Celebrity Nooz: Grace Jones

Grace Jones (Singer/Actress) - A View to a Kill

Updated: 9/01/20

Name: Grace Jones

Birth Name: Grace Beverly Jones

Born: May 19, 1948 in Spanish Town, Jamaica

Nickname: The Queen of Gay Discos

Claim To Fame: Grace Jones is a Jamaican model, singer, songwriter, record producer and actress, best known for her appearances in the fantasy-action film Conan the Destroyer, alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, and in the 1985 James Bond movie A View to a Kill.

Family Life: Through her relationship with longtime collaborator Jean-Paul Goude, Jones has one son, Paulo. From Paulo, Jones has one granddaughter. Jones married Atila Altaunbay in 1996, and then separated in 2004.

Info: The daughter of Marjorie and Robert W. Jones, who was a local politician and Apostolic clergyman.

Speaks French, Spanish, Japanese, Italian and German.

She moved when she was 13, along with her siblings, to live with her parents in Syracuse, New York.

Jones began her modelling career in New York state with Wilhelmina Modelling agency, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves St. Laurent and Kenzo, and appearing on the covers of Elle and Vogue.

While modelling in Paris, she shared an apartment with Jerry Hall and Jessica Lange.

She worked with photographers such as Jean-Paul Goude, Helmut Newton, Guy Bourdin, and Hans Feurer, and became known for her distinctive androgynous appearance and bold features.

In 1977, Jones embarked on a music career, securing a record deal with Island Records and initially becoming a star of New York City's Studio 54-centered disco scene.

In the 1980s, she moved toward a new wave style that drew on reggae, funk, post-punk and pop music, frequently collaborating with the graphic designer Jean-Paul Goude.

For her work in Conan the Destroyer, A View to a Kill, and Vamp, she was nominated for Saturn Awards for Best Supporting Actress.

In 1999, Jones ranked 82nd on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll, and in 2008, she was honored with a Q Idol Award.

Ranked #19 in Channel 5's "World's Greatest Supermodel".

Jones influenced the cross-dressing movement of the 1980s and has been an inspiration for artists including Annie Lennox, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Solange, Lorde, Nile Rodgers, and more.

In 2016, Billboard magazine ranked her as the 40th greatest dance club artist of all time.

She disputes rumors that she married Chris Stanley in her 2015 memoir I'll Never Write My Memoirs, saying, "The truth is, I only ever married one of my boyfriends, Atila Altaunbay, a Muslim from Turkey."

She spent four years with Swedish actor Dolph Lundgren, her former bodyguard.

Jones started dating Danish actor and stuntman Sven-Ole Thorsen in 1990, and was in an open relationship as of 2007.

Trivia: Her album, 'Nightclubbing', entered in the Top 5 in four countries, and became Jones's highest-ranking record on the US Billboard mainstream albums and R&B charts.

While promoting her album, 'Nightclubbing', Jones slapped British interviewer Russell Harty live on the air after he had turned to interview other guests, making Jones feel she was being ignored.

She was given the casting couch treatment by one of the producers of her debut film, the blaxploitation film Gordon's War (1973). She refused his advances and he later apologized and she was cast in the film.

Says in her autobiography that Tony Scott wanted her badly for the small role of Cory in The Last Boy Scout (1991), but the producers opposed to it and cast Halle Berry instead.

Turned down the role of Zhora in Blade Runner (1982), a decision she later regretted.

Was the original choice to sing "The Best Is Yet to Come" for the film 9 1/2 Weeks (1986), but disagreements with producer Narada Michael Walden during the recording sessions led to her walk out of the studio. The song was sung in the film by Canadian singer Luba.

Did 90% of her own stunts in Conan the Destroyer (1984).

Arnold Schwarzenegger supposedly complained Grace was 'too tough' during filming of Conan the Destroyer (1984).

Attended the 1986 wedding of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver on Cape Cod with her good friend Andy Warhol.

Jones was nominated for Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress for her work in the movie Siesta.

Shocked audience members in 1998 when she exposed her breasts during a Disney World performance. She was then banned from the park.

In 2012, Jones performed "Slave to the Rhythm" at the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II (whilst keeping a hula hoop spinning in the air throughout).

Where Are They Now: Jones is still producing music videos; most recently for La Vie En Rose (Rockamerica remix) and No Place Like Home: Redux. And her music is still popping up in TV shows and movies to this very day. There's also a rumor, which I can neither confirm nor deny, that she was to appear in the upcoming 25th James Bond film, No Time to Die (2020) but quit the role just minutes after arriving on set when she discovered how minimal her screen time was. What could have been?

View other 'Where Are They Now' celebrities

Read the latest issue of Celebrity Nooz

Subscribe!