody of their sons. Their divorce was finalized on April 1, 2011.


NYPD Blue

Career:

Starting modeling while living in Miami, Garcelle Beauvais headed to New York City at age 17 to find more opportunities. She landed a waitressing job in NY's Playboy Club before signed with Ford modeling Agency. The Haitian-born beauty appeared in print ads for Avon, Clairol and Mary Kay and also modeled in catalogs for Lerner New York Clothing Line, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom. She continued to grace the pages of “Essence” and “Ebony” and walked the catwalk for top designers like Calvin Klein and Isaac Mizrahi.  

Beauvais, who had developed a love for performing through appearances in a number of school plays, had her first taste in front of the television cameras when she had a bit part as waitress in an episode of the popular show “Miami Vice” called “Give a Little, Take a Little” (1984). She returned to the show to play Gabriella in the 1985 episode “ The Maze.” An uncredited part in an episode of “The Cosby Show” ensued in 1986. The same year, she also made her first film appearance in Michael Mann's “Manhunter.” She went on to have a small role in John Landis' “Coming to America.”  

Beauvais continued to land small roles in television shows like “Family Matters” (1991), which marked her first of a series of her guest appearances in the show, “Down the Shore” (1992), “Dream On” (1992) and “Hangin' with Mr. Cooper” (1993) and in the film “Every Breath” (1994), though her main focus was still on modeling. Her acting career gained an important boost when she landed the main role of Cynthia Nichols, a victim of bulimia and a violent rape by her abusive former boyfriend who comes to the agency to full fill her dreams of becoming a successful model, on the prime time soap opera “Models Inc.,” executive produced by Aaron Spelling. The show ran on Fox for a single season from June 29, 1994 to March 6, 1995.

After her stint on “Models Inc.,” Beauvais appeared in national commercials for Diet Coke and American Express with Jerry Seinfeld, and on MTV as a vixen in the R. Kelly music video for “Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)” (1996). She also made another guest appearances in “The Wayans Bros.” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” (both 1995) before returning to series television as a regular when she co-starred on The WB sitcom “The Jamie Foxx Show,” playing the beautiful and intelligent Francesca “Fancy” Monroe. She remained on the hit show throughout its entire five season run from August 28, 1996 until January 14, 2001.

While working on “The Jamie Foxx Show,” Beauvais also took other acting jobs. She played Belle in the popular western action/comedy film “Wild Wild West” (1999), which was directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and starred Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh and Salma Hayek, and guest starred in “Arli$$,” in the same year. In 2000, she portrayed Ms. Maya Bradley on the short lived teen drama series “Opposite Sex,” which lasted eight episodes before being axed. She had a supporting role on the critically panned comedy film “Double Take” (2001), which was directed by George Gallo and starred Eddie Griffin and Orlando Jones.

After the show ended, Beauvais portrayed Luther Vandross' girlfriend in the singer's music video for “Take You Out” and appeared in an episode of the Aaron Spelling short lived soap“Titans” (both 2001). However, the lovable actress did not enjoy another success on the small screen until she joined the cast of the ABC police drama series “NYPD Blue” in the regular role of Valerie Heywood, a no-nonsense, intelligent A.D.A. and girlfriend of Det. Baldwin Jones (played by Henry Simmons). She was on the show from 2001 to 2004.

Beauvais played the supporting role of Nicole on the Joel Schumacher action/comedy movie “Bad Company” (2002), starring Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock. The film received negative reviews and was a flop at the box office. She appeared with Jon Voight, Gil Bellows, Teri Polo and Richard T. Jones in the TNT TV film “Second String” (2002), had a minor role as Eddie (played by Cedric the Entertainer)'s former girlfriend and long lost love, Loretta, on the Kevin Rodney Sullivan directed comedy “Barbershop 2: Back in Business” (2004), a sequel to the 2002 hit film “Barbershop,” and co-starred as Forest Whitaker's wife in “American Gun” (2005), the directorial debut of Aric Avelino, who also co-wrote the screenplay. During this period, she could also be seen making guest appearances in television shows such as “The Bernie Mac Show” (2003), “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (2004), “Life with Bonnie” (2004).

After her departure from “NYPD Blue,” Beauvais co-starred with Tim Daly on the short lived ABC drama series “Eyes” (2005), created by John McNamara. In the following year, she appeared in the pilot for “Women in Law”and in an episode of “CSI: Miami” as well as worked with Kim Delaney, David Cubitt, Dean Cain, Carlos Bernard, Frank Langella and Beau Bridges in the television miniseries “10.5: Apocalypse,” a sequel to 2004's “10.5.” 2007 saw roles in the horror/thriller movie “I Know Who Killed Me,” where she played a detective named Julie Bascome, and the made for television film “The Cure,” opposite Michael Reilly Burke and Joe Howard. The same year, she also posed for the August issue of “Playboy.”   

After launching her children's jewelry line, Petit Bijou, in 2008, Beauvais returned to features when she played Maggie in Sebastian Gutierrez's comedy, “Women in Trouble” (2009), her last film to date. It received mixed reviews from critics. The actress maintained a steady presence on the small screen with roles on various programs like the 2009 miniseries “Maneater” (2 episodes, as Suzee Saunders), Starz' “Crash” (1 episodes, 2009), “Human Target” (1 episodes, 2010) and “State of Georgia” (1 episode, 2011). She co-starred as lawyer Hanna Linden in “Franklin & Bash,” which premiered on TNT on June 1, 2011. She graced the cover of “Jet'”s June 6, 2011 issue.  

Beauvais is set to play a role in the upcoming film “Flight,” directed by Robert Zemeckis. The cast will also include Denzel Washington, John Goodman and Don Cheadle.


Awards:

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