Early Life
O'Sullivan was born in London, United Kingdom to Denis O'Sullivan, an Irish racing driver and World Champion sailor, and Marie-José, a French artist. She was raised in the village of Passage West, near Cork, Ireland and after finishing secondary school, she studied Fine Art at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. She dropped out of her course after a year because she felt "if I study any more that might kill my love for it." On her parents' advice, she enrolled in University College Dublin and studied architecture for four years. While in UCD, she became known as "the singing architect" as she performed in all available university productions and was a member of Dramsoc.
O'Sullivan took a year off from her studies and moved to Berlin, Germany, where she worked at an architect's office. During her time in Berlin, she regularly attended local cabaret clubs and began listening to the narrative music of Hanns Eisler, Kurt Weill and Friedrich Hollaender. Upon returning to Ireland, she met Agnes Bernelle, a mentor who encouraged her to sing saying "to do this right, you have to be a better actress than a singer, it's all about the story." She graduated in from UCD with first class honours and the highest marks at the university in a decade. She then continued to work as an architect—winning an Architectural Association of Ireland award in the process—while continuing to perform in local clubs at night.
Read more about this topic: Camille O'Sullivan
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