Garcelle Beauvais

Garcelle Beauvais is a Haitian-American actress, television personality, author, and producer. She is best known for her starring roles as Francesca "Fancy" Monroe in the sitcom The Jamie Foxx Show and Assistant District Attorney Valerie Heywood in the crime drama series NYPD Blue. She is also recognized for joining the main cast of the reality television series The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and for co-hosting the daytime talk show The Real.

Beauvais was born in Saint-Marc, Haiti, to Marie-Claire Beauvais, a nurse, and Axel Jean Pierre, a lawyer. Following her parents' divorce when she was three years old, she moved at age seven with her mother and six older siblings to the United States, settling in Peabody, Massachusetts. Initially speaking only French and Creole, she learned English by watching Sesame Street on television.

At age 16, Beauvais moved to Miami to pursue modeling, where she was scouted by an agency owner. A year later, at 17, she relocated to New York City after signing with the Ford Modeling Agency. She lived with Eileen Ford and modeled for Irene Marie Models. Her modeling work included print advertisements for Avon, Mary Kay, and Clairol, catalog work for Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom, runway shows for Calvin Klein and Isaac Mizrahi, and covers for publications such as Harper's Bazaar, Essence, Ebony, and Vogue Italia.

Beauvais made her television debut in 1984 on Miami Vice and played a rose-bearer in the 1988 film Coming to America. She rose to prominence in 1994 as Cynthia Nichols in Models Inc. She then starred in The Jamie Foxx Show from 1996 to 2001 and in NYPD Blue from 2001 to 2004. Her later acting credits include the legal drama Franklin & Bash, the action film White House Down, the superhero film Spider-Man: Homecoming, the web series Tell Me a Story and Merry Happy Whatever, and Lifetime television films such as Caught in His Web and Black Girl Missing. She also reprised her rose-bearer role in Coming 2 America.

In 2020, Beauvais joined The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills as its first Black cast member, remaining on the reality show for five seasons until announcing her departure in March 2025. From 2020 to 2022, she co-hosted the talk show The Real for its final two seasons. She also co-hosted Hollywood Today Live in 2016 and co-hosted the Miss USA 2024 beauty pageant.

Beyond acting, Beauvais has launched various business and creative projects. In 2008, she created a children's jewelry line, Petit Bijou, and later authored the children's book I Am Mixed in 2013. In 2022, she published her memoir, Love Me As I Am: My Journey from Haiti to Hollywood to Happiness, launched the home collection "Garcelle at Home" on HSN, and signed a first-look development deal with NBCUniversal via Garcelle Beauvais Productions. She also hosts the podcast Going to Bed with Garcelle.

Beauvais has been married twice. Her first marriage to producer Daniel Saunders produced a son, Oliver, before ending in divorce. She married talent agent Mike Nilon in May 2001, with whom she had twin sons, Jax Joseph and Jaid Thomas, before filing for divorce in May 2010.