Haitian-American Garcelle Beauvais is an actress and TV personality, renowned for her leading roles in the sitcom The Jamie Foxx Show and the crime drama series NYPD Blue. She has also graced the big screen in movies such as Coming to America (1988) and its follow-up, Coming 2 America (2021), White House Down (2013), and Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017).
Garcelle Beauvais Bio Details
Full name: Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon
Date of birth: November 26, 1966
Age: 58 years old (2025)
Place of birth: Saint Marc, Haiti
Profession: Actress, former model, TV personality
Marital status: Divorced
Ex-partners: Daniel Saunders (2000) Mike Nilon (2011)
Children: 3
Childhood
Garcelle Beauvais was born on November 26, 1966, in Saint-Marc, Haiti. Her mother, Marie-Claire Beauvais, worked as a nurse, and her father, Axel Jean-Pierre, was a lawyer. At the young age of 3, her parents separated, and at 7 years old, she relocated with her mother and six older siblings to the United States.
The family settled in Peabody, Massachusetts, where she began attending elementary school. Initially, upon her arrival in the US, Beauvais only spoke French and Creole, but she picked up English by watching Sesame Street on TV.
Career
At the age of 16, Garcelle relocated to Miami in pursuit of a modeling career. After a year at that agency, she relocated once again to New York City where she signed with Ford Models and resided with its founder, Eileen Ford.
Later, Garcelle Beauvais collaborated with Irene Marie Models and made appearances in fashion shows for renowned designers like Isaac Mizrahi and Calvin Klein. Throughout her career, she has been featured on the covers of several magazines, including Harper’s Bazaar, Ebony, Essence, Playboy, and Jet.
In 1984, Garcelle’s acting career began with an appearance on “Miami Vice,” and she later starred in “Manhunter” in 1986.
Throughout the 1990s, she had guest roles on multiple television shows, including “The Cosby Show,” “Down the Shore,” “Dream On,” “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper,” and “The Wayans Bros.” Additionally, she played four different characters in four episodes of “Family Matters” from 1991 to 1996.
In 1988’s Coming to America, Garcelle Beauvais portrayed a royal rose bearer alongside Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, and James Earl Jones. She later returned to the role in 2021’s Coming 2 America.
From 1994 to 1995, she appeared as Cynthia Nichols on Fox’s series Models Inc. Then, from 1996 to 2001, she played Francesca “Fancy” Monroe on The Jamie Foxx Show, which ran for five seasons and 100 episodes.
During this period, she also appeared in the movies “Every Breath” (1994), “Wild Wild West” (1999), “Double Take” (2001), and “Bad Company” (2002) and had guest roles on “Arli$$” (1999), “Titans” (2001), “The Bernie Mac Show” (2003), “Curb Your Enthusiasm” (2004), and “Life with Bonnie” (2004).
In April 2020, Beauvais became the first black member of the cast for the tenth season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Additionally, she started co-hosting the daytime talk show The Real for its seventh season in September 2020.
After appearing for five seasons, Garcelle Beauvais has revealed her departure from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. The 58-year-old actress announced the news through an emotional video on Instagram on Tuesday, March 25th.
“I have some news: I have decided to leave Beverly Hills,” Beauvais said in the video. “It’s been a wild ride, some amazing things have happened, and some hard things have also happened — but it’s been a ride nevertheless.”
Personal Life
Actress Garcelle Beauvais was previously married to producer Daniel Saunders, but their marriage ended in divorce. Their son, Oliver Saunders, was born in 1991.
In 2001, Beauvais married talent agent Mike Nilon from the Creative Artists Agency. The couple struggled with infertility for five years before welcoming twin sons, Jax Joseph and Jaid Thomas Nilon, on October 18, 2007.
In April 2010, Beauvais made a public statement accusing Nilon of being unfaithful, following his admission of a five-year-long affair. On May 10, 2010, Beauvais initiated divorce proceedings, requesting shared custody of their children.
Net Worth
Garcelle Beauvais is an actress, model, and TV personality with a net worth of $4 million. She has over 70 acting credits, including movies like Coming to America, Barbershop 2, White House Down, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and Coming 2 America. She also has TV shows like The Mentalist, Grimm, The Magicians, The Arrangement, Siren, and Merry Happy Whatever.
