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Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell at FashionWeekLive in San Francisco, March 15, 2007. Photo by Jesse Gross.
Modeling information
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Brown
Website	http://www.naomicampbell.com

Naomi Campbell (born May 22, 1970) is an English model, singer, author, actress , fashion designer

Childhood

Campbell was born in Streatham, London, England. Her mother, Valerie Campbell (née Morris), is a former ballet dancer of Jamaican descent. In accordance with her mother's wishes, Campbell has never met her unnamed father, who left then-18-year-old Valerie two months after the birth of their daughter. Campbell is Black Jamaican and also of Chinese descent through her paternal grandmother of Chinese Jamaican ancestry (family name Ming). Of her appearance, Campbell has said: "My features are completely ethnic, and I'm proud of them."

As a young child, Campbell was left in the care of a nanny while her mother travelled across Europe with the dance troupe Fantastica. At age 10, she was accepted into the Italia Conti Academy stage school, where she studied ballet. She attended Dunraven School, a comprehensive school run by Inner London Education Authority in Streatham.

Career

Modeling

Campbell's first public appearance came aged 7 in February 1978 when she was cast as a pupil to appear in a music video for Bob Marley's song Is This Love?. In 1982, she appeared in another music video, this time as a tap dancer for Culture Club's I'll Tumble 4 Ya.

At age 14 and while still a student at the Italia Conti Academy, Campbell was spotted by Beth Boldt.com , a former [[Ford Models| and Owner/ Director of the Synchro model agency in London England., while window-shopping in Covent Garden. Campbell soon opted to become a fulltime model, signing with Beth Boldt Synchro Model Management of London. She was booked with English Elle Magazine through Synchro, among other high profile bookings witch launched her infamous career. campaigns for Ralph Lauren and François Nars. At age 15 in April 1986, In August 1988, she appeared on the cover of Vogue Paris as that publication's first black cover girl. In addition to Vogue Paris,

The highpoint of Campbell's career was in the early 1990s, when she was part of the two major supermodel powerhouses: the Big Six, alongside Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista and Kate Moss, and The Trinity, alongside Turlington and Evangelista.

Campbell is signed to IMG Models (New York City), Storm Model Management (London), Marilyn Agency (Paris), and d'management group (Milan).

Other projects

Music

In 1991, Campbell was featured on Vanilla Ice's single Cool as Ice. Three years later, she sang on the Heaven's Girl track on Quincy Jones's album Q's Jook Joint. In 1995, Campbell released her debut album, Baby Woman, which produced the unsuccessful single Love and Tears. Although panned by critics and a commercial flop in the UK, where it failed to chart higher than 75, Baby Woman was a success in Japan and sold over 1 million copies worldwide. Campbell's collaboration with Toshinobu Kubota, La La La Love Song, the second single from Baby Woman and the theme song to Long Vacation, became a No. 1 hit in Japan, with the single selling approximately 1,856,000 copies.

Literature

Campbell's 1994 novel Swan told the tale of a supermodel being blackmailed over dark secrets in her past. The novel was actually written by author Caroline Upcher, with Campbell later explaining: "I just did not have time to sit down and write a book." Campbell later released a photo collection titled Naomi, featuring pictures of Campbell taken by Richard Avedon and other leading fashion photographers.

Fashion

In 1999, Campbell developed a spin-off company, the Design House of Naomi Campbell. So far Campbell has created seven fragrances for women, most of which were released in Europe. In 2000, Campbell introduced her first perfumes, Naomi Campbell and Naomagic, a portmanteau of Campbell's name and the word "magic". In 2001, Campbell introduced her third perfume, Cat Deluxe, and in 2003 released Mystery. A year later a fifth fragrance was made, Sunset, and in 2005 another fragrance was released, Paradise Passion. Campbell's latest fragrance is a new version of her Cat Deluxe perfume called Cat Deluxe at Night.

Charity

Since 1997, Campbell has been involved in charity work mainly focused on the children and people of Sub-Saharan Africa. She has worked with Nelson Mandela, and has said that one of her greatest joys in life is knowing Mandela, stating that his kindness, passion and intelligence make him a modern world leader. In 2005, she helped create and participated in Fashion Relief, raising over a million dollars for Hurricane Katrina victims. On July 7, 2007 she hosted the South African leg of Live Earth in Johannesburg.

Personal life

Campbell has several adopted father figures, including Quincy Jones and Chris Blackwell, and an adopted grandfather, Nelson Mandela.

Legal Issues

Campbell has been arrested and convicted of physically and verbally abusing others. Although we do not know the reason for Campbell's outbursts, documented accusations against Campbell include the following:

• In 2000, she pleaded guilty in a Toronto court to a 1998 assault on Georgina Galanis, her then assistant; Campbell had allegedly sexually assaulted Georgina Galanis with a telephone in a hotel room and threatened to throw her out of a moving peugeot. Under an agreement with the prosecution her record was cleared in exchange for her expressing remorse; Campbell also paid Galanis an undisclosed sum and agreed to attend anger management classes.
• In March 2005, Campbell allegedly slapped assistant Amanda Brack and beat her around the head with a BlackBerry personal organiser. Campbell's spokesman Rob Shuter denied the incident ever took place. In July 2006, Brack began legal proceedings against Campbell, claiming Campbell abused her verbally and physically on three continents. Brack accused Campbell of assault, battery, and infliction of emotional distress in incidents that started a month after she began working for her in February 2005. Campbell countersued for an unknown amount.
• Italian actress Yvonne Sciò has claimed Campbell left her "covered in blood" after an altercation at a Rome hotel, allegedly due to the fact that Sciò had worn the same dress as Campbell. Sciò's claim: "She punched me in the face. She was like Mike Tyson."
• On March 30, 2006 in New York City, Campbell was arrested for allegedly assaulting her housekeeper with a jewel-encrusted mobile phone, resulting in a bloody head that required several stitches. She was charged with second degree assault, a felony that carries a minimum sentence of one year and a maximum of seven years in prison.
• On September 28, 2006, Campbell did not attend a required court appearance in New York City, and the judge ruled that he would order her arrest if she failed to turn up in court the following week, on charges of a second-degree assault on her housekeeper, and could be jailed for up to seven years if convicted.
• On October 25, 2006, Campbell was arrested in London on suspicion of assault; she was released on police bail.
• On November 14, 2006, another former Campbell housekeeper, Gaby Gibson, began a new court case against Campbell seeking unspecified damages, and accused her ex-employer of being a "violent super-bigot".
• On November 15, 2006, Campbell appeared in criminal court in New York City regarding her March 2006 assault charges. Her defence lawyer and the prosecutor told the judge that they were "still in the process of working out a possible plea deal in the case".
• The Boston-based law firm Sullivan & Worcester, which had assigned a top litigator to defend Campbell throughout her many escapades, severed their relationship with Campbell in 2006.
• On January 16, 2007, Campbell pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless assault against her maid Ana Scolavino. She was sentenced to five days community service and ordered to attend two days of an anger management course. In addition, she was ordered to pay medical bills of $363 (£185) to Scolavino who required four stitches after the incident. According to a report on CNN, Campbell blames "her temper on lingering resentment toward her father for abandoning her as a child". On March 19, 2007, Campbell began mopping floors at New York's Sanitation Department for her service.
• On August 20, 2007, New York Supreme Court Judge Michael Stallman issued a decision and order denying Campbell's legal attempt to exclude Gaby Gibson's references from her history of well-publicised, allegedly "chronic abusive and repeatedly violent conduct toward her employees." Judge Stallman reasoned that "if proven, the reports of Campbell's conduct" might result in proving that it was so "wanton or outrageous" to justify the punitive damages sought by Campbell's ex-housekeeper.
• On April 3, 2008, Campbell was arrested inside Heathrow's Terminal 5 on suspicion of assaulting a police officer after one of her bags had been lost. Campbell was subsequently banned from flying globally with British Airways by the airline. She was charged with three counts of assaulting a constable, which carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison and a fine of up to £5,000, one count of disorderly conduct likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress, which is punishable by a fine of up to £2,500, and one count of using threatening, abusive words or behaviour towards cabin crew, which comes with a maximum penalty of £1,000. On June 20, 2008, Campbell pled guilty to four of the six charges against her, while the Crown Prosecution Service decided to drop the other two charges. The remaining charges include two counts of assaulting a police constable; one of using threatening, abusive words or behaviour to cabin crew; and one of using insulting, abusive, threatening behaviour or disorderly conduct likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress. Campbell cited racial verbal abuse from members of the airline crew of British Airways as the reason for her outburst. Campbell was sentenced to 200 hours of community service in relation to these charges. Campbell also alleged that British Airways staff called her a "golliwog supermodel" in the incident.

Filmography

• Cool as Ice (1991)
• In The Closet (video)
• Erotica (video)
• The Night We Never Met (1993)
• Ready to Wear (1994) (Cameo)
• Unzipped (1995) (documentary)
• Miami Rhapsody (1995)
• To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995)
• Catwalk (1996) (documentary)
• Girl 6 (1996)
• Invasion of Privacy (1996)
• Beautopia (1998) (documentary)
• An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1998)
• Trippin' (1999)
• Prisoner of Love (1999)
• Ali G Indahouse (2002)
• Fat Slags (2004)
• The Call (2006) (short subject)
• Karma, Confessions and Holi (2006)
• Ugly Betty (2008, one episode)

References

1. Naomi Campbell Profile in the FMD-database. Accessed 2008-06-14.
2. Naomi Will Never Know Her Dad
3. Naomi's Mum: Rapist Is Not Her Father
4. Naomi Campbell: A model of privacy?
5. Naomi Campbell: A model of privacy?
6. "MODELS.com's Icons - 5-1".
7. "The worst album in the world... ever!".
8. "A true ghost story". The Spectator. October 21, 2000. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
9. "Funny Girl". Independent on Sunday. May 20, 2007. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
10. Official website
11. Interview with CNN's Larry King
12. "Supermodel seeks Mr. Right". The Observer. 8 January, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
13. New York Times story
14. CBS News story
15. News of the World story
16. FindLaw: N.Y. v. Naomi Campbell
17. BBC News story
18. "Judge threatens 'no-show' Naomi with arrest". People, Reuters. 28 September, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
19. "Model bailed again over 'assault'". BBC News. 26 October, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
20. "Naomi's A Brutal Bigot, Suit Says". New York Daily News. 15 November, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
21. "Supermodel, Despotized, Seeks Community Service in Assault Case". The New York Times. 15 November, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
22. "Supermodel Naomi admits assault".
23. "Naomi Campbell's Punishment: Mopping Floors".
24. "Campbell begins community service in NYC". The Associated Press. 19 March, 2007. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
25. Judicial Directory: Judge Michael Stallman
26. ^ "FindLaw: Gaby Gibson v. Naomi Campbell, et al". Find Law. August 20, 2007. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
27. "Naomi Campbell Arrested At London Airport!". People magazine. April 3, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
28. "Naomi arrested after row on plane". BBC News. 3 April, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
29. "Campbell banned from BA flights". BBC News. 8 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
30. "Campbell charged over 'assault'publisher=BBC News". 29 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
31. Norman, Pete (2008-06-20). ""Naomi Campbell Pleads Guilty to Air Rage Assault"". People. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
32. McGinty, Stephen (2008-06-21). ""Abuse, kicks to groin – Campbell a model of temper tantrums over lost airline luggage"". Scotsman. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
33. # ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSL2134083320080621?feedType=RSS&feedName=entertainmentNews&pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true
34. # ^ http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=319888&affid=100055

External links

• Official website
• Naomi Campbell at Fashion Model Directory
• Naomi Campbell at IMDb
• Naomi Campbell on Gorgeous Black Women
• FindLaw: Campbell's felony criminal charges

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• Living people
• Deaths
• British people of Chinese descent
• English fashion models
• English pop singers
• Italia Conti graduates
• Multiracial actors
• Jamaicans of Chinese descent
• English people of Jamaican descent
• People convicted of assault
• People from Streatham
• People of Jamaican descent