Grace Jones (b Grace Mendoza on May 19, 1948) is a Jamaican supermodel, singer and actress.

Grace Jones in ‘A View to a Kill.’

Grace Jones’ masculine attire and manner was a clear influence on the ‘power dressing’ movement of the 1980s, and on musical artists such as Annie Lennox of Eurythmics. She would also exemplify the “box” haircut style in the 1970s, which would be worn by many black men all over America throughout much of the next decade, notably Larry Blackmon of the funk group Cameo. She maintained parallel recording and acting careers, her film roles and modelling work often overshadowed her musical output.

Her strong visual presence extended to her stage work. In her performances she adopted various personas and wore outlandish costumes, particularly during her years with Goude. One such performance was at the Paradise Garage in 1985, wherein she collaborated with visual artist Keith Haring for her costume. Haring painted her body in tribal patterns and fitted her with wire armor. The muralist also painted her body for the video to “I’m Not Perfect (But I’m Perfect for You).”

Jones’ work as an actress in mainstream film first began with the role of Zula, the amazon in the 1984 film Conan the Destroyer . Prior to this she appeared in low-budget films, often with sexually explicit content. She next landed the role of May Day, in the 1985 James Bond film A View to a Kill. Jones was regarded by some critics as the best thing about the otherwise-panned film (particularly when May Day surprised Bond by flipping him over in bed during a ‘love scene’, insisting on taking the top role).