Born in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés on 22 December 1972, Vanessa Paradis has been a huge star in France in her own right since she was a teenager. Her debut song 'Joe Le Taxi' hit number one in France when she was just 15, and it reached the top 10 in fifteen other countries. Shortly after, she launched an acting career, which has proved no less successful. She won a Cesar, the French equivalent of The Oscars, for her controversial naked acting debut in Noce Blanche, centred around an affair between a schoolgirl and a teacher.