Tonya Kinzinger is an American dancer, model and actress who has attained fame in France.

Biography

Kinzinger was born on 20 June 1968 in

Monroe, Michigan Monroe is the largest city and county seat of Monroe County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Monroe had a population of 20,462 in the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the south by Monroe Charter Township, but the two are administered autonomo ...

. She began dancing at three years old, when her mother enrolled her in tap dancing lessons, and became passionate about

ballet dancing Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

at the age of six. Several years later, she left Michigan to study at a well known dance school in New York. Scouted by a photographer, Kinzinger joined a modelling agency and worked as a model in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. She returned to the US to finish high school before moving to France to pursue a career in acting. She appeared in the film ''

Dancing Machine "Dancing Machine" is a song recorded by American R&B outfit the Jackson 5, and was the title track of their ninth studio album. The song was originally recorded for the group's 1973 album '' G.I.T.: Get It Together'' and was released as a remix ...

'' with

Alain Delon Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (; born 8 November 1935) is a French actor and filmmaker. He was one of Europe's most prominent actors and screen sex symbols in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, he won the César Award for Best Actor for h ...

. She then played Jessica in the TV series '' Sous le soleil'' (Under the Sun), from 1996 to 2008, for which she is best known in France. In 2006, she appeared in two episodes of the series '' The Bold and the Beautiful'' in

Los Angeles 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' ...

. In 2007, she also launched a fashion collection called "Tonya - K." in collaboration with Christophe Lebo. She played Sally in the movie ''Fool Moon'', directed by Jérôme L'Hotsky, which was filmed in Britain in July and August 2007. Kinzinger acted in ''Dreams'', a series broadcast on the French television network NRJ 12. In 2011, after meeting Stéphane Slima on the set of ''Sous le soleil'', she acted in the play ''Le Président, sa femme et moi''. (''The President, His Wife, and Me''). In 2012, she hosted season 9 of Star Academy on the NRJ 12 network. In 2014, she was a contestant on '' Danse avec les stars 5'' and reached the semifinals. Kinzinger married Bernard Lignon on 27 December 1998. They have one son Sacha, born in 2003.

Danse avec les stars

In 2014, she participated in the fifth season of '' Danse avec les stars'' – the French version of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

''. She was partnered with professional dancer Maxime Dereymez. On November 15, 2014, they were eliminated finishing 5th out of 11 contestants. During 5th week, each contestant change partner for The week and Tonya Kinzinger got in couple with Guillaume Foucault instead of Maxime Dereymez.

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinzinger, Tonya 1968 births Living people People from Monroe, Michigan Actresses from Michigan American film actresses 20th-century French actresses American emigrants to France 21st-century French actresses French film actresses