Who Is Jeanne Marine? The Quiet Force Behind Bob Geldof’s Resilient Family

For nearly 30 years, French actress Jeanne Marine has been the steady heart in Bob Geldof’s stormy world—a quiet, unwavering presence through grief, recovery, and the complexities of a blended family.

Their improbable love story began in 1996 at a Paris dinner party. Despite language barriers and emotional wounds, the connection was undeniable. Geldof was reeling from his acrimonious split with Paula Yates. Jeanne, a former actress with small roles—most notably a fleeting appearance in Braveheart—stepped into his life with grace and gentleness.

Mel Gibson once nicknamed her “The Mouse,” but Geldof saw something else entirely: “a staggering beauty,” he said, one who reminded him of Brigitte Bardot. They had actually met years earlier, in 1990, but it was that fateful dinner, orchestrated by friends, that brought them together for good.

“I was a ruined man,” Geldof once shared. “She didn’t speak English; I didn’t speak French. Yet this radiant woman chose me.”

Tragedy would come early in their relationship. In 2000, Paula Yates died of a heroin overdose, leaving behind her daughter, Tiger Lily, from her relationship with Michael Hutchence. Jeanne and Geldof adopted the little girl and gave her a life far removed from the spotlight.

“Tiger was raised with love and discipline,” noted biographer Gerry Agar. “Jeanne gave her stability—something Peaches tragically lacked.”

Peaches Geldof, Bob’s daughter, died in 2014 at the age of 25 from an overdose. The day after her funeral, still engulfed in sorrow, Geldof proposed to Jeanne. “It was like letting air into a room that had been suffocating with grief,” he later said.

They married in 2015 on a secluded beach in the South of France. The ceremony, far removed from the Kent church tied to past sorrows, was attended by close friends including Bono, Demi Moore, and Richard Branson.

Now 73 and 59, Geldof and Marine keep a low profile. But in his rare public words, the affection remains deeply felt:

“After 25 years, she still electrifies me.”
“She found something lovable in this broken man.”

Jeanne, in turn, has described him with simple devotion: