{{short description|American actress and model}} {{good article}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Janee Michelle | honorific_suffix = | image = Janee Michelle portrait.JPG | image_size = | alt = | caption = Michelle in 2015. | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = Geneva Leona Mercadel | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1946}}<ref name=Ebony/><ref name=Jet58/>{{efn|The exact date of Michelle's birth is unknown,<ref name=McCann229/> but she was born between April and June of 1946.<ref name=Ebony>{{Cite news|work=Ebony|page=152|date=April 1969|title=Fifty Eligible Girls for 1969: This Year's Bachelorettes Prefer Guys who are 'Black and Proud'}}</ref><ref name=Jet58/>}} | birth_place = New Orleans, Louisiana<ref name=Chicago/> | death_date = | death_place = | death_cause = | occupation = {{hlist|Actress|former model|business owner}} | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Albert Hubbard<br>|1966|1968|reason=div.}} * {{marriage|Robert DoQui<br>|1969|1978|reason=div.}} * {{marriage|Robert H. Tucker, Jr.<br>|1979|1998|reason=div}} }} | partner = <!-- (unmarried long-term partner) --> | children = Robert Diago DoQui (born 1971)<br>Iam Christian Tucker (born 1983) | years_active = 1964–present | signature = Janee Michelle.JPG | signature_alt = 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 = {{URL|janeemichelle.com}} }}
'''Janee Michelle''' (born '''Geneva Leona Mercadel'''; 1946), also known as '''Gee Tucker''', is an American actress, former model, dancer, and businessperson, best known for her role in the 1974 horror film ''The House on Skull Mountain''. Her acting and modeling career has included appearances in a variety of media, including films, television programs and advertisements, theatrical productions, and print advertisements. Mercadel made her first film appearance in the 1964 short film ''The Legend of Jimmy Blue Eyes''.
She adopted the stage name Janee Michelle because her talent agent and the film studio both believed her birth name would be poorly received. 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'', she acted alongside her then-husband Robert DoQui.
In 1977, she was the queen in the New Orleans Mardi Gras Zulu parade. She was the first Zulu queen to wear two different gowns, both of which were designed by Bob Mackie, who had designed outfits for Cher. She divorced DoQui in 1978 and married New Orleans politician Robert H. Tucker Jr. the following year; she 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 {{USD|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, Michelle and Tucker started a second company called Integrated Logistical Support.
The couple divorced and Michelle retained ownership of Tucker and Associates while Tucker retained ownership of Integrated Logistical Support. When Tucker retired in 2008, the couple's daughter Iam Tucker replaced him as president of Integrated Logistical Support. After Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Michelle purchased Sophie's Gelato, an ice cream parlor on Magazine Street where she makes gelato in-house.
==Early life== Janee Michelle was born '''Geneva Leona Mercadel'''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Actor and Educator of Film and Arts|publisher=Janee Michelle|url=http://www.janeemichelle.com/|access-date=October 16, 2015|archive-date=December 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207093234/https://www.janeemichelle.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref> in New Orleans, Louisiana.<ref name=Tan25/> Her paternal great-grandfather was a shoemaker who immigrated to New York from Champagne, France before moving to New Orleans in pursuit of a warmer climate.<ref name=Gee18/>
Her extended family was large and had lived in the 7th Ward of New Orleans for many years. Michelle is related to Sidney Barthelemy, former mayor of New Orleans.<ref name=Gee16>{{Cite news|work=The New Orleans Tribune|title=Reinventing Gee: A Resilient Star Bounces Back from Life's Disappointments and Katrina|author=Stanton, Janet|date=September 2006|page=16}}</ref>
Traditionally, the Mercadels had worked in construction, and some of Michelle's cousins continued this tradition. Michelle's mother's surname was Mathieu and her family background included people from Africa, France, Germany, and Italy, as well as Choctaw people.<ref name=Gee18>{{Cite news|work=The New Orleans Tribune|title=Reinventing Gee: A Resilient Star Bounces Back from Life's Disappointments and Katrina|author=Stanton, Janet|date=September 2006|page=18}}</ref> She grew up in a religious home in which her father, Walter F. Mercadel, was a barber and her mother was a beautician.<ref name=Tan25/> She had three siblings: an older brother named Walbert and two younger sisters named Zernell and Zona.<ref name=Gee18/>
At age 13, Michelle created, produced, designed, and directed a dance show at the YWCA in New Orleans. She was named Miss New Orleans in 1960.<ref name=Tan25/> She attended Rivers Frederick Junior High School where her principal, Leah McKenna, encouraged her to pursue a career in entertainment.<ref name=Gee18/> While in high school, Michelle won fifteen certificates and medals for language proficiency.<ref name=Tan24>{{Cite news|work=Tan|title=Janee Michelle Talks About Love, Marriage, Career|date=October 1969|volume=20|issue=12|page=24}}</ref> She started high school in New Orleans and then transferred to Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles, California,<ref name=Tan25/> when her family moved there as a result of her mother's illness, which was aggravated by the high humidity of New Orleans.<ref name=Gee18/>
Her father was unemployed at the time and her brother's wife was pregnant, so she started working as a cook to support the family.<ref name=Tan26/> She graduated from Manual Arts ranked 25th scholastically in her 500-student class,<ref name=Gee18/> and then attended Los Angeles City College and Woodbury College, receiving her best grades in English studies. She took drama courses from Actors Studio West and the Columbia Film Workshop.<ref name=Tan25/>
==Career== ===Entertainment=== [[File:Greg Morris.JPG|thumb|upright|alt=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 appeared in an episode of ''Love, American Style'' alongside Greg Morris ''(pictured)'', known for his role in the ''Mission: Impossible'' television series.<ref name=McCann229/>]]
Michelle's acting, modeling, and dancing career has included appearances in a variety of media, including films, television programs and advertisements, theatrical productions, and print advertisements.<ref name=NOVAC/> She commuted to a job as a dancer in Las Vegas while she was still in high school.<ref name=Gee18/> She has learned to perform both ballet and Cuban dance styles<ref name=Tan26>{{Cite news|work=Tan|title=Janee Michelle Talks About Love, Marriage, Career|date=October 1969|volume=20|issue=12|page=26}}</ref> and has danced at the Hollywood Palladium and Tropicana Las Vegas.<ref name=Tan25/> As a stage actor, she appeared in productions of ''MacBird!'', ''The Death of Daddy Hugs and Kisses'', ''Ride a Wild Horse'',<ref name=Defender/> ''The Vagina Monologues'', ''In the Blink of an Eye'', and other plays.<ref name=NOVAC/>
One of her early television advertisement appearances was for Ultra Sheen hair products.<ref name=Tan25/> In 1964, Michelle—still known by her birth name Geneva Mercadel—received her first film role<ref name=Chicago/> in the short film ''The Legend of Jimmy Blue Eyes'',<ref name=NOVAC/> which was nominated for an Academy Award. Her contract did not allow her to receive residuals when the film later aired on television.<ref name=Tan25/> Her talent agent and the film studio both believed her birth name would be received poorly, so she adopted the stage name Janee Michelle.
She chose the name Janee (pronounced Ja-Nay,<ref name=Chicago/> and sometimes spelled Janée)<ref name=Williams/> to keep the first two syllables of her birth name. She chose the surname Michelle because she "thought it would be unique to have a name with two first names".<ref name=Chicago/> When she found people had difficulty pronouncing the name Janee, she considered changing it again, but decided against it because she believed this pronunciation difficulty caused people to remember her.<ref name=Chicago/>
In 1967, an article in ''The Chicago Defender'' predicted that Michelle's career in American cinema would be successful.<ref name=Chicago/> Also that year, she appeared on the cover of an issue of the magazine ''Jet'' alongside Ronnie Eckstine in recognition of their appearance together in Eckstine's debut film ''The Love-Ins'';<ref name=Robinson>{{Cite news|work=Jet|author=Robinson, Louie|date=June 29, 1967|title=Billy Eckstine's Son Makes Film Debut|page=59}}</ref> it was Michelle's most prominent film role until that point.<ref name=Chicago>{{Cite news|work=The Chicago Defender|title=New Negro Film Starlet in Far Out Movie Role|page=16|date=Jul 15, 1967}}</ref> A ''Variety'' reviewer wrote that Michelle was cast well in the role.<ref>{{Cite news|work=Variety|title=The Love-Ins|date=August 2, 1967|volume=247|issue=11|page=6|id={{ProQuest|964066189}}}} {{subscription required}}</ref> Michelle's acting in the television series ''The Outcasts'' was critically acclaimed,<ref name=Jet58/> leading to several offers of film roles. ''The Outcasts'' reviews also led to her appearance in an episode of ''Love, American Style'' alongside Greg Morris, known for his role in the ''Mission: Impossible'' television series.<ref name=Jet59/>
Michelle was included in the magazine ''Ebony''{{'}}s list of ''Fifty Eligible Girls for 1969''.<ref name=Ebony/> Also in 1969, Michelle again appeared on the cover of ''Jet'', which called her "one of Hollywood's most attractive actresses".<ref name=Jet58>{{Cite news|work=Jet|title=Newest Film Faces in Hollywood: If You Can Act You're In|page=58|date=June 5, 1969}}</ref> The article declares Michelle to be one of several up-and-coming African-American actresses, along with Gloria Foster, Gail Fisher, and Denise Nicholas.<ref name=Jet60>{{Cite news|work=Jet|title=Newest Film Faces in Hollywood: If You Can Act You're In|page=60|date=June 5, 1969}}</ref> In the corresponding interview with ''Jet'', Michelle said 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".<ref name=Jet59>{{Cite news|work=Jet|title=Newest Film Faces in Hollywood: If You Can Act You're In|page=59|date=June 5, 1969}}</ref> 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 to become successful in the cinema of the United States.<ref name=Jet59/>
[[File:Victor French.JPG|thumb|upright|alt=Victor French as Roy Mobey in Carter Country|Michelle is best known for acting in the 1974 horror film ''The House on Skull Mountain''<ref name=McCann229/> alongside Victor French ''(pictured)''.<ref name=BoxOffice/>]] Michelle starred alongside her husband Robert DoQui<ref name=Defender/> in a 1969 episode of ''The Governor & J.J.''<ref name=DoQui/> The couple acted together again the following year in ''Soul Soldier'',<ref>Walker et al. (2009), p. 220.</ref> a film in which Michelle is the leading lady; she appears with DoQui in nude sex scenes.<ref name=Defender/> Michelle's and DoQui's characters form a love triangle with Lincoln Kilpatrick's character. In a ''New York Times'' review of the film, Howard Thompson called all three actors' performances "plain painful".<ref>{{Cite news|work=The New York Times|title='Soul Soldier' Opens|date=April 29, 1972|page=19}}</ref>
In 1973,<ref name=Variety2/> Michelle collaborated with actors Judy Pace and Lillian Lehman to found Kwanza,<ref name=Variety77>{{Cite news|work=Variety|title=Black Actresses Found Year-Round Charity on Coast|date=December 8, 1976|volume=5|issue=285|page=77|id={{ProQuest|1401300368}}}} {{subscription required}}</ref> a Hollywood, California-based nonprofit organization named after the African diaspora celebration Kwanzaa. Run entirely by African American actresses on a volunteer basis, Kwanza initially provided food to people in need at Christmas.<ref name=Variety2>{{Cite news|work=Variety|title=Black Actresses Found Year-Round Charity on Coast|date=December 8, 1976|volume=5|issue=285|page=2|id={{ProQuest|1401300368}}}} {{subscription required}}</ref> Michelle and the other two co-founders each enlisted five other African American actresses to volunteer with the organization and, together, they raised enough funds to provide food to 75 families that first Christmas.<ref name=Variety77/> By 1976, the organization had fed more than 2000 individuals and had expanded to function year-round.<ref name=Variety2/>
Michelle is best known for her 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.<ref name=McCann229/> She portrays Lorena Christophe, who is summoned to the house of a recently dead distant relative who was a voodoo queen.<ref name=Miller43/> Christophe is the love interest of the main character, who is portrayed by Victor French.<ref name=BoxOffice>{{Cite news|work=BoxOffice|title=The House on Skull Mountain|date=October 28, 1974|page=A7|volume=106|issue=3|id={{ProQuest|1476113580}}}} {{subscription required}}</ref> 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".<ref name=McCann229/> A ''Variety'' reviewer provided a similar appraisal of Michelle's appearance, calling her attractive and her role chic.<ref>{{Cite news|work=Variety|title=The House on Skull Mountain|date=October 16, 1974|issue=276|volume=10|page=16|id={{ProQuest|1285998032}}}} {{subscription required}}</ref> In 2014, she appeared in a health insurance television advertisement for AARP.<ref name=NOVAC/>
===New Orleans Mardi Gras=== [[File:Cher with feather boa.JPG|thumb|alt=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)''.<ref name=Magazine15/>]]
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. Michelle was volunteering with Kwanza in Shreveport, Louisiana with 25 other actresses, including Isabel Sanford, when Chuck and New Orleans politician Robert H. Tucker Jr. visited Michelle at her hotel. Chuck said he was looking for Sanford so he could ask her to be his queen. Michelle asked him, "Why don't you ask me to be your queen?", and he did so. Michelle refused the offer because she did not wish to be his second choice. Sanford was unable to appear in the parade due to a prior engagement and Chuck asked Michelle again. This time, she accepted, despite having to rearrange her schedule.<ref name=Magazine14/>
Until the time of the parade, Michelle was working in Hollywood. She flew to New Orleans to be ceremoniously greeted at the airport by a band and some Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club members.<ref name=Magazine14>{{Cite journal|journal=New Orleans Magazine|author=Scott, Liz|title=Queen Gee: She Brought a Touch of Hollywood to the Zulu Throne|volume=34|issue=5|pages=14|date=February 2000}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Magazine15/> She rejected the traditional tiara and instead wore a headpiece covered in pearls.<ref name=Gee18/> Of her promenade around the ballroom, during which she swayed her shoulders and hips, Michelle later said "high-school girls were imitating it for a year after that: the 'Zulu queen' walk".<ref name=Magazine15>{{Cite journal|journal=New Orleans Magazine|author=Scott, Liz|title=Queen Gee: She Brought a Touch of Hollywood to the Zulu Throne|volume=34|issue=5|page=15|date=February 2000}}</ref>
===Business=== After divorcing DoQui in 1978,<ref name=Divorce/> Michelle married Robert H. Tucker Jr. the following year,<ref name=Gee18/> changed her name to Gee Tucker, moved back to New Orleans, and became a businessperson.<ref name=Magazine16/> After Tucker had repeatedly been unsuccessful in being elected to public office, he convinced Michelle to go into business with him and stop working for Copeland.<ref name=Gee18/> In 1980, Tucker and Michelle founded Tucker and Associates,<ref name=CityBusiness>{{Cite journal|journal=New Orleans CityBusiness|title=Bob & Gee Tucker: Community Service Important for Married Consulting Team|volume=11|issue=6|page=23C|date=September 24, 1990|author=Engelberg, Adrian}}</ref> a management consulting company.<ref name=Magazine16/>
The company did not generate much revenue at first,<ref name=CityBusiness/> and Michelle worked elsewhere in management and marketing.<ref name=Magazine16/> For the first few years, Michelle and Tucker 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. Michelle said 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".<ref name=CityBusiness/> Michelle 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."<ref name=Moore57>Moore & Buttner (1997), p. 57.</ref>
[[File:Ray Nagin.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=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 Michelle co-founded.<ref name=Orleans/>]]
Eventually, Tucker and Associates began receiving contracts requiring a variety of services, including personnel, data processing, finance, and marketing. By 1990, the company employed 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.<ref name=CityBusiness/> This contract was awarded through the SBA 8(a) program and lasted seven years. While working on this contract, Michelle and Tucker started a second company called Integrated Logistical Support,<ref name=Minority/> of which Michelle became the vice president.<ref name=Moore226>Moore & Buttner (1997), p. 226.</ref> The couple divorced before the Strategic Petroleum Reserve contract ended,<ref name=Minority/> and Michelle went back to using her maiden name.<ref name=People>{{Cite web|title=People to Watch 2006|date=September 2006|publisher=myNewOrleans.com|url=http://www.myneworleans.com/New-Orleans-Magazine/September-2006/PEOPLE-TO-WATCH-2006/|access-date=November 3, 2015|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304123903/http://www.myneworleans.com/New-Orleans-Magazine/September-2006/PEOPLE-TO-WATCH-2006/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Michelle retained ownership of Tucker and Associates,<ref name=Orleans>{{Cite news|work=New Orleans CityBusiness|title=Dispute Between Transit Authority Chairman, Mayor's Exec. Assistant Much Exaggerated|date=January 20, 2003}}</ref> remaining its president and chief executive officer,<ref name=Minority>{{Cite journal|journal=Minority Business Entrepreneur|title=Let the Good Times Roll: New Orleans' Business Community is Experiencing a Renaissance of Opportunities and Inclusion|author=Bechen, Lauren L.|volume=14|issue=5|page=49}}</ref> while Tucker retained ownership of Integrated Logistical Support.<ref name=Orleans/>
Michelle was a director of Hibernia National Bank while it was a Forbes 500 company, and {{As of|2002|alt=as of 2002}}, she is the chief operating officer of Tucker and Associates.<ref>{{Cite news|work=Business Wire|title=Careful, Cautious, Conservative is Boydstun's Pledge for Hibernia: Paul Candies Elected to Board|date=April 17, 2002}}</ref> In 2003, Ray Nagin, Mayor of New Orleans, ended contracts with eleven companies that had ties to the previous mayor, Marc Morial; both Tucker and Associates and Integrated Logistical Support were among these companies.<ref name=Orleans/> Michelle has sat on the board of the Louisiana Children's Museum and has volunteered with the Drugs Off the Street program.<ref name=Picayune>{{Cite news|work=The Times-Picayune|title=Setting an Example: Some of the Best Mothers are Those Whose Children See Them Grow as They Grow|author=Carpenter, Siona|date=May 14, 1995|page=D1}}</ref>
Michelle purchased Sophie's Gelato in New Orleans, which she operates.<ref name=Gee18/><ref name=People/><ref name=BigEasy>{{Cite news|work=BigEasy Magazine|title=Miss Sophie's Delight|date=September 2006|page=24}}</ref>
==Awards== In 1991, Michelle was recognized as a YWCA Role Model. The National Council of Negro Women named her one of five community leaders of the year in 1995.<ref name=Picayune/> Michelle has been named New Orleans Woman Business Owner of the Year and has received the Best of Black Business Award. The Business and Professional Women's Foundation has named her Employer of the Year.<ref name=Moore226/> The American Council for Career Women has granted her their Achiever's Award.<ref name=Picayune/>
==Personal life== On July 22, 1966, at the age of twenty, Michelle married 33-year-old Albert S. Hubbard in Marin County, California.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Albert S Hubbard and Geneva L Mercadel, July 22, 1966|publisher=FamilySearch|url=https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/V685-139|access-date=March 23, 2015}}</ref> They divorced in January 1968.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Geneva L Mercadeg and Albert S Hubbard, Jan 1968|publisher=FamilySearch|url=https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VPR1-ZR8|access-date=March 23, 2015}}</ref>
On April 25 of the following year, she married 35-year-old Robert DoQui in San Francisco.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bobby J Doqui and Janee Mercadel, 25 Apr 1969|publisher=FamilySearch|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V66B-P7K|access-date=March 23, 2015}}</ref> DoQui, whose term of endearment for Michelle was "crazy Creole chick",<ref name=Tan25/> already had four children from a previous marriage to a woman who had died,<ref name=Tan24/> and Michelle developed a relationship with these children,<ref name=Tan25/> who were aged five, six, eight, and eleven.<ref name=Gee18/> In a 1969 interview with the magazine ''Tan'', Michelle indicated that DoQui's fashion preferences were an important factor in her clothing purchase decisions, saying, "I think a girl should dress for her husband".<ref name=Tan25>{{Cite news|work=Tan|title=Janee Michelle Talks About Love, Marriage, Career|date=October 1969|volume=20|issue=12|page=25}}</ref> She also expressed her support for the breadwinner model in which men are expected to make the most income for their families and women are expected to be housewives, although Michelle argued that women should work outside the home if they want to. She went on to say that women no longer worked hard enough to retain the respect and love of their husbands, and the interviewer describes Michelle as following her own advice: "She dotes so much on her man, invests so much of herself in him, his well-being".<ref name=Tan25/> Michelle gave birth to a son, Robert Diago DoQui, in 1971, and he later became an actor and writer.<ref name=Gee18/> Michelle and DoQui divorced in June 1978.<ref name=Divorce>{{Cite web|title=Bobby J Doqui and Geneve L, 20 Jun 1978|publisher=FamilySearch|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPG8-B86|access-date=March 23, 2015}}</ref>
Having met Robert Tucker when her cousin Chuck asked her to appear in the 1977 Zulu parade, Michelle eventually started dating Tucker and they married in 1979.<ref name=Gee18/> Their daughter, Iam Christian Tucker,<ref name=Magazine16/> was born in 1983.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Iam Christian Tucker, Residence, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States|publisher=FamilySearch|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJWG-YB28|access-date=March 23, 2015}}</ref> Michelle and Tucker divorced after nineteen years of marriage.<ref name=Magazine16>{{Cite journal|journal=New Orleans Magazine|author=Scott, Liz|title=Queen Gee: She Brought a Touch of Hollywood to the Zulu Throne|volume=34|issue=5|page=16|date=February 2000}}</ref>
==Filmography== ===Film=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" !scope="col"| Title !scope="col"| Year !scope="col"| Role !scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes !scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{abbr|Ref(s)|Reference(s)}} |- !scope=row| ''The Legend of Jimmy Blue Eyes'' | 1964 | Club Patron | Michelle had a non-speaking role in this Golden Globe Award-winning short film. |style="text-align:center;"|<ref name=NOVAC>{{Cite web|title=Meet the Actors |publisher=NOVAC |date=2014 |url=http://novacvideo.org/meettheactors.html |access-date=March 16, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402173117/http://novacvideo.org/meettheactors.html |archive-date=April 2, 2015 }}</ref><ref name=Robinson/><ref>Winter et al. (2007), p. 100.</ref> |- !scope=row| ''Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion'' | 1965 | Girl in Pit | |style="text-align:center;"|<ref name=McCann229/><ref>{{cite news|title=Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion (1965)|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/9803/Clarence-the-Cross-Eyed-Lion/cast|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403005819/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/9803/Clarence-the-Cross-Eyed-Lion/cast|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 3, 2015|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=The New York Times|date=2015|access-date=March 16, 2015}}</ref> |- !scope=row| ''The Love-Ins'' | 1967 | Lamelle | |style="text-align:center;"|<ref>Cowie (1977), p. 592.</ref> |- !scope=row| ''Soul Soldier'' | 1970 | Julie Brown | Michelle is the leading lady in this film and shares nude sex scenes with Robert DoQui. |style="text-align:center;"|<ref name=McCann229/><ref name=Defender>{{Cite news|work=The Chicago Defender|title=Janee Michelle Makes Debut in Film 'Soul Soldier'|page=10|year=1972}}</ref> |- !scope=row| ''The Mephisto Waltz'' | 1970 | Agency Chief's Girlfriend | |style="text-align:center;"|<ref>Muir (2002), p. 128.</ref> |- !scope=row| ''Scream Blacula Scream'' | 1973 | Gloria | This film is the sequel to ''Blacula''. |style="text-align:center;"|<ref>Muir (2002), p. 292.</ref><ref>Berry & Berry (2009), p. 295.</ref> |- !scope=row| ''The House on Skull Mountain'' | 1974 | Lorena Christophe | This role is the one for which Michelle is best known. |style="text-align:center;"|<ref name=McCann229>McCann (2009), p. 229.</ref><ref name=Miller43>Miller (2010), p. 43.</ref> |- |}
===Television=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" !scope="col"| Title !scope="col"| Episode !scope="col"| Year !scope="col"| Role !scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes !scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{abbr|Ref(s)|Reference(s)}} |- !scope=row| ''Mr. Novak'' | | | | |style="text-align:center;"|<ref name=NOVAC/> |- !scope=row| ''The Outcasts'' | "My Name is Jemal" | 1968 | Michelle | The reception of Michelle's acting in this episode led to several film role offers. |style="text-align:center;"|<ref name=Jet59/> |- !scope=row| ''Julia'' | "The Champ is No Chump" | 1968 | Marva Le Bouse | |style="text-align:center;"|<ref name=Defender/> |- !scope=row| ''Ironside'' | "Due Process of the Law" | 1968 | Helen Tobin | |style="text-align:center;"|<ref name=McCann229/> |- !scope=row| ''The Governor & J.J.'' | "Rhyme with Reason" | 1969 | | Michelle starred in this episode with Robert DoQui. |style="text-align:center;"|<ref name=DoQui>{{Cite news|work=Jet|title=Diana Ross, Supremes, Temptations Get Together|page=80|date=November 13, 1969}}</ref> |- !scope=row| ''Love, American Style'' | "Love and the Uncoupled Couple" | 1970 | Dessie Smith | Michelle starred in this episode with Greg Morris. |style="text-align:center;"|<ref name=McCann229/> |- !scope=row| ''The F.B.I.'' | "The Architect" | 1970 | Mary Borden | Michelle starred in this episode with Billy Dee Williams. |style="text-align:center;"|<ref name=McCann229/><ref name=Williams>{{Cite news|work=Jet|title=St. Jacques Portrays Black Militant on Dan August|page=66|date=October 8, 1970}}</ref> |- !scope=row| ''Bewitched'' | "Sisters at Heart" | 1970 | Dorothy Wilson | |style="text-align:center;"|<ref name=McCann229/> |- !scope=row| ''Sanford and Son'' | "Tower Power" | 1974 | Sandra | |style="text-align:center;"|<ref name=McCann229/> |- !scope=row| ''In the Heat of the Night'' | "A Necessary Evil" | 1988 | Arlene Jeffson | |style="text-align:center;"|<ref name=McCann229/> |- !scope=row| ''Star-Crossed'' | "An Old Accustom'd Feast" | 2014 | Vendor | |style="text-align:center;"|<ref name=NOVAC/> |- |}
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== {{div col|colwidth=35em}} *{{Cite book|author=Berry, Torriano S.|author2=Venise T. Berry |title=The A to Z of African American Cinema|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2009|isbn=978-0810870345}} *{{Cite book|author=Cowie, Peter|title=World Filmography: 1967|publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson University Press|year=1977|isbn=0498015653}} *{{Cite book|author=McCann, Bob|title=Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television|publisher=McFarland & Company|year=2009|isbn=978-0786458042}} *{{Cite book|author=Miller, Steve|title=150 Movies You Should Die Before You See|publisher=F+W|year=2010|isbn=978-1440509032}} *{{Cite book|author=Moore, Dorothy P.|author2=E. Holly Buttner|title=Women Entrepreneurs: Moving Beyond the Glass Ceiling|year=1997|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=0761904646|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/womenentrepreneu0000moor}} *{{Cite book|author=Muir, John Kenneth|title=Horror Films of the 1970s|publisher=McFarland & Company|year=2002|isbn=0786491566}} *{{Cite book|author=Smart-Grosvenor, Vertamae|title=Vibration Cooking: Or, the Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl|publisher=University of Georgia Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0820339597|author-link=Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor}} *{{Cite book|author=Walker, David|author2=Andrew J. Rausch |author3=Chris Watson |title=Reflections on Blaxploitation: Actors and Directors Speak|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2009|isbn=978-0810867062}} *{{Cite book|title=The Rough Guide to Film|author=Winter, Jessica|author2=Lloyd Hughes|author3=Richard Armstong|author4=Tom Charity|year=2007|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-1405384988}} {{div col end}}
==External links== {{commons category|Janee Michelle}} * {{Official website|http://www.janeemichelle.com/}} * {{IMDb name|0585032}} * {{Rotten Tomatoes person|janee_michelle}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Michelle, Janee}} Category:20th-century African-American actresses Category:20th-century American actresses Category:1946 births Category:African-American female models Category:Female models from Los Angeles Category:Actresses from Los Angeles Category:American film actresses Category:American television actresses Category:Living people Category:Actresses from New Orleans Category:Businesspeople from New Orleans Category:Businesspeople from Los Angeles Category:African-American bankers Category:American bankers Category:American people of French descent Category:American women bankers Category:American chief operating officers Category:American women business executives Category:American business executives Category:African-American company founders Category:American women company founders Category:American management consultants Category:Los Angeles City College alumni Category:Woodbury University alumni Category:African-American ballerinas Category:20th-century American ballet dancers Category:American ballerinas Category:Dancers from Louisiana Category:21st-century African-American people Category:21st-century African-American women