Beverly Peele (born March 18, 1975) is an American model and

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

. Peele rose to fame in the late 1980s and 1990s, as a supermodel, working with Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and many others, appearing mostly in ''Mademoiselle'' and ''Elle'' magazine. She appeared on over 250 fashion magazine covers including Vogue and Harpers Bazar.

Career

Born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, Peele began modeling in 1987 at age 12 and landed her first magazine cover, '' Mademoiselle'', in 1989. During her modeling career, she was featured in ads for the likes of

Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren, ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for the Ralph Lauren Corporation, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He has become well known for his co ...

Donna Karan Donna Karan (, born Donna Ivy Faske), also known as "DK", is an American fashion designer and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels. Early life Karan was born Donna Ivy Faske to mother Helen "Queenie" Faske (née Rabin ...

Versace Gianni Versace S.r.l. (), usually referred to as Versace ( ), is an Italian luxury fashion company founded by Gianni Versace in 1978 known for flashy prints and bright colors. The company produces Italian-made ready-to-wear and accessories, as w ...

, among others. She also did runway work for

Chanel Chanel ( , ) is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. Chanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chanel is ...

and

Comme des Garçons Comme des Garçons (also known as CDG) is a Japanese fashion label based in Paris that was created and led by Rei Kawakubo. Its French flagship store is located in Paris. This label owns a world-wide store chain featuring various lines of prod ...

. Peele has appeared on magazine covers worldwide including ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'', '' Mademoiselle'', ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'', and ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

''. In addition to modeling, Peele also appeared in

Heavy D & the Boyz Dwight Arrington MyersCuda, Heidi Sigmund Keeping it reel. ''Vibe'' ("born Dwight Arrington Myers")Samuels, Anita M. (January 12' 1996)Heavy D, the C.E.O. ''New York Times'' (May 24, 1967 – November 8, 2011), known professionally as Heav ...

's music video for "Nuttin' but Love," Jodeci's 1995 video "Freakin You", and

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...

Thierry Mugler Manfred Thierry Mugler (; 21 December 1948 – 23 January 2022) was a French fashion designer, creative director and creative adviser of Mugler. In the 1970s, Mugler launched his eponymous fashion house; and quickly rose to prominence in the fo ...

-styled "

Too Funky "Too Funky" is a song written and performed by English singer and songwriter George Michael and released by Columbia Records in the United States and Epic Records elsewhere in 1992. The song was Michael's final single for his recording contr ...

" video alongside

Nadja Auermann Nadja Auermann (born 19 March 1971) is a German supermodel and actress. Fashion designer Valentino once commented on her physical resemblance to Marlene Dietrich. A New York Times fashion columnist, Guy Trebay, wrote of her "ice maiden visage a ...

Tyra Banks Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973), also known as BanX, is an American television personality, model, producer, writer, and actress. Born in Inglewood, California, she began her career as a model at the age of 15, and was the first Africa ...

Linda Evangelista Linda Evangelista (; born May 10, 1965) is a Canadian fashion model. She is regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential models of all time, and has been featured on over 700 magazine covers. Evangelista is primarily known for being ...

Estelle Hallyday Estelle may refer to: People * Estelle (given name), a female given name, including a list of people * Estelle (surname), a list of people * Estelle (musician), British singer/rapper Estelle Fanta Swaray (born 1980) * Princess Estelle, Duchess o ...

, and

Rossy de Palma Rosa Elena García Echave (born 16 September 1964), known professionally as Rossy de Palma, is a Spanish actress and model. She is well known for her roles in films by Pedro Almodóvar such as ''Law of Desire'', ''Women on the Verge of a Nervou ...

. In 1997, she began acting and appeared in '' Sister, Sister'' eason 5, Episode 1: Designer Genesand '' Girlfriends''. Peele also had a role in the 2002 film ''Sweet Friggin' Daisies'' with

Zooey Deschanel Zooey Claire Deschanel (; born January 17, 1980) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She made her film debut in '' Mumford'' (1999) and had a supporting role in Cameron Crowe's film ''Almost Famous'' (2000). Deschanel is known for he ...

Personal life

In 1993, at age 17, Peele had a daughter named Cairo with former partner Jeffrey Alexander. She has since welcomed two sons, Trey and DJ, and a daughter, Storm (b. 2017). Cairo, DJ, and Storm appeared with Peele on the Lifetime docuseries ''

Growing Up Supermodel ''Growing Up Supermodel'' is a docuseries on Lifetime (TV Network), Lifetime. The series premiered on August 16, 2017, and follows the nascent careers of daughters and sons of famous models or actors. The premise of the show was greenlit because m ...

''. On May 10, 2010, Peele and her daughter Cairo were in a car accident which resulted in multiple broken bones and internal injuries. In 2021, Peele alleged that

Peter Nygård Peter J. Nygård (born Pekka Juhani Nygård; born July 24, 1941) is a Finnish-Canadian clothing, fashion executive. In 1967, he founded Nygård International, a Winnipeg-based company that made women's apparel. In 2020, Nygård was accused of lo ...

was the father of her son Trey, who she said was conceived after Nygård sexually assaulted her sometime in the 1990s. An attorney for Nygård denied the allegation.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Peele, Beverly African-American actresses African-American female models American female models African-American models American film actresses American television actresses 1975 births Living people 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women