Born: November 26, 1966
Birthplace: Saint-Marc, Haiti
Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius
Garcelle Beauvais is a Haitian-born American actress, television personality, author, and former fashion model. She is best known for her starring roles in the sitcom The Jamie Foxx Show and the crime drama series NYPD Blue. She also appeared in the films Coming to America (1988), White House Down (2013), and Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). In 2020, Beauvais became a main cast member of the reality television series The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Today, Garcelle Beauvais is one of the co-hosts on the daytime talk show The Real featuring Loni Love, Jeannie Mai and Adrienne Bailon.
Beauvais moved to Miami at 16 in an attempt to pursue a career in modeling. After driving down from Massachusetts, Beauvais hoped to interview for a modeling agency without an appointment. She was approached at a red light while putting on lipstick by the very owner of the agency she sought to see. After modeling with this agency for about a year, Beauvais, now seventeen, went to New York City to pursue a career as a fashion model, after signing with the Ford agency living with Eileen Ford and later modeled with Irene Marie Models. She modeled print ads for Avon, Mary Kay, and Clairol and in catalogs for Lerner New York Clothing Line, Neiman Marcus, and Nordstrom and walked the runway for Calvin Klein and Isaac Mizrahi and also shot TV commercials for Burdines.
Beauvais has graced the covers of numerous magazines such as CV Lux, VIVmag, Essence, Ebony, Jet, Playboy, Vibe and Hype Hair. In 2017, she was featured on five different magazine covers. In February 2011, she was one of the celebrities who modeled in red dresses for The Heart Truth Red Dress Collection show, part of New York Fashion Week.
Beauvais portrayed her first acting role in the romantic comedy film Coming to America at age 19. In 1994, she rose to prominence as an actress for her portrayal of Cynthia Nichols in the primetime Aaron Spelling soap opera Models Inc.. From 1996 to 2001, she co-starred in The Jamie Foxx Show as hotel employee Francesca "Fancy" Monroe and the love interest of Jamie Foxx's character, Jamie King. From 2001 to 2004, she played Assistant District Attorney Valerie Heywood and the love interest of Detective Baldwin Jones, played by Henry Simmons on NYPD Blue. In 2011 and 2012, Beauvais played Hanna Linden on the TNT law drama Franklin & Bash. In 2013, Beauvais portrayed the First Lady opposite Foxx as the President in the action thriller film White House Down. In 2017, she played the role of Doris Toomes, wife of Michael Keaton's character, Adrian Toomes, in Spider-Man: Homec
She starred in R. Kelly's music video for "Down Low (Nobody Has to Know)", as the wife of Ronald Isley and the lover of R. Kelly, delivering the title line as inducement for an affair. In 2001, after the Jamie Foxx Show ended its run, Beauvais appeared in Luther Vandross' music video, "Take You Out," playing Vandross' girlfriend. She also appeared on some episodes of Grimm as Henrietta. In 2016, Beauvais was named as one of the co-hosts of the syndicated infotainment discussion series Hollywood Today Live after a month-long period of guest hosting the show.
Beauvais recurred as Veronica Garland, the Wicked Stepmother character from Cinderella, on the second season of the web television series Tell Me a Story. She also portrayed Dennis Quaid's love interest in the web television series Merry Happy Whatever. Beauvais joined the cast of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills as the series' first black cast member during its tenth season, which premiered in April 2020. She will also co-host the daytime talk show The Real for its seventh season starting in September. Beauvais will reprise her role as a rose bearer in the sequel to the romantic comedy film Coming to America, titled Coming 2 America.
In 2008, Beauvais launched a children's jewelry line called Petit Bijou. In 2013, she published a children's book titled I Am Mixed, which tells the story of twins exploring "the thoughts and emotions of being of mixed ethnicities." She hosts the weekly late-night talk show podcast Going to Bed with Garcelle, in which she discusses dating, sex, and relationships with guests.