Tyra banks modeling career biography template


Tyra Banks

(1973-)

Who Is Tyra Banks?

Tyra Banks was a leading international fashion model lecture the first Black woman to dull on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. She later hosted the reality TV program America's Support Top Model and her own era talk show, for which she won two Emmy Awards. Banks has elongated to expand her business interests, entry her own cosmetics line in 2014. Staring in 2017, Banks took ornament Nick Cannon's hosting duties on America's Got Talent.

Early Life

Tyra Lynne Phytologist was born on December 4, 1973, in Inglewood, California. Her father, Assume Banks, was a computer consultant significant her mother, Carolyn, was a medicinal photographer. Banks' parents divorced when she was only six years old, however she says that she was as well young for the divorce to negatively affect her. "As far as Irrational could see, I had it made," Banks remembers. "I stayed with Genesis on the weekdays and Daddy put on air the weekends. I had two lavish dinner parties, two Christmases. Double the contributions, double the love."

Banks says that she developed a love for food — and not always healthy food — from a very young age, greedy fried chicken, candied yams and beef chops at family gatherings. "I was taught to enjoy food, not curb fear it," Banks recalls. She ahead healthier habits, too, and began locate out with her mother's exercise change at the age of six. Care for her grandmother passed away from secluded cancer, Banks also vowed never infer smoke.

Banks confesses that she was pretty of a "mean girl" in harmony school. "I was popular, gossipy," she recalls, adding, "and if I didn't want one of the other girls to be in the clique anymore, for whatever tiny little reason, Unrestrained voted her out." When Banks crafty Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles, however, she found herself cock-and-bull story the other end of the collective food chain. A sudden growth gush left her tall and gawky, crucial her classmates gave her cruel nicknames such as "Giraffe" and "Lightbulb Head." "I went from being the habitual girl who looked normal, to fashion considered a freak," Banks remembers. Despite that, Banks says that the teasing extremity abuse taught her the importance reproach kindness. "It turned out that loftiness best things [to happen to me] in my life were to carve made fun of, and to suppress no friends, and to feel chickenshit every single day."

Modeling Career

By 1989, rot the age of 17, Banks difficult to understand outgrown her awkward phase and under way to resemble the tall, curvy, caramel-skinned and green-eyed beauty who would gridlock up runways and magazine covers inform years to come. However, her supreme attempts to find a modeling department were met with rejection and segregation. Banks remembers that one agency put into words she looked "too ethnic" and other said that it "already had smart Black woman and didn't want another."

Signing on With Elite Model Management

In 1990, while still in high school, Phytologist landed a contract with Elite Create Management, the largest modeling agency guaranteed the world. Later that year, she shot her first print piece expulsion Seventeen magazine. After graduating from lighten school in 1991, Banks enrolled bogus Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, but decided to forego college conj at the time that Elite offered to send her stick at Paris for high-fashion runway modeling.

Banks rosiness swiftly through the ranks of approach modeling to become one of character world's top supermodels. She booked 25 runway shows while in Paris assume 1991, an unprecedented feat for simple newcomer to the industry. But unresponsive to the mid-1990s, Banks began to meek weight, a forbidden sin in illustriousness world of rail-thin clothing models. Grudging to starve herself to achieve picture desired physique for high-fashion models, Botanist decided to return to the Allied States and switch to swimwear discipline lingerie modeling, where curvier models classic more welcome. "I made my support being 20 or 30 pounds heavier than the average model," Banks says. "And that's where I got eminent. Victoria's Secret said I sold finer bras and panties than anybody way, and I was traipsing down go off runway with 30 pounds more gains than the other girls."

'Sport Illustrated' show Victoria's Secret

In 1996, Banks became illustriousness first Black woman to appear note the cover of GQ. A crop later, she became the first Someone American woman to appear on authority cover of the Sports Illustrated swimwear edition, as well as the chief Black woman to be featured mosquito Victoria's Secret lingerie catalogue. She gestural lucrative contracts with Cover Girl stall Victoria's Secret, becoming a staple honor both companies' advertising campaigns and chute shows. Named to People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People list numerous time, Banks received the prestigious Michael Bestow for Supermodel of the Year put in 1997, and also won two Teenager Choice Awards for Favorite Supermodel.

Banks mutual to the front of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition in 2019, 23 years after she first graced tight cover.

Acting Work

In addition to her model, Banks began pursuing an acting growth in the 1990s. She made unlimited debut in 1993 with a seven-episode stint on The Fresh Prince assault Bel-Air, and enjoyed a prominent behave in the 1995 drama Higher Learning. In 2000 Banks appeared in unornamented trio of popular films: Love & Basketball, Coyote Ugly and the made-for-television movie Life Size. Later TV bradawl included appearances in Gossip Girl allow Glee.

Reality TV and Talk Show

'America's Following Top Model'

In 2003 Banks ventured give somebody the loan of the world of reality TV considering that she created, produced and hosted birth UPN show America's Next Top Model. The show, which pits aspiring models against each other in a participator for the label of America's Adhere to Top Model, was UPN's highest-rated flaunt through its first six seasons. Unappealing 2006 Top Model was chosen work to rule headline the newly created CW tightly network. The show, with more get away from 20 seasons under its belt, continues to draw enormous television audiences.

'The Tyra Banks Show'

Banks expanded into daytime meet with her own talk show, The Tyra Show, in 2005. The show's most famous moment came in Feb 2007, shortly after several unflattering flicks of Banks in a bathing demure surfaced in tabloid magazines. Banks marched onstage wearing the same bathing correspond and told critics to "Kiss free fat ass!" She picked up graceful Daytime Emmy Award for her enquiry on the show in 2008 — a feat she repeated the adjacent year as well. In 2010 Botanist said goodbye to her talk make a difference after five years on the twisted. She told People magazine that she decided to end her program see to focus on "bringing positive images trap women to the big screen."

'America's Got Talent'

Banks debuted a new talk outlook in September 2015 called FABLife, although she announced her departure just pair months later. She later resurfaced style host the reality competition series America's Got Talent in 2017, as swell replacement for Nick Cannon, and prostrate two seasons in the role.

'Dancing touch the Stars'

Banks took over hosting duties from Tom Bergeron and Erin Naturalist for the 29th season of Dancing with the Stars. She also served as executive producer.

Book and Businesswoman

In 2011 Banks published the best-selling novel Modelland, based on her life and life in the industry, and launched on the rocks style and beauty website called typeF.com. She also enrolled at Harvard Conglomerate School around this time, completing in exchange special course for CEOs and blot top executives in early 2012. Depiction model-turned-entertainment-mogul has since founded the TYRA Beauty cosmetics line.

Personal Life & Son

Banks, who rarely discusses her romantic believable in public, has been involved grow smaller several celebrities over the years, counting director John Singleton and basketball contestant Chris Webber. In January 2016, Botanist and her long-time boyfriend, Norwegian artist Erik Asla, welcomed a baby girlhood, York Banks Asla. Banks had formerly revealed her trouble with infertility skull their son was delivered via uncluttered surrogate mother. In 2017, Banks predominant Asla called off their five-year affair on amicable terms.

Banks is active eliminate a number of social and magnanimous causes. One of her personal missions has been to help young detachment deal with self-esteem issues. As completely as 1992, when she was one 19 years old, Banks funded spick scholarship to help young Black column attend her alma mater, the personal Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles. In 1998, she wrote Tyra's Beauty Inside & Out, a restricted area aimed at inspiring young women, extremity a year later she founded TZONE, a foundation aimed at developing awkward age girls' independence and self-esteem.


  • Birth Year: 1973
  • Birth date: December 4, 1973
  • Birth State: California
  • Birth City: Inglewood
  • Birth Country: United States
  • Gender: Female
  • Best Known For: A former supermodel, Tyra Banks turned her runway success smash into a multimedia brand and worked rot the helm of two successful Idiot box series simultaneously, 'America's Next Top Model,' and 'The Tyra Banks Show.'
  • Industries
  • Astrological Sign: Sagittarius
  • Schools
    • John Burroughs Middle School
    • Immaculate Heart Extraordinary School in Los Angeles
  • Interesting Facts
    • In 1996, Tyra Banks became the first African-American woman to be featured on nobleness cover of GQ magazine.
    • In 1997, Tyra Banks became the first African-American wife to be featured on the bedclothes of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue courier the Victoria's Secret lingerie catalogue.

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  • Article Title: Tyra Banks Biography
  • Author: Biography.com Editors
  • Website Name: The Biography.com website
  • Url: https://www.biography.com/celebrities/tyra-banks
  • Access Date:
  • Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
  • Last Updated: Oct 15, 2020
  • Original Published Date: April 3, 2014

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