Vanessa Chantal Paradis (born December 22, 1972 in
Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, France) is a
French singer and
actress.
Career
Vanessa Paradis was discovered on the TV show
L'École des fans in 1980. She recorded her first single
La Magie des surprises-parties in 1985. Although it was not a hit, it paved the way for the song with which she would become internationally famous - "
Joe le taxi" in 1987, while she was still only 14 years old.
[vanessaparadis.net] It was #1 in France for 11 weeks
and, unusually for a song sung in French, was released in the United Kingdom the following year, where it reached #3. It was taken from her first album
M&J (it stands for
Marilyn & John) which, although it gained a number 13 placing in France, drew little attention in the UK and did not chart.
In 1992, now 19 and working in the United States with rock musician
Lenny Kravitz, who was her boyfriend for a while, Paradis began work on a new album sung in English, in which she had become fluent. Written and produced by Kravitz, the album, titled
Vanessa Paradis, topped the French chart and briefly made the UK listings (number 45). One of the singles from it was
Be My Baby, which made number 5 in France and gave her another Top 10 UK hit (number 6). She has since appeared in several films, most famously "
Noce Blanche", for which she won the 1990
César Award for Most Promising Actress; 1999's
La fille sur le pont (aka
Girl on the Bridge), which became an
arthouse box office hit in the United States
[Girl on the Bridge at Box Office Mojo, Retrieved on 2008-11-18.]
