Vanessa Paradis

Vanessa Chantal Paradis (born 22 December 1972) is a French singer, model and actress. She became a child star at 14 with the worldwide success of her single "Joe le taxi". Since then, she has accomplished a career in music, movies and modelling.

Vanessa Paradis was born on 22 December 1972 at Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, near Paris. Vanessa Paradis spent her childhood in Villiers-sur-Marne with her parents, André and Corinne Paradis. Vanessa Paradis was attracted to cinema early on. Her admiration for Marilyn Monroe led her to take dance and piano lessons. She spent a lot of time with her uncle, Didier Pain, and his musician friends.

Her first TV appearance was on the show L'École des fans in 1981. She recorded her first single, "La Magie des surprises-parties", in 1983 and performed it in an Italian festival in 1985 but lost the first prize.

Although "La Magie des surprises-parties" 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.[1] 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 (25 January), 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 March 1989, aged 16, she decided to drop out of high school in order to pursue her career. She then released Variations sur le même t'aime in 1990, containing a remake of the Lou Reed song "Walk on the Wild Side". The album was written by acclaimed French composer Serge Gainsbourg, whom she met when she received the best singer award at Les Victoires de la Musique, on February, 4th 1990. In 1990, Paradis won the 1990 César Award for Most Promising Actress for her role in Noce Blanche.

In 1991, Paradis promoted a fragrance for Chanel, titled Coco. In the advertisement, she was dressed in all black and feathers, portraying a bird swinging in a cage. The advert was shot by Jean-Paul Goude. Paradis spoke of her continued admiration of Chanel in 2010 saying, "The more I know them, the more I love Chanel."

In 1992, she moved to the United States, to work with Lenny Kravitz. Paradis started working on a new album in English, a language in which she was now 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).

In March 1993, Paradis started her first international tour, the "Natural High Tour"; she performed in France, England and Canada. The tour was canceled before she could perform in Japan and in the United States, for health reasons.

In February 1994, Live was released in France.

In April 1994, Paradis filmed Élisa, under the direction of Jean Becker."Elisa" was a big success in France, and was released internationally.

In 1997, Paradis played in Un amour de sorcière with Jeanne Moreau and Jean Reno, before filming 1 chance sur 2, with Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo.

In March 1999, La fille sur le Pont, by Patrice Leconte was released. This movie was shot and released in black and white.

In 2004, she promoted Chanel's new handbags called Ligne Cambon. In 2005 she modeled for Chanel again for The New Mademoiselle handbag. In 2008 she modeled for Miu Miu.

On the musical side, she is included in the French children's album and concert Le Soldat Rose in 2006. Paradis released a new album (Divinidylle) in 2007 which was released in the UK on December 11 (September in France). There are three versions (regular, limited edition, and the Christmas edition). She started the Divinidylle Tour in October. Some concerts were filmed and a DVD/CD of the tour was released. Her latest film DVD release is La Clef. Also, Vanessa won two 'Les Victoires de la Musique' awards for this album in February 2008. Some of her later projects include a greatest hits CD (Best of Vanessa Paradis) which includes the commercial jingle "I love Paris in the Springtime"; she will also star in the animated film Un monstre à Paris, due to be released in 2010.

Her latest film in theatres is the romantic comedy Heartbreaker alongside Romain Duris and Andrew Lincoln, which grossed over €30 million in France and has also been performed strongly with critics. It was released in the UK in July 2010.

The Young Victoria director, Jean-Marc Vallée recently cast Paradis in a starring role in his new film, Café de flore. Paradis will play a mother in the 1960s with a down syndrome child. The title is slated for release in 2011.

She released an acoustic album in November entitled Une nuit à Versailles. The album was recorded at L'Opéra of the Palace of Versailles during her Vanessa Paradis Concert Acoustique Tour. She is also releasing a set of DVDs called Anthologie which collects rare live performances and interviews from 1987-2007.

In 2010, she became the face of Chanel's new lipstick, Rouge Coco and also became the face of Chanel's new handbag line. In 2011, Paradis is embarking on an international tour which includes performances in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Turkey.

FamilyIn 1992 she began a relationship with Lenny Kravitz which ended sometime in 1995. He was a producer of her third album. She was a friend of French singer Serge Gainsbourg.

In 1997 and 1998, Paradis dated and lived with actor Stanislas Merhar.

Vanessa Paradis has been in a relationship with American actor Johnny Depp since 1998. 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 among houses in the Hollywood Hills and their farm in Plan-de-la-Tour, South of France, and also own apartments in Paris, Manhattan, a house in the Paris suburb of Meudon and an island in the Bahamas. Contrary to belief the family own no home in England although Paradis has stated that she longs for a house there. Paradis' 2000 album Bliss, another French chart topper, was dedicated to Depp and their daughter.

Paradis has a sister, actress Alysson Paradis, who is 11 years younger and has starred in many French horror films. The actor and film producer Didier Pain is their uncle.





What members say | Filmography

Vanessa Paradis - what members say

Vanessa Paradis - filmography

5 most recent films

Cafe de Flore - 3.5 stars
Heartbreaker - Blu-ray - 3.0 stars
Heartbreaker - 3.0 stars
My Angel - 3.0 stars
The Girl On The Bridge - 3.5 stars

5 highest-rated films

The Girl On The Bridge - 3.5 stars
Elisa - 3.5 stars
Noce Blanche - 3.0 stars
Heartbreaker - 3.0 stars
Heartbreaker - Blu-ray - 3.0 stars

5 lowest-rated films

Cafe de Flore - 3.5 stars
My Angel - 3.0 stars
Heartbreaker - Blu-ray - 3.0 stars
Heartbreaker - 3.0 stars
Noce Blanche - 3.0 stars

Most frequent co-stars

Andrew Lincoln - 3 times - show films
Romain Duris - 3 times - show films
Julie Ferrier - 3 times - show films
Francois Damiens - 3 times - show films
François Damiens - 2 times - show films

Most frequent directors

Pascal Chaumeil - 3 times - show films
Jean Becker - 1 times - show films
Kevin Parent - 1 times - show films
Jean-Claude Brisseau - 1 times - show films
Serge Frydman - 1 times - show films