Garcelle Beauvais facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Garcelle Beauvais
Beauvais in April 2022
Born	(1966-11-26) November 26, 1966 (age 58) Saint-Marc, Haiti
Other names	Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon
Occupation	Actress television personality interior designer former model
Years active	1984–present
Spouse(s)	Daniel Saunders ​ ​ (m. 1991; div. 2000)​ Mike Nilon ​ ​ (m. 2001; div. 2011)​
Children	3

Garcelle Beauvais (born November 26, 1966) is a Haitian-American actress and TV star. She is famous for her roles in the TV comedy The Jamie Foxx Show and the police show NYPD Blue.

You might also know her from movies like Coming to America and its sequel, Coming 2 America. She also appeared in White House Down and Spider-Man: Homecoming. In 2020, she joined the cast of the reality TV show The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She was also a co-host on the talk show The Real from 2020 to 2022.

Early Life and Education

Garcelle Beauvais was born in Saint-Marc, Haiti. Her mother, Marie-Claire, was a nurse, and her father, Axel, was a lawyer. When Garcelle was three years old, her parents divorced.

At age seven, she moved to the United States with her mother and six older siblings. They settled in Peabody, Massachusetts. When she first arrived, she only spoke French and Creole. She learned English by watching the children's show Sesame Street.

Career Journey

From Modeling to Acting

At 16, Beauvais moved to Miami to become a model. A year later, she moved to New York City and signed with the famous Ford agency. She appeared in ads for brands like Avon and Mary Kay. She also walked the runway for designers like Calvin Klein and Isaac Mizrahi.

Beauvais has been on the cover of many magazines, including Harper's Bazaar, Essence, and Ebony.

Beauvais walking the runway at a 2011 fashion show in New York City.

Famous Roles in TV and Movies

Beauvais's acting career began in 1984 on the TV show Miami Vice. Her first movie role was in the 1988 comedy Coming to America.

From 1996 to 2001, she became well-known for playing Francesca "Fancy" Monroe on The Jamie Foxx Show. She then played Assistant District Attorney Valerie Heywood on the police drama NYPD Blue from 2001 to 2004.

In 2013, she played the First Lady in the action movie White House Down. In 2017, she played Doris Toomes, the wife of the villain Vulture, in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Recent Work

In 2020, Beauvais became the first Black cast member of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She left the show in 2025 after five seasons. She also co-hosted the talk show The Real for its last two seasons.

She returned for the 2021 movie Coming 2 America. In 2022, she started her own company, Garcelle Beauvais Productions. She has also starred in TV movies for the Lifetime channel, like Caught in His Web and Black Girl Missing.

Other Projects

In 2008, Beauvais started a children's jewelry line called Petit Bijou. In 2013, she wrote a children's book called I Am Mixed. The book is about twins who explore what it's like to have parents of different backgrounds.

She also has a home goods collection called "Garcelle at Home," which is inspired by her Haitian roots. In 2022, she released her life story in a book called Love Me As I Am.

Personal Life

Beauvais was married to producer Daniel Saunders, and they have a son named Oliver, who was born in 1991.

In 2001, she married talent agent Mike Nilon. They have twin sons, Jax and Jaid, who were born in 2007. Beauvais and Nilon divorced in 2010.

Notable Roles

Film

• Coming to America (1988)
• Wild Wild West (1999)
• Bad Company (2002)
• Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004)
• White House Down (2013)
• Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
• Coming 2 America (2021)

Television

• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1992–1995)
• Models Inc. (1994–1995)
• The Jamie Foxx Show (1996–2001)
• NYPD Blue (2001–2004)
• Franklin & Bash (2011–2012)
• The Magicians (2016–2019)
• The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (2020–2025)
• The Real (2020–2022)
• The Other Black Girl (2023)

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Garcelle Beauvais para niños

• List of people from Massachusetts