Naomi Campbell life and biography

Supermodel and actress Naomi Campbell was born May 22, 1970, in London, England. The daughter of a Jamaican-born dancer and unnamed father, Naomi Campbell attended Dunraven School and the London Academy for Performing Arts as a youngster.

She studied at Italia Conti Academy stage school and appeared in music videos for Bob Marley and Culture Club before signing with Synchro modeling agency at age 15.

One of the world's most renowned supermodels, Naomi Campbell was the first black woman to appear on the covers of French and British Vogue and the first black model to appear on the cover of Time.

While the exquisitely exotic leggy supermodel began her career on the catwalk, she quickly segued to high-profile advertising campaigns for such fashion icons as Ralph Lauren and Francois Nars. Naomi Campbell has also posed for more erotic fare, including Playboy magazine and Madonna's book Sex.

In addition to modeling, Campbell has pursued acting and music careers, the latter of which has been particularly successful in Japan. Her singing career peaked with the hit "Love and Tears." Though her debut album Baby Woman sold over 1 million copies, it was a critical flop.

Campbell has appeared in several music videos and films, including Cool As Ice and Miami Rhapsody. She is the co-author of the novel Swan and has published a self-titled photo book. An ambitious businesswoman, Naomi Campbell has created two spin-off companies, NC Connect and a perfume line.

In 2002, Naomi Campbell was involved in a high-profile lawsuit with London's Daily Mirror over the publishing of photos of her leaving a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. After several appeals, the court ruled in Campbell's favor.

With a reputation for a quick temper, Campbell has been arrested and sued for committing acts of physical violence and verbal abuse. In June 2008, she pleaded guilty to assaulting two police officers during an "air rage" disturbance on a plane at London's Heathrow airport. In January 2007, Campbell pleaded guilty to misdemeanor "reckless assault" for throwing her cell phone at her maid in a dispute over a missing pair of jeans. She spent five days mopping floors at a New York City warehouse, covered the maid's medical expenses and was ordered to attend a two-day anger-management program.

In 2000, she pleaded guilty to a similar attack on an employee in Canada. Her assistant claimed Campbell threw a mobile phone at her and threatened to throw her out of a moving car. Campbell paid the assistant an undisclosed sum and agreed to attend anger management" classes.

Naomi Campbell has been linked with such high-profile love interests as Mike Tyson, Robert De Niro, Usher and Flavio Briatore. She is active in promoting the welfare of children in Africa and has worked with Nelson Mandela since 1997.

Other projects
Music
In 1991, Campbell was featured on Vanilla Ice's single "Cool as Ice". Three years later, she sang on the track "Heaven's Girl" on Quincy Jones's album Q's Jook Joint. Also in 1991, she appeared as Michael Jackson's love interest in his music video for "In the Closet". 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 ghostwritten by author Caroline Upcher,[11] with Campbell later explaining, "I just did not have time to sit down and write a book."[12] In 1996, Campbell 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. 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.

Film
Campbell has been in films since childhood, debuting in a Children's Film Foundation serial The Chiffy Kids in 1976, playing a character named "Snow White". Her other film appearances include Girl 6 (1996), Prisoner of Love (1999), and Fat Slags (2004). She has also made cameo appearances as herself in such films as Pret a Porter (1994) and Ali G Indahouse (2001).

Charity
Since 1997, Campbell has been involved in charity work mainly focused on the 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 for Relief, raising over a million dollars for Hurricane Katrina victims. On 7 July 2007 she hosted the South African leg of Live Earth in Johannesburg. Campbell organzied a fashion show with 140 fashion designer stars called "Fashion for Relief Haiti" in New York on February 12, 2010.

Naomi Campbell's Filmography

* The Cosby Show (3 episodes, 1988)
* The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990)
* 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)
* Absolutely Fabulous (1995) (cameo)
* New York Undercover (1995, five episodes)
* To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995) (cameo)
* 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)

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