Who is Noemie Lenoir? Noemie Lenoir is a French model—perhaps even supermodel—and actress who worked for Marks and Spencer, Tommy Hillfiger, Victoria’s Secret and Gucci, among other top brands. Lenoir has also appeared in such magazines as Elle and Sports Illustrated.
While’s she’s best known for her modeling, she made headlines in May 2010 after a failed suicide attempt. The then-30-year-old stunner overdosed on drugs and alcohol, and after being found in a park in Paris, she was comatose for a week. Luckily, she made a full recovery and has since spoken about the incident, revealing in an interview with the Guardian that she was in a “bad, bad depression.”
Who is Noemie Lenoir? More than just a cover girl or tabloid figure, Noemie is a fashion icon with a rags-to-riches story. Born Sept. 19, 1979, in Les Ulis, France, and raised in what she described to the Guardian as “a ghetto” and was discovered at the age of 17 by a Ford Modeling booker who happened to spot her at the post office. “Modeling wasn’t something I had thought about at all,” she told the Guardian. “We called the number she’d given me, and we met them, and they wanted to sign me up. My mum said, ‘Let her finish school first,’ so I went back a year later.”
Noemie Lenoir eventually moved to Paris and then New York, where she nabbed a Gap campaign and followed that up with work for Tiffany & Co., Tommy Hillfiger, Victoria’s Secret and others. In 2005, she and then-boyfriend Claude Makelele, a soccer—or football, as they say everywhere in the world but America—welcomed the birth of their first child, a son named Kelyan. Lenoir and Makelele are no longer together, and it was during an attempted reconciliation with the footballer that she fell into the depression that led to her suicide attempt.
Who is Noemie Lenoir? Fans of “Rush Hour 3” not familiar with all the suicide drama might simply remember her as Genevieve, and she’s appeared in several other film and TV shows. She’s also an entrepreneur, and her net worth of $215 million stems from her Fat Lenoir Burger chain, Les Ullis Angels football team and Pure Wonderlenoir vodka, to name just a few of her business ventures. More than anything, though, the answer to the question “Who is Noemie Lenoir” should be “survivor,” as she ended her candid Guardian sit-down by giving the impression she’d finally found peace.
“My son is living with me and he sees his dad a lot and he is happy, and he is doing really well at school,” she said. “He is bilingual, and he is learning horse riding and Spanish. Everything is normal.”
