Janee Michelle

Janee Michelle
Born Geneva Mercadel
1946 (age 68–69)[1][2][lower-alpha 1]
New Orleans, Louisiana[4]
Nationality American
Ethnicity African American
Citizenship United States
Occupation Actor, model
Known for Role in The House on Skull Mountain
Home town Los Angeles, California
Spouse(s) Albert Hubbard (1966-1968)
Robert DoQui (1969-1978)
Robert H. Tucker, Jr. (divorced)
Children Iam Christian Tucker
Signature The handwritten name "Janée Michelle" in grey slanted from the bottom left to the top right all on a white background with the "M" curled under the first name
Website
janeemichelle.com

Janee Michelle (born 1946), born Geneva Mercadel and also known as Gee Tucker, is an African-American actor, model, and businessperson best known for her role in the 1974 horror film The House on Skull Mountain. Her acting and modelling career has included appearances in a variety of media, including films, television programs, television advertisements, theatrical productions, and print advertisements. When she received her first film role in the 1964 short film The Legend of Jimmy Blue Eyes, she took on the stage name Janee Michelle because her talent agent and the film studio both believed that her birth name would be received poorly. Michelle's acting in the television series The Outcasts in 1968 was critically acclaimed, which led to several offers of film roles. Both in a 1969 episode of The Governor & J.J. and in the 1970 film Soul Soldier, Michelle acted alongside her then-husband Robert DoQui.

In 1977, Michelle was the queen in the New Orleans Mardi Gras Zulu parade. Michelle was the first Zulu queen to wear two different gowns, and both of them were designed by Bob Mackie, who had designed outfits for Cher. Having divorced DoQui in 1978, Michelle eventually married New Orleans politician Robert H. Tucker, Jr., changed her name to Gee Tucker, and became a businessperson. In 1980, the couple founded Tucker and Associates, a management consulting company that, in 1990, received a $26 million contract with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, representing the largest contract that had ever been received by a minority-owned company in Louisiana. While working on this contract, Gee and her husband started a second company together called Integrated Logistical Support and the couple divorced. Gee retained ownership of Tucker and Associates while Robert retained ownership of Integrated Logistical Support. When Robert retired in 2008, Iam Tucker, the divorced couple's daughter, replaced Robert as president of Integrated Logistical Support.

Career

Acting and modelling

A black-and-white three-quarter-view photograph of a short-haired African-American man at bust length facing left and smiling while looking at the viewer
Janee Michelle was considered for a starring role in the television series Love, American Style alongside Greg Morris (pictured), but she ultimately acted in only one episode of the series.

Janee Michelle's acting and modelling career has included appearances in a variety of media, including films, television programs, television advertisements, theatrical productions, and print advertisements.[5] As a stage actor, she has appeared in productions of such plays as MacBird!, The Death of Daddy Hugs and Kisses, Ride a Wild Horse,[6] The Vagina Monologues, and In the Blink of an Eye.[5] In 1964, Michelle, still known by her birth name Geneva Mercadel, received her first film role[4] in the short film The Legend of Jimmy Blue Eyes.[5] Her talent agent and the film studio both believed that her birth name would be received poorly, so she took on the stage name Janee Michelle. She chose the name Janee (pronounced Ja-Nay,[4] and sometimes spelled Janée)[7] to keep the first two syllables of her birth name, and she chose the surname Michelle because she "thought it would be unique to have a name with two first names."[4] When she found that people had difficulty pronouncing the name Janee, she considered changing it again, but she ultimately chose to keep the name because she believed that this pronunciation difficulty caused people to remember her.[4]

In 1967, an article in The Chicago Defender predicted that Michelle's career in American cinema would be successful.[4] Also that year, Michelle appeared on the cover of an issue of Jet alongside Ronnie Eckstine in recognition of their appearance together in the film The Love-Ins, which was Eckstine's film debut,[8] and Michelle's most prominent film role until that point.[4] Michelle's acting in the television series The Outcasts was critically acclaimed,[2] which led to several offers of film roles. The Outcasts reviews also led to her being considered for a starring role in Love, American Style alongside Greg Morris, who was then famous for his acting in the Mission: Impossible television series,[9] but Michelle ultimately acted in only one episode of Love, American Style.[3] Michelle was included in a list by Ebony called Fifty Eligible Girls for 1969.[1] Also in 1969, Michelle appeared on the cover of another issue of Jet, in which she is called "one of Hollywood's most attractive actresses".[2] The article declares Michelle to be one of several up-and-coming African-American actresses, along with such actresses as Gloria Foster, Gail Fisher, and Denise Nicholas.[10] In the corresponding interview with Jet, Michelle said that, although racial inequality in the United States may have been a career obstacle for African-American women in the past, "that's not it today - and that's for sure."[9] In particular, Michelle argued that her success as an actor proved the falsehood of the idea that African-American women need to have sexual intercourse with certain people in order to be successful in the cinema of the United States.[9]

A black-and-white photographic portrait of a man at bust length with a moustache and an open mouth scowling while leaning to the right and looking to the left
Michelle is best known for acting in the 1974 horror film The House on Skull Mountain alongside Victor French (pictured).

Michelle starred in a 1969 episode of The Governor & J.J. with Robert DoQui,[11] her husband.[6] The couple acted together again the following year in Soul Soldier,[12] a film in which Michelle is the leading lady and appears with DoQui in nude sex scenes.[6] Michelle's and DoQui's characters form a love triangle in the film with Lincoln Kilpatrick's character. In a New York Times review of the film, Howard Thompson called all three actors' performances "plain painful".[13] Michelle is best known for her acting role in the 1974 horror film The House on Skull Mountain, which was once an obscure film but became better known when it was released on DVD. In the Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television, Bob McCann writes that Michelle "is quite pretty and gives a charming performance in her undemanding role."[3] She portrays Lorena Christophe, who is summoned to the house of a distant relative who has recently died, with this relative turning out to have been a voodoo queen.[14] Victor French portrays a white anthropologist and Christophe's love interest, although this interracial relationship is prevented from progressing because the two characters turn out to be cousins, a plot element that film critic Steven Jay Schneider suggests in his book Mixed Blood Couples to be an excuse to avoid depicting miscegenation.[15] Despite the horror elements, the film ends well for both characters.[3] In 2014, she appeared in a health insurance commercial for AARP.[5]

New Orleans Mardi Gras

In 1977, Michelle's cousin, Anthony "Chuck" Mercadel, was chosen to be that year's king of the Zulu parade, part of New Orleans Mardi Gras. He and Michelle had not seen each other since before her film and television career when she was living in New Orleans. While Michelle was in Shreveport, Louisiana, with 25 other actresses, including Isabel Sanford, promoting an event for African-American actresses, Chuck and Robert H. Tucker, Jr., a New Orleans politician, gave Michelle a surprise visit at her hotel. Chuck said he was looking for Sanford so he could ask her to be his queen. When Michelle asked him, "Why don't you ask me to be your queen?", he readily did so, and she immediately turned down the offer, saying that she didn't wish to be his second choice. Sanford, however, was unable to appear in the parade due to a prior engagement, therefore Chuck asked Michelle again, and she accepted, despite having to rearrange her schedule in order to do so.[16]

A black-and-white half-length photographic portrait of a woman facing left and looking right while resting both of her hands on her hips and wearing sequin clothing
For her time as Zulu queen in the New Orleans Mardi Gras Zulu parade, Michelle borrowed a feather boa and headdress from Cher (pictured).

It had been a tradition for several years for the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club to make a show of meeting the Zulu queen at the airport,[16] but most years' Zulu queens were living in New Orleans and therefore had to travel elsewhere so that they could make the flight into the airport for the ceremony.[17] Michelle, however, was working in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California up until the time of the parade, so she flew from there to New Orleans to be ceremoniously greeted at the airport by a band and some Zulu members.[16] Michelle was the first Zulu queen to wear two different gowns, one for the parade and the other for the ball. Bob Mackie designed both of these gowns. Mackie had designed outfits for Cher, from whom Michelle borrowed a beige turkey feather boa and headdress for the parade. Michelle's parade gown was sleeveless, had a turtleneck, and was composed of a gold-and-cinnamon brocade decorated with topaz gemstones. The ball gown was a white, form-fitting garment with a see-through front and was decorated with crystals and white bugle beads. Of her promenade around the ballroom, during which she swayed her shoulders and hips, Michelle later said that "high-school girls were imitating it for a year after that: the 'Zulu queen' walk."[17]

Business

Having divorced DoQui in 1978,[18] Michelle eventually married Tucker, changed her name to Gee Tucker, moved back to New Orleans, and became a businessperson.[19] In 1980, the couple founded Tucker and Associates,[20] a management consulting company.[19] The company did not generate much revenue at first,[20] and Gee worked elsewhere in various positions in the fields of management and marketing,[19] including at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen.[20] For the first several years, Gee and her husband did not apply for assistance from the Small Business Administration (SBA) 8(a) Business Development Program, which offers support to businesses run by members of minority groups. Gee said that they made this decision because "we had seen other businesses start out strongly, graduate from the SBA 8-A program and fail [and] we wanted to be able to know that we could compete without it."[20] Gee had no formal business education, which made her feel inadequate as an entrepreneur. Of these early years in business, she later said, "I learned the hard way, on the job, things I could never have learned in school. But I think the formal training in school would have made it easier."[21]

A photographic portrait of a man at bust length facing left and looking left with his mouth open and a pair of sunglasses clipped onto his shirt collar
In 2003, Ray Nagin, Mayor of New Orleans, ended contracts with eleven companies that had ties to the previous mayor, including both of the companies that Gee Tucker co-founded.

Eventually, Tucker and Associates began receiving many contracts requiring a variety of services, including personnel, data processing, finance, and marketing. By 1990, Tucker and Associates was employing 225 people and had a revenue of approximately $11 million. That year, the company received a $26 million contract with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, representing the largest contract that had ever been received by a minority-owned company in Louisiana.[20] This contract was awarded through the SBA 8(a) program and lasted seven years. While working on this contract, Gee and her husband started a second company together called Integrated Logistical Support,[22] of which Gee became the vice president.[23] Before the Strategic Petroleum Reserve contract had ended, the Tuckers had divorced.[22] Gee retained ownership of Tucker and Associates[24] remaining its president and chief executive officer,[22] while Robert retained ownership of Integrated Logistical Support.[24] Gee was a director of Hibernia National Bank while it was a Forbes 500 company. As of 2002, Gee is the chief operating officer of Tucker and Associates.[25] In 2003, Ray Nagin, Mayor of New Orleans, ended contracts with eleven companies that had ties to the previous mayor, Marc Morial, and both Tucker and Associates and Integrated Logistical Support were among these eleven companies.[24] Gee has been named New Orleans Woman Business Owner of the Year and has received the Best of Black Business Award. The National Council of Negro Women has named her Community Leader, and the Business and Professional Women's Foundation named her Employer of the Year one year.[23]

Personal life

On July 22, 1966, at the age of twenty, Michelle married 33-year-old Albert S. Hubbard in Marin County, California.[26] They divorced in January 1968.[27] On April 25 of the following year, at the age of 23, she married 35-year-old Robert DoQui in San Francisco.[28] They divorced in June 1978.[18] She eventually married Robert Tucker, with whom she had a daughter named Iam Christian Tucker,[19] born January 13, 1983.[29] In 1991, the Tucker family invited Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor, author of Vibration Cooking, to come to their house for dinner if she ever visited New Orleans, which she did that May. Smart-Grosvenor later wrote a revised edition of Vibration Cooking and included an account of the meal the Tuckers had served her. She wrote highly of this meal, especially of a dish they named after her called Chicken à la Vertamae.[30] The Tuckers later divorced after nineteen years of marriage.[19] Iam became a police officer, which gave her mother insomnia out of worry for Iam's safety. In 2008, when Iam's father retired from Integrated Logistical Support, Iam replaced him as president of the company, partially because it was a safer career path that would ease her mother's mind.[31]

Filmography

Film

Title Year Role Notes Ref(s)
The Legend of Jimmy Blue Eyes 1964 Club Patron Michelle had a non-speaking role in this Golden Globe Award-winning short film. [8][32][5]
Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion 1965 Girl in Pit [3][33]
The Love-Ins 1967 Lamelle [34]
Soul Soldier 1970 Julie Brown Michelle is the leading lady in this film and shares nude sex scenes with Robert DoQui. [3][6]
The Mephisto Waltz 1970 Agency Chief's Girlfriend [35]
Scream Blacula Scream 1973 Gloria This film is the sequel to Blacula. [36][37]
The House on Skull Mountain 1974 Lorena Christophe This role is the one for which Michelle is best known. [3][14]

Television

Title Episode Year Role Notes Ref(s)
Mr. Novak [5]
The Outcasts "My Name is Jemal" 1968 Michelle The reception of Michelle's acting in this episode led to several film role offers. [9]
Julia "The Champ is No Chump" 1968 Marva Le Bouse [6]
Ironside "Due Process of the Law" 1968 Helen Tobin [3]
The Governor & J.J. "Rhyme with Reason" 1969 Michelle starred in this episode with Robert DoQui. [11]
Love, American Style "Love and the Uncoupled Couple" 1970 Dessie Smith [3]
The F.B.I. "The Architect" 1970 Mary Borden Michelle starred in this episode with Billy Dee Williams. [3][7]
Bewitched "Sisters at Heart" 1970 Dorothy Wilson [3]
Sanford and Son "Tower Power" 1974 Sandra [3]
In the Heat of the Night "A Necessary Evil" 1988 Arlene Jeffson [3]
Star-Crossed "An Old Accustom'd Feast" 2014 Vendor [5]

Notes

  1. ↑ The exact date of Michelle's birth is unknown,[3] but she was born between April and June of 1946.[1][2]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Fifty Eligible Girls for 1969: This Year's Bachelorettes Prefer Guys who are 'Black and Proud'". Ebony. April 1969. p. 152.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Newest Film Faces in Hollywood: If You Can Act You're In". Jet. June 5, 1969. p. 58.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 McCann (2009), p. 229.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 "New Negro Film Starlet in Far Out Movie Role". The Chicago Defender. Jul 15, 1967. p. 16.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 "Meet the Actors". NOVAC. 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "Janee Michelle Makes Debut in Film 'Soul Soldier'". The Chicago Defender. 1972. p. 10.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "St. Jacques Portrays Black Militant on Dan August". Jet. October 8, 1970. p. 66.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Robinson, Louie (June 29, 1967). "Billy Eckstine's Son Makes Film Debut". Jet. p. 59.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 "Newest Film Faces in Hollywood: If You Can Act You're In". Jet. June 5, 1969. p. 59.
  10. ↑ "Newest Film Faces in Hollywood: If You Can Act You're In". Jet. June 5, 1969. p. 60.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Diana Ross, Supremes, Temptations Get Together". Jet. November 13, 1969. p. 80.
  12. ↑ Walker et al. (2009), p. 220.
  13. ↑ "'Soul Soldier' Opens". The New York Times. April 29, 1972. p. 19.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Miller (2010), p. 43.
  15. ↑ Schneider (2004), p. 83.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Scott, Liz (February 2000). "Queen Gee: She Brought a Touch of Hollywood to the Zulu Throne". New Orleans Magazine 34 (5): 14.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Scott, Liz (February 2000). "Queen Gee: She Brought a Touch of Hollywood to the Zulu Throne". New Orleans Magazine 34 (5): 15.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Bobby J Doqui and Geneve L, 20 Jun 1978". FamilySearch. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 Scott, Liz (February 2000). "Queen Gee: She Brought a Touch of Hollywood to the Zulu Throne". New Orleans Magazine 34 (5): 16.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 Engelberg, Adrian (September 24, 1990). "Bob & Gee Tucker: Community Service Important for Married Consulting Team". New Orleans CityBusiness 11 (6): 23C.
  21. ↑ Moore & Buttner (1997), p. 57.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Bechen, Lauren L. "Let the Good Times Roll: New Orleans' Business Community is Experiencing a Renaissance of Opportunities and Inclusion". Minority Business Entrepreneur 14 (5): 49.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Moore & Buttner (1997), p. 226.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 "Dispute Between Transit Authority Chairman, Mayor's Exec. Assistant Much Exaggerated". New Orleans CityBusiness. January 20, 2003.
  25. ↑ "Careful, Cautious, Conservative is Boydstun's Pledge for Hibernia: Paul Candies Elected to Board". Business Wire. April 17, 2002.
  26. ↑ "Albert S Hubbard and Geneva L Mercadel, 22 Jul 1966". FamilySearch. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  27. ↑ "Geneva L Mercadeg and Albert S Hubbard, Jan 1968". FamilySearch. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  28. ↑ "Bobby J Doqui and Janee Mercadel, 25 Apr 1969". FamilySearch. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  29. ↑ "Iam Christian Tucker, Residence, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States". FamilySearch. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  30. ↑ Smart-Grosvenor, Vertamae (2011), p. 203.
  31. ↑ Mark Waller (July 31, 2014). "Readers' Pick of New Orleans Minority Business Owners Strives to Advance Her Firm and the City". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved March 16, 2014.
  32. ↑ Winter et al. (2007), p. 100.
  33. ↑ "Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion (1965)". The New York Times. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  34. ↑ Cowie (1977), p. 592.
  35. ↑ Muir (2002), p. 128.
  36. ↑ Muir (2002), p. 292.
  37. ↑ Berry & Berry (2009), p. 295.

Bibliography

External links