Biography

Janee Michelle (born Geneva Leona Mercadel; 1946), also known as Gee Tucker, is an American actress, former model, dancer, and businessperson, best known for her role in the 1974 horror film The House on Skull Mountain. Her acting and modeling career has included appearances in a variety of media, including films, television programs and advertisements, theatrical productions, and print advertisements. Mercadel made her first film appearance in the 1964 short film The Legend of Jimmy Blue Eyes.

She adopted the stage name Janee Michelle because her talent agent and the film studio both believed her birth name would be poorly received. Michelle's acting in the television series The Outcasts in 1968 was critically acclaimed, which led to several offers of film roles. Both in a 1969 episode of The Governor & J.J. and in the 1970 film Soul Soldier, she acted alongside her then-husband Robert DoQui.

In 1977, she was the queen in the New Orleans Mardi Gras Zulu parade. She was the first Zulu queen to wear two different gowns, both of which were designed by Bob Mackie, who had designed outfits for Cher. She divorced DoQui in 1978 and married New Orleans politician Robert H. Tucker, Jr. the following year; she changed her name to Gee Tucker and became a businessperson.

In 1980, the couple founded Tucker and Associates, a management consulting company that, in 1990, received a US$26 million contract with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, representing the largest contract that had ever been received by a minority-owned company in Louisiana. While working on this contract, Michelle and Tucker started a second company called Integrated Logistical Support.

The couple divorced and Michelle retained ownership of Tucker and Associates while Tucker retained ownership of Integrated Logistical Support. When Tucker retired in 2008, the couple's daughter Iam Tucker replaced him as president of Integrated Logistical Support. After Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Michelle purchased Sophie's Gelato, an ice cream parlor on Magazine Street where she makes gelato in-house.