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.]
; and 2004's
Mon Ange.
[Mon ange at IMDb]
In 1991, Paradis promoted a fragrance for
Chanel, entitled
Coco. In the advertisement, she is dressed in all black and feathers, portraying a bird swinging in a cage. In 2004 she promoted Chanel's new handbags called
Ligne Cambon. In 2006 she modeled for Chanel again for
The New Mademoiselle handbag. 2008 Vanessa modeled for a new company Miu Miu. On the musical side, she is included in the French children's album and concert "Le Soldat Rose". Paradis currently released a new album (Divinidylle). There are three versions (regular, limited edition, and the Christmas edition). She started the Divinidylle tour in October. Some concerts were filmed and the DVD/CD of the tour was just recently released. Her latest film DVD release is La Clef. Also, Vanessa recently won two Les Victoires de la Musique awards for her new album Divinidylle. Some of her next projects include a greatest hits cd which includes the commercial jingle "I love Paris in the Springtime" as well as the movies "The Midwife Crisis" and "Un monstre à Paris April" which will be released in 2010.
Family
Vanessa Paradis has been in a relationship with American actor
Johnny Depp since 1998. In 1998 Johnny was working on "
The Ninth Gate", filmed in France. In an interview, Johnny shares: "'It was love at first sight," Johnny Depp says of that night in 1998 when he saw his girlfriend-to-be, Vanessa Paradis, out on the town in Paris.
"I was in the lobby of this restaurant and I just saw this back across the room, suddenly, the back turned and looked at me. And then the eyes that were attached to the back walked toward me and said, 'Hi. Do you remember me?' "I said yes, but I didn't remember because we had actually met a number of years before. But this time, I was caught."
They have a daughter, Lily-Rose Melody Depp (born May 27, 1999), and a son, John Christopher "Jack" Depp III (born April 9, 2002
).
They divide their time between houses in the
Hollywood Hills, their farm in the South of France, a house in the
Somerset village
Timsbury, and also own apartments in Paris,
Manhattan and an
island in the
Bahamas. Paradis' 2000 album
Bliss, another French chart topper, was dedicated to Depp and their daughter.
Vanessa Paradis also has a younger sister actress
Alysson Paradis. They are ten years apart. While Vanessa likes singing Alysson has starred in many horror films, usually in French.
Discography
Filmography
Awards and nominations
- 1990 : César Award of "Most Promising Actress" for Noce Blanche.
- 1990 : Victoire De La Musique: "Female Performer of the Year".
- 1990 : Prix Romy Schneider
- 1991 : Victoire De La Musique: "Video of the Year" for Tandem, directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino.
- 1999 : Nomination to César Awards for "Best Actress" for La fille sur le pont.
- 2001 : Nomination to NRJ Music Awards of "Francophone Female Artist of the Year".
- 2001 : Nomination to NRJ Music Awards of "Francophone Album of the Year" for Bliss.
- 2007 : Named "Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres".
- 2008 : Nomination to NRJ Music Awards of "French Album of the Year" for Divinidylle.
- 2008 : Nomination to Trophy Women's Gold in the category "Shows".
- 2008 : Victoire De La Musique: "Female Performer of the Year".
- 2008 : Victoire De La Musique: "Pop Album of the Year" for Divinidylle.
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