# Marianne James

Marianne James (born 18 February 1962) is a French singer, writer, actress, TV host and fashion designer. She has co-presented the French coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest.

## Early life

Born in Montélimar, Marianne Gandolfi grew up in the family shop, Place du Marché, with her father Maurice, chocolatier pastry chef and nougatier, her mother Jacqueline, from whom she gets her Italian origins, and her sister Pascale, four years older than her.
She took guitar lessons at the age of 11 with Antoine Petrucciani, known as "Tony", a renowned jazz guitarist and father of pianist Michel Petrucciani. From the age of 15 to 23, she took advantage of her holidays to sing in the streets with her sister and a friend.
In 1980, after creating her first group "The Swingums", she graduated with a degree in musicology from Sorbonne University and won a first prize for singing at the Conservatoire de Paris.
In 1981, Marianne James joined the band "Les Démones Loulou" with whom she opened for William Sheller at the Olympia. She continued to sing in the streets of Paris.

## Personal life

Discreet about her private life, Marianne James officialised her couple with Bertrand Edl, marketing strategy advisor, during the French Open in June 2017. In 2022, she announced their separation.

## Theater

| Year | Title | Author | Director | Notes |
| 1991–2002 | L'Ultima Recital, les adieux irrévocables | Marianne James & Veronique Vola | Jango Edwards | Molière Award for Best Musical Show (1999) Nominated - Molière Award for Best Musical Show (1997) |
| 2003–2006 | Le Caprice de Marianne | Marianne James & Laurence Boccolini | Marianne James | |
| 2008 | The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob | Gérard Oury & Danièle Thompson | Patrick Timsit | |
| 2009 | Les Insatiables | Hanokh Levin | Guila Braoudé | |
| 2011 | Une visite inopportune | Copi | Philippe Calvario | |
| 2013–2018 | Miss Carpenter | Sébastien Marnier & Marianne James | Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt & Steve Suissa | |
| 2018–2021 | Tatie Jambon | Valérie Bour & Marianne James | Aude Léger | |
| 2022–2025 | Tout est dans la voix | Marianne James & BenH | Marianne James | |

## Album

* 1999 : Les Mandarines
* 2006 : Marianne James
* 2015 : Les Symphonies Subaquatiques
* 2016 : Tous au lit !
* 2018 : Tous heureux !

## Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2004-2007 | Nouvelle Star | Judge | M6 |
| 2009 | Vive les comédies musicales ! | Host | TF1 |
| 2010 | Un monde tout nu | Host | Jimmy |
| 2010 | Rendez-vous en terre inconnue | Guest | France 2 |
| 2011 | Queens of Pop | Host | Arte |
| 2014–2017 | Prodiges | Host | France 2 |
| 2015–2017 | Eurovision Song Contest | Commentator | France 2 & France 4 |
| 2016 | Cinq à sept avec Arthur | Columnist | TF1 |
| 2016 | Gala de l'Union des artistes | Host | France 4 |
| 2016–2017 | A vos pinceaux | Host | France 2 & France 4 |
| 2018–2024 | La France a un incroyable talent | Judge | M6 |
| 2022 | Drag Race France | Guest Judge | France.tv Slash / France 2 |
| 2022 | Mask Singer | Contestant | TF1 |

## Filmography
### Actress

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
| 2013 | La croisière | Amanda Saint-Gil | Pascal Lahmani | TV series (1 episode) |
| 2017 | Scènes de ménages: ça va être leur fête | The Singer | Francis Duquet | TV movie |
| 2018 | Nina | Valérie | Hervé Brami | TV series (1 episode) |
| 2018 | Mongeville | Agnès de Barneville | Bénédicte Delmas | TV series (1 episode) |
| 2024 | Face à face | Agnès Tancelin | Jean-Christophe Delpias | TV series (10 episodes) |

### Dubbing

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2004 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | The Fat Lady |
| 2006 | Happy Feet | Mrs. Astrakhan |
| 2012 | Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted | Captain Chantel DuBois |
| 2016 | Salaire net et monde de brutes | Future Advisor Interim |