Sterling St Jacques came to fame as one of the first black male supermodels. Also a dancer and model, he was the toast of many men and also women because of his excessive good looks. Although he was 60 years old when he died, he was never married even though he once came close to when he engaged fashion model, Pat Cleveland.
After a while, they ended the engagement and parted ways with claims from Pat that her former lover was gay.
Who is Sterling Saint Jacques?
A lot of information regarding the personality of Sterling remained confusing. While there were those who claimed he was born in Hartford, Connecticut, U.S., others claimed that he was born in Brazil on March 1, 1930, and when he was a young child, he moved to the United States with James Arthur Johnson who was believed at a point to be his father or uncle.
There was another version that he was born James Arthur Johnson in 1930 in the US and when he was still a child, the marriage of his parents ended in divorce. After this, he was said to have moved to New Haven, Connecticut together with his mother and sister.
He got his education from Hillhouse High School and after this, he went to Yale where he studied psychology and then drama. He started his acting career in the 1960s and later appeared in films including the following:
- Black Like Me (1964)
- The Pawnbroker (1964)
- Mister Moses (1965)
- Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970)
- Cool Breeze (1972)
- The Final Comedown (1972)
- The Wild Pair Ivory (1987)
- They Live (1988)
- Glory Frederick Douglass (1989)
- Voodoo Dawn (1991- Released after his death)
- Timebomb (1991- Released after his death)
Apart from being an actor, he was also a model and TV producer who was credited with helping to lower racial barriers for actors of black skin. Before all these, he worked as a dishwasher, stock boy, and sales boy.
Sterling St Jacques Was Once Dated And Engaged Pat Cleveland
With many uncertainties about his early life, one thing that is certain is that he dated former fashion model, Pat Cleveland who was also his dancing partner. According to her, he was the love of her life and they were both each other’s dreams come true.
They shared a lot of things in common including their modeling careers and also their love for dancing and performance. Interestingly, Pat whose real name is Patricia is also seen as one of the first black female super models.
By 1976, they decided that they wanted to share the rest of their lives together and so they got engaged. The engagement did not last a long time before they called it off. Nonetheless, the two remained friends even after that.
Sterling St Jacques Was Gay
As a result of his sparkling good looks, the 6 feet 3 inches tall actor and model had many men and women throwing themselves at him and wanting to go out with him. However, it later emerged that he was gay. This was said to be the reason why his engagement with Pat Cleaveland came to an end. Some sources claimed that the engagement was only to hide his sexuality.
There were also allegations that Raymond St. Jacques who allegedly brought him to the United States from Brazil when he was a young boy was his gay lover. While there was nothing to give credence to this, it is believed by many.
Also, he was also linked to French fashion designer, Hubert de Givenchy who was also known to be gay and lived with his partner, Philippe Venet before his death in 2018 and subsequent that of Philippe in 2021.
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Pat Cleveland Also Had Interesting Relationships
Even though she once revealed that Sterling St Jacques was the love of her life, Patricia Cleveland dated a number of other men apart from the late model and actor.
She got married to Paul Van Ravenstein in 1982 and since then, they have remained together and are blessed with three children Anna Cleveland, Anna Cleveland van Ravenstein, and Noel van Ravenstein.
Before that, she dated some others including actor and model Martin Snaric and actor Ryan O’Neal.
Sterling St Jacques Lost His Life To AIDS in 1990
The model died on On August 27, 1990, in Los Angeles, California at the age of 60. His death which occurred at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center was due to complications from AIDS. He was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills on August 31st.
