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American model, dancer and actor From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sterling St. Jacques (1951 – c. 1992) was an American model, dancer, actor, and singer. Known as "Swirling Sterling," St. Jacques has been described as the first black male supermodel.[1][2][3] He was a frequent figure in New York society life in the 1970s and gained notoriety for dancing with famous patrons. In the 1980s, he moved to Europe and had a career as an Italo disco singer before reportedly dying from AIDS.
Sterling St. Jacques was born in a city outside of Salt Lake City, Utah.[4] He never knew his biological parents which caused him to become rebellious and he often ran away.[4] As a child, his family moved to Connecticut before returning to Salt Lake City where he attended Oquirrh School.[5]
As a teenager, he was adopted by actor Raymond St. Jacques in the 1960s. "He took an interest in me when he saw I was going nowhere and gave me the push I needed to get my head together," said St. Jacques.[4] Raymond St. Jacques is noted as the first African-American to portray a cowboy on television.[6][7] His mother Nina Hobbs, sang with jazz bandleaders Count Basie and Duke Ellington.[4] St. Jacques played basketball in high school and went to school with actress Judy Garland's daughter, Lorna Luft in Hollywood.[4]
St. Jacques took an interest in joining his father in show business. The father and son duo were known for their fashion sense in the early 1970s.[7] Before his father helped him land a role as a background dancer on the television series Laugh-In, he was a dancer at Disneyland.[4] He moved to New York to study acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute after leaving California, living off of part-time modeling work.[4]
St. Jacques appeared in the July 1970 issue of Vogue magazine modeling Japanese robes.[8] In 1971, he was photographed by Horst P. Horst with Italian actress Silvana Mangano and French writer François-Marie Banier for the catalog of a New York modeling agency.[9]
St. Jacques had a role in the 1973 film Book of Numbers, which was produced and directed by his father.[6]
St. Jacques was a dance instructor at a disco before he was discovered by French designer Hubert de Givenchy to model his menswear line at the Waldorf-Astoria in April 1976.[4] Reviewing the show, Bernadine Morris of The New York Times likened him to dancer Fred Astaire.[10] His appearance caused a sensation–especially among wealthy high society society matrons who clamored to dance with him discotheques.[4] In 1976, St. Jacques told Sepia magazine that he and Jackie Kennedy Onassis were "the closest of friends."[4] He gave her private dancing lessons and credited himself for bringing her out of her shell on the dance floor.[4]
In an industry where there isn't much representation of black models, St. Jacques had a successful career modeling for high fashion designers. "I've shown that black men can be macho-looking while at the same time have grace and smoothness. I'm proud to make black people see they can be doing this kind of work," he said.[4]
Handsome and dapper, St. Jacques attracted men and women. He had a highly publicized relationship with model Pat Cleveland, to whom he was engaged.[11][12] Although it was reported that they met while modeling in Paris in 1973, Cleveland wrote in her book Walking Girl: A Memoir that they met at New York's Hurrah nightclub in 1976.[11][13] She also revealed that before her St. Jacques had only slept with men, including a "long affair" with Hubert de Givenchy.[13] St. Jacques and Cleveland were a popular dancing duo, drawing inspiration from Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to revive 1940s elegance.[14] They appeared on the television show Soul Train and performed at the Lincoln Center for a benefit.[13]
In 1976, St Jacques and Cleveland appeared nude in the sexually explicit Broadway play Let My People Come, which was only shown at the Morosco Theater.[11][13] During an intermission for the play in September 1976, St. Jacques was arrested on a third-degree larceny charge for allegedly stealing $1,000 worth of jewelry from his former girlfriend, Juliet Baruch.[15][16] The show closed after 108 performances, all of them previews.[13] Cleveland stated that despite their "deep devotion to each other" their relationship ended after a year due to St. Jacques' preference for men.[13]
In the late 1970s, St. Jacques was a staple at the New York nightclub Studio 54.[17] He was often photographed dancing with celebrities and socialites such as Bianca Jagger, Diana Ross, Liza Minnelli, and Caroline Kennedy.[18][19] His social circle also included Studio 54 owner Steve Rubell, artist Andy Warhol, and fashion designer Halston who were regulars at the nightclub.[20] Reportedly, St. Jacques's charming dance moves inspired the 1979 hit song "He's the Greatest Dancer" by Sister Sledge.[21]
In the early 1980s, St. Jacques moved to Europe where he found moderate success as an Italo disco singer.[22]
According to his former fiancée, Pat Cleveland, St. Jacques died of complications of AIDS in 1984, but his death was never officially confirmed.[13] However, in a 1988 interview with the Chicago Tribune, Raymond St. Jacques said he had two sons and that Sterling had a television show in Düsseldorf.[23] It was reported in 1991, that Jacques was left "the sum of $1.00" in Raymond St. Jacques' will, which was stipulated in October 1988.[24]
Albums
Singles
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